Whoever is doing the rain dance . . .: 5/13-19 WRD

Enough, already!

I really do try hard to look on the bright side of things, but it’s been hard this week, due to the weather. Make the rain stop! We did have one truly lovely day yesterday, and Thursday was mostly nice, too. Mr. Judy and I were able to take advantage of the nice weather yesterday and eat outside at the restaurant we went to (you may have seen the delicious dessert we shared on IG here).

bwrd

Joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner and just sharing how to ease back into activity.

briots

And linking up with Jenn @ Runswithpugs, Brandi @ Funnerrunner, Anna Louise @ Graciouswarriorprincess, Briana @ Matsmilesmedals, Meghan @ Meghanonthemove, and Elizabeth @ Trainwithbainfor RIOTS(running is our therapy)

Workouts update

  • Monday:  Dogwalk, 3 Easy Miles FTC Mentoring, Yoga (20 min)
  • Tuesday:  Dogwalk, Pilates (15 min), Yoga (20 min)
  • Wednesday: Dogwalk, Legs (10 min), 3 miles “easy”
  • Thursday: Dogwalk (rest day)
  • Friday: Yoga, SB (20 min)
  • Saturday: 3.1 miles easy with FTC Mentoring, Yin Yoga (30 min)
  • Sunday: Dogwalk, Some sort of ST soon

Mileage: 9 (+4)

JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*

*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links

Running Updates

At least it makes everything green

Monday
I hate weathermen and radar. The radar said the rain wouldn’t start until 3:30, well after the training group. So would someone explain to me why halfway through our run a cold rain started to pelt us? I was not happy.

Checking out a new running group

Wednesday
I checked out a new group. I knew a couple of people there, including Darlene @ Myfirst5k. There are runners to lead the front, middle, and BOTP. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough for the fast runners and too fast for the slower runners. I ran one mile with a girl, but it was not a pace I could maintain for long, considering how little running I’ve been doing.

I let her go when I stopped a bit after a mile for a walk break. I ran the rest of the run on my own. Some day I will meet someone who’s a good match for me again!

Oops! We did it again. Pattern twinning.

Saturday
Finally, perfect running weather. We had rain 5 out of 7 days this week (and more on the way). If only we could have this weather for the race! I ran with several different women, and with one woman I’ve run with a few times — she’s a new runner (many aren’t), and we did 3.1 miles. She was very happy!

Got the Bok Choy in the “ground” (raised planter)

Favorites of the week
Saturday was a stunning day. We really needed a break from all the rain! Knowing more was on the way for today, I quickly cleaned up one of my planters and got the Bok Choy in. Some of my strawberry plants managed to survive the winter, surprisingly. I’m pretty sure I’ve got some cilantro going in there, too — which is great, because I love cilantro!

Not sure how these chives survived from last year but they’re going strong!

I was totally shocked when I saw the chives also survived the winter. We didn’t do anything special to any of the plants that came back.

By the weekend I wanted to throw these guys in the proverbial doghouse

Now on to the low spot of the week. After I was finishing up planting the bok choy, I glanced over and saw that Bandit had something dangling out of his mouth (he was at the other end of the yard).

I said “drop it!” forcefully and surprisingly he did. He knew I was really angry so he slunk away. It turned out to be a baby bunny. In fact, there were two baby bunnies running around.

I got the dogs in the house and mostly closed the door and went looking for the warren, which I didn’t find — what I did find was a dead baby bunny. I put my gloves back on and scooped the poor thing up, but it was gone. Bandit actually pawed the door open and came back outside, but obviously I was not too happy, even though I am unsure if he actually killed the bunny, or if he found it and it was already injured (which might explain him being able to catch it).

But wait, there’s more, unfortunately. We went out to dinner, and we closed the kennel door — the dogs have access to the kennel, but not to the entire yard. When I got back, I opened the door, and Lola went over to one of my chairs. Another dead baby bunny. Now, unless those baby bunnies wandered into the kennel, the dogs couldn’t have gotten at it.

I can’t believe that the one time the boys (my previous cats) brought in a baby bunny it survived — but these couldn’t survive my dogs. I know they’re just following their instincts, but it doesn’t make me happy.

Then this morning — in the vein of I hate weather radar — I checked it and it was supposed to start raining around 9:30 (despite an hour earlier showing no rain until late in the afternoon). I harnessed up the dogs, got them out, but Lola took so long sniffing around (but not actually doing anything, and she hadn’t actually done anything yet), that it started to pour on us — and we were only across the street from our house.

At least I have my trusty vest to keep me warm

Sorry for the venting — but to end on a positive note, here I am in the Skirt Sports Toasty Vest, because I was dressed for warmer weather (it’s supposed to warm up – eventually it got quite warm) — I went out with the dogs in just a skirt and tee (and jacket, thankfully), but back inside I needed something warmer! I just love this vest so much.

Unfortunately as far as I can tell the Toasty Vest is not available right now — I really wanted to get it in black, too, but I guess I’ll have to hunt elsewhere (I did find it on Amazon — affiliate link here — but of course it’s not on sale).

Do your animals catch other animals?

Are you planting a garden — veggies, flowers, or both? 

Vests yay or nay? I was never a vest person until I tried this one!

39 thoughts on “Whoever is doing the rain dance . . .: 5/13-19 WRD

  1. Benji is now too old to catch anything. He acts like he wants to chase bunnies he sees during our walks, but he is on a leash, so he is not going anywhere. Sorry to read about the bunnies in your yard!

    I never had any luck at all with cilantro. You will have to tell me your secret. Mine always gets “leggy” and doesn’t produce the leaves I want. Chives are another story. They come back every year in a planter I have on the deck, despite me leaving it outside all winter.

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    1. Well, these were baby bunnies so easier targets. They are always chasing the full grown ones, but they’ve never even come close to catching them (thankfully).

      I *think* it’s cilantro. It smells like it. It was a total surprise — it just survived all on its lonesome.

      I have now learned that Chives are very hardy herbs — everyone said that! — I’d never grown them before, as I rarely use them (although put some in some salad dressing I made yesterday). But I like to try something new every year. This year it’s onions — if I ever actually get them into the planter between rain showers!

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  2. I’d be pissed about the baby bunnies too. Ozzy will chase after the geese but they just head for the water, which so far, he has not gone in. I haven’t seen bunnies around here this spring. Just ducks and geese. I have one running vest that I don’t wear very often. But sometimes it is just perfect!

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    1. Bandit has a new nickname: destroyer of bunnies. We’ve had dogs almost 15 years now & this was the first dog induced fatality (maybe). Poor things. The cats, OTOH, were good hunters but didn’t actually kill all that often.

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  3. Poor bunnies, very sad. Morgan is an indoor cat and although I have a friend with indoor cats who kill when they go out on their leads, if you take Morg out he will just roll in some dust on the patio and come in again. He only chases my husband’s feet …

    I love that vest (gilet, I’d call it). I have a down one I wear to work in if it’s a bit cold but not cold enough to have the heating on. And I LOVE the pattern matching. Upsetting about the paces, I often get stuck between pace groups on club run and end up on my own.

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    1. Our cats had a kennel, so some grass but essentially chain link walls. And they were still great hunters, unfortunately.

      Eventually I realized that if I didn’t open up his window until about 7 am he had a much lower chance of catching anything.

      But sometimes birds would fly through (and one exceptionally stupid one built a nest on top when we lived in TX), and chipmunks also dug tunnels in there (I swear God’s stupidest animals!).

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  4. I’m a huge vest fanatic, but you probably already knew that 😉 We put in some chives last year, too, and I had forgotten about them. Just this week I noticed them…and it looks like a small bush! How they survived our psychotic winter is beyond me. Thanks for linking with us, Judy!

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    1. I was pretty shocked by the chives, too, as we’d repurposed an old pallet as a planter, and the wells really weren’t deep enough for plants. There’s like no dirt covering them, but they’re thriving.

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  5. Cilantro is the one herb I still need to put in. They didn’t have any when I bought my plants a few weeks ago. Our mint survived the winter, but it’s pretty hardy. Sorry about the bunnies, but I don’t think the dogs can help it. We think Scooby got a chipmunk last year.

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    1. Mint is annoyingly hardy. I once planted an herb that was in the mind family — which I didn’t know at the time — and the damn thing almost took over the whole yard (and it was planted in a raised bed, not into the ground!).

      No, the dogs can’t help it, I know. But it still always upsets me.

      Usually the dogs really just can’t catch anything, so it was a bit of a shock. The cats were a totally different story, and we are well versed with dealing with both live, hurt, and dead animals, unfortunately.

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  6. I hear ya on the run…JUST STOP!!!

    That is so sad about the bunnies. I sometimes see one here and there by my house and wonder why they live.

    Maybe that is the secret to have plants survive the winter…don’t do anything special.

    I am not a vest person though I do have two of them but rarely wear them.

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  7. my cats are all outdoor cats and have caught zillions of animals – lots of bunnies and birds.

    I got lucky and got all 4 of my runs n this week – dry.

    Yesterday was the nicest day – today was very warm!! Race didn’t start until 9 which means some were out until noon and the last 5 miles had no shade.

    I used to be in gardening but through the years have lost interest. It’s just too much work for what you get in return, Now just some flower boxes and patio tomatoes.

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    1. The boys just had their kennel, but they caught plenty of animals, too.

      Yes, sat would have been perfect for a race. Yesterday definitely not. But y’all did great anyways.

      I don’t really garden a lot, and there were a few years I didn’t at all, but I like to grow some veggies. They taste so much better than store bought!

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      1. I guess we are tougher than we thought.

        I love home grown veggies. Maybe I’ll plant some and then it will probably stop raining and they will die.

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  8. Saturday was such a picture perfect day in terms of weather – finally! I feel like all we’ve seen is rain every weekend for the past few months. I think that next week looks pretty good in terms of weather and just rain in the early part of the week.

    That’s so sad about the bunnies 😦 I’ve only actually seen one bunny in our yard this year (around Easter, coincidence?).

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    1. Well, the dogs do have a tendency to flush out the bunnies, but these were babies — the grown ones never get caught. At least not so far.

      It’s always really sad when they kill something they have no intention of eating.

      It’s raining this morning . . . then supposed to get hot! It’s my last Monday group run, and it’s midday. At least I get to wear a skirt. 🙂

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  9. I agree that whomever is rain dancing needs to sit down and stop! It’s insane and making me grumpy. Earlier today I was talking with a friend about chives. He planted some one year and they are the most resilient plant in his garden. Can’t wait to see what you make with all the produce in your garden 🙂

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    1. I don’t *really* have a garden; just a couple of planters. We wanted to go to the nursery to pick up more stuff (they didn’t have much a couple of weeks ago) but we were both too tired this weekend after a few nights of bad sleep.

      Hopefully they’ll still have some tomato plants!

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  10. I am a huge lover of vests but we are way past that season! So sad about the baby bunnies I guess it’s their natural instinct to chase them. I hope you find someone to run w in your new group!

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    1. I *wish* we were past the vest season! Although we seem to be turning the corner on the cold rain (except for this morning, LOL), so hopefully I can retire the vest soon.

      Now it’s time to finally wash the long down coats & put them away!

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  11. Poor bunnies, very sad story. I always rescue little lizards and jeckos from my cats, I must literally extract those little animals out of the “predators” mouths. Now their main interest is a couple of seagulls that come to eat in my garden-

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    1. When we lived in TX there was a steady stream of lizards (you just don’t see them here). And let me tell you, there was also a steady stream of tailless lizards due to the cats, too!

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  12. Rain 5 out of 7 days is a lot! I hope you have better weather this week 🙂 Your gardening sounds impressive. I gave up after the first year when the local wildlife are more then we did.

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    1. Well, it rained this morning but stayed dry for the run today. Considering we suddenly shot up into the 80s yesterday (but are supposed to be back to 60s tomorrow) . . . well, at least we got a little Spring. Some years we don’t.

      Seriously, I don’t do that much of a gardening. Right now it’s just stuff that came back, the bok choy, and I have some onions waiting to be planted.

      Hope to get to a nursery & get just a few more things. Our raised beds are REALLY raised, like at waist height. We still have to cover the strawberries & something still gets at them!

      But we don’t have deer, so that helps.

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  13. boo on the rain!! and so sad about the baby bunnies 😦

    I live in an apartment so my cats don’t go out. I couldn’t bear the thought of them being outside where we live next to a busy road. So we have the balcony (that’s fenced off with chicken wire) and they are more than welcome to go out there. We have a little flap door for them so they come and go as they please. because of the chicken wire they also cannot get to birds, though there are times you know they want to! Way back in the day, when i was still a teenager, we had one cat who used to bring birds in the house all the time, usually dead, but occasionally they would still be alive and try to fly away, with feathers going all over the place.

    we do occasionally also have plants on the balcony but we manage to kill just about everything so we haven’t done that for a while now.

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    1. The cats had a kennel and they also reached it via a flap. We’ve since repurposed the kennel for the dogs, and put in the pet door, which they are no experts at (but still like us to be there so they can get their treats).

      But the spaces in the chain links on the kennel are wide, animals are dumb, and the cats were really good hunters. Yup, we’ve had live birds, live baby bunny, live chipmunks, live baby snakes, lizards, and once a quite large toad inside the house (all courtesy of the cats).

      I’m usually somewhat good with plants, but sometimes they just don’t do well for whatever reason, or there are summers things just happen and there just isn’t time to take care of it. I do enjoy it when I have the time & it tastes so much better than what you get in a store.

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  14. We’ve also been getting lots of rain, with more to come this week. I gave up waiting for it to stop and went for a run in it Friday…I don’t really mind the rain once I get going.

    Our cats currently have an escape hole in their outdoor pen that we need to fix – they’ve been getting out and digging in the garden, ugh. But the veggies are growing despite the cats.

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    1. I don’t mind warm rain, but this has been cold rain — and really hard rain. Not fun.

      Today we didn’t get rained on even though it looked threatening. Of course it was almost 80 suddenly.

      Thankfully the boys never dug under their kennel. And the dogs so far have never dug under the fence, either. They know when they’ve got a good thing!

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  15. My cats don’t go outside. We do have a few bunnies around that chew up my garden. I did put up a barrier so they won’t do that this year. Fingers crossed they don’t sneak in! That’s funny about the matching print this week. It’s a very pretty blue!

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    1. My planters are raised, so most animals can’t get at it. But things still seem to get to the strawberries (and the blueberries — and this year one of the bushes is full of flowers so I’m hopeful I might get a few blueberries, LOL!). We’ve had to resort to a lot of chicken wire/netting even though we don’t have deer here.

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  16. My dog Matilda has never caught anything; I wouldn’t even know what to do if she did. But how heartbreaking to find TWO dead bunnies 😦 So sad!

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    1. Well, since the cats caught lots, I do know what to do. Yes, I couldn’t believe I found a second one dead later. My husband thought maybe the german shepard next door got it and it crawled back under the fence . . . it wouldn’t make me happier, but it would feel better to know Bandit hadn’t killed two of them. 😦

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  17. I love vests and that’s a really cute one. Hope you can find it in black on sale somewhere! I used to plant a garden, but the deer just jumped right over our fence and into the garden. Also, the squirrels would take a bite out of each strawberry before I could pick them… It sounds like you’ve got two hunting dogs there – very small hunting dogs. 😉

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    1. I’m sure some day I’ll find the vest on sale in black — and if not, no doubt Skirt Sports will comes out with something even cuter. I’ve really been surprised how much I wear it — the other day was cool, and I wore it as we were running some errands & it was perfect.

      Hmm, maybe the squirrels are what attack my strawberries. I’ve never caught the villain.

      The dogs have always chased wildlife, they’ve just never been able to catch them — still can’t, unless they’re really young, apparently 😦

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