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.

I wish this was a current photo but it's not. I still have to get on my hands and knees to pull grass and weeds out of all the flowerbeds. That is the reason for the title "Behind Schedule". Yet with mowing the yard outside the fence about every 6-7 days and inside the fence every 3 days depending on rain, the lawn is somewhat ahead of schedule. My experiment is working out well in the backyard. No added seed just natural rains and sunshine as the grass grows back and covering most of the bare spots.

The day I was at Lowe's to buy some topsoil I did see the small containers of flowers were out for sale. I would have put the same ones in the same pots pictured here but for some strange reason I didn't want to mess with it. I walked out with nothing more than the seven bags of topsoil like I had planned to buy and no flowers. For some strange reason I have not had the motivation to get them and the flowerbeds cleaned out.

Another photo from this time last year, although that pot has been moved from the front porch to the backyard at the corner of the fence to block Henry from digging. At least the porch and the edge you see there were stripped, cleaned and painted last September. The weather has been great for yard work, hound walks and a little bike riding around the neighborhood. Maybe this week it will be time to clean the flowerbeds and add new mulch along the side flowerbeds. Out front there is small black stone.

Henry never fails to remind me when I have gone past the time for his lunch. Just like Stella use to, he will come and get me wherever I am around the house, inside or outside to let me know it's time for kibble. 

You can see the hounds and the dog have been as motivated as I am for pulling weeds. 

Watson likes to sit in the shade in the late afternoons. What is interesting, most of the time he will not bark at the caregiver and lady next door as they sit in their side yard enjoying the weather. He use to bark nonstop when they would be outside. The shocker was this past weekend. While the neighbor was in her backyard filling up her bird feeders, Watson stood at the fence and watched her without barking at her nor jumping up and down going crazy. It is nice that he is getting older and possibly a little bit more calm. He was two years old on April 26th.

I went back in the archives for these next three photos. This is Stella and Walter at the house in Sierra Vista AZ on July 1, 2020. Walter would have only been five months old in that photo. Someone is out on the sidewalk in front of the house, yet neither one of them barked.

Henry has been a charmer since the first photo I saw him at four weeks old, when I chose him. Here he was around two and a half months old (10 weeks). He didn't mind the hot rocks or the warm patio floor out in Sierra Vista. He did show signs of digging though. I just remembered that. 

The camera can't quite capture just how big Watson has grown recently, even over the winter. Here he is around three months old (12 weeks) in 2021. 

This was him on April 1st and still not fully grown. I knew from looking at his parents when I bought him that he would be a huge hound and possibly the biggest bloodhound I have ever had. He loves his daily walk but I have yet to stop him from barking and lunging at passing cars or trucks while we stand still off the street with my hands tight on the leash. I still have not decided about trying a head collar that was suggested a few weeks ago.

On days when the sun is hot, Walter will venture outside alone to take his afternoon siesta under the sun. He can snore just as loud outside as he does at night in the corner of the bedroom on his sleeping bag. He still will not accept my offer to go for a walk but never hesitates to go outside in the front yard without a leash and wait for his mailman friend to stop to see him. 

Most know that I have spreadsheets for everything and have plenty of time to keep all of them updated as something occurs. For years I have kept a monthly total of weight, stomach diameter, body fat measured with calipers. Glancing back a year at a time for the past three years, my blood pressure and "diet measurements" haven't changed much.

One interesting note this this month, I lost 8 pounds with no additional exercises. I changed my shopping list and cut out bread, ice cream, chips, cookies, candy from my grocery shopping. I still ate out as much and in fact too many days or nights. A funny thing I have noticed, is this a conspiracy? ....

Whether I go though the drive-thru at Ritzy's Burgers, sit inside at Five Guys Burgers, Freddy's Steakburger, Chinese food at the hole in the wall place or Mexican food .... drumroll .... everything is around $17.19 give or take a few pennies. With a tip to make the bill an even $20 ... all meals seem to be priced the same. I know in the past I have told my self "no more", its not worth the money ... now $20 seems like nothing for food that use to cost me $7.50 too long ago and $12.xx just last year.

A 2022 Chili Red Mini Cooper S Countryman has appeared at a local Kia Dealer's lot. I saw it online on a couple of websites I like to look at. I spent most of Friday, a little on Saturday and less Sunday looking at that car and fighting off huge urges to make the deal. Luckily my old friend up the street invited me up to "talk you off the ledge" while he did yard work. 

Funny that he has a cousin our age, an accountant, that has the same car issues as I do and has no answers for why. Only he will trade cars about every six months and never stops. I have now had my old Z4 I previously owned for 18 months and I am a few months shy of owning my FJ a full year. Yes, I was bored when I started looking at cars for sale on Friday, so at least I can recognize my trigger points for that.

I don't know what was worse, fighting off the huge urges and the small voice in my head, against buying candy, ice cream and chips ... or trading cars. It was extremely hard to fight through urges for all of them.

Well Watson has laid his head on my desk to let me know it is time for me to change into some clothes and take him for his morning walk. He and Henry know their order and only one will go out into the garage at a time when I tell them "let's go". 

It's going to be cool and windy today but all days in retirement are good here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.