Almost Back To Normal

The hounds look the way I have been feeling most of the time these past couple of weeks. My head has been feeling much better with each day passing. I would say I have been doing normal stuff around the house inside and outside. I drive without any problems. I have done some yard mowing and built a new small flowerbed on the side of the garage. I don't feel my head throbbing when I sit up or when I get up out of a chair. I have not tried riding the bike indoors yet to see what reaction I would have with a high pulse rate for an extended period of time. I have ridden the tan bike that came with my VW bug .1 of a mile to my friends house up the hill and around the corner. So things are good, I just wish I didn't feel so tired.

The Week Flies By For The Hounds

I am anxious to see these photos today because I did something different than I usually do. Before the walk I read an article my Feedly account about digital photography. The writer was talking about better quality of photos with a standard lens such as a 35mm or the 55mm instead of a zoom lens. So I tried taking most of these photos today with a 55mm setting on my zoom lens, a few at 35mm and some at 70mm ... so I could also find out if I can survive on a hound walk with a zoom lens that has a range of 35mm-70mm or will a single 55mm lens work okay?

As you see my glove below, Stella was out in the burrs before I could step into the backyard. Before we took another step I pulled all of the burrs off of her only to find them attached to my glove afterward.

She was happy with all of the burrs off her neck, sides and a few on the side of her face. She started with a nice fast run just long enough to run in front of me and then walk as slow as a crawl or about a half step short of my normal stride. 7 acres to walk and she has to walk directly in front of me slow enough that I have to stutter step. If I stopped she stopped.

I added a little color saturation to the fall leaves that are left. I like that option, otherwise it was be a blog full of drab, dull and dying colors.

Most of these are being taken with the 55mm setting. I am surprised that I may not need anything more than 70mm. I guess now that I think about it, Sadie was the one usually running way ahead or leading the chase after deer where a 200mm came in handy. Yes, I still think about her every single day.

It felt colder than the temperature showed. This was the first morning where the cold air could "cut through you like a knife" ... the wind, nothing else, just so I am political correct.

Not a bird, not a cardinal, just a bright red wilted leaf still left at the edge of the wooded area.

By the way the photos look you may think my memory is shot but I took this first one at 35mm.

This one was at 55mm.

And believe it or not ...  this next one was at 70mm.

I had some shopping plans for today. I needed to finally replace my wool ski cap that was 29 years old ... yes honestly it was that old.

I also needed some new wool socks. Not only do they keep my feet warm on the winter walks but warm inside the house with the indoor temp 64° or lower. Nothing worse to me than a house that has the heater set to high.

I also wanted to check on a 4-Port USB Hub. I am out of ports on the back of my iMac since I added an external drive for the photos, an external CD/DVD drive that will be connected full time. I need a port for my phone cable to download the photos to my hard drive, recharge the phone and backup the phone hard drive to my iMac. I won't and never will do that over the cloud or by wifi.

Hat and socks were on sale at drastically reduced prices at Orscheln Farm and Home store. I struck out finding a new USB hub. The new ones on the Walmart rack were only 2.0 instead of 3.0. Since I already have a 2.0 that works but is just slow transferring files ... I didn't buy it.

I wasn't able to catch it with my camera but Stella pressed her nose right up against that old 80 yr old metal fence. She couldn't quit identify what she was smelling. She looked confused and walked away.

We stepped outside for a few short minutes after their lunch. The winds had picked up and it felt colder than it was in the morning, although the needle on the carport thermometer had climbed about 4° warmer. Stella didn't have any motivation to step into the driveway or yard.

Heidi was out and back, heading toward the door within minutes. I am pretty sure that the Azalea you see is not going to make another Midwestern winter. All of them are set too far back from the edge of the roof overhang and rarely get the rain water. I water them by hand most of the summer. I know myself well enough that I will not be going out in the winter every other day to water plants. In fact that outdoor faucet will be shut down for the winter.

I have watched NFL football since I was a young boy, during the 1960's. Until the past 2-3 years I watched all the games I could, no matter who was playing. I love football that much. While I still watch college football nonstop these past few years my NFL viewership has decreased to watching just the Indianapolis Colt games, the NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl (minus the halftime show).

This might be my last season to watch any regular season game if I even make it through the regular season until the Super Bowl.

Why?

Well as it was explained on the NFL channel the other day by an ex-NFL Quarterback, the league office changed the rules to the touchdown celebrations "to attract the younger crowd" .... UN-$*&#)*##^ believable !!!!

With that rule change players can choreograph their celebrations after a touchdown. With fewer NFL games being played on my tv on Sunday's, Monday and Thursday nights where I do not tune in, I have found there are plenty of other things I can do besides watching touchdown celebrations that have turned into multiple player dance routines or comedy acts. They can do whatever they please but I won't be watching that crap.

What else can I complain about before I go ... hmmmm

Oh yes, how about more Daylight Savings complaints ... with the new time of moving the clocks back, Stella and Heidi see no reason to sleep past 6:15am every morning, while it is dark outside. Their 'inner' clocks are still an hour ahead with no plans to change. Does that turn me into a complaining grump?????  LOL

Other than that, it was a great Friday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. IU basketball game tonight at 8pm local and that's a good thing.

Friday Packed With Activity

You may have noticed some of the recent photos I posted of farm equipment passing by the house. Just like my outdoor schedule, their activity is also based on possible rain. Consequently I mowed the yard this morning a few hours earlier than I planned on, even with the grass a little wet. Luckily I had my camera on Wednesday as I caught this great looking Ford passing by. It's locally owned and is seen on the perfect weather days.

As usual the rain is anyones guess. It was suppose to happen Wednesday afternoon, putting these guys hard at work that same afternoon. The rain didn't show up. Then thunderstorms scheduled after midnight, didn't show up. Yesterday morning was to bring severe thunderstorms. The skies turned black, Stella whined a little while stood and moved to a different sleeping spot, but very light rain passed through.

Stella did not pace more than 3' away before she laid down and took a nap. The inside of the house was so dark you would have thought it was in the middle of the night. None of the storms bother Sadie or Heidi.

There will not be a field if bright yellow flowers (weeds) this year. He must know more than I do about the May weather or he is a gambler for planting this early. It does not take much for that field to flood and that has happened as late as the first week of June. A lot of the field was under water just a few weeks ago.

I was just happy to get the yard mowed before today's rain that was scheduled at noon. Yet as I started this blog post I took a look at Intellicast weather radar and there wasn't a cloud of any kind within 300 miles of me. So one of my major activities today was finished before 10am.

Finishing the yard that early confused all three of the hounds. They usually get a walk when I finish mowing later in the afternoons, so when I stepped inside the house to cool off and grab a glass of water Heidi started barking, Sadie started bouncing and Stella started howling. Those actions told me they didn't think it was time to walk, they thought it was time for lunch but that wasn't going to happen at 9:54 am.

After the brutal winter we had with almost a month solid of temperatures below 32° and a lot of nights below 0°, I am now declaring the Azaleas I planted late last July as being hearty survivors. The  four of them are centered in the flower beds across the front of house but that puts them under my wider than normal roof overhang ... so they don't get water from the rains. It will take a few years for them to get large enough where they can be seen 100' away down the hill.

Another sign that Spring is officially here ... this ladybug was patrolling the area around the house making sure things were clear of any kind of harmful bugs. Plus the sparrows have decided this year to move their nest back outside on top of the electric meter instead of the corner of my carport. I slid my hand up inside the nest and felt a perfectly formed cutout bed.

Heidi has been outside every day but most of the time that she is laying in the backyard enjoying the sunshine, my camera is inside. All of us have been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the weather while Sadie roams the field. Stella is back to taking naps under the sun but Sadie is just too mentally busy with tracking to lay down and enjoy some time off.

Stella lets me know it's allergy season ... she itches more now than any of the other 11 months.

As you can see the field is growing by the hour. It will not be long before the hounds are partially hidden as we walk the field. Sadie seemed as if she was in a hurry this morning, she rarely stopped or look for me or Stella.

I've been keeping a keen eye out for deer in our early morning walks and the last walk of the day usually between 5p-6p. I haven't seen any ATV tracks nor have I see any signs of deer.

Stella again followed the "over here" command and headed our direction instead of the far right corner of the field.

Sadie still hasn't come up for air .... her nose was on the ground for most of the walk.

While Sadie trotted out in front of us on some kind of scent ... Stella was going to take her own sweet time.

They both seem pretty interested in the cat scent. They have been ending their walks lately by walking together and slightly behind me all the way to the yard. Of course that will change in a week or two since Stella never keeps any kind of walking routine.

I am not sure how many of you caught the shows the other night on the National Geographic channel with Katie Couric but both shows I watched were very interesting and informing. If everyone in the country watched nothing else but those two shows I think a lot of problems would be solved. The shows were about Immigration and Smart Phone Technology.

Stella is begging for lunch right now so I cannot stay long and have a lost my train of thought. I had some other stuff I wanted to write about but it has slipped away into that dark hole of my mind. One of Katie's shows talked about memory loss ... it made me wonder if all the hours on my computer the past 23 years is my problem or is it because I am getting older. Of course the concussions I've had in the past probably doesn't help.

I am glad to see that two local Farmers Markets are opening soon for this year. There is nothing better than fresh produce, fresh meats and fresh eggs. I can't remember the last time I bought a tomato at a grocery store that had any taste to it. Yes, I have the room to grow all of this myself with my own garden, but for me personally it's easier to let the experts grow what they do and let me buy it when it's ready.

It 'feels' like rain is on the way but the radar is clear and only a 30% chance this afternoon. That is one thing that makes living in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana so nice ... the weather is constantly changing except for those 30 days last winter.

All is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... have a nice weekend.

Heidi Does Get Outside Sometimes

A few people have asked if Heidi is okay since they don't see many pictures of her on the blog. Weather dictates most of Heidi's actions. She has always been like that even when Winston was around. She has always been somewhat of a 'loner'. Readers that don't know ask about her bare skin around her feet and ankles but compared to early 2015 that looks fantastic. She is actually doing very well. She goes outside 3x per day at a minimum and is sleeping most of her other time.

The first thing in the morning she runs outside either behind or under the bloodhounds to relieve herself after sleeping all night. Then right after lunch she will go outside with the bloodhounds for the same purpose. If it is great weather she will lounge and possibly even nap in the sunshine during the hot summers. Other times she was roam the yard giving her nose a workout. Or she will do a lap around the house.

A lot of times that mid day trip is nothing more than out to the front yard, dump her tanks, trotted across the yard to the driveway for a slow walk up the hill with her nose inspecting every inch. Her toenails have been longer than normal since the first day I got her. One of the vets that was treating her skin problem told me in June 2015 that most likely hair would never grow back where her skin was raw ... but it did on her legs  and shoulders where there is white hair. Not all but some.

Almost daily Sadie will make sure she is okay and will walk into the front yard kind of like helping her back to the house, even though she does not need any help. At night Sadie will wait and meet her at the door as Heidi walks back inside with her 'infamous' nose tap as Heidi scrambles back to the couch.

She will always go outside around 8pm or 9pm at night after sleeping most of the afternoon and early evening away. I basically let her do what she wants. If she wants to join us on our walks she will hop down off the couch and run to the door on her own without me saying anything. If she wants to stay outside on her own, she does, but only during hot weather.

She will greet me at the door every time I come back home from a shopping trip or a road trip. She roams the house while I am gone while the Sadie and Stella stay together in a shut off room, for their own safety and my sanity. Stella still dreams of riding in the Z4 but that will never happen, sorry.

Since she was picked up from the shelter by the basset hounds rescue service, her exact age is not known. Best estimate is she is around between 8 and 9 years old right now, maybe a few months older.

For all of the plant experts that visit the blog. I think I am seeing some deeper colors and maybe some new life in the Azaleas I planted last summer in the middle of the hot weather. I was going to leave them and let nature take it's course to see what they do in the winter. Is that a good plan?

Do these look normal? Okay? I've only let the little rain we've had this fall water them.

I am not sure about these. Are they dead or dormant? I guess I'll find out next spring.

I'll wait to see what the winter weather does to them and then do any changes in the spring this year instead of changing my landscaping plans in the middle of July.

Thanks for asking about Heidi. I know a few readers consider her their favorite hound of the three.

Hard to believe how fast this week has passed here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.