It mysteriously started last week when I was no longer getting up between 6:30am - 7am and starting our first walk at 8am. Allergies also started acting up more and more, expected this time of year. Maybe it was having a holiday on Tuesday where the public started celebrating the prior Friday or it could have been all the rain forecasted for over a week that never showed up, at least in our zip code. Whatever the reason, today continued to be slightly off track.
With rain at the right time, humidity and sunshine, it's been the perfect storm for everything growing at a rapid rate and keeping everything green while starting the mid-summer period. Above you can see the annual wild ragweed that I am not a fan of, burying my large burn pile.
Below you can see just how fast weeds are growing this summer or maybe how lazy I have been recently. I usually let the weed eater take these weeds down to ground level and then let the sunshine kill what is left after they are cut. This is only two weeks of me not taking time to cut them along the driveway. I usually cut them once per week, using a couple of days due to only having one battery for the weed eater.
Remember in August 2015 I was on my hands and knees for 4 straight days pulling out every weed in the driveway and a long the bank. Click here to see how nice it looked.
With all the green sometimes there will be leaves of different colors. Not many of them but nice to see when they are around. Although it was not as hot today, it felt warmer than 78° but very nice under the shaded area under the Mahogany trees.
While Stella stayed at the corner of the house and scratching continuously, Sadie decided to follow me around the yard just to see what I was taking pictures of. Stella has had another bath. I did not find any fleas on her, no hot spots and nothing being scratched off her skin. I hate seeing her scratching this much.
Even though we took a walk just about an hour or two earlier, I could tell looking at Sadie that we were going to take our 2nd walk of the day, like right now. Last night we didn't take our third walk until after 8pm.
So with camera in hand, I told Sadie and Stella "let's go" and we were off. I was going to let Stella go anywhere she wanted today. I didn't think she would get too far away since she does not run anymore and with the field cut I could see where she was.
About the time we started, a roll of thunder passed through. Stella stopped walking immediately with past memories of her bad experiences living outside in a kennel during one tornado and a few thunderstorms ... a couple of owners before me. I decided we would keep walking until I felt the first sprinkle then turn around. .... I never did and completed the full walk.
I have no doubts that if we were to take a new walk every 15-30 minutes (not possible), that Sadie would be just as excited as she is with every new walk we take. She loves taking walks and tracking scent in this field.
In June 2015 while camping for one night at the Rifle SP, just north of Rifle Colorado she barely moved when I put her on a leash so she, Winston and Heidi could walk over from our campsite to their boat launch. She acted anxious, panting a lot with her tongue hanging and her nose no where near the ground. Counting that trip and the one in September 2013 to Arkansas, she proved she was not fond of traveling.
I remember the first place she went after I unpacked the FJ was to the field and started exploring with her nose pressed to the ground.
Today when I glanced back at Stella, she let me know that Sadie and I could go on and she would catch up with us on the way back.
Don't let that slow paced walk fool you. I knew that as soon as we were out of her sight that she would most likely turn left and head for the woods that sits behind the neighbor's house. For her to get that far while we walk, she would have to trot, not walk so slow that she drags her feet. That would be the woods I saw the deer jump out of last night while Sadie and I were walking.
I found it strange that neither bloodhound got excited today by deer scent either in the field where the deer ran from one woods to another, nor at the entry point of the deer into the front part of the woods that is the first part of the walk. To them it was like the deer I saw less around 19 hours ago, never happened.
While I turned to walk along the back edge of the field, smelling the hay that is parked and rolled into large rolls, I turned to see Sadie but nothing of Stella. You might notice there is a slight hill and it is actually steeper than you would think. The field is not flat like it looks in most of my photos.
As I made the last turn toward the house but a good distance from the house I looked through my 200mm zoom lens to see if I could see Stella anywhere. Just about the time I thought she was nowhere to be seen ... I spot a little red/tan in all of that green, at least I thought I did. Dead center in the picture ... just barely.
Once I my walked took me to over the small incline I could see her over by the woods behind the neighbors house, although that was not even close to where I saw the deer run out of last night.
I thought before I'd walk out of my way to go get her, that I would yell telling her to "come on, get over here". To my surprise, she started walking my direction.
Back to the slow pace as if she can barely take another step ... yet for her to go to that area from where I last saw her, she would have had to almost trot to get to the other wooded area.
Those ugly Maple trees that were cut back a few weeks ago are trying their best to grow some leaves. The tree company did come back last week and grind out the remaining stump of the third tree in the middle.
While Sadie and I waited ... Stella slowly made the trek home.
It's been pretty hard lately to come up with enough words to write a post. As you can see the past few posts, there is not a lot going on around here. No projects have been started, nothing exciting and actually quite boring writing about the thunderstorms not showing up or how we have moved to a new routine.
I haven't been in the movie mode lately either so most of my tv watching has been Reds baseball, a couple of shows named The Deadliest Catch and Homestead Rescue. I tried starting a new book but sat it down after the first chapter with a lack of interest.
We are on a very slow and uninspiring pace recently here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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