It Was Wet But We Walked Anyway

When we went outside I didn't feel any rain although cars passing the house had their wipers on. I didn't think it would be anything more than a little time outside for them to snoop around the backyard and for me to take some photos.

It looked bad toward the west but the radar showed most of the rain was south of us and it had been looking that way most of the day anyway. After a couple of minutes I told Sadie and Stella "lets go" and headed out. My shoes and socks are in the drier (huge embarrassment) dryer as I type this ...

I decided for this afternoons photos I wouldn't do any kind of editing at all. I glanced through all of them but didn't crop, sharpen or enhance with more color ... I went with what the camera caught.

This is NE as we walk toward the first corner. I won't know how to walk once they cut this field in a couple of months. I'm thinking the hounds probably like moving through the tall grass more than they do a field that is cut at ground level.

I let Stella go today ... her pace ... whatever she wanted to do.

By they way there were both acting I was sure we would see one of those large birds (turkey's??) take off from ground level and gain altitude, even some small birds that might be nesting on the ground ... but there was nothing but a lot of scents for them.

I don't recall ever seeing the gully so overgrown and green as this year.

Stella was all over the place today going from one scent to another. Plus she didn't want Sadie to find something if it didn't include her.

I caught Sadie chowing down on something as fast as she could and before Stella came over to meet her. I am not sure what it was because I turned my head so I would not have to see it ... it must have been good as she is licking her lips as she ran to catch up to me.

Stella was back in her favorite spot today and stayed there even after Sadie and I had made the turn to go home. I called her name a few times and she would look up at me, then keep looking around. Finally she decided she might want to catch up with us.

It did not rain, didn't drizzle but my feet/shoes were soaked and so were their stomachs and ears ... still it was a great afternoon walk.

I just checked Heidi's skin a few minutes before posting this and also rubbed on more water vinegar mixture. It does look better today, less red and more skin has started to dry out and start to flake off when she itches. I will not skip a day again that's for sure. It makes a big difference to keep rubbing the mixture on her a few times per day.

The call from the Toyota salesman last Monday kind of got me thinking of trading the Mini Cooper again. Even though for the past couple of years I've lost the urge to buy anything different. I looked through different dealerships locally and on cars.com but didn't find anything I really wanted.

My friend has a very nice 2003 Z4, 6-speed manual on his car lot this week. It has low miles and a good price. I doubt it will last long but it was tempting to call him to hold it for me and then trade in the Mini Cooper and go back to a Z4 ... they are fun to drive.

By last night I had not found anything on my internet searches that I wanted to trade for. Even with my short trip to town this morning to buy dog food, I felt like keeping what I had. It drives great and is fast when I want it to be. The feed store is a place the local old farmers hang out, especially on bad weather days ... putting that 40# of dog food in my Mini Cooper trunk was their humor for the day. It looks pretty small parked among all of their pickup trucks.

The bloodhounds are snoring so it's all good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Ends Wednesday With More Water & Vinegar

Wednesday started with more fog, light rain, some sunshine and then more drizzle. By the evening heavy thunderstorms passed through. Originally the forecast was for rain every day up to Friday but I could see on Tuesday I was needing to mow the yard. Again.

I waited until about 11am with the sun out and a pretty strong wind coming from the south/southwest, I thought I might be able to mow in between rains. So at 11:15am I checked and there was little dampness. It was dry enough to try to mow and I could stop if it was too wet. I was able to finish the whole yard and 15 minutes after I finished it started storming again. That was Tuesday.

Wednesday morning was looking like more of the same. The hounds were low energy, didn't want to fetch, to play or run. They turned back inside to sleep while I continued to read about dog yeast infections and atopic dermatitis.

Later after their lunch, the sunshine was out so I grabbed the camera, told the hounds "lets go" and just inside the field my shoes and legs are soaked. The ground wasn't muddy but soft ... I kept walking. I was going to get them a walk in one way or another.

Just in a matter of days, the hay had grown enough to almost cover our worn path. I could barely see where we normally walk. It's also getting to the point that I can barely see the bloodhounds when they are off the path.

They enjoy their freedom out here and it's nice to have them in the opposite direction of the highway where they can go without the danger of traffic.

You can barely see our normal path from the fast growth of the hay with all the rain. This date last year the farmers had already planted their fields. Now some of them around me are plowed but not planted. The one straight across from the house has not had the chance to be plowed yet due to rain.

The hounds head back to the house. There was little gnat traffic today so that was nice. Plus I didn't find any ticks on any of the hounds after their walk on Wednesday.

Stella took off running for the house on her own and by time I had my camera in position all I saw was Sadie and Stella had moved around the thick hay to the right.

Shoes were making squishy sounds as I walked and my feet were completely soaked. I put the shoes and socks on the window sill the rest of Wednesday to dry out.

Later in the afternoon we sat outside in the sunshine. I picked Heidi up off the couch and took her out to the yard where she explored all the backyard. It wasn't two hours later the sun disappeared and the Wednesday evening rain started again. It was pretty dark quick but the severe storms were south of us.

The light rain started just as we stepped outside ... Stella didn't look happy when she felt raindrops falling her her head. Sadie turned after her photo and went to the house.

It was a little after 7pm I noticed the skies getting dark. I checked intellicast radar and saw there were some thunderstorms heading our way. So the screen windows went up and the storm windows went down for some heaving rain and strong winds from the west.

I like the colors in these photos.

I am anxious to see if Heidi's skin improves with the multiple applications of the water/vinegar mix. It must feel good because it's the first time she had just laid still as I put on the solution. She fought me when I put any kind of creams or ointment on her, even the liquid zinc oxide last winter.

Not only is this suppose to relieve her itching but also take away the layers of the yeast infection. It says I can put it on as many times per day as I want or see that it's needed. I still like the idea of the spray bottle but being able to rub it into the skin with cotton balls may be the best way.

Just from what I have read about yeast infections, I will continue to feed her no grain food with no potatoes. I am seriously considering the salmon blend for the first time, where salmon would be the #1 protein. It is the only protein source I have not tried. She is weeks away from a new bag of Earthborn though.

It was cool temps and strong storms Wednesday night in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.