Heidi was ready and acted like she wanted to spend some time outside this afternoon. The sunshine was bright, skies were clear and it was hard to believe what I had heard on the radio earlier .. snow is possible tomorrow. Of course in these photos it might look like it's in the 50's but it's not much warmer than it was this morning. With a Columbia Sportswear fleece under a North Face light jacket, (Brand names are not important ... its what's on sale) Stella and I were able to take the afternoon walk without gloves. Let see if you notice any difference in the photo quality with these photos. The lighting would be much better than this morning or earlier in the afternoon to take pictures but still it's the same time as yesterday's walk where I was beginning to wonder about picture quality and my sanity. Others were also.
See if you notice any difference in these pictures taken this afternoon.
Stella wasn't going anywhere until she had her after lunch siesta. It's tough riding in back of the Mini Countryman, down narrow bumpy crooked and hilly roads. It was also what she always does after her lunch and in the same spot as this. It looks like Heidi has joined her today and that never happens.
After I got back from a short grocery store run that consisted of a large bag of mixed frozen fruit, a large bag of frozen blueberries, 5lb bag of red delicious apples, bananas, two more containers of Oikos Zero Yogurt, a dozen eggs, baby spinach, and some of the best looking oranges I had seen in a while ... it was time for a walk. The weather was just too nice not to be outside, even at 29°. You will find out later that I spent some time at a place you have never heard me talk about. Pictures were taken there also and you'll probably see that place as one of my posts on Friday. I've now got more pictures than I can post on one or two posts ... so the 'post bank' is building into a library.
I don't do too many things without the hounds giving me approval first. Stella stared intently across the field behind the house, sniffing the air to gather information to process. She finally decided it was a great time to walk and without even turning her head to let me know ... she took off up the return path.
I was actually shocked I was walking in 29° with no gloves, didn't need gloves and reached up to unzip the top of the jacket then the fleece I was wearing underneath. It seemed like those summer afternoon walks we take
Stella was showing a lot more activity than she normally does for her afternoon walk. She is usually following me, dragging her feet with each step. Today she was like she is on her morning walks, tracking scent and keeping on pace while lingering behind at times.
Can she smell the cat? Or is she smelling the food the neighbors leave out for the cat? Or does she hear something I cannot? I doubt if we'll ever know.
Places where she would normally stop to find deer scat, she walked over them, never stopping.
I was amazed at her constant motion. She must have had a deep sleep in that short time while I was gone to the store.
The 'holes' I mentioned this morning made by the deer hoofs while walking or running on the frozen grass.
The 2017 roll on the right and the smaller 2018 roll on the left. They will most likely stay there forever
I'll admit it ... I am really happy with the quality of these photos this afternoon.
I always take a picture in this direction as a reference, where I can tell differences in camera settings. It also helps when the sunshine is bright and the skies are clear.
As we made the final turn home I let Stella go anywhere she wanted. I wanted to see if she would follow scent to her right and all the way to those woods. She has not moved in that direction since Sadie has been gone. Maybe it was always Sadie leading Stella on those 'wild goose chases' instead of the other way around?
I turned just in time to get only one picture of her running. She was far enough away that I thought I'd get at least three of them. She was faster than autofocus.
It wasn't too far after she passed me that she slowed to a slow walk.
I thought I'd try a little black and white ... but I did not make that adjustment until I had downloaded it and was editing the pictures. Not all pictures are edited but every blog picture is looked at when deciding if it is going to be included.
She did not explore the edge of the bushes, or along the trees this afternoon. She just kept on walking without me saying a word ... not stopping to pose for any pictures ... she headed straight to the door.
Well it's been a pretty good day today. I bought only what I needed at the store. You can bet your ass that I will keep my bowls of fruit on top of the refrigerator anytime I leave the house. I'll take no chances of Stella eating seven bananas, five red delicious apples, possibly an avocado again. I think Contessa was right ... leaving her alone, shut off in the bedroom when it was her normal time to eat lunch made her motivated enough to break out last week and eat all of that fruit. She did not touch anything else in the house ... only the food she could get to. Luckily she has not figured out how to open the refrigerator. LOL
I took close to 200 pictures today from 8am to 3pm roughly. I can see the differences in the pictures when I match them in my computer based on the time of day I took them. I have enough pictures from today to make two more posts.
I'll leave you with a surprise ......
All of the photos you see here on this post were taken with my Nikon D3200.
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