More Yard Work

Labor Day Weekend 2023 was basically uneventful, otherwise normal for me. I did not watch as many college football games as I have in the past due to lack of interest. Yet, the hounds, dog and I seemed to have managed without much happening. Yes, Watson does spend a lot of time sleeping sitting up. It's just like the picture the breeder sent me of his mother sleeping sitting up in the passenger seat of his pickup truck before I bought Watson as a puppy.

Henry doesn't need a lot of excuses to sleep during the day. From the first time I saw him in his litter box with his nine brothers and sisters, he has always liked sleeping with his head propped up or his head and shoulders hanging over the side of something.

All Walter needs is a small space to stretch out. He enjoys both dog beds that were given to us by friends the past couple of months, but sometime in the middle of the day the cool floor is his favorite.

Between the lines to the restroom, the lines to buy bottled water, the expensive parking passes to park within blocks of the stadium and the cost of tickets ... I don't go to IU games anymore. I use to go to a lot of them until the games were not worth the price and time to attend them. Even when they won, it wasn't worth it. Maybe I am getting old. 

Watching the game from my couch I own my corporate box with air conditioning, no lines at the bathroom, no lines at the fridge and plenty of cold water to drink. My car is parked in the garage at no cost to me and I can get just as frustrated at the game here as I can there ... Only here I can turn it off and don't have to drive two hours to get home.

It was a good weekend though.

I had been waiting for a forecast of rain before I added new top soil to the low spots of the yard and new grass seed. When I saw there was a 40% chance of rain by noon I headed to Lowe's to buy top soil and new grass seed. I planted grass seed last September and it turned out ok. 

Of course around here a 40% chance of rain usually means no rain at all. As I sit here at 2:30, the skies are blue, the sun is bright and the clouds are puffy and bright white. Instead of rain, my new grass seed got a lot of water. I covered most of it with the burlap I bought last year or the year before. I can't say it keeps the birds away from the seed but the grass seemed to grow well when it was protected.

This IS THE FAVORITE place of Watson. In the heavy rain though it would be completely under water. I added about 3" of topsoil to level it out. Of course with any new grass seed, the temporary plastic fence comes back out and patio chairs are used if needed for keeping the hounds and dog off my grass.

These were just used to "divert" their path to that side of the yard. There is no protection on the side because I ran out of plastic fencing with no plans to buy more. I will have to supervise the hounds and dog when they go outside now, until I see some grass growing. When I am gone they will stay inside the house.

Not sure why but this area was lower than what I remember. Topsoil fill in, new seed etc. Before getting the hose out to water the new areas of grass seed, I pulled a few small weeds in the rock area. Since I pull them out by the roots, there were not many to be pulled out today.

As puppies Henry and Watson would lean up on that plastic fence and let their weight mash it down for them to get inside the fenced area. I am hoping since they are older now, that will not happen. I will let them explore on their own so I can watch what they do. Then I will yell "no" real loud to keep them from doing what they shouldn't.

Many years ago my aunt and uncle had two boxers, getting them as puppies. They never had a fence in the front or the back of their yard. They always had two boxers at a time too. When I asked him, he said to keep his dog out of the busy street they lived on ... he would walk the dog out to the street and at the edge of the lawn, slap a rolled up newspaper on his open hand to startle the dog. He never did anything else to train them and never had a dog go out in the street.

I don't think my hounds are quite that smart. 

A good test to see if Watson was going to tear the fence down, was when that squirrel ran across in front of him and up the trunk of the oak tree next door.

I suspect Henry will be the one that will try to get inside the two fenced areas. He is stubborn, rarely listens to me and is very curious about anything new. A typical basset hound.

He showed no signs of trying to 'nose' his way between the black fence and the white post ... but I suspect when he goes outside tonight when it's dark, that he will try ... he doesn't know that I am going to walk out quietly behind him with a flashlight and follow him just to see what he gets into.

Walter is the most curious of all three. He doesn't like change of any kind, whether it be his water bowl placement, a different dog food dish, dog bed in a different part of the bedroom or this temporary fence that is blocking his direct path off the patio. He will not try to get inside it, but is just curious what it is blocking him.

As a test the other day I put the end caps in the steps just to see if the hounds and dog had any interest in pulling them out to chew on them. I am hoping it was just a puppy stage they were going through two years ago. I need to buy 50 more of them at 88 cents each ... they won't be in stock now until September 7th. 

Just what I had been waiting for. Of course Watson stepped in as many of those new spots of topsoil as he could on his way to check out the chairs. Again, those chairs are just to divert their path to 'around' the seeded area because they like to jump off the patio as close to that corner as possible for some reason, when they go to that side of the house.

Just a millisecond after taking this photo I yelled "NO" and he turned and trotted off. I doubt that will keep him off of the burlap when I am not around but the hounds don't know I plan some adult supervision when they go outside now. At least for a few weeks.

All of us were going back inside, since it was getting a little warm at 87° ... except Henry. He will always wait a few minutes before he does anything we do or when I call him to come inside. This time by the time I closed the patio door and looked out the side window, he had gotten up and ran to the patio door. He was waiting for me to open it again, for him.

For those interested ... that small cabin with 5 acres,  I talked about a few weeks ago that was outside the town I use to live in, sold Monday night and is no longer available. In a way I am glad to see that happen because the mental anguish about the hounds, the dog and that spiral staircase will leave my brain cells. I can get some good sleep now. 

Going back to a couple of easy things on the "to do" list ... it's been a good day so far in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.