Although as the title says, the hounds are sleeping right now as I type this morning post. Heidi is back on the couch, Sadie in the 'big chair' and Stella right next to my desk chair. The photo above was from last night around midnight as I was watching a football game. Heidi decided she'd share one of her new blankets. They are not a noisy crowd when awake but they are extremely quiet when they sleep.
Before I go to bed a lot of times I think of what I'll do the next day. A lot of times 'the routine' looks like it will change the next day, but by the time the morning is few hours old we are doing nothing different than we do the majority of days throughout the year. There either isn't enough tasks listed that are that important to get done, or I'm just lazy. It's probably the latter ... the hounds took off running as soon as they were outside, they had waited long enough for the first walk of the day.
I was dressed perfectly for the weather. I didn't hear anything walking across the yard because it was cut low on Thursday but once in the field every step I took was amplified with 'crunching' sounds beneath my boots.
Some of fallen leaves, some older wild flowers are showing me it is more winter than fall. The tv weather expert says we are at lower than normal temps but of course that will change in a few days and then go back to freezing. I have only one thing I need to do before it rains again ... get back on the roof and blow the leaves out of the gutters. It's a quick job that probably takes me longer getting the ladder out of the small shed and extended out so I can climb on the roof than it does to clean the gutters.
With the hounds disappearing as they ran and me walking, I was happy to see they were just around the first turn. I knew why they were there and what their focus would be this morning. So I had to put my herding skills to work and get Stella headed in the direction of Sadie and I numerous times ... otherwise she would never leave.
We are headed to the vet this week. I'll be anxious to see how much Stella weighs and see how much weight she has gained back since last April. She was skin and bones then, only weighing 65 pounds after some sort of virus.
Sadie needs her annual shots and exam. Stella always goes with Sadie to the vet not because she likes to but because I don't know what she would do if I left her behind by herself. I could put Heidi in the room with her but I'd rather not see the worst case result if I can still manage getting both bloodhounds out of the FJ and into the vet. Taking all three hounds to the vet at the same time is impossible.
Once inside the vet waiting room, both hounds will always sit quietly and observe. The room is always packed. A few times there are too many dogs and cats for Stella, so if there is room she will climb up on the wooden seat to sit next to me. The crowded waiting room seems to enjoy bloodhound humor.
I take Heidi alone for her checkups. I purposely schedule them at different times of the year so I am not taking all three hounds at once or making two different trips the same week. Most of the time the annual trips are based on the date they first step their paws into the house on their arrival date years ago.
I always do the rabies shot because you never know when a possum, raccoon, or coyote might surprise us outside in the dark when we take our last trip outside for the day. It's never happened the twenty years I've lived here but sometimes I do pick up eyeballs as my flashlight scans the field at night.
I had to match this red leaf with the yellow one I took before. Those two leaves were the only ones with any color, that were laying in the field as we walked. I miss having the field mowed before winter but it's really not tall enough to make that much of a difference.
That is one good thing about blogging ... you can look back in time and see just what it was like a year ago or longer. I can also tell if there is any changes in the hounds over time.
With the paths made by different ATVs and the pickup truck as the owner of the field checks out his land .. I wonder if the field will even be cut next summer. Years ago the previous owner would spread fertilizer from the turkey farms behind these fields. It use to be full of grass and had very few weeds or wild flowers, if any at all. I was told by the boy that bales the field, the current owner would not let them apply fertilizer to his field.
I may end this post with just the rest of the photos. I am kind of out of words this morning if you haven't noticed and am finding it hard to write about anything.
It's another day of football today but the tv schedule that I print out listing all the college games and the channels they are on, shows I have a chance to get to bed earlier than normal. Sounds good to me since I am a little behind in my sleep for the week.
Just below freezing here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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