Hot But A Lot Done Today

I'm sitting here with a cold ice tea, air conditioning at full power, Sadie and Stella sound asleep on the floor in the same room.

It didn't seem like it would be this hot today by the way we started with cool temps, fog and heavy dew.

Sadie and Stella did their short trips out to start the day and I was back inside for some coffee from a brand new bag of McDonald's coffee. It's surprising that I would like this after drinking strong Starbucks and Seattle's Best Coffee for years. I keep buying a new bag of McDonald's coffee each time I am out.

Sadie's typical quick trip to the field and back. She starts every morning like this.

I decided while I waited for the grass to dry out enough to mow and the morning dew to get off of the yews in front of the house, that I would take the Z4 out for it's 40 mile loop. A nice drive through the country and a stretch of nice two lane highway to pick up enough high speed to blow the cobwebs out. It doesn't get driven a lot but it's nice when it does. It's also nice to come home and find that Stella did not destroy anything while I was gone.

When I got back from the drive I had the urge to at least rake out the mulch that had been moved around by the heavy rains a few days ago. Those three empty blocks normally hold a flower pot each ... but after last summer's heat that killed my flowers I didn't put any flowers out this year.

I must admit the flower bed looks better, raked out and somewhat level.

Heidi made her appearance after her lunch as usual. I still have not made it over to the vet, 11 miles away, to get her weighed but I am pretty sure she has gained a substantial amount of weight this summer. No meds and she has been eating chicken / rice kibble since April.

I glanced at the yews and wondered if I might be able to trim them back today, while the lawn dried enough to mow. It's like everything else I do ... I start with one task and end up doing more than planned.

I like having these trimmed even with the lawn edgers in the front and away from the house about a foot in back of them.

As far as the height, I liked keeping them trimmed to the bottom of the living room windows. It's nice that they are now starting to hide the DirecTV dish a little without blocking the line of site to the satellite.

This summer I let the yews on the right side of the porch grow more than I normally do. I wanted to see if I preferred their height to be to the bottom of the kitchen window or cut shorter and the same height as the yews on the left side of the porch. I chose to cut them the same height as the ones on the left.

The "after" shots. I know it's best to cut them with hand trimmers but they didn't seem to mind that I used the electric trimmers last year. They grew more this past year more than the other 5-6 years that I had them.

I'm the first owner of the house that had any kind of bushes in front of the house. It use to be grass right up to the foundation of the house.

That might be my mistake though because after more review of some old handwritten notes in pencil, I find that the yews on the right side under the kitchen window are right on top of my septic tank, which was installed in 1975.

I was told when I bought the house in 1997, that the septic tank was over in front of the carport and further away from the house. The question is, should I move yews this fall due to the roots of the yews and the septic tank? I've called 4 different landscaping companies and have had 4 different opinions on whether to move them or not.

Another optical illusion is the height looks uneven because the right side is taller than the left but it's because the ground slants downward. I think I'd rather cut them straight across the top instead of a lower angle to follow the ground surface.

Not a bad trim job ... for an amateur landscaper.

After cleaning up the yard after cutting the yews, I needed a break. I went inside loaded up on 32oz of cold water in preparation to mow the lawn. I didn't have enough gas for the mower so that meant Sadie, Stella and I had to make a quick trip to town for a few gallons of gas.

The sun broke through the overcast clouds by that time and it was hot!!! Stella kept her record in tact for destroying or getting into something inside the house while I am mowing. Each time I set more stuff up higher than she can get to and every time she finds something new to get into while I am outside.

Some of the "child proofing" I do for her, is put the window blinds up half way in the living room windows. I shut all windows in living room and bedroom to prevent any chance of her climbing out of the windows. I put my glasses, billfold, any paperback books, regular size books on top of the refrigerator. The large bowl of fruit now goes on top of the refrigerator. Laptop and camera are put in the bathroom with the door shut.

Today she got into my recycling bin that is in my computer room and pulled out that folded, empty bag of dog food that I bought them yesterday. There must have been a piece or two of kibble left in the bag.

Needless to say, you can see after I finished mowing the yard and a short break with some ice tea ... we took a walk without any leashes.

It did not take long for BOTH hounds to be out of view and pretty far in back of me. They are nowhere to be seen in this next photo.

About the time I turned back around to take a possible photo of them running toward me ... they were already running and blew past me and headed around that first turn.

Today I wanted to keep Stella in view and fairly close, since she went way outside the 'no fly zone' last week. Once we were nearing the back of the field I let her go for her favorite spot in the far right corner.

It did not take long for her and Sadie to find things of interest. I did not attempt to call them. I kept walking the path. I knew that Sadie would definitely catch up with me ... Stella I wasn't so sure about.

Here's Sadie just like I predicted.

About the time I thought I might have to go back to the 25' retractable leash for Stella in future walks ... she took off, galloping toward me, taking a direct short cut instead of following our path.

I don't have any photos of it but we had a surprise visitor on the walk and I was almost sure that Stella was going to take off after it. My neighbor's grandson was out in the field behind their house (it's their field) on an ATV riding around. Luckily Stella stood and watched him and came when I called her. She was very interested in what she was watching though.

They both decided it was time to head back to the house for some water and ice cold air.

As usual, no matter how hot, when I went back outside to do some weed eating and then putting the mower and all the other equipment back in the shed ... both hounds had to go back outside with me. Sadie spent all of her time in the field, even after her walk ... Stella decided it was too hot and the shaded cool concrete felt like a great place to take nap while I trimmed some weeds on the driveway.

You of course noticed a slight change to the blog color ... the background color. Last night a little after midnight it was time to play with templates. I like the blog design, the crimson fonts but needed a little color behind it to give it some depth. I did have to use a different template but everything is pretty much the same design as before. I like the changes I made.

There are not a lot of choices in Blogger for templates. Now Wordpress is a different story ... they have hundreds of free templates to choose from.

Well the sun is back out, everything is done outside for the weekend ... I'm going to make another pitcher of ice tea and try not to wake up the hounds as they sleep soundly after a day of heavy activity for them. Supervising my yard work is a pretty 'rough' life ... lol

Cooler temps predicted for next week in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Last Day of Rain Until The Weekend

Yes, it's rain drops I hear hitting the tree leaves outside my window as my eyes open. It's the same thing I heard when I shut the lights off last night.

I'm not sure what changed, because my routine didn't, but I had one of the best nights of sleep I've had in many months. Even the hounds did not move from their sleeping spots that they started in.

An hour later the rain was still coming down steady. One of those rains where it's straight down, no wind, and a gentle consistent pour. It was hard enough that neither hound went to the field. They barely got into the yard to pee with Heidi being the smartest by staying dry under the roof overhang.

So not much was done today ... I read books, the hounds slept and the rain never stopped coming down until after 1:30pm today.

Luckily for me and the hounds, by this afternoon the rain moved out of the area and we are looking at Wednesday and Thursday as sunny days before it starts raining again for the weekend. That puts my lawn care in an interesting position, one that I have had all summer.

The question is do you go ahead and cut the lawn while it's short ... kind of a trim ... or wait and get caught with the next round of rain that will make the lawn too tall to mow by the time it is dry enough to mow. I've found it's easier to cut it while it's short even if it's not ready to be cut.

We made a trip to town to buy a new 40# bag of dog food at the local feed store. That 40# normally lasts all 3 hounds 17 days but we will be a little short this time. I didn't find out until I opened the back door of the FJ to let Sadie and Stella out at the house.

While driving those short 2 miles, Stella had tore the bag of kibble open and had eaten a good portion of dog food without me realizing what had happened.  LOL ... never a dull moment with Stella ... still a puppy at 7 years old.

By early evening the sky let us know that sunshine is on the way for the next few days. I'll mow on Thursday after the yard spends two days drying out.

Nothing but rainbows here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Sneaks Off In Seconds

I was tired of seeing these two doing this over the past few days, if not weeks. I knew they would both prefer to be outside exploring and tracking all those scents their powerful noses pick up. It had not rained this afternoon so we had a little break in the weather so to speak.

I pulled out another pair of socks to get wet and a dry pair of shoes to sacrifice for the cause ... an afternoon walk for the hounds. When I asked Heidi if she wanted to go, she jump off the couch and sprinted ... to the bedroom ... I took that as a "not interested".

Today had a little added flavor to the walk, unexpected and somewhat of a surprise. I didn't see any kind of warning signs during the walk to tell me it would happen ... the surprise that is.

I am not sure what these orange flowers are. There are not many of them but they brighten up the field and the butterflies love them.

Stella having fun bouncing all over the place while Sadie is way out in front of us.

Sadie has been the one lately to run toward that part of the field in the far right corner. That use to be Stella's favorite for most of the year, but not lately.

I like the bright purple in a field of green.

I'm not sure what has Stella's interest in this photo. Sadie is way off in the right hand corner.

Stella eventually ran over to meet Sadie as she ran to catch up to me ... but she never moves quickly after she decides to explore.

I like the slight change in color. Maybe fall is on the way.

We are past the halfway point of the walk. No surprises so far. No deer had been seen. Nothing out of the ordinary at this time in the walk. Things changed though after I snapped the photos of them on the hay.

Sadie and I were walking, heading home. Based on past experience I figured that Stella was walking behind me like she does at this point of the walk if she is too hot or tired. I didn't know what she had done.

I turn around just to check to see where she was ... Stella was no where to be found. Totally out of my range of site. She was gone just like that and I never heard her howl or bark, if she did. I called her name but never saw her. I knew there was only one place she could be but I didn't expect her to be this far away.

This is WAY OUTSIDE her boundary. The bad thing was for the first time that I can remember since I got her almost a year ago ... when I called her name, she heard me, looked my direction ... then turned and started trotting toward the rolls of hay and toward that red brick house.

Like any breed, once they get to a certain point, they will eventually press that envelope a little further next time. This house to much closer to the highway than my house is and I definitely don't want to start a habit where Stella decides to go visit neighbors when she has the urge.

With Sadie trotting toward her and me yelling her name ... Stella finally started to come our direction. She knew she was in trouble or knew she had gone to far. Once inside the house, she was slowly wagging her lowered tail as she looked at me sitting at the desk. She slowly walked my direction and let me know by poking me with her nose, she was in the wrong.

The local tv weatherman said we had over 3.5" of rain in the past 24 hours. That is not much considering what they are getting in Louisiana but for this area it is above normal for August. Add that to the months of June and July where we averaged over 6" of rain per month ... it has been a pretty wet summer.

He let me know that I will have a couple of days to mow the yard before it starts raining again this weekend. That seems to be the typical schedule this summer and why everything is so green.

Those domestic things on my list I mentioned in this morning's post did not get done today as planned. There is always tomorrow, and the next day and the next day .... you know how it goes, if you are retired.

17 days till IU football here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Rain Will Not Stop

The forecasted rain has arrived and has rarely taken a break. Along with that, the temperatures cooled to the low 70's with the air conditioner turned off and the windows opened.

That's a pretty nice change from the 'heat dome' we experienced just a couple of weeks ago.

For those that have asked, this first photo that I always start the blog with in the left corner is the field of soy beans this year. They alternate it with corn each year.

From what I see on Wunderground and Intellicast, it looks like the day may be called off for outdoor activities and that will give me a chance to catch up on some domestic things on the list, inside.

From two nights of solid rain, and light rain this morning you can see my gutters have not been able to keep up with the flow of water. Consequently the large amounts of water coming over the edge of the gutter has moved my mulch around. It takes a lot of water to do that.

I have underground drainage pipes connected to my gutter downspouts. I'm not sure if they are filled over capacity or if there is a plugged pipe somewhere. The 'pipe' is the typical 6" dia black plastic.

Even with the light rain this morning when I took my first shots of the day, Sadie's routine is to always dump her tanks. She was trained that way as a puppy 8 years ago and has never let weather change that. Here you can see her searching for that one special spot, while getting wet.

I think if I would let her, she would stay outside most of the time ... yet was back to sleep within minutes of being inside.

Yesterday afternoon Heidi made her daily appearance outside. She caught up on her sleep yesterday, as she does every day. With the rain outside today, she will be getting a bath and a manicure right after I post this. I might take a ride to the vet later this afternoon to use their scales and see how much weight she has gained. She has filled out well this summer.

A 'night person' should never drink ice tea at 11pm. The tea and coffee I make is strong ... at least from the feedback I get from people willing to have a glass of tea or a cup of coffee. So with 32oz of caffinated tea in my system near midnight, the chance of sleep was slim.

I was still awake at 3:15am taking advantage of my 'free data' period between midnight and 5am, by installing some updates and running my Bitdefender Virus Scan.

I had to force myself to try to sleep and shut the lights off to the sound of a downpour of rain. I thought the house might be floating by the time we woke up by the way it sounded. The 10-day forecast shows 6 of those days having temps in the low 70's ... how nice is that? Is it too soon to even think that fall might arrive early this year?

I also made some changes to the blog while I was wide awake last night. All of those blogs I deleted from my list a few months ago were added back to the blog roll. There are a few that are not and will not be coming back. My house rule is once a blog starts preaching religion, telling me what I should or shouldn't do or who I should vote for ... they are gone off the list, never to return.

If there is a blog you use to read from my blog list let me know what it was and I'll see if I can add it back to the list. I will say the 3-4 retirement blogs I listed a few months ago fell into the deleted section and will not return.

Mary over at "Me - Retired" had a great design idea for building a bed inside a van. She and her husband used material I would have never thought of using in making an area for a bed. Take a look to see what they did in their Toyota Sierra van.

I forgot to mention last week while I was getting ready for my 'binge watching', that Stella turned 7 years old on the 9th of August. Her 'gotcha day' is the 30th of this month so I'll do a post about that later.

Two good things happened during my 4 days of binge watching tv last week. I decreased my data usage a LOT, thus getting me back on schedule to where I will not be going over my 15Gb limit by the 27th. It also got my head out of the news, on tv and online. I have not gone back to news sites online, nor have I tuned into new channels on tv.

I have no sites that could lead me in that direction listed on my Feedly account (free) ... so if it's not about sports or hounds, maybe some camping ... I don't see it. Not a surprise how much better I feel not following stuff that I cannot control and was simply sick of hearing about.

I'll continue to 'hide' down here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.