The Snow Is Melting

Ava is growing in front of my eyes, getting bigger. I still think she will be on the smaller side of a female German Shepherd because of her mom. The dad was a large male but she looks like her mom in color and build. These two are becoming closer friends to each other. To the point that Walter now chases Ava around the house when he is in the mood to play.

These are terrible photos, out of focus and incorrect settings on my Nikon D3500 with a snow background. They still show how much the hounds and dog enjoy the snow and cold weather. These were taken a few days ago in temperatures below 15°. I had to bribe them with dog treats to get them to come back inside. 

They needed to burn off some of that 'cabin fever' energy.

I have resisted temptation of taking the snow shovel out and helping move the melting process further along. I did do a small path from the garage door to the cleared part of the driveway so I could roll out my trash can for Thursday morning pickup. Mail is also being delivered again but I still have not seen any UPS or FedEx trucks drive through the neighborhood. Schools had about a week of closures due to the snow.

The highlight of the week I guess was trying to unplug the sink drain. For the 2nd time in a week I took all of this apart. I double checked that all the pipes were clear of any blockages. I installed new o-rings on all the connections. I ran a hand power snake about 10' into the wall pipe and came up with a thin coat of black greasy film but nothing as far as large pieces of gunk. It stopped to where it wouldn't move where I think is the 90° horizontal drain in the crawl space. 

Every other drain in the house works fine but this one still backs up when I run my dishwasher or running water for 1-2 minutes. I will probably call a plumber to do his professional magic. 

It is a good sign to see the sidewalk come back into view. That means even with temps in the 20's there is enough sun to melt the snow. Looks like a rabbit hopped up from the driveway to the porch step, turned around and went back to where they came from.

The hounds and dogs have tried their best to mash the snow enough for a faster melt. It really shows how much traffic my yard gets during the summer and the battle to keep the grass in good shape.

Not much going on. My ballgame tv viewing will now turn to college basketball with around 45 days to go before the first Reds baseball game. I hope the temps continue to get warmer so the hounds and I can get back into some daily walks. I have three days of possible rain next week ... should make things here in back nice and messy for my "flood test" this year.

Here are some photos of Sadie and Stella, 10 years ago in the first week of February. Stella has the bright red collar on. 

The word "baseball" makes it feel that spring is right around the corner. My "to do" list is slowly coming together. I have to remember things I can't use or be close to with my pacemaker. As far as the heart goes, everything seems to be good. Good heart rate when sleeping or walking. 

My blood pressure has even dropped lower than it was. For the year and since my June surgeries I have averaged 122/68. That is basically the same for 2025 and the previous seven years. On February 1st for some reason and every day since, it has dropped to an average of 112/68. 

The sun is out, coffee was good as well as my eggs and sausage patty breakfast ... IU game at 11am, more basketball games afterwards.

Things are good in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.