Two Coyotes Are In The Neighborhood

Not a lot went on over Christmas. A LOT of reading and studying what I was reading. Of course the hounds and the dog kept me busy being their 'doorman'. Walter, after three years, has started barking when he wants to go outside or come back inside. They sleep as I watch movies or documentaries on Amazon Video or Peacock. Amazon has notified me and millions of other people that at the end of January we will have to pay $2.99 per month more to escape commercials. I will get to expenses for normal stuff later with some surprising results. Watson will sit like that a lot and at times will even lay his head on the top of the love seat and sleep.

Merry Christmas

 

The hounds, dog and I wish you a Merry Christmas from "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.

Kodak Slide Scanner Works!!

Warning: Lots of photos and story telling involved.

If you remember last week I received my missing Kodak Slide Scanner but there were two issues that made it inoperable. The SD card would not lock in the slot which is needed to save the photos to that are converted from slides or negatives. Photos from that SD card are then transferred to your computer or TV screen, your choice. It also would not work once plugged into three different computers. I took it back for a refund, then ordered another one. I did not want to ship it to my house but to ship to the Best Buy store where I could pick it up. They texted two days earlier than planned for me to pick it up.

It's Been A Hectic Week

I guess it is this type of weather that leads me to blogging. Although the weather has been great with normal December temperatures with lows in the 30s at night and most days in the mid 50s. Yesterday it did reach 63° before the thunderstorm blew through. Nothing like what happened late afternoon NE of Nashville TN thankfully.

I can't say we have been doing anything different than normal activity. I have even gone back through this blog, and my private blog I keep, to see just how similar things have been year after year this time of year. I can go back nine to ten years and not see much difference really. Although "the crew" has changed. 

I Moved To Fiber Internet

Scrolling through photos on my iPad last weekend I ran onto this photo of Stella just after we had moved to Arizona in June 2019. I can tell it was soon after because there was no coffee table in the photo and the new rug had not totally flattened out yet. I miss that big old bloodhound.

A Local Country Drive

Some long time readers might remember this 2010 FJ that I bought in June of 2021, soon after I moved here. I traded it in for a 2019 Silver 4Runner TRD Off Road that following fall and the 4Runner was the ONLY REASON I got rid of it. It already had the rock rails and the kind of wheels I like. Well strange things happen in the world of cars/trucks online ... I found it a few weeks ago on cars.com and my brain cells went to work. LOL

Football Saturday

As you see in the few photos that I have available to post today, it's another Football Saturday and they will not be doing much more than this. It's cold but sunny. The hounds are fine.

Hounds Watch The Leaves Change

I had an impulse to blog yesterday, late in the afternoon, so I grabbed the Nikon and headed outside. I am not sure I like the new process of Blogger uploading and posting the photos to the blog all in the same step, not giving me a chance to reorder them before posting them. They did post them in the order they were taken though but I was wanting a different order and I refuse to upload and post them one at a time.

We Still Have A Pulse

Has it been almost a month since our last post? Hard to believe because we really haven't been that busy doing things. The weather has been fantastic for this time of year yet when I look back through these photos ... nothing out of the ordinary has been going on. I guess ... just watching football and waiting for the leaves to fall. As you can see Walter is pretty content with his fast pace way of life.

Not Much Going On

The photos may show "not much going on" but when I think back to this past week, a lot of things did happen but not blog photo worthy. Where should I start? The "to do" list continues to have items checked off and a major project was finished this week. Finishing the repair of the lower living room windows and painting the frame. I installed the screens I repaired a few months ago and they look great with the new wood repair and paint job. I only wanted to see how it looked and still don't quite trust the dog (Walter) from tearing out the new screens while I am gone ... so they are stored in the garage. Plus when cleaning windows I see way too many jowl smudges on the windows from the hounds and dog.

The Hounds Explore

Just like Watson did at 8 weeks old, he does every morning at two years and five months old. He was born the day before we left Sierra Vista, AZ for Evansville IN. Is that weird? Of course back in early July 2021 I did not have the fence installed yet and that pole held a security light that I found out was installed here by a previous owner. To the dismay of my neighbor, I cut the wires, capped them off and buried them back in the ground then cut the pole down. I like a dark yard plus I didn't like the pole standing in the middle of the backyard. The neighbor is still not happy about that.

Nothing But Photos

 

A Saturday full of football and a couple of games on Sunday ... a lazy weekend as you can see. Only photos today ... things are good though.

More Yard Work

Labor Day Weekend 2023 was basically uneventful, otherwise normal for me. I did not watch as many college football games as I have in the past due to lack of interest. Yet, the hounds, dog and I seemed to have managed without much happening. Yes, Watson does spend a lot of time sleeping sitting up. It's just like the picture the breeder sent me of his mother sleeping sitting up in the passenger seat of his pickup truck before I bought Watson as a puppy.

A Hounds & Dog Day Afternoon

With a late start to the day and an early game one of a doubleheader starting a little after 12 noon, I didn't have a lot of time to do projects today. I did get my watering finished on all the new plants I bought the other day plus I am now watering the roses, azaleas and other flowers that were planted years ago. I took the hedge trimmer's down along the back fence line trimming back the overgrowth next to where I mow outside the fence. 

As you will see ... the hounds and dog called it a day pretty early today ... by 2:15pm, they were finished with any activity.  Photos to follow. 

The Motivation Continues

It was something I wanted to do last fall, but I got busy doing some painting inside and outside. Then spring rolled around but it was always wet and never really hot enough to pull out the pressure washer and clean the patio deck. Wednesday was the perfect day for that. Temperatures never got into the 80s, a slight wind from the NNE at 17 mph and bright sunshine to help dry things out.

More Discussion About Everything

For the forth time I will try to grow another one. Originally I brought one with me in that pot from Arizona. That one never survived the winter inside. Lowes stocks them on a regular basis so I bought a couple more over the past 27 months. They have all died different ways. Did I give this one too much water? Or is there something in the soil that is killing them?

A Lot Going On

After a second day in a row of working outside in flowerbeds and the "rock patio", I am sitting here with 20oz of ice cold water in front of me, a bunch of photos and some thoughts running around my head. I guess my "water break" has turned into calling it a day, and instead of going to another thing on the "to do" list, I will blog instead. Grab something to drink and prepare to read, a lot of news in this blog post. Some would call it rambling or in some cases ... total craziness.

Is Summer Over ??

 

I was going to write just a paragraph and list all the photos of the hounds but there were too many 'topics' just to do that. Now I see after loading all the photos into the blog at once like I always do, they are in reverse order than what I wanted. So, here we go with a little commentary below the photos.

A Lot Of Surprises This Week

It did not seem like it at the time but sitting here on a Saturday night a little after 7pm local time, there were a few surprises this week. One surprise is I am writing a LONG blog post with a MILLION PHOTOS. I am also going to try an experiment loading the photos because I want to insert tonight's hounds activity in between some of the ones I have loaded early ... I have just decided the hound photos will be after these next few photos. I say hounds because Walter is not pictured but one time and I will explain why in tonight's post.

Doctors & Doctor's Advice (Ranting)

This will be a LONG post. Grab something to drink.

Saturday morning after writing and posting this around 2:18am last night, I added two links of reference at the bottom of the post. There are many more links I could post but just too many links to add here. These two will help those that are interested though. Thanks for stopping buy.

No photos with this blog post, just straight out late night (after midnight --- finished at 2:18am) rambling. A cord was struck within my brain a few minutes ago when I saw someone mention "doctors advice" .... see lately I have found a group of people in my age group 65 - 71 that have talked about NOT following their doctors advice after doing it for 30 some years. I found them on Twitter because Twitter thought I might be interested and fed me their tweets ... if that makes any sense.

Person after person "testifies" how they were unhealthy for years with things like obesity, diabetic type II, heart issues ... the normal stuff. Their doctors had kept them on meds for decades ... not years ... decades. They ate the USA Recommended Diets, the Triangle of foods. They claim they never got better, never felt better all those years UNTIL they went off on their own path and basically said "screw it, Im tired feeling this way".

Just A Short Update

Just a short update with a few photos to let you know we are fine, all of us have a pulse and nothing has really changed since the last post. The is Henry sound to sleep with Watson holding his head in place so he can clean the inside of Henry's ears and later his jowls as Henry will wake up soon after. It is a daily morning thing now but it will eventually change.

Smoke From Canadian Fires

The smoke from the Canadian fires have reached all the way to Evansville Indiana today. My friend about a 100 miles north of me was describing this yesterday and if we get tomorrow what she is describing today, it will not be good. There is some rain in the forecast tonight so maybe that will change what is possible tomorrow. The photos do not really show just how hazy the sky is even with some editing.

Strange Blog Activity Lately

Besides my lack of time to put a blog post together on a regular basis, some strange things have been happening in the blog background. I have asked other bloggers that have a blog on this platform if they have ever seen anything like what I see, none have. For about a month now, there has been traffic from Singapore using Mobile Safari on an Android phone (very weird) that is clicking over a 1,000 pages per day. I thought it was "website indexing" or as some call it, harvesting.

The Hounds & Dog ESCAPE --- Gone !!!

Taking this photo and the next one of Henry this morning while standing in the great room, little did I know what would bring a HUGE adrenaline rush to me today. It was my fault as I had a total mental failure that led to their escape. Instead of going out of the fence gate to mow the grass I took the lawn mower from the shed, through a single door into the garage and out the opened garage door. While I mowed, due to the high temps the hounds and the dog were basking in their cooled AC rooms.

Is It Belize???

 

My sister always says that she expected me to spend my retirement years on the beach. She has felt that way since the time she visited me in Southern California when I was living across the street from the Pacific Ocean back in 1977. Yes, you could see the ocean through the living room window in that small beach town. I always thought so too but like all of us know, things change in life and sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Yet when I saw that article recently of a single lady that had moved to Belize and was building her new home ... it got me thinking.

Not Much Happening

 

Just wanted to let everyone know we are alive, well, we all have pulses and we are just kicking back enjoying this spring weather, even the rain. That is all.

Behind Schedule

I've had to dig deep for some photos for this blog post. I guess you could say the hounds, the dog and I have been busy as well as lazy, therefore a lot of photos were not taken since the last blog post. I have added some from a couple of years ago at the bottom of this post. Remember the topsoil I told you that I bought this month and found this instead of the normal back pure dirt from the same company. Things are changing everywhere I guess. I will now spend a little more money for a bag with a different brand name next time.

Roaming Brain Cells

Watson and I have had wondering thoughts today. There might be some old fashion rambling in this post today. I haven't done that in a while. It might be caused by "my spring" vanishing with a snap of my fingers or is it the cool temps today? The next 10 days looking like highs in the 60's when I am wanting those mid to high 70's back that I experienced before the rains and the cold front. Yet I shouldn't be complaining about the weather nor anything else. Reading about various online friends and their health issues pulls me back from any thoughts about complaining, especially something so minor as high temperatures. I am thankful for my good health.

Rain Headed Our Way

You cannot see the trees blowing in the wind, 20mph from the south, but rain is headed our way. A good chance it will be raining around midnight and all day tomorrow. The weather guessers are thinking an inch and a half of rain within the next 24 hours. I might get to see how well the backyard holds up with some grass now and a bunch of rain.

Hounds And Walter Enjoy Spring Weather

Even with the occasional severe storms that have blown through the month of April I cannot complain about the weather. It's been fantastic. It was getting really hot last week until the rains came bringing a cold front with it. So this week the hounds and Walter have experiences 40s at night and highs in the low 70s. Watson and Henry have been taking their walks in the morning in 50°-60° weather. Watson has a new problem I will discuss below.

Hotter Weather

Since I am posting early today it may seem like I am wasting great weather being inside putting this post together but I have been outside doing things all day today and still have more to do tomorrow. After the hounds and dog had their afternoon after lunch siesta I thought Watson might be up for some fetch ... but all of them just wanted to hang out and enjoy the 75° with a breeze.

Spring Has Arrived

Spring arrived today. Low 70s as the highs and a forecast that the week will only get hotter. Yard mowed with the backyard cut higher this year at 3", even measured with a tape measure to make sure. A short trip afterward in the Z4 with the top down. As you will see there is less Watson barking while the neighbors are outside enjoying the weather. Smoking chicken on the grill to combine with some steamed broccoli for dinner. Reds game at 6:20pm ... all is good.

Tornadic Activity Should Be North Of Us

No these photos are not from this morning but the past few days. It was still 76°last night after 8pm ... that's my kind of weather. I wanted to get a post out this morning before the forecasted severe storms pass through here, starting at noon. Luckily any tornadic activity should be a couple of hundred miles to the north of us. Yet, you never know until the time is near. Right now I have the windows open with a nice breeze, the rain from earlier this morning has stopped. The hounds and even Walter have been outside this morning.

Walter Said We're Good

About an hour after last nights post it started getting a little exciting. Storm systems blowing in at 70-80mph changed what I said real quick. We were good up to that point. Luckily and once again, the system blew south of us a few miles across the Ohio River. Yet one system seemed to bypass my side of town and ended up in the eastern part of town around I-69 and headed NE.

So Far So Good

The weathermen and women have the hardest job in the world and probably face as much criticism as a coach, or politician. This photo is a screen shot of the current radar at 6:50pm CT ... a day or two ago they said we would experience a day of winds and rain, building up to the severe weather between 4pm - 9pm. Then the range last night was between 7pm-11pm. That time has not arrived yet and anything can change quickly in Midwestern weather but so far ... I like my chances of severe weather blowing right past our location. (the blue marker).

We're Alive And Well

 Hard to believe it has been 15 days since my last post but that is what happens when cold weather hits, in addition to "March Madness" and then this afternoon the first of three to four days of rain. Can you believe they have predicted 4"-5" of the liquid by Friday??? We might have to get a wave maker for the backyard if that prediction happens, so we can surf in the backyard. That photo above covers multiple times per day for the last 15 days, one photo does it all.

Calm After The Storm

I didn't realize until now that I had not posted here since our tornado warning last Friday. That is how nice the weather had been since then and none of us have been doing much, at least enough to blog about. I'm sitting here right now in the middle of the afternoon, windows open, birds singing and Walter snoring in 75° weather. A week into March that is pretty nice but still plenty of time to change into winter weather.

"Take Shelter Now" !!!!

With nothing more than possible rain until 3pm, the hounds, dog and I had been outside to check out the yard, the winds and was getting ready to watch the IU women's basketball team play on tv in the B1G Tournament. We had gotten all the way to halftime of that game when this warning came across my iPhone. The hounds, dog and I headed for the best place ... master bathroom with no windows yet next to the big walk in closet that had a small window facing west. Both rooms inside brick walls.

Miserable Day For Hounds & Dog

It was expected. It was in the forecast. It is happening as I write this. Newspaper said 2"-3" of rain by Thursday afternoon when it stops around 3pm (prediction) but after the first storm blew around us on Wednesday, I had my doubts about the storm that started last night around midnight. Consequently the hounds and the dog are not "happy campers". Henry has been the only one to sneak out along the edge of the house, around the corner into the stone area to pee first thing this morning.

A Beautiful "Tropics" Day

With a late start to the day, they still got their walks in, a late lunch turned into a short siesta with the windows open. Not much was done different than any other day. A couple of hound walks, time on the patio under the sun, some lunch and some Reds baseball.

The Hounds Know

 

They may have been out a few times this morning to explore the yard like they always do. With temps in the 40's that is warm enough to where they don't want to come inside ... except Walter. While Henry and Watson walked the yard with noses to the ground, they were really interested in something else. It is something they have become addicted to. They are waiting for me to clean the yard so right after I am finished, they know they get to go on their morning walks.

Pizza And Baseball

Thanks to Barney suggesting the other day I do some research on backlit photos, that led me to go over all the settings on my Nikon D3500 and I changed a few things from what I found. Consequently my photos today look just like they did when the camera was new. I had not been happy with the quality of the photos for a long time. Of course these were taken mid day on a bright sunny day, so lighting made a difference too. Still I can tell a big difference in quality.

Hounds Pretty Quiet Today

 So much for the warm weather we were experiencing. Woke up to 28° and I didn't last too long on the patio this afternoon in 41° weather. It was bright and sunny though and that was a good thing. We didn't do much today. Watson and Henry got their walks in, they met the painter down the street at the house I showed yesterday. The house will be a "flip" once another crew finish the inside with updates. He said it was in great shape to begin with.

Squirrels And Charlie

Another beautiful day here today, 66° sounds of birds, a squirrel sighting and finally all of us get to see Charlie, a big white puppy a couple of houses down from here. He is 10 months old and his owner tells me he is not destructive inside when left alone but likes to pee on the shoes of his grown son when they visit. It was a restless and sad day today ... we went on hound walks, out for lunch but couldn't seem to just sit outside and relax ... Samson was put down today around noon local time.

Walter Makes An Outdoor Appearance

It was hard to believe under skies like this, that Walter would make an appearance outside. It took him a while as these photos are in order they were taken. 65°, warm and windy when I opened the door to let hounds outside for the first time. It was darker than this at the time, a little before 6:00am.

Is Winter Really Over ??

Winters down here in "the tropics" are a little different than cities and towns in other parts of the state. We are actually further south than Louisville and much further south than St Louis. So the big storm predicted for Wednesday will blow by north of us and we will have high's in the 70's tomorrow and Thursday. The hounds love it and so does the dog. They spent most of their day outside on Monday. Henry and Watson had great walks with Samson Watson having quite the test to show me how good he is.

Never Ring The Doorbell

 

The Sunday afternoon was a nice 58° and all of us were in a deep siesta, when I woke to hear the doorbell ring and two hounds and a dog were sprinting down the hallway to the front living room windows to see who was visiting. That included a lot of barking as usual. As I leaned over to look through the lower glass of the door, it was a girl holding a menu for Girl Scout Cookies.

A Quiet Saturday For The Hounds & Dog

 

Hard to believe it was a week ago tonight where a lot of things changed around here. It's going to take a pretty long time to forget it. The two previous owners of Samson and I have analyzed, talked and asked many questions. All of us have second guessed what we did, then why we did it. Thanks to Lynn and another reader that commented, all three of us had a better understanding on what happened with Samson. In hindsight, there were some red flags after we read about "rage syndrome". There is a lot of moving pieces to that puzzle, all with a sad ending.

Is It Spring Yet ???

That's the question Walter is asking, "is it spring yet'. All signs are there. 69° just a couple of days ago before he had an inch of rain, flooding the backyard again. Temps are to be warm again the next few days. Plus he spent some time this past week sleeping in the hot sun on the patio deck. He is just curious. He did go outside first thing Thursday morning after hit has rained all night. He even slide outside between rains later in the day. He was feeling pretty good after he had a fresh bowl of water without any hound drool floating around in it. He hates that and refuse to drink until he gets a clean bowl.

A Tetanus Shot & Antibiotics

A lot has happened I guess from my last post. Some of it information by those that have experienced "rage syndrome" and information from urgent care about my deep wound and other small dog bites. It's all good information though, so no worries there. So where do I start ??

Physically I'm Healing Mentally I'm Not

Combined with great weather, warm enough to spend time outside, and my hand healing with no problems so far ... things are good. Sad but good. I realized Sunday morning I must have been in shock Saturday night and possibly the reason that the officer said I was the calmest person of his three dog bite calls that night. Since that time I have sorted and analyzed what happened. Why did I call animal control so fast after I walked back inside from the garage? I have second guessed myself on making the call until I remember how he acted towards me and the two control officers. There was a reason they shot him with a tranquilizer.