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.

A few months ago another friend donated a dog bed. That might look too small for Watson but every time I get up in the middle of the night he is curled up on that bed with room to spare. I even see him taking naps on it different times of day. There is just enough room for the AC/Heat floor register but the dog bed might have to find a new spot once the heater is turned on for the winter. That would probably cause me to re-arrange the bedroom furniture to get things to fit and away from the floor register.

Don't be fooled by the photos of Watson. I caught him at different times where he does not look active. Every day I watch a couple times during the day he and Henry running sprints from one side of the yard to the other, usually Henry is chasing Watson as they both "slide" across the composite patio deck. 

These photos were taken this morning, 46° and most of those leaves fell into the yard just yesterday. I have only one football game to watch today so I will either rake the yard, or mow the yard where the leaves will be mulched. Last year I found it took almost the same amount of time to rake them as it does to mow them. 

The other day when I mentioned the possibility of having a bunch of topsoil delivered and placed in the backyard .. my neighbor reminded me over the years she has seen a LOT of trucks full of topsoil unloaded in the backyard and it still ends up flooding. She has lived here over 50 years.

The soy beans still have to be harvested. I am making a wild guess that might happen this week.

I thought the hounds and dog wanted to go outside this morning but as you can see they were not that interested. That just tells you the cooler temps are here at least for a few hours. It also shows there has not been a lot going on to blog about. I had to take these photos this morning just to have a few to post. Others that are below are from what friends sent me the past few weeks.

At three years and nine months old, I guess Walter is full grown. He is small for a bulldog male but about the size of his mother. No matter his size he is a great dog, with a funny personality and is very particular with what goes on around here. Plus he is a 24/7 watch dog ... asleep or awake. He doesn't have a bark that will keep anyone away but he does have a bark to let you know someone or something is near 'his' house.

Henry on the other hand is just Henry. He is as laidback as Winston was, similar personality and has to get all the attention if he sees me giving some to Watson or Walter. He is huge, heavy and might be the biggest basset hound I have ever had except for the one rescue I picked up in the late 1990's.

I see Blogger has a new screen for uploading photos from my computer to this blog. Even if I set the order I want the bulk load to happen, it means nothing to Blogger,  so the group of photos above this and below this post are Blogger's order and I am commenting at random instead of trying to work around the Blogger difference. 

Between Apple and Blogger updates, with some of them major, there have been some things disappear or are hidden from where they use to be. I can usually keep up with it but the latest osMac system is quite different along with the updates for the iPhone and iPads.

Very doubtful that I will ever move back to Cochise County. That green strip going across the photo are the trees along the San Pedro River. Those are the Huachuca's straight ahead. I will never forget the good feelings I had almost every morning seeing those mountains from my patio while drinking coffee. A bicycling friend posted this on his Strava account the other day. 

Another friend down in North Carolina sent me some photos of her camping trip near Pilot Mountain last weekend. I helped her with car information a couple of years ago, before she bought that Subaru Outback Wilderness. She said with the lifetime pass she bought a few years ago, this camping spot was only $25 for the night instead of $55, even in the offseason.

These next two photos are "normal activity" after they have had their breakfast and while I am drinking coffee and reading stuff on the internet. I will say that even in the last month Watson has calmed down a lot. He no longer goes crazy and barks at the neighbor on the right side when they mow their yard ... 

but ... when he sees the neighbor on the left where the barn shed is ... he is at the fence in a hurry barking and all the hair on his back and neck are raised. To me, that shows there is something he does not like about that lady. She has a small dog, likes all of my dogs but why does Watson have such a hostile reaction to her? It makes me wonder if something has happened while I have been gone and the dogs have been in the backyard.

Henry only barks when he is playing with Walter or Watson. Walter is still snoring loudly day or night but I can tell that he knows it is getting closer to winter just by the things he does.

I have found this sign to be true as I continue to focus my eating on high fat, high protein and low carbs. The app Cronometer I use to track everything I eat or drink shows without intention, I eat fewer calories per day. That is not the plan but a result of eating the way I do. Otherwise, I eat/snack almost constantly with high carbs, low fat and normal levels of protein.

I had a nutritionist tell me in 2020 that when I crave sweets it is because I am not getting enough protein.

My Cincinnati Reds did much better than they were projected to do. By the end of the year their whole infield starting lineup were rookies from AAA Louisville. They lost most of their starting pitching staff due to injuries, some were season ending yet the Reds were in contention for a wildcard playoff spot with two games to go in the season. 

I am back though to "Football Saturday" and usually just one NFL game on Sundays. The weather has been so nice it is just hard to sit inside on a Sunday and watch football. I think the NFL lost me as a serious fan a few years ago when they became too political. In my view sports and political views should never mix. 

I am happy to hear the news of my 3.2% pay raise next year ... too bad that will not even come close to the increase on food. I noticed gas prices dropped a lot last week but since I am not driving out of town much if at all, that really doesn't affect me too much. It is the cost of groceries that is bleeding me. I normally buy the same things every week to ten days.

Two Mondays ago I bought a brand name package of bacon at Walmart for $4.64, that same brand of bacon, same exact package of bacon was $6.48 a week later ... almost everything I bought last Monday was higher than the previous Monday. How do I know ... I kept the receipts of each trip to compare but I did notice the increase when I took the package or jug off the shelf. 

Bidenomics is going to force me to live on beans and rice. I like beans over cornbread sometimes but not for every meal, if you get what I am saying.

I am edging close to three months of car ownership, same car. To some readers they know that is some kind of record with me. LOL

So that is about all I can update I guess. All of us are in good health. I am still riding my bike outside but I am also wearing long sleeve jerseys and long bike pants more often. I am just not a cold weather cyclist and I didn't care for it much out in Sierra Vista either in the winter months. But out there if I didn't get my riding in by noon the winds were in the 30-40mph every day.

Things have pretty well settled in my brain cells lately. It's nice to feel calmed down a little.

Beautiful fall weather here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.