Blog Pictures Are Finally Fixed

It has been months of frustration for me when I looked at the quality of the pictures after posted on the blog. I have mentioned it three or four different times, wondering if I was going blind or possibly insane.

It all started by an email I received this morning from a fellow Blogger blog owner. They too, along with a small group of us, have been complaining for months now that our blog pictures were not as sharp as they use to be. For a long time we couldn't figure out why. Once we found out why, how do they get fixed.

He had the answer.

A few times when I talked about it on the blog some readers were wondering if we were just getting old, insane and losing our eyesight. Some of us considered moving to Wordpress and one almost stopped blogging because of poor picture quality.

So after I saw the difference in sharpness and how easy it was to fix, I edited my 8 most recent posts and saw a HUGE difference in picture quality. I decided I had time to go through my 'pages' that are tabbed across the top of the blog and see what kind of damage I could do there.

It is amazing in the difference in sharpness of the pictures. It will take a little longer to put a post together but well worth that extra time for better pictures.

About the time I finished with editing over 200 pictures, Sadie was standing right at my elbow giving me the silent treatment to let me know it was time to eat. As I glanced over at Stella, not saying a word, she started howling ... that led Heidi barking in the next room.

So lunch was served, with a little more added to Stella's stainless steel bowl. After they are finished Sadie will inspect each of their bowls to make sure that every last kibble of food is gone. She will lick all the dog food bowls clean after every meal.

So we took the normal trip outside just after the meal and found a warm day fighting against cooler winds from the north.

With the fix to the pictures, from now on you should see them with a much better sharpness, a better quality picture. The last 8 blog posts also include the corrected images, as well as the pictures in my pages across the top of the blog.

It is so nice outside that we are heading out for some book reading while the hounds either sleep in the sun or watch Sadie roam the yard and field. That 'to do' list is sitting on the desk gathering a little dust. Maybe all of the effort to clear the driveway bank a few weeks ago was too much too soon.

I might be a slacker now but it's a good Monday so far here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

DVD Recorder & Hounds

First of all I will say that every since I deleted the .net domain from this site, my visits from China, Russia and the Ukraine practically disappeared. That same .net domain is what I used when I was on Wordpress and found via their program that almost all of the traffic from the .net domain was foreign spam visitors.

How could I tell? When I installed a 'plug-in' to block spam visits (hits) my spam traffic went to less than 10 per day. When I moved to my Blogger blog my spam traffic exploded to over 100's per day by directing that .net domain to my Blogger blog.

Of course earlier Heidi did get up for lunch. She never misses a meal of Fromm kibble and even eats almost the same quantity as the bloodhounds do in an attempt to regain her lost weight. When you look at these photos remember that just 10 months ago all the white hair on her rear upper and lower legs was raw red chewed skin. The vet at that time said that hair would never grow back on those areas. Those areas also included the tops of her front paws.

I think you can tell a difference and even see new hair trying to fill in all of the bald spots. By midday there is more redness than what she has when she gets up in the morning.

It is a slow process trying to get her cuticles to retract so her nails can be cut back shorter each week.

Well I installed the DVD recorder and am ready to record programs I have saved on my Directv DVR. I will find out very quickly after trying to record if the program is protected against copy or not. Years ago I could copy almost all of those programs that I would save on the DVR. I will find out how things have changed. To test, I will use only one DVD-R to see if I get the error message and if I do I will move to the next ballgame, race or movie to check their status.

After getting things set up, I heard that familiar sound of the door handle making a noise as Stella moves her nose in the upward motion as if she was opening a door handle that was a lever instead of round. Old doors have old door handles which have some wear and tear where it can be moved slightly in an up and down motion if I want it to or if she wants it to.

Like they have done recently once they were outside they both stood there by the house not moving to the field, which until the past few weeks that is all they did ... take off. Now they want for me to say "let's go for a walk". (I know the period belongs inside the last quotation mark but to me that doesn't look good)  lol

This walk was a little different as the photos will describe.

You can tell it was pretty slow paced compared to this morning's walk. Stella was still going to test me though just to show me she thought she was in charge. She does this by putting the bloodhound gene in action by "ignoring" me. She would do anything to be able to get back to that "no fly zone" she ran to the other day.

Checking to see if I am watching her

Ignoring me say "come on"

Checking one more time if she can escape

Continues to ignore me saying "come on"

Finally decides to turn my direction

Not happy so she will take her time ... very slow

One last look at the "no fly zone"

Walking home slow as possible

Sadie waits up for us - she wants to get home

Walked in slow motion all the way to the house - when she closes her eyes she isn't happy

Otherwise it was a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana with more predicted in the days ahead.