December 31, 2017

Happy New Year !!


The hounds and I wish all of you a Happy New Year and to having a good 2018. Those arctic winds blew in yesterday afternoon and continued through the night. Very strong winds make the storms windows rattle and that they did even with them being iced over. As you see Heidi has gone to her 'freezing weather' routine. She will get up for lunch and/or to move to the couch in the afternoon but nothing more.


Don't let the sunshine fool you. I took this pictures around 10:30am and we were not out any longer than 5 minutes. That was all the time I needed to confirm it was not just cold but damn cold. We still have a wind chill advisory to go through that starts tonight at 7pm and will last until 7pm Tuesday night. That means two days of weather colder than it is right now.


Yet from the time we woke up in single digit temps and a windchill in the negative, by 10:30am my carport thermometer was telling me it had warmed up to 15°. Wunderground and WeatherBug was saying it was more like 10°. Either way, it was still too cold to even consider a walk. Sadie and Stella didn't seem to mind.


There was some strange energy going around the house before going outside. Instead of Sadie begging to take a walk and Stella doing her normal search for food in the kitchen, just in case I dropped some on the floor ... they both stood stoic in front of the kitchen island. They reminded me of two horses sleeping standing up in a pasture. Neither hound could get the other to play, when they decided to move.


They went no further than this during the short 5 minutes we were outside. I thought they might want to relieve themselves since we are not taking any walks today. Instead they wanted to track mole traffic under the frozen tundra. I have the worst mole damage I can remember since it was pretty warm for December until he hit this cold spell.


As Sadie headed for the door, Stella decided it really was too cold to take a walk. She had walked to the edge of the yard, took one step into the field then turned around and came back inside.


It was much warmer last year. Heidi made her outside photo appearance December 29, 2016 and then I don't have another picture in her photo file until I took one inside on January 1, 2017. That sunshine feels warmer than the sunshine today.


This was one year ago exactly and the photo even looks much warmer than those at the top of this blog. Yet I remember three years ago we were having the exact same weather this time of year. I had taken a trip to Bloomington to see my friend the first week of January and my FJ dash thermometer was saying -7° as I drove over.

It's just normal winter weather in the Midwest.

Not much will be planned for today except watching the last game of the NFL regular season. Most likely it will be the last game for the head coach of the local Indianapolis Colts. Speculation is broadcasting he will be one of many coaches in the NFL that will be fired by Monday. Since that is a holiday will NFL teams wait until Tuesday to announce who they fire?

Overall the college bowl games the past two days and nights have been great games to watch. The two teams I was hoping would win did not but that did not take away from the quality of play in their games. Too bad college referees take a lot of the enjoyment away from watching ... I started hating the words of "this play is under review" more and more this year.

I thought about taking the Z4 out for a drive today since the roads are clear and dry, free of any salt residue. Still there is just something I don't think is good for it traveling 55-65mph in 10° weather with colder than normal winds hitting the engine area under the hood. After all the Z4 is for only good weather. I think I will probably end up canceling all outdoor activity until Wednesday morning.

No major plans tonight to celebrate the new year. My party days were over many years ago so here in 'the tropics' our annual celebration seems to be watching the ball drop in NYC Times Square on tv, then stepping outside for a few minutes in the back to look at a sky full of stars. That is IF we are still awake.

I will try to come up with something or photos to blog about on Monday and Tuesday. It will not be about the daily walk I know that. I could do a 'feature post' about some of the past hounds I have had or if I'm in the mood I might do a post of rambling about things in general ... freezing temps kill brain cells in my book, so I am not sure I can even come up with rambling topics.

At least everyone here is healthy and content in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana so life is good.

Happy New Year !!!

December 30, 2017

Sadie Gets Irritable When Walks Are Canceled


It seems to happen more during the cold weather we are having compared to the extremely hot days in July or August. Before Sadie gets her first walk of the day or her second one after lunch, she gets irritated. She jumps up thinking we are going for a walk every time I get out of my chair or off the couch. She can't relax, until she has her walks. That could be a problem this afternoon and the next few days with the arctic push arriving later today.


So, she won the battle this morning and we finally got outside around 9:30am with a windchill of 10°. Winds were strong out of the NW, freezing the left side of my face and nose on the first half of the walk. It felt like the forecast was going to be correct with the arctic storm blowing into town sometime this afternoon and dropping our temps from 20° to 5°. Sadie trotted, Stella walked slowly.


The hounds enjoyed this morning's walk, each doing their own thing. It was a pleasant surprise that they walked side by side on the path toward home, then ran toward the house passing me by in the backyard. I would have never guessed that just at the point of the first turn.


I know, another weather update but that seems to be about all to write about lately. I did get to watch two football games last night while the hounds slept in their normal living room positions. I watched part of and taped a basketball game that I will watch after I post this. There is not much planned for the rest of the day, except staying warm.


When the hounds split up running in the back field and headed opposite directions I knew I was going to have to herd them back together on the way back home. There was no way I could leave them outside on their own. Stella was exploring the middle of the back part of the field. The wind was stronger and much colder out in the open.


Sadie had sprinted to the back right corner of the field then started tracking along the edge between the brush and the field. I wasn't even close to the back of the field yet and she was already there.


Stella was actually heading toward our return path ... she must have felt it was warmer than my iPhone weather app was telling me.


I have not heard nor seen the ATV since earlier in the week. I am always on the look-out for the sound or sight of it while we take our walk. Chris is pretty good about not getting close to us the few times I've seen him but it's always good to be safe when hounds and moving objects are involved.


I had to zoom to 200mm to get this close to Stella.


Plus Sadie was still pretty far behind me, where the 200mm zoom was also required. She would eventually start running toward me but not until she was ready to, not when I called her.


When I told them "let's go home" they both headed off in the general direction.


Sadie continued her exploration. I really think she would stay outside in all of this weather all day if I would let her. She is probably more of an outside dog rather than a house dog.


Stella might have been taking her time walking toward the house with Sadie up ahead of us but all of the sudden she decided it was warmer there than where we were. She took of trotting after Sadie.


It was about this time during the walk that I realized it was Saturday instead of Sunday. I've lost track of time all week. Neither hound waited for me this morning. They followed the path to the backyard and then ran to the house to wait on me.


It was an interesting read over on Ara's blog this morning. He has included some quotes from two of the major developers of Facebook. Take a look for some interesting thoughts about social media and how these two men feel they may have made a big mistake in making Facebook so huge.

That word 'programmed' reminded me how I was not going to turn on my computer this morning as I poured my first cup of coffee. I wasn't going to blog and take a day off from the computer world. It rarely happens and what I say when I go to bed the night before about doing that that never happens the next morning.

I guess winter is officially here ... not because of the weather ... but because Sadie and Stella are in a full out wrestling match inside the house. Sadie is on the offense ... Heidi?? She is wrapped in her sleeping bag sleeping of course.

I have hope. The weather app says a week from Monday the high temperature will be 40°.

Hibernating again in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Sadie's Walk This Morning

Feeling the wind from the NW this morning hitting the left side of my face during our walk, it feels like the forecast of single digit temps this afternoon may cancel any walks today. The windchill was 10° but I knew we had to walk this morning or Sadie would go insane ... jumping up thinking we were going for a walk every time I moved inside the house.

December 29, 2017

The Heat Wave Arrives


I wasn't tempted to trade my jeans for cargo shorts but it felt much warmer this morning at 19°. It will be short lived with possible snow this afternoon and the arctic weather blowing down from the NW to arrive in the morning. I felt we had a chance for a complete walk this morning for the first time in a few days. Both bloodhounds took off, confirming just how warm it felt.


Starting with the Holiday Bowl game in San Diego last night, my weekend of solid football games between College, the NFL and College basketball games have filled the schedule. Things are picking up around here with that news. I had to make a groceries shopping trip today if I was going to make it to Monday night.


Stella was showing no signs of being cold and jumped into the brush area full of thorny sticks. Yet she took off after Sadie once she saw her move to the front.


With the holidays on Monday this year I have lost all track of time and what day it is. I glance at the upper right corner of my computer monitor to find out what day it is. Things are pretty slow this time of year as for things to blog about. Weather dictates a lot of time inside and there is nothing inside you want to read about I'm sure. As you can tell I am already having a hard time finding something to say.





Was that raised right rear leg a sign she was cold or just a piece of snow between her toes?






They picked up their pace when I told them I had to go buy groceries. When they hear that they always think the food I buy is for them. Then while I am brushing my teeth all of them go to the bedroom on their own because they know that is where they stay while I am gone. Even Stella has figured out that routine the short time she has been here. (30 months)



With most of the snow gone in the front yard you would think it would be no problem for Heidi to spend some time outside but that was not the case. She walked to the edge of the carport, looked and then walked around the Z4 back to the door.  She then decided she really did have to pee for the 2nd time today so she walked back in front of the Z4 and barely stepped into the yard. In a minutes time she was sprinting back to the door to be let inside.

Sorry for the lack of focus writing this post but if feels as if I am pretty distracted right now.

A nice day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Confirms Heat Wave

We had a stranger out in our yard today after lunch, but only for about 2 minutes before she sprinted back inside. Heidi made her first photo'd appearance in a few days, confirming to me the 21° was a major heat wave. I even felt warmer.