A New Battle With Mosquitoes

Were these mosquitoes late Sunday night in the house because they were small enough to move through the small design of the window screens. I have brand new screens, no holes, and nowhere could I see where they could get in to infiltrate the house and attack me with vengeance just before going to bed. I kept dreaming about them and could feel new bites while I slept.
I know they were mosquitoes because I was killing them at a rapid rate, but where did they come from?

I wondered at the time this morning, why was I putting on my North Face snow boots to keep my feet dry during the walk. The past few days the temperature at 7:30a, was 76-78° and never dropped below the mid 70's during the night. Last night was different, mid-60's ... therefor a lot of heavy dew in the shaded area of the field.

I had not even walked out of the yard yet when my boots were already soaked. I had my first good idea of the day ... wearing the snow boots, rubber tops.

Sadie and Stella were not as energetic this morning as yesterday. Maybe the two walks we took yesterday satisfied them enough, possibly wearing them out. There was nothing planned out of the ordinary today. With everything planted yesterday I only had a few things to do as far as adding some mulch.

Stella has developed two calluses on each hip bone from sitting then slowly rotating on them as she scratches. I have a couple of options I can try from my shelf. K9 Klear Up was sent to me by a friend for Heidi in 2015. His Mastiff had the exact same calluses that Stella has and this stuff worked.

I'm not sure if the Wounded Warrior Ointment I also bought for Heidi last year would be the right stuff for "elephant skin" calluses.

By the reactions of the hounds this morning there seemed to be a lot of deer scent. In this area it could be nothing else. It's been a long time since Sadie or Stella chased deer. I remember their latest chance, I saw the deer but they didn't ... around 5 of them running along this back edge of the field.

Stella was moving along pretty well today on her own. Not a lot of 'herding commands' were needed.

Neither hound wanted to leave this area ... I practically had to drag them away.

Every time we make the final turn toward home, Stella always hangs back for one reason or another. She will then usually trot slowly in our direction. Today she never stopped and trotted right past me like she had somewhere to go.

That was until a very strong scent completely took over her nose and her brain. She raised her nose high and stood there and tried to process everything her nose was telling her. She finally took about two steps in that direction when I yelled "no" ... it was already hot and I had been bitten by something on my back in a place I could not reach ... causing pure insanity.

As Stella and I went one direction, Sadie went the opposite direction. It is a place that she has been running to for the past few days. With her I don't say a word and continue walking because no matter how far I get ahead, she will always come running to catch me.

Is it just me or is this field growing by the hour???

When I mentioned that I wanted to get home and 'eat' breakfast ... that word 'eat' was just enough to get them headed in my direction. Anything food related makes them quite motivated to follow me.

Heidi came outside again Sunday afternoon but only because I didn't have the camera with me. She walked a little in the field but was snooping all the scents instead of walking with us. At least she has finally moved off the couch ... but ...

For the first time in 5 years, since the Yew's are gone, Heidi has decided to move her area for dumping her tanks from the front yard now to the backyard. She has not gone any further than the corner of the carport since the Yews were pulled out.

Isn't that funny ... or strange?

It started first thing in the morning but it got worse as the day progressed. My allergies were out of control today. No meds helped and the allergy attack would hit almost immediately as I stepped outside the door. With the temps in the 77° range by mid-day it was cool enough for the windows to be opened but wasn't for my allergies. Windows closed - AC on.

It felt much cooler than it was showing on my iPhone weather app, so we headed out for our afternoon walk by 4:30pm. That is about 3 hours earlier than the past week or two due to the hot temps. Heidi raised her head from the couch letting me know she had no intentions of leaving her stretched out position with a living room full of cold air. She has enjoyed her time on the couch this summer, continuing the basset hound traditions.

What I found was more mosquitoes than I had seen all summer. When I returned home and was applying Benadryl, I counted around 15 new bites. There is nothing I hate more than mosquito bites. I'll be looking for my prevention lotion before we walk again.

I let the hounds go on their own, even though they did walk to the first corner together. I keep looking at Stella and wondering if a change in dog food would help her. I am thinking of going back to Fromm dry food. I checked Chewy so I could try them for the first time, with their offer of free shipping and $25 off. They carry Fromm products but not the kind of dog food I have used in the past. I can buy it at T&T Feeds in Bloomington, getting a free 40# bag after I buy 10.

As I walked along the back edge of the field, I could see Stella making her slow walk to where she had gone for the first time the other day. I figured I'd stop on the way back to convince her it was time to come home.

She would stop and look at me when I yelled her name from afar, then kept walking. LOL

The picture is somewhat deceiving. She is a lot closer to me, than she is the highway.

There it is, the new spot of interest.

With Sadie walking next to me and deciding not to chase every butterfly that was in the area having lunch, I was able to get my first two pictures of butterflies this year. I have enough of them from last summer, that they have their own folder in my Flickr photo library. (1Tb of Free Storage)

It was okay temps wise but at this time the mosquitoes had bitten me enough to feel miserable and a little irritable. I was able to catch the hounds right behind me with the lens set at 18mm. They were sound to sleep again within minutes of walking inside the house .... another day is finished for them.

Every time I attempted to get closer, this butterfly would fly away. The 200mm zoom was the best I could do to catch it.

It was a quiet day with no yard labor involved. It will be another night of ice tea and baseball, with a little reading as the game is going on. Benadryl has cured my irritability with the mosquito bites, while I checked Google for some strategic plans in the war against mosquitoes.

Some late photos from tonight ...

It was a great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Sadie's Thrilled To Walk & A Lot Of Landscaping Progress

With Heidi refusing to go outside after lunch, Sadie and Stella were already outside starting their walk, whether I intended to come or not. With the winds still strong, I could barely feel the humidity rising as we finished the walk. What a relief to feel 15°-18° cooler today. With the ground really soft I had some big plans for later this afternoon.

I had barely walked to the corner of the house when Sadie stopped to see if I was going to join her for a walk or would she and Stella take one on their own. She was between a sprint and hopping all the way from the yard to the field ... thrilled she was getting her walk.

Like after any other strong storm, the winds were still strong today. It wasn't a cool breeze but one that felt good being just a few degrees cooler than the temps. With my shoes already soaked and squishing water out of the tops of them, I was hoping this wind would hang around to help dry my shoes out this afternoon.

Sadie wasn't the only one excited about walk. Stella walked into the back of my knee to let me know I needed to step off the path so she could run by me. She NEVER moves out of her way to go around someone or another hound ... she steps on them to get by. She continued past Sadie and took the early lead of the walk.

Although my location was clear of any pending storms, the skies to the north and south of us looked as if they were still having big storms. Would all of the rain last night wash away the scents Sadie and Stella were use to or bring out that many more new ones for them?

They have always been a good 'team' when exploring the field.

Since it has been a long time since our last really good rain, the ground was still quite firm after a couple of inches of rain the past 12 hours. I could tell the field grew even while I slept. I was surprised though it wasn't muddy as we walked.

I did not have to do much herding of the hounds today. They were in continuous motion, getting all of their nose work in. It's good exercise for them and they also get me out walking a mile or two per day.

It's amazing just how fast this field is growing and all the rain last night increased the speed of that growth. Looking at pictures from a year ago that Facebook automatically provides if I posted one, the field was taller but they also cut it earlier last year.

I could barely see my shadow in the back of the field but I could not only feel it getting warmer but I could see just a glimpse of sunshine. Combine that with the humidity, I knew I'd be shutting the windows and turning on the AC as soon as we got back to the house.

Stella is showing me what I am feeling from the little amount of sunshine, is right. She is already panting heading back to the house.

Slightly veering off to the center of the field, she abruptly made a turn in my direction without me saying a word. She must have thought I knew the shortest way back to cold rooms.

Hopefully the wind will dry out the shoes. They are made for all kinds of weather, they are built to get wet. I am on my second pair of these and will try to buy the exact same model later this summer. Yet, this pair has a lot of miles left on them.

With all the plant ideas giving me some motivation of sorts, I decided it was time to pull out the Windex and clean the bird crap off of my 30+ year old thermometer. It might be as old as the house but so far I can confirm it's at least 30 years old.

Before

Now that it's clean it should have another 10 years added to its lifespan. It does not need a battery, isn't wireless ... just a good old fashion thermometer.

After

By 1pm I was pretty sure I had the plan for the new landscaping project firm in my mind and where I wanted to plant everything. With the ground much softer than yesterday afternoon, I took advantage of that and planted all the plants I bought the other day.

I'll wait and add some more as I go along. I need to find a place locally that has the Hostas in stock, plus a couple of new suggestions today ... Marigolds and Nasturtiums.

The plans were to replace the old iron carport supports next summer, once I decided to either go with new rod iron or change to wood posts. In the meantime a blog reader suggested I use Hollyhock to grow around and through the carport supports in front. Sounds like a good idea.

As usual once I come to a decision, in this case knowing where to put each plant that I had bought, I want to do it as soon as possible. With all the rain last night and earlier this morning would the ground be too wet or muddy to plant flowers?

My two assistants wanted to make you think they had important parts in digging the holes ... but while I did the manual labor of digging and planting ... they were out back eating that fresh mud that the moles had pushed up.

It didn't take long for Stella to lose interest in the job at hand. Once I told her I had to wash her nose off, she decided taking a siesta and not moving was a better idea. After all she had a bath just a few days ago.

The job didn't take me long but it was long enough for her to switch positions while sleeping and a deep sleep that she didn't know I was taking her picture.

I like to make sure the shovel is clean after it is used.

It's hard to imagine this Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns' Daylilly will grow to 14"-18" tall and 22"-26" spread ... If it does it will be perfect for the far right corner if you are looking at the front of the house.

I wanted a Azalea 'Girard's Hot Shot' just right of where Heidi goes from the carport to the front of the yard. She has already found it different since her Yews are gone. This should help bring some color to the front of the carport.

I forgot to mention the first hole I dug had dry dirt believe it or not after all the rain we had. It might have helped that it was under the roof overhang. The dirt texture was the same as peat moss.

It looks bare now but once that Azalea matures, enough of that wall to the right of the window will be covered. I not only wanted to keep the steps open but also the vent for the crawlspace. I might put a potted plant there later. Remember my septic tank is right below that window, 3' from the last step and 6' out from the foundation. That 2nd stone is about 9" behind the septic tank inlet that they would use to pump it.

Here is a closer look at the Azalea, with a lot of room to grow

I decided to go with another Azalea in the right corner instead of a yellow Daylily. That will be two reds on each end. Besides adding mulch here, I'll add more small annuals later on or mums this fall.

I think this will fill the corner nice, unless Ethan gave me some wrong dimensions when it is fully grown.

I thought the Daylily might spread out and cover a little of the entry to the crawlspace. I cant remember if it was the Yellow or the Purple de Oro. Either one will be easy to brush back so I can get down into the crawlspace when needed. I might add something smaller next spring or mums this fall.

Here I might have made a mistake and may have to replant the Azalea to the right of the dish bracket. When I sat it there it looked too open left of the dish so I moved just left of the bracket. After it's fully grown it should cover a lot of the dish bracket so it will not look as bad as it does now. You have to admit though ... that dish is storm proof.

So we can remember just how small it was when I planted it. Of course I'll be adding more topsoil and mulch in this area between the gutter downspout and Azalea along with anything showing dirt.

Early this morning I decide the Purple de Oro and Hemerocallis Happy Returns Daylily might work really well hiding my satellite dish pole for my internet service. I didn't want to go right of the pole due to the underground cable a few inches below the grass.

Based on what I have read, both of these should grow enough to hide a lot of the pole but not all of it.

This has been here since I bought the house in 1997. A few times when I have let it grow longer/taller it has pink blossoms. I do not know what it is. I usually cut it back every fall but that means I don't have flowers on it every year.

Even one year it was burned almost to the ground when I had a leaf fire get out of control. You know how I am about fires in the fall. I was so lazy that year I actually thought I'd burn the leaves I had raked right there at the base of the small bank ... poor decision and one never repeated.  LOL

After I found Sadie out back, I called her in. She actually had been walking around and at times on the Azaleas as I planted them. She was more than curious what they were and what I was doing ... until she got bored with it.

Stella went to sleep but Sadie had to roam.

After she inspected my work along with my 'rough layout' of the sidewalk ... she thought it might be best if I would add one more square stone to it and also put one of those gray stones in the middle of the red ones. 

I'll spend some time this week getting the stones level since they are just tossed in the general area so I could see what they would look like. It looks pretty empty with the full grown Yews there but I see a lot of potential from what I have done so far.

One new idea I had as I was looking through these photos ... that picture right above with Sadie standing by the covered car ... just to the right of the potted Geranium is a spot where the rain over flowing from the gutter spreads out all of the mulch.

Since it has done that over and over for 20 years, making no difference what I do to the ground, more mulch or clean the gutters ... I am going to buy and place a large rock there for some added decor and a place where the water can run on all it wants.

I still have a lot of open space to plant smaller annuals or even small perennials. Or I can leave it open with mulch and some large rocks. I think I am off to a good start even if I don't have a clue about what I'm doing and it took just a little over an hour to plant everything.

Another good day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I Found Out What Rain Was

I made a comment Saturday night over on Al's blog, The Bayfield Bunch, "rain??? rain??? what's that?" ... well starting about 12:30am local time last night I found out really quick what rain was, plus loud thunder, bright lightning and high winds. Even Stella stood up from sleeping to check to see if everything was okay.

I was glad to see it happen. All the storms forecasted in previous weeks were all north of us. My front yard was getting brown plus I knew it would cool those temperatures we had lived with the past week or two. It looks like one project will be moved up on my 'to do' list. Dig up the old drainage system I installed years ago and re-install something new since this is consistently having standing water after heavy rains.

I could feel the rain lightly falling on me as I tried to get some pictures after the storms this morning. Sadie didn't believe me when I told her it was still raining and we could not go for the morning walk yet. She had to find out for herself and once she did, she moved to the carport under cover, while I risked getting wet taking photos.

My pictures this morning are a mix from my Nikon D3200 and my iPhone 6s, see if you can tell the difference.

I slept through all of the storms that continued throughout the night. Based on the tweets from my local Utility Company this morning, power is out in a lot of places except mine. There are reports of a lot of trees that were blown down. Luckily I didn't hear any of those scary "cracking" noises you hear before a tree falls. Yet the storms cleared out some of the dead limbs on my Mahogany trees in back.

At this point in time as Sadie and I walked around the backyard checking for any damages, she still thought there might be an outside chance for a walk this morning. Wunderground and Intellicast are showing the rain should stop around 1pm ... I'll put on my boots made for hiking in wet fields and we will take off on a walk after their lunchtime kibble.

Since in the past I have always had my potted flowers destroyed by high winds and thunderstorms, I put my two pots of Geraniums and Elfins inside the carport away from the blowing rain that would take place later on, just as I predicted. Maybe I should apply for one of those tv weatherperson positions since I seem to be more accurate.

No damage this morning from the blowing rain last night. I think I see in that top picture a little improvement from the way the flowers looked when I potted them yesterday afternoon.

As I stepped outside into the light rain to check on the Azaleas that I had sitting in possible locations, two out of four of them had blown over. It was good I moved the flowers into the carport when I did last night before the storms started.

See those steps that are never used except by a lost stranger every year or so? I plan to keep those open with a stone walkway leading to them. I am trying to decide whether to put the walkway in front or in back of the Azaleas. I'm thinking in front of them will be the best and I'll move the Azalea a little closer to the house. I have decided to move that one in the picture over to just right of the small kitchen window. New positions are pictured below.

After more reading on the internet this morning about Azaleas plus what Ethan told me at the landscaping biz ... their root system will be very shallow, only a foot deep. They will grow as large as I let them. Since I bought the "hot shots", they will bloom into my favorite color ... or one of my favorite colors ... red.

So I started looking at the front of my bare house again and came up with a different idea about placement this morning. I moved the Azaleas to where I think will be their final resting place. The forth one you can barely see is right in front of the Directv dish bracket, which will grow enough to hide that bracket.

One reason I don't like Sycamore trees ... even after cleaning out my gutters of their bark just last week, my front gutter plugged up again last night by their bark and possible tree branches ... you can see where the rain ran over the gutter and moved the mulch around.

While Stella scratched, Sadie stood listening to me mumble plant ideas out loud to myself as I took photos. I have two Yellow Daylilies and I have been told not only do they have a deep root system but you can't get rid of them once you plant them. They keep coming back.

So I came up for an idea about them.

I will plant one to the left of the porch in the corner. I'll keep it cut back so it does not take over the porch and maybe just a little above the bottom of my low living room window.

The other one I am going to plant in front of the pole that holds my HughesGen5 satellite dish for my internet. I'll let it grow somewhat out of control where it will add some bright yellow to the corner of the house and hopefully grow tall enough to hide most of the pole the dish sits on.

With deep root system it can enjoy going as deep as it wants and wrap around the 3' feet of concrete the dish installer used when setting the pole in the ground.

Or I could trade the yellow Daylily by the porch with the Azalea that is on the south corner of the house ... that way both yellow flowers would be 'bookends' with the reds between them.

In between these 6 different plants I'll fill in with Hostas and other annuals. At the same time I'll continue to learn more about this landscaping stuff and add things as I get ideas. Feel free to comment or send me emails on my idea or any new ideas on your own. I have almost ruled out any kind of bushes or shrubs.

For those readers that receive my blog by email, I apologize for all the spelling errors I did not catch. I've corrected them after seeing what was sent out automatically.

It's 20° cooler this morning here in the wet 'tropics' of Southern Indiana.