15° Makes A HUGE Difference

Can you believe I cut this hydrangea back to the ground every fall? I was told by a landscaping company that looked at what I wanted done when I moved in May 2021, the Hydrangea root system spreads so much that if they were to pull them out of the ground, my whole side yard might be destroyed. So I cut them back every fall and have kept them.

My rose bushes are not the best but they do have some nice blooms. I trim them back every fall and really don't do anything to them except that. I am not a fan of the south side flowerbed along the side of the house but I am not sure what to do if I were to take all of these out and rebuild it. I do know it will not happen this year. It is going to take a lot of time to change everything out. Where would I put the roses and hydrangeas? I don't like nor want the hydrangeas once I get them out of the ground.

This morning I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep my indirect promise for today, with a blog post and a lot of photos of the hounds and dogs. They were all lazy most of the morning and were acting as if it was still hot outside. But it wasn't and as I sit here at 2:25pm it is 15° cooler than it was yesterday. THAT makes a world of difference and that comes from someone that likes hot weather better than cold weather.

Walter still likes a crate.

It wasn't even 9:30am yet and Henry was already in his night time tv position and was out cold. At least there was a nice cool breeze coming through the open patio door and all the windows I had opened early this morning. Does it look like any of them are going to be active enough to have photos taken of them for the blog post?  Ha Ha.

If you go back to some Ava posts/photos in April you can tell just how big she has gotten in the four months that I have had her. I remember when she was "about a cushion and a half" long. She will be seven months old on the 19th of this month. Smarter than smart and follows/reacts to all my commands.

Not seeing any rain in the 10-day forecast, you could have fooled me. It felt like rain was imminent by the way the sky looked in all directions and the way it felt ... on me and in the air. The backyard needed mowed since I have been letting it grow longer than normal and while I was in the mowing mood I did the whole yard. 

I still have not found the tree trunk that fell from this spot after they cut the trunk off of the internet cables.  I am happy it is gone but not sure where it went. I have not checked the backside of the berm but it would have had to hit the ground and bounce to head that direction to disappear. 

After mowing and serving lunch to the hounds and dogs, the activity started to pick up. At least three of them were wanting to go outside. Can you guess who didn't want to move after he ate?

This photo shows just how big Ava has grown. 

Walter enjoyed his lunch as usual. As I walked back to the computer room I could see that Walter was not interested in the great weather, any interest in runny or playing with the other three. I decided to let him do whatever he wanted and headed back outside to get some photos plus enjoy this great weather.

I was shocked that I heard Walter snorting in the background as I turned to look at the patio door. There he was ... ready for some outdoor activity.

All four of them enjoys being groomed by another and they all do a great job keeping ears clean, the drool off of hound jowls is kept at a minimum and Walter keeps his face clean.

Walter was getting his monthly aerobics in as he sprinted from the fence to the patio door.

Ava couldn't figure out where Walter was heading. She was hoping to play, wrestle or torment him. Instead she headed over to Henry.

Not much going on today even with the cooler weather. A fresh pitcher of ice tea is tasting good. I am still recovering from my late night Sunday when I started watching The Night Agent on Netflix and ended up watching all 10 episodes. So when you go to bed at 2am and Ava will have me up and running at 5:30am, it has taken a few days to recover.

Well as I post this, all four are in a deep afternoon sleep. Walter is snoring loudly of course while Watson out in the hallway chimes in right behind Walter's so it's like a constant snorting sound.

Things are good in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana and I plead the 5th about anywhere else.