The day started out normal time for Heidi and Stella but they were off schedule today. It might have all started Sunday night while they slept soundly on the couch I couldn't make up my mind what movie to watch or what book to read. I flipped through tv channels and saw nothing to catch my interest and out of all the DVD's I have on the shelf, same result. I probably threw off their schedule today because I went back to sleep after feeding them breakfast. Each hound had about as much energy or lack of, as I did.
It rained Sunday and the wind blew a little but nothing like the forecast. As you can see a lot of leaves are still on the trees. I might have to go back through my blog archives to see the latest date in November where I was raking and burning leaves. I can't remember something like that.
Since we started really late with the first walk of the day, Stella was well on her own walking path. I had to do a little verbal herding to get her back in the general direction I was taking. It has been months since she has taken off for the neighbor's yard while I walked away on our path. She does like to veer back and follow our return path about 10' away.
That is the return path you see just a few feet in front of her back towards the camera.
I could already tell soon after the walk started I had lost my momentum to get anything done today. That didn't mean I might have some idea later in the afternoon and end up doing something, but this morning I felt like I was in the deepest of ruts. I didn't expect any sudden energy leading me to cleaning or painting the walls. I have all the materials to use but can't seem to get started on interior painting.
Stella likes to run a few feet to catch the path I am on and head right over to the edge of the field and woods.
After a few weeks of great sleep, last night was a disaster and a night of total restlessness. Of course during all of that middle of the night chaos (accurately recorded by my Garmin) both Heidi and Stella were in a very deep sleep. The past 7-10 days, Stella has decided the leather couch is her spot to sleep all night. The dog bed in the corner of the bedroom remains vacant as does the big leather chair with the ottoman. Neither hound uses them. I take that back, sometimes Heidi will take a morning nap on the dog bed after breakfast, but no other time.
A friend of mind that has been writing and taking photos of his travels for many years, has been talking about the sharpness of his photos and how they just don't look crystal clear like they use to. I had those same type of discussions here with my photos. With the help of trying different settings and an answer from Barney over at OFM Adventures I found out why my photos are not as clear as I thought they use to be.
My friend is still trying to put the pieces of his puzzle together. It all deals with 'compression', whether a blog does it automatically when photos are uploaded or by a 3rd party photo editing service. Through all of this emailing back and forth about the photos issue it reminded me of my tv picture on Dish Network after moving from Directv last February.
That little 'not as sharp' drives me insane sometimes. I knew I was seeing it on some of the ballgames I watched or the movies, yet on different channels the tv picture was crystal clear and sharp. Of course none of the Dish Network tech reps on the phone would admit what I was seeing was correct. Nowhere online did either tv service website tell me about potential picture issues in their troubleshooting section.
That is where a good forum comes into play whether it be about computers, smart phones, cars, dogs, dog food, blogs, or even tv satellite service. I found my answer and regained my sanity on a Directv forum where customers were discussing the same things I was seeing on my screen after switching to Dish Network. On some shows, games or movies THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between companies because Dish Network will 'compress' their signal.
Other users had noticed the same thing I did in picture quality when they switched to either competitor. The bottom line, neither company has the best of everything so you have to decide what is the most important ... picture quality, equipment, lower cost, program selection and even customer service. I decided the small difference in picture sharpness was not that big after I computed what my fee would be for breaking my 2-year contract 15 months early. Plus, only Dish Network lets me watch 4 ballgames at one time.
I have no idea what she is looking at or smelling off in the distance.
In fact I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to move.
This is pretty to some but I prefer the bright sunny skies. It was warm at 49°, I had overdressed today but the thought warm weather has been scrambling my brain cells recently.
As you can tell this walk was not on a record breaking pace. One thing Stella has always done since she arrived ... she has taught me and Sadie how to relax and take things as they come. "We" are retired and are on "our" own schedule. No need to rush things.
Somewhere through the tall grass is a path we follow.
The finish line.
As you can see the yard as a few leaves back in the yard and close to the house but not that bad. Those along the house are easy to blow down the side into the driveway and either over the bank or down near the highway where traffic will blow them away.
How did I miss not putting that on the list ??? Cleaning the outside of the gutters.
There was no barking for lunch today by Heidi. In fact I had to ask Stella "where's Heidi" when it was past their lunch time. Within seconds of hearing Stella howl, Heidi was sprinting from the bedroom wide awake and ready for lunch.
I was taking a picture of Heidi's tail and the top of her forehead looking in my direction but after downloading the photo I see where I need to add more of the concrete paste to fill those cracks after the first application settled. The paste dries as hard as cement. Since it was 55° I could apply a second layer.
No lap around the house today either. Once she was finished she turned and came right back to the house.
Once inside she did a couple of sprints around the coffee table back to the carport door in the kitchen and back around the tables. Then she hopped up on the couch, scratched her blanket into the perfect position for an afternoon of sleep.
Stella was more interested getting back inside for her after lunch nap than getting off the carport floor. Her first walk of the day had only been an hour before. I decided early in the summer that I would not power wash my steps or concrete floor this year. I wanted to do that before I apply some new concrete to the low spots and then paint the floor and steps with a textured gray concrete paint next spring.
Here is some evidence we did not get the high winds that were predicted. The is the only branch in the driveway that needed to be picked up. Looks like another item for the 2019 'to do' list unless I have a hot day this fall I don't know about. I didn't pressure wash the fence this year because at the time it did not need it. Things change fast around here.
With the house quiet with two sleeping hounds and no energy to do any kind of interior work, I grabbed John Grisham's new novel and continued reading it. The pace was just too fast today. That happens sometimes when you are retired, you just go with it.
Slightly warm and overcast today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
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