Here Comes The Heat

It did not take long this morning before that 'sticky' humid feeling showed up. We are out of those great days of weather into the high 80's ... that will still be great to me but Stella may not think so.

We had another late start of the day so our first walk didn't happen until after 10am. Can hounds tell time? I'm not sure but Sadie was willing to wait until I had my normal two cups of coffee before she came and stared at me while I sat at my computer.

Instead of heading left on her walk, Stella moved up behind me and followed Sadie along the edge of the woods ... with a little trot to her step today. Both of them were long gone by the time I made that first turn. Evidently they had something they needed to get to before I got there.

You can bet that I will never try to taste it but I wonder if deer scat taste to the hounds like ice cream tastes to me? I know, weird question but one I thought of while I walked toward them to 'herd' them into a different direction. You have to wonder because they love it.

It was funny that as soon as I moved them in the right direction to continue our walk, they took off trotting right past the rolls of hay and way in front of me. I thought they might test me by heading to the no fly zone but they stood and waited for me to make the final turn home.

I felt the way Stella looked ... it was already feeling hotter than the past week or so, humidity was here and the AC will be back to running full steam by noon.

From the time we woke up, the winds have been really strong today from the south. The only problem having the windows open is those winds are blowing warm air and not the cool breezes we have enjoyed the past week or so.

In the meantime Heidi will continue her record breaking sleeping during the daylight hours. She will not be sitting outside today like yesterday ... too hot.

This will give you some idea about the strong winds.

As Stella walked back in the yard to end the first walk of the day, her plan was to have some water, then sleep until lunch is served. She has a pretty stress free life just like any other bloodhound.

By 1pm the winds were still whipping around at 15mph from the south, it was hotter with Stella and Heidi only staying outside long enough to dump their tanks. Sadie was begging to go for a walk but it was too soon after her lunch and hotter than I wanted to be in.

The AC system kicked on early afternoon and have been keeping the inside of the house nice and cool. I jumped from book to book but couldn't find the words that interested me. The internet had nothing to offer and I wasn't in the mood to sleep the afternoon away. My DVR had automatically taped some shows I have set up so I watched those. Those one hour shows are really reduced when you can fast forward through the commercials.

I'll try more Reds baseball tonight but I can't see much more happening besides that. Maybe a movie.

I was going to wait until after 7pm before we walked again but Sadie was not into waiting any longer.  We headed out around 5:30 and within 100' Stella had decided it was too hot with her tongue almost dragging the ground. Sadie on the other hand was in heaven and was running all over the field. Nothing bothers her.

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

The Hounds Really Enjoy The Cut Field

I have to admit the daily hound walks are much more enjoyable with the field cut. I no longer get wet from my knees to my feet from heavy morning dew. The hounds are easier to keep track of while they have more room to roam and I have not found one tick on me after a walk since the field was cut.

When the field was taller I would find 3-5 ticks on me after each walk. The one dose of NexGard I gave the hounds in April works so well I have not found any ticks, dead or alive, on the hounds.

Stella trotted out with Sadie into the field but it wasn't long before she was at her own pace and on her own schedule. She had the freedom to do whatever she wanted, go where she wanted and supplement her diet with anything she found.

Sadie started tracking scent as soon as she hit the field and ever stopped.

You can see the differences in interest between Stella and Sadie ... I continued to walk along my path at my normal pace.

As Sadie sprinted along the edge of the field, she was headed for the far right corner. Stella was headed back to a couple of spots that were her favorites the past couple of weeks.

No sparrows to chase today but Sadie had strong scents to chase.

Back to the corner to check out the deer scent. I thought she might head into that wooded area but instead she came sprinting to catch up with me on the back edge of the field.

As you can see, Stella never moved.

As I was on my way back home, I deviated my walk to go over and let Stella it was time to head home. She joined up with Sadie and made the slow trek back to the yard.

The weatherman said that hot temps and high humidity were on the way later today. I am not really looking forward to that change and I have become quite spoiled by the 'perfect' weather this past week.

The rain that was in the forecast on Sunday never showed up and keeps moving out a couple of days further into the week.

This is the only flower that I have see that survived the cutting and baling of hay.

Heidi finally made her appearance after her lunch. She found a good spot to relax while Sadie and Stella did a little exploring.

Stella wasn't sure if she was going to join Sadie. She really liked the strong breeze from the SW bring those temperatures closer to 80°. It looks like she is continuing to gain weight.

This pretty close to where Heidi stayed the other day while Sadie, Stella and I went for a walk. She doesn't seem to energetic lately but I let her do whatever she wants. If she wants to come with us, she will.

The thing about the field being cut, some of those stems from the wild bushes are still pretty stiff and they make a great back scratcher. Sadie has one daily every since they cut the field.

What a difference a year makes in Heidi'd weight. I don't think she was this big when I brought her home 6 years ago.

Sadie was ready for a walk but it was too soon after their lunch. I try to wait after every meal before they get any kind of exercise. That is suppose to help in preventing bloat. I've been very fortunate not having my big chested bloodhounds go through that in past years.

By the time I finished cooking I was either going to have a late lunch or an early supper. It wasn't much, just brown rice and steamed broccoli and carrots. I added a splash of Tamari sauce.

Even I felt like getting out of the house some more on such a nice day, so we headed out for a mid-afternoon walk. This way they will stay quiet and sleep while I sit outside and read books.

Stella let me know without saying a word that it was hotter today than it had been all week. We are not close but the temps are headed back to the high 80's by tomorrow. We will still walk but will wait later in the afternoon, early evening for our 2nd or 3rd walk of the day.

Stella was ready to get back inside to sleep ... Sadie had more things to look at but followed both of us into the house.

It will be another night of watching some Reds baseball and a little reading. Nothing exciting going on here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Sadie & Stella Take Off

With weather like this every day it's hard to stay inside. Sadie and Stella felt the same way although for some reason Heidi is back in her mid-winter hibernation mode. High temps in the 70's make it perfect weather.

For our mid-day walk I had barely made it to the yard and saw Sadie and Stella both running toward the back of the field direction in back of the house. I have no idea what they had picked up but their noses were to the ground and they were off at a fast pace.

I continued to follow the path walking the same pace I always do, knowing that both of them would be within view.

I was not even close to the first corner and they were already in the middle of the field. It wasn't until Sadie stopped to look back in my direction that they slowed their pace. I expected them to head over the top of the hill and go toward the woods.

They were not chasing deer nor birds, just jogging further and further away from me. I don't recall this ever happening when they were not involved chasing deer. I guess they really do like the field cut. I still had not made it to the first turn.

By the direction Stella was heading along the back edge of the field I thought she was well on her way into the 'no fly zone' but I wasn't going to start running after her yet. I continued with my slow pace while keeping an eye on them to see what they were going to do.

Even with this much sunshine, it didn't feel hot. It's hard to believe it's almost July and we are having highs in the 70's for weather.

I cannot figure out why they were in such a hurry to get to this area of the field. They sniffed around a lot but didn't look like they had found any 'natural protein' to eat. I wondered how long they would stay out here if I didn't get them walking back to the house with me.

I wanted to take a picture of the tightly rolled hay but Sadie had other ideas. Evidently something she liked was wrapped up inside the roll.

A single feather out in the middle of nowhere.

After checking the mail, grabbing some water to drink, I headed back outside for an afternoon of reading. Sadie was checking to see if another walk was possible. It had been about 30 minutes since we returned from the mid-day walk.

Once she saw I was not going to get out of my chair to go on another walk, she decided to sneak up on me as if I couldn't see her.

Stella got to the point of indecision ... whether to answer my call and head back to the house or turn and make a run for it back out into the far field. After a lot of thinking, she decided it was best to return to the house.

It was another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.