Warmer Days Ahead

We got a late start this morning but that did not diminish Sadie's energy when she knows we are going to go on a walk any time of day. I let both of them out while I put my hiking boots on and by the time I reached the backyard Sadie was halfway to the first corner of the woods.

Once she saw me with camera in hand and dressed for 30° weather she sprinted toward me all the way and tapped my knee with her nose to let me know she was ready. Stella had not moved the during the time I was inside the house and was starting so slow I thought she might be hanging back today.

One one hound too far behind to go get and the other taking off out in front of me I decided to keep walking and let Stella go where she wanted this morning.

She decided she would rather go with us than disappear so in a slow trot she gradually caught up with us. I am pretty sure her hips bother her anymore, enough that she can no longer run in a full sprint that she did a couple of years ago. Hip supplements that I tried did not seem to help.

She is not like Sadie. She might run up to you but never stops and most of the time will step on your foot if you are in her way. She will run into you instead of going around you, even inside the house. That is what she did this morning and kept on going. LOL

There was just a little wind out of the southwest and the forecast shows it will be 60° tonight and it will continue that type of weather for the next 10 days. That's a great sign yet I know that as late as the end of May it can still drop back into the 50's like it did a year or so ago. A photos library is a great way to track history.

All of the yard need to be mowed. I might wait one more day before so it can dry out a little more. The Z4 might finally get washed this week and I might even apply a coat of wax. The 2003 car still runs like a new one. It is powerful, quiet and smooth going down the highway. It's even more responsive in the 'sport mode'.

Once again the scents seemed pretty strong this morning. Both bloodhounds were pretty detailed in their exploration with their nose.

I had to do a lot of verbal herding to keep Stella focused enough to follow us. She gets distracted a lot and wants to go in the opposite direction of Sadie and I. Sadie on the other hand always moves forward and is so focused she has no idea what is going on around her.

I am pretty close to making a decision on what to do about the washer and dryer.

I looked to the right and didn't see any deer in the vacant cut field but remember bloodhounds can hear 4x better than the human ear and their noses can smell scent we can't come close to. I am not sure what got Sadie's attention but I am glad that she continued the walk instead me having to run after her in the field to our right.

This is the path the deer take across the back of the either to or from the woods north of us.

I was able to get both of them headed in the direction of home and both of them walked at a slow steady pace with a few stops along the way.

After looking at all the angles I am going to go with buying a new washer and dryer at a good price and with the same or a little larger capacity of the washer I have now. It will be a top loader, both units on sale with good consumer reviews. I don't really want to 'test' my old unit again and then have to go through the same process of cleaning up water, pulling the old units out of their space and cleaning up the floor under the washer plus drying it out with a fan.

If the washer is borderline broke now it will not be long before it is broke beyond repair, so I'll replace it now. A friend reminded me last night that I wouldn't want to go out in the winter and bad weather just to do laundry. Then I remembered those single digit temps this past winter and knew that she was right.

The day of delivery I'll pull both units out and shut off the water at the meter in the front yard.

Not much planned today besides a couple of more walks. If Heidi comes out of hibernation and I take enough photos in the afternoon I might add another blog post later today or early evening. Heidi has not been out any longer than it takes for her to relieve herself first thing in the morning and after her lunch. She might go out with the bloodhounds at night if she wakes up.

A beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

Warmer Days Ahead ... Finally

It was still cold this morning on our walk but by this afternoon it will be back into the 60's and that light snow yesterday will seem like a distant memory. Heidi is still hibernating until it's warmer.

Crazy Weather

Since December this years weather has been nothing but strange, crazy, and wild. Since the Z4 was put away for the winter 'dirty' I didn't put it under it's car cover this year. I woke up to this picture today and could barely see some small snow flakes falling. April 16 ?? I can't do anything but laugh about it. I have a washer update later in the post.

As always even a trace of snow energizes the hounds. About the time I clicked my first photo of them they both took off running way ahead of me. Even Stella was trotting a little faster than normal.

Either deer, rabbits or other night animals were really active last night because both hounds had noses to the ground and tails curled upward. They were intense in their exploration.

They went far enough into the thick brush, with new thorns, that I had to call and tell them to 'get out here' ... they knew what that meant.

About the same time I almost caught up with them, they took off sprinting around the corner and moved to their next favorite spot.

They repeated that again as I came close to them ... running far ahead of me.

Sadie of course looked back to check on me, making sure I was still upright and had a pulse. She never wants me to get too far behind.

What was the scent they were going crazy over, running in different directions that the camera could not even pick up.

When their ears aren't lying down and Stella is moving faster than a slow walk ... you know the scent is strong.

With new growth sprouting in the bushes that brings new sharp thorns. There were enough of them that Stella got hung up for a minute or so until she figured out how to set herself free.

Then once again took off running away from me.

They followed that idea all the way back to the house.

The more I thought about my washer situation last night with both the washer and dryer sitting outside their normal space, I decided even with that one water hose connected I could still lean the washer over toward it's side so I could look underneath ... I was surprised what I found and it made the water mystery even more confusing.

I knew the floor under the washer did not seem wet enough that would match the amount of water I found on my kitchen floor. But I knew the water had to come from there because of how saturated that dry towel got when I set it in front of the washer while doing my two small loads on Saturday.

I expected the floor to be really wet and possibly some standing water but there wasn't either of that. My next surprise is what I found inside the washer by looking from the bottom of it. I didn't see any signs of water, leaking hoses, or water trapped in the small 1/4" wide trap around the edge. All I found was dust and cobwebs. That's a good thing ... yet confusing.

With my bright LED camping flashlight I was able to see quite clearly from bottom to the top on all four sides. I didn't see a water stain anywhere. So I decided to put it and the dryer back in their normal spots and do more thinking.

By last night I had already ruled out buying used. There are only two reasons someone is selling a used washer and dryer ... it's either a money pit with problems or they have upgraded and bought one newer and more expensive. I don't like taking a chance on stuff like that.

I also know due to my DNA that I could never handle a new washer sitting next to my 38 year old dryer that works. It would drive me insane having them different. That's just the way I am. So on my way to buy groceries right after this post, I am going to stop by the local laundromat and see what the cost is, does it use debit cards or quarters, and what kind of vibe I get about the place. After all if I was a full time traveler like I wanted to be a few years ago, I'd have to use laundromats to wash clothes.

In the meantime I have gone back to 'layered clothing' for today but it will be high 50's and then 60's after tomorrow. I am saying it again ... the last day of freezing weather.

Thanks for the comments in the previous post on ideas on replacing a broke washer ... but is it really??? Testing tonight or tomorrow to see what happens.

Light snow disappearing from the grass here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Snow Again??

It was light snow but it stuck to my car and we could see a little of it in the field during our walk. The bloodhounds loved it of course while Heidi was buried in her sleeping bag sleeping.