muddy paws

The weather this winter has been beyond odd. Today it was almost 60 degrees, and rainy (again). I hesitate to complain too much, as we haven't had to battle frozen water tanks, but I am starting to get worried. No frozen ground means no hard frost, and no hard frost means that nasties such as sheep worms and garden fungi are not getting hit hard enough to reduce their numbers. I hate to think what this means for the coming summer.

The other problem with no frozen ground and tons of rain is: mud. Mud everywhere. It is definitely more like March conditions out there.

This means that Dusty can't come along for chores in the morning because he just ends up covered with mud from head to toe, and then we have to rinse him off outside. He takes that cold water from the hose like a champ, but he reserves the right to feel very sorry for himself once inside.

See? See how sad the poor dog is, tied up while he dries off and reduced to using a smelly pair of boy shoes as a pillow?

In case you need a close-up to really appreciate the pathos:

Oh, the (in)humanity! Try not to feel too sorry for him. No chores means he gets a two mile walk/run every morning, so things are quite as bad as he'd have you believe.