Sunday, muddy Sunday

/ J. F. Riordan

Every year I ask for a blizzard for my birthday, which is this week. So far, I have only gotten two, and I think the odds are long for any kind of cold weather this year. The snow is almost gone, it’s warm and damp and muddy, and it’s my least favorite kind of weather.

Despite my best efforts, the dogs track in mud, and if I’m not meticulous, leave splatters on the walls and cabinets. If I forget to close the doors to the bedroom, they leave mud on the bed. There are old beach towels spread everywhere in varying stages of dirt and dampness, and it takes time and effort to diminish the squalor.

On top of everything else, it’s too warm for a fire in the fireplace, which doesn’t draw well above 45F.

Complaining about the weather is a human pass time, I suppose, but it annoys me, particularly when I do it myself.

The dogs, blissfully uninterested in the weather—unless it’s raining, in which case they are frustrated when I won’t make it stop—are sound asleep nearby. A pair of red-tailed hawks are on the hunt in the woods, and I do not see a single squirrel or small bird anywhere.
There are worse things in life than bad weather, so we will count our blessings, instead.

Time for more coffee.

29 thoughts on “Sunday, muddy Sunday”

    • A chimney depends on its ability to draw smoke up, rather than let it swirl around the room. That depends on the physics of heat and cold, and some chimneys—like ours—don’t draw (the smoke) properly in warm weather. It’s always been so. Don’t know whether it’s a design flaw or just an unpredictable characteristic, but ignore it at your peril.

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  6. I can empathize with your battle against the mud of what we here in San Antonio get plenty of in Spring and Fall as it rarely snows. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve reseeded or re-sod the back yard or tried a myriad of landscaping ideas to minimize the mud being tracked inside on my Germans’ big paws! The threshold mat outside the french doors says “wipe your paws” but does little to reduce the brown paw prints on the inside tile. But finally I gave up and also spread towels by the door, threw giant painter’s drop cloths over the sofas—anything to protect upholstery and minimize the attack of the mud.

    My laundry room is active every day to wash all that and although I never get ahead of the mess, I am staying even and that’s all I can do till summer returns!

    But I also have rescued cats that I’ve raised since they were 6 days old. They are now nearly three, and I must also boobytrap my Christmas Cactus plants sitting on kitchen windowsill over the winter when they’re inside. My defense system involves aluminum pie pans as an alarm system, so the cats cannot graze on the flower buds before they can even bloom! The cats are saboteurs and by comparison the dogs with muddy paws are actually easier to cope with. I love them all but wonder how much more peaceful life could be without my zoo.

    PS. A rescued kitten I’m calling Phoebe, is bouncing back from spay surgery—already grows restless in her giant penthouse wire crate so I let her run around inside the house when I can focus on supervising her. I must find a safe & loving home for her asap! I can’t keep every Angel I rescue as I can’t keep up the older I get.

    I sent you an early Happy Birthday wish! You Celebrate being so young and beautiful and well loved! You are indeed blessed and you share that with us through your writings and pictures. Thank you always! 🎂🎁🎈🎉🥳

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  7. i’ve loved this breed since I was ten [Rin Tin Tin?] and I do today [i’m 78]. Looking at this picture makes me teary…they’re gorgeous…and, as I’ve said to you before, they’re far handsomer than 98% of the people you’d see at the mall nearest you. My God, they’re gorgeous.

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  9. I actually have your birthday on my calendar (the one from our friend, Annie S.), but I shall wait to send birthday wishes. The boys looks so sweet in this photo.❤️ Sunday, lazy Sunday.

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  10. The most annoying thing is the fact that we get slightly below freezing every night, which makes early morning walking sketchy.

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    • Honestly, my house is a disaster. I just spent 3 hours doing floors and the huskies just keep digging…as much as we try and are diligent, all I see are mud tracks…laugh instead of cry I suppose..good thing I love them…

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  11. It’s sunny in Delphos for the first time in two weeks and in the mid-40’s. I walked around in the garden a bit looking for a sprig of spring. Nothing yet. But this tiny hint of spring, which I know is weeks away, set off my gardening hormones. I’m sitting at the computer looking at garden catalogs online with a fan blowing on me to calm down my hot flashes.

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  13. We’re dealing with mud here in Oklahoma too. Ugh. When I had my two Germans, it was awful. I lost both of them last year due to old age and cancer. I told you about my fear of losing Sasha a couple of years ago on Twitter. Well, we lost Twitter too. I’m glad I found you here. I didn’t think I would survive losing them both within a few months. After a bout with depression, I adopted a 4 month old rescue in August of 2023. She ended up a Belgian Sheepdog and German mix. Her hair is so long, she’s dragging in mud and leaving mounds of sand everywhere. I have the same throw you’re using on you couch. I have towels everywhere. I still have a beach in my house. Ugh.

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  16. But there is always that happy sense of peace and place with two big lugs snoozing without a care on the floor, or the sofa, or a bed. May the mud be gentle on our weary February souls. Sharing the wee doldrums with you at this time of year, Melissa Munro

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  17. It’s good to know we are not alone in the misery of rainy, muddy weather and the constant battle of muddy paws and mismatched towels and blankets!
    Blessing and coffee for all!! 🐾💕

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