Dry

Cone flowers are very easy to grow, normally. They do need a lot of moisture, so I have been making sure they get a good drink at least every other day. One of the reasons I plant them, everywhere, is that finches love the tiny thistles that form after the flower dries. I won't cut back the plants until spring, leaving the dried clumps for all of the birds. Kind of a neat way to give back to nature.

The dryness of the ground doesn't seem to be bothering the Diva. Gracie does prefer green grass to graze, which is still available up against the house under the faucet, but running around on the straw is just fine for the Diva Princess. However. I have watched my boy pick up his paws repeatedly this past week, licking the pads, looking at me with those pathetic eyes. Straw sticks in, and can feel like little needles. Jake is not happy with that aspect of the yard. When he's had enough, he'll come up on the deck to sit by me.

Chance of rain this afternoon. If I knew a rain dance, it would be performed.
Be safe.
Linda

The Garden in a drought

I have been told that weather runs in cycles. That is to say that even though this is central Indiana's third year of summer drought, the jet stream will eventually shift and we will return to normal rainfall. Kind of hard to believe when you are in the middle of daily watering.

We have not had any measurable rain fall since May 1st. I do recall that April 28th I wore my winter jacket to protect against a very cold rain at the 2012 Mutt Strut fundraiser at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That may have been our last rain that lasted longer than 5 minutes.

I can't even guess how many hours I have spent out watering the flower beds, trees, and shrubs with a hose in the past 2 months. You invest so much time and money in landscaping you hate to see it burn up. As you can see from this last photo, the grass is green around the trees. I deep water them, now, at least twice a week. The River Birch have already dropped their leaves once from intense heat and lack of moisture. Trying to prevent that from happening again.

All of this kind of makes you wonder what is going on with the environment, doesn't it? Nothing according to the Republicans. Everything according to the Democrats. Who is right? I don't know. But I do know that in my 64 years, I have never experienced 3 straight years of drought like this. And that scares the crap out of me.

Think about it.
Linda

Fundraiser

Several weeks ago, one of our dog friends notified us that there would be a fundraiser for the Indianapolis Humane Society at Creation Cafe. It was this past Sunday. The restaurant has outdoor seating, overlooking the canal in downtown Indy. What we all didn't predict was that the temperature would be in the mid 90's. There were big umbrellas over the tables, and that certainly helped. They also provided 2 small child type wading pools filled with water.

Dogs either love water, or don't much care about getting wet. My boy Jake loves to wade. So he immediately entered one of the small pools to cool off his paws. Gracie is a Diva, and doesn't care about getting wet. She just looked at it, and I tried to get her to go in, but no, mom, I'm not doing that. You will notice in the last photograph all of the water on the pavement. If you look in the lower left corner, you'll see a set of white paws. That is Dega, a Wheaton Terrier. Dega flips water dishes. He was hot, so that was the solution. I was glad to see all of the water dishes scattered around, but the folks in charge were not prepared for Coal, the Newfie above. A dish that size is just getting the big boy started.

We were very concerned about eating and getting the dogs out of there. A portion of what we paid for the meal went to the Humane Society. Coal, Gracie, and Jake all rode in the back of my Escape, with Coal sucking up the air conditioning. Gracie won't argue with Coal when in the car. She knows better. It was a good afternoon.
Linda

And I gave you a bath because?

Gracie, rolling in the grass and rubbing her body along the fence

Jake in the living room, snoozing

A few days ago I decided the dogs needed a bath. At this time of year, I try to bathe them every other week. They can get rank if I don't. So why is it, immediately after the bath, Gracie rubs her entire body on the chain link fence? Then rolls in the grass? The Diva hates getting wet, but has no problem rolling in whatever she can find.

Jake, on the other hand, just wants to run around the yard to dry off. I took this shot of him this morning. He follows me from room to room, so if I'm doing laundry, he is on the couch just outside of the utility room. So cute. And very happy.

Have a good, productive day.
Linda

Recap

On Friday, June 1st, Gracie and I attended an all day sheep herding workshop. It was cold. The forecast was for partly sunny and the mid 60's. It never did become "partly sunny", nor did the temperature go above 58. Did I mention the wind? Straight out of the north, (it was in the mid 40's in Chicago!) and very strong. I had a sweatshirt jacket over a short sleeved t-shirt. Needless to say, I froze my butt off.

I hesitated to sign up for this workshop, because I don't have a great deal of confidence in myself when it comes to herding. Gracie can do excellent work. I am the main problem, and it is a long road to improve. We were the 5th ones in the line-up. I swear, not 90 seconds after we entered the pen, Gracie had taken off, split the herd, and was barking. Larry, the gentleman from Missouri who was running the workshop, said "Can I help you?" Well, yeah, go for it, Larry. He then announced that Gracie had attitude.

Hello? Australian Shepherd? Spoiled rotten? Sassy mouth? Duh! Yeah, she has an attitude. Major. But a few minutes with Larry, and her highness was doing what she was suppose to do. And looking at me with a bit more respect. I did learn a lot, not only from what Larry told me, but from watching a different set of people with different dogs. This is the first time I saw Shelties and Corgis herd. The Shelties were amazing. The poor Corgi was chased by a sassy sheep named Daisy. Evidently Daisy doesn't care for Corgis.

I know a lot of my friends think I'm nuts for doing the herding lessons with my dog. But I've learned a lot about dogs and people in the past 2 years. Learning is a good thing. It means growth. And, to me, that's what it's all about.
Linda