Bloodhounds Wait For Storms To Clear

If you would have been walking with us and saw this blue sky a little after 3pm, you would have never believed how black the sky was and how hard it was raining this morning. There might be more rain tonight before we get back to weeks of sunshine and mid 80's. Needless to say Sadie was thrilled to get at least one walk in today ... Stella followed along for the ride.

With the steady downpour knocking out my satellite tv and internet reception I carried my coffee cup to the kitchen table where I could look outside while it rained and get in some early games of Mahjong. The rain was coming straight down, something the satellite signal does not like, although wind and lightning will doesn't seem to bother it.

Even after lunch I saw a patch of blue sky but thought it must be my eyes deceiving me. Heidi confirmed she was not staying outside any longer than to relieve herself and back inside for her afternoon siesta.

She was moving too fast for the camera. I had her lined up but by the time the camera focused her head was hidden out of view.

With the strong winds blowing heavy rain it looks like my plants may have been able to get some 'real' water ... pure rain. I hope so.

Don't let the picture fool you. First Stella was not going to walk because she thought it was still raining so she sat in the carport staring at me. When I convinced her it was sunny and we could walk, she creeped slowly around the corner of the house and headed due north as if I was going to let her go on her own walk ... that would end up at the neighbors. When I told her no, she turned and headed our direction stepping directly onto the path.

All the wild flowers, plants and even the yard look better after lots of needed rain.

Once she was in the field all was okay with her as she moved toward Sadie who was not quite at the first turn.

Sadie was on her own schedule though and was waiting for no one. Fresh scents to smell and identify.

Stella wasn't here long before I touched her collar. She took off walking about the time I slid my finger under the collar.

While Sadie got her daily running in ....

Stella strolled at her normal slower than slow pace.

More rain coming from the southwest.

Sadie and I were ready to get back home. She wanted water I wanted food. Plus I've been watching the MLB Trading today ... deadline was at 4pm EST. Lots of movement of players today.

Again Stella wanted to checkout the direction of the neighbor's backyard. What is it she smells? Food cooking, the wild field cat, or does she hear people talking inside the house?

Without me saying a word, she turned and headed home.

It wasn't as hot outside as Sadie looks. In fact there was a nice strong cool breeze. I really am surprised that we fit this walk in our day. It didn't look like there was a chance of doing anything this morning except to stay inside.

All the hounds are sound to sleep at 4:09pm ... it's been another successful day to them.

All is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Back On Facebook - I Must Be Bored

The rains arrived as predicted. It was one of those rains that was steady, quiet, straight and strong enough at times to block all satellite connections for my tv and internet services. Maybe it was because I was bored while it rained, or it might have been because I really did miss some of the services I had with a Facebook account. I've RE-started a new Facebook account this morning and am slowly building it again with photos and the few friends I have scattered all over the USA and Canada.

Some of the groups I use to follow did not have a Twitter or Instagram account. A few local pages were nice in case of weather or electrical emergencies and were helpful. I use Twitter to get all of my up to the minute sports news. I opened a Instagram account months ago because a few bloggers had moved there to continue their blogging as well as some old friends that have photos of their dogs. So I guess social media is nice to have as long as the verbal wars and disagreements stay away. Most of my friends are not local so it's a good way to stay in touch. I have a few friends only on Facebook that enjoy photos of the hounds there but rarely if ever come to the blog.

If you would like to add me on Facebook, here is a link to my account.

https://www.facebook.com/steve.floyd.31105

I do post a few photos of the hounds but none of them are different than the photos you see here on the blog.

I was so busy trying to rebuild my account, I worked right through the time I normally feed the hounds at lunch. They did not bark, howl or whine for food today ... they slept right through lunch with the sound of quiet rain creeping through the open windows. With the rain, none of them were going further than the roof overhang to relieve themselves ... except Sadie. She wasn't in the yard long before she sprinted back to the door to be let inside. She waited for Stella and Heidi to join her.

Heidi moved so fast after her bathroom break that I took four different photos and only this one came out clear. She ran to the living room, dove onto the floor and started her daily rolling on her back while growling at herself. She was sleeping soon after her burst of energy.

Even with a lot of good rain ... none of it reached my flowers and plants in the flowerbed, which you will see below.

We didn't do much Sunday so we didn't blog. I found out how out of shape I am in when I woke up Sunday with very sore muscles in the back of my legs just from my activity on Saturday. It was nothing strenuous. I did a lot of bending over while I was on the roof cleaning a couple of gutter downspouts, pulling weeds in the front flowerbed and finished by washing the Z4 which sits low to the ground. Ibuprofen was my best friend on Sunday. All outdoor tasks were cancelled.

The hounds felt the same way. They spent most of Sunday sleeping but still got their two daily walks in. Heidi felt like I did ... she wanted to do nothing and did nothing.

By accident this morning I think I have found Stella's allergy source. This is her itching yesterday. It was also a day where I kept taking allergy tablets myself. That is just a hint of what may be wrong with her, that will talk about below.

We had a lot of good solid rain last night but I never heard it while I slept. This shows why my plants do not get rain water. I planted each plant in the middle of the flowerbed so when they are fully grown they will not grow past the landscape edging. Also, the corner where the edging turns left is the approximate location of my septic tank inlet. That area would need to be dug up for them to clean my system, if it's ever required.

Therefore I still have to water my plants even if it rains. You can see that one Azalea has been brutally beaten down by a sub zero winter and a hot summer. I am not sure it will recover and continue to grow. I have two more on the other side of the porch and each of them look more like the full leaf green one.

Sadie wasn't sure we were going to really go for a walk through the wet field this morning. I could tell there had been a lot of rain by the way the ground felt, very soft. Also my yard was turning green before my eyes. It's amazing how much it changed in a 48 hour period. Just last week I considered bringing out the lawn sprinklers to water the yard if I was not going to get any rain.

I have no explanation for Stella. This morning she started walking on the path in her slow pace but the difference was ... she never stopped walking. 99.9% of the walk she walked with only one time she stopped for some deer scat. She never lowered her head to the ground but that one time during the walk ... it was like she was walking in her sleep.

She walked and walked ... LOL

Sadie was doing what Stella normally does. But I don't have to call Sadie catch up as she does that on her own.

You can barely see Stella hidden behind the brush.

This is the only time she stopped walking during the half mile walk.

With thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon and the dampness in the air, my painting project is on hold until the weather is dry and hot again.

Yes, Stella is still walking in slow motion. She is walking along the overgrown ATV path from last summer that runs parallel to the back edge of the field but much further left of Sadie and I.

She almost stopped as she circled something that interested her. About the time I started walking her direction in case I needed to get her to move ... she took off walking again towards our return path by the last turn of our walk.

You can barely see the path we take, which moves right next to the right of the roll of hay. Stella has crossed the path waiting to see if I tell her to stop and turn around.

I did tell her 'no, come here' and she was about to me when she dodged to check out one more thing before she started her walk home. Yet, she never put her nose to the ground.

Sadie was on her own and always ran to catch up to me.

Notice that Stella is in the exact same pose as she walks ... I should have shot a video of her instead of having the camera catch her in stop action. No, for those that are wondering, this will not turn into a Vblog.

A little verbal herding kept Stella headed in our direction. She would love to go over and visit the neighbors backyard and check for any food that might be out for the wild field cat.

Instead of sitting and scratching this morning when she returned to the yard, she stood and waited for me to take her picture. Then she turned and started walking toward the house. She has NOT scratched at all this morning inside or outside ... and I have not had to take any allergy tablets today, with all the windows open due to the low temperatures.

Have you figured out what I think may be Stella's itching source???

Pollen.

I look at Wunderground every morning to see what kind of weather I have to look forward to. This time of year I look at their block for Precipitation and Pollen. When I started thinking about it I remembered noticing that Stella does not scratch all the time and even not every day. Just like I don't take allergy tablets every day or all the time. I also saw that Wunderground's pollen count was pretty accurate and I can usually feel it in my sinuses first thing in the morning when I look at their site.

I'll start paying more attention and see if what I said here about Stella's allergies proves to be fairly accurate.

This is not the pose I wanted of Sadie when I took this picture but she moved at the last second and turned her face away from the camera.

With the Reds and Cubs having the night off from baseball, it might be a night to catch a movie on tv or a DVD off of my shelf. I don't watch hardly any prime time tv shows but I do have my DVR set to automatically tape new and older shows. That library is building up fast. I am going to have to change the settings to only 'new' episodes.

What might some of them be?

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is one of my favorites. There is some great food on that show and luckily he has stopped a few places in Indiana within driving distance. I like watching Mexico Life, Caribbean Life, Beachfront Bargins Hunt, Mountain Living, Building Off The Grid, F1 Racing, IndyCar Racing, Hometown, Dr. Jeff Rocky Mountain Vet, and Comfort Food Tour. I also have various college football programs that include the Pac12, and the BigTen.

Luckily I put the car cover on the Z4 Sunday afternoon while it was sunny. Rain was predicted for Sunday night, which did happen. It's good to keep the rain, pollen and dust off of it when it's parked.

For those readers that use Apple products I still like the new macOS on my Mac and laptop. I have not put it on my iPhone and won't until it is officially released this fall. I am currently using the 'beta' version on my computers.

So ... not much going on today. Rain off and on, at times very heavy. Temps are still cool, no AC and the hounds and I are enjoying this weather rain or shine here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.