January 28, 2021

Hounds & Dog Hibernate


It was 28° as the sun filled the sky. With the snow in the mountains the winds from the S-SW are colder now. Let's say throughout the day the two hounds and a dog did not spend any more time outside than needed. I didn't either. I had plans to go out to check different areas that were closed at the gate or had heavier snow than I had here in town. As usual things can change within minutes and those plans were put aside for another day. In its place I had a nice two hour phone call from an old friend that I had not heard from in almost a year.


Henry found out what 'frozen' meant yesterday. He grabbed the frozen stick that he had chewed from one tree branch to four or five small pieces. He couldn't figure out the ice feeling once he put that stick in his mouth. Like I said the other day, he is really not bothered by anything. He was the only one that would stay outside on his own until I would call him.


The old rope bone was frozen hard as a rock and stuck to the yard rocks.


Stella was probably having memories of past freezing cold winters in 'the tropics', as she only went out to the yard to dump her tanks and did not spend a second longer outside.

Henry caught me with a lens on the camera that was too big to catch him. That 70-300mm is good for photos of the mountains a few miles away but not really good for a running basset hound within three feet. 


Zooming in on the lower part of the Huachuca's. That area is part of my view on the bike path and roads that head to Ramsey Canyon. It is hard to see the road that takes you to the top of Carr Canyon but they are there hidden in view. Only headlights of cars or trucks at night let me know that the road is in that view taken by the camera. As of Tuesday those lights will not be back until spring since they had closed the road at the gate for the "rest of the season" due to the snow.


Walter spent a lot of time figuring out why the rocks would not move in the normal manner like they normally do when he pushes them away with his nose. Wednesday morning those rocks would not move until later in the afternoon. 


Would it be cold enough for that wood branch to get stuck on Henry's lips? I don't think there is enough moisture in the air for that to happen. Back in Indiana, it would be a real possibility. 


As you will see we did not follow the early morning plans again. Phone started ringing off the hook and it was long phone calls with two different friends back to back. I was able to feed the hounds during those calls, leave the back door open since it was 57° and warm outside. Stella enjoyed her time soaking up the sunshine.


Walter only wants to do two things when outside ... eat wood and dig deep enough to find new wood.


Walter lets me know he prefers inside the most. I also see since the rains have stopped and the ground is drier than the past few days it is time to clean the entry way. I plan to take that piece of wood up, stain it and and add some polyurethane before screwing it back into the step.

I picked up some books off of this site today: Free Books

That's about all I have for today.

8 comments:

  1. I was just comparing your winter photos with the Bayfield Bunch's photos. No comparison!!! Canada is beautiful for half of the year, then too darn cold for me!!! I guess that's why folks have RV's!
    Don in Okla.

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    1. I agree. I knew before I moved that it would snow a little here but would always melt at our ground level within hours. Nothing like it use to waking up to it day after day and frozen hard as a rock.

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  2. Love the photo of Stella with the miniature Walter.

    Starting tonight through tomorrow, storm #3 is moving into our area. No one can agree on snow totals but anywhere from 10 to 15 inches. Good to go here, steps, decks and SUV are all cleared and shovels are at the ready. Like Al from the Bayfield Bunch, I too am ready for winter to be over. Stay warm.

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    1. I just saw photos from my friend's yard in Sacramento after their wind storm on Wednesday. Then read about the Atmospheric River pounding the whole state of California. It is already 52° at 6:21am so things are back to normal.

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  3. What happened to Heidi???

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    1. Heidi died of cancer December 15th

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    2. Oh, Steve, I'm so sorry. I have been following you and the hounds for years. She was a great dog.

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    3. She was. I miss her every day.

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