Stella's A Diet Assistant

While Heidi got plenty of rest this morning for a possible walk this afternoon, Stella and I duplicated the start of the morning only she decided this morning I deserved an extra hour of sleep and didn't start her whining to wake me until 6am. She seems to forget at times that I am retired and do not need to get up before the crack of dawn.

It was cold again, below 30°, but really nice this morning as we walked in the field. We had a pretty steady walk, with few stops in between as the photos will show. So, what's the post title about? Well it happened again last night around 9:30pm. I was not the first time it has happened but good old Stella prevented me of making a quick drive to the Dollar Store for some candy, cookies and anything else I could get my hands on. I had a HUGE CRAVING for junk food.

With her on again off again, never knowing when she will have a separation anxiety attack when I leave, I have been keeping her and Heidi in the bedroom as always BUT I continue to use the baby gate outside of the closed door. That door is always tied in a way that she cannot open it.

It takes probably less than two minutes to set up "the wall" but the effort to do that while waking her up from a deep sleep is a huge roadblock for my junk food runs late at night. I really don't like waking her up on the couch just to move her into her 'jail cell' while I am only gone 5-7 minutes, 10 at the most.

Doesn't seem like a lot of time does it? Besides I just told you she is in a deep sleep on the couch. Based on past experiences when I trusted her and was sure I could make it back before she woke up ... NOT ONE TIME did that work out as planned.

She must wake up as she hears my car drive away. Then she will counter surf for any possible food, fruit in bowls, maybe some left over pasta sauce stains on a plate that is waiting to be washed. She has even tried opening the refrigerator. The hanging bloodhound drool on the handle was a dead giveaway last summer.

So ... 7-10 minutes is too long for Stella to stay out of trouble. With it being too much of a hassel to set up "the wall", she slept on the couch and I changed my mind about going. I killed my junk food urge with a raw banana.

You may have noticed I did change the blog design. This was quick and easy since I did not have to do hardly any cusomization after I implemented the change. It still has a sidebar but it has the posts listed one by one instead of a grid. I was getting tired of the grid look on the home page. I did change the font and for the blog posts title, that change automatically reduced the size enough to make all the post titles just one line.

I know I've said it at least four times before but "I like this design"

When Stella heard the word "go" she stopped in her tracks and looked at me is if she would be making the trip when we returned home. All I said was "I have to go to the store" as I was trying to get her to work more and sniff less

I usually don't like shooting directly into the sun but I kind of liked this photo the more I looked at it.

Starting Thursday night I will be back to living on the couch watching "March Madness" through the weekend. Combine that with the start of the MLB season, there will be a lot of games going on at the same time. The split screen will definitely be used. It's a feature I did NOT have with DirecTV but do with DishNetwork. Unless my internet service changes from satellite to through my phone service I don't see many options on how I get my tv signal.

I have 11 months left on my contract with DishNetwork and at the rate things are changing I am sure my options will increase from now until February 2020. Being a sports addict and my locaction most of all, makes it hard for me to become a "Cord Cutter".

One of the problems of getting up at 6am, is that Heidi and Stella now want to have lunch at 10am. They have both given up their barking and howling knowing that I will not feed them until at least 11am, maybe a little later.

Since the release of the Mueller Investigation Report and the announcement by the Attorney General, tv news has been very very interesting. If it wasn't so sad it would be hilarious. I do glance at those channels that are far left and it is just amazing the amount of DENIAL that is going on by current and past members of Congress, the FBI and the CIA.

Just like the Democrats loved Comey in the summer of 2016, they hated him by October 2016. They (the far left media and pundits) have pulled that same whining feature with Mueller. They were positive that Trump would be nailed to the cross by that investigation and when he wasn't Meuller was the bad guy. Some think they can get the truth easier than it took Mueller. Clowns.

Needless to say any comments I make about the political scene from now on will be based on what I read online. I'm done with TV news ... again.

I reset my targets or limits for calories, carbs, protein and fat on the Cronometer app to what the Mediterranean Diet suggested. Calories 1,527 - Carbs 190g - Protein 110g - Fat 30g.

I am back to following "My Diet" which is a little bit from all the top diets. My emphasis is tyring to stay away from fast food, junk food, processed food and sugar. Some of those that I am focused on, I have stayed away from most of the time the past four years. So I am really trying to eliminate those late night junk food runs I have had in the past and combatting against those fast food urges I have.

When I have fallen off the whole food wagon, I have fallen hard and make up for all the ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers that I have missed. Although the last time I had a Pepsi (months ago) it did not taste good.

I am slowly breaking my sugar habit by cutting the quantities in half. That means only 1tsp per cup of coffee or cup of oatmeal. It has seemed to have worked the past two mornings.

Why is it every time I take a photo where my house is in the background or as we end our walk, that I always have to edit it and level the top of the roof to where it is straight???? Anywhere from an angle of 2°-4°. It's the same way whether I use the smaller Canon G9 or the larger Nikon D3200. I am positive I am holding the camera level when I take the photo.

Is my house sinking 2°-4° on the north end of the house?   (that's a joke ... I think)

The camera didn't catch her but Stella ran a couple of times today. Once she was so fast that she ran into the back of me as I was about to turn take her picture. Oh, one thing I do not want her to find out about, is the "dietitian assistant" job, because she will expect more kibble with each meal.

No matter what the temperatures are, it is always nice when the sun is out and it's not raining.

Stella getting in a little hamstring stretching.

With the library books returned I am back to reading the small font, 600 page book about Steve Jobs. It's a very very slow read. It's not him that I want to read about it's about Apple that I want read about. His partner was the computer whiz, Steve was the salesman. In the few pages I have read they made quite a pair. They are just starting their first computer as a company, when I put the book down and went to bed last night. They combined what money they had and started Apple with $1,300.

My car is a year older but the great state of Indiana let me know I needed to pay more than last year for license plates. They also hit me for a little more income taxes to pay this year. I still see a lot of bridges that need repaired, highways that need repaired ... so where does the money go? This state use to have a huge surplus of funds just a few years ago.

Well I need to go. The hounds are trying a different strategy to get me to serve lunch earlier than normal. No sounds but they are both sitting next to my desk chair staring at me with just a little bloodhound drool on the left jowl of Stella.

It's another beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Where Did It Go ??

It's not quite 9am. Stella is still sleeping overtime and that's fine since there will be no morning walk this morning. It has rained all night and has continued the first couple of hours we have been awake. It is supposed to stop around 11am so maybe an afternoon walk might be in the plans, late afternoon.

I feel like writing though. Not ranting but writing. I can hear it raining as I do.

Some might remember how I was going to open up and be more transparent, as some would say, on this blog. It was going to be my one and only blog where I would write about all or at least most things in my life and those of the hounds. I did a few posts like that back in December. It felt okay I guess but I didn't catch myself jumping up and down with that much excitement. So here I sit this morning, writing about where that urge went ... plus it's still raining, and I feel like writing. Quesitons have been filling up my mind this past weekend.

There were a few days after moving my main blog to my "photo blog', one that I started in November 2017, (yes this blog) where I was waking up at 3am or 4am and was wide awake. I had all kinds of thoughts that I wanted to write about and did. I guess it was okay but I didn't think about it that much. Besides, my blogging the past few years has been mostly about the hounds anyway. Especially during the winter months.

Still, just like chaning the design of the blog, I wanted to change the direction.

As I read different blogs I follow, I see a few bloggers that write in the open. They hold nothing back about what is going on in their life. Their life, good or bad, is an open book. This blog will never be that way because I can't write that way. I am personally not that way. It's more about privacy than hiding behind a wall. I've always leaned toward privacy, even years before the world knew what blogs were.

I also notice those that do post more in the open are also using their blog for some sort of income. For a few it is their only income if I believe what I read. This blog will never have advertisements filled with affiliate links. That's a hard game to play, one that I tried before I ever started blogging here. I will never put a button where you can donate to the dog treat fund, or to the hounds themselves. It has been suggested by a couple of readers but it's not really needed. Just having you stop by to look at their photos is enough for them ... and me.

All of us that do blog, do it our own way. That is what is nice about following a few of them. Every blogger is different with great information on some of them while others tell great stories, or detailed sad stories. Others have fantastic photos and that is all their blog is about, photography. Variety is a good thing.

I sat down ready to write about things in general because I felt like it and it was raining. (still is) Then I LOSE MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT !!!!! God I hate that. I am aware that I change my mind a lot and it is possible more than average. That's just me. I can't remember when it really started. It might have started when I retired and have more time on my hands. With a job my life was more structured. There was never enough time in a day to get everything finished, let alone mentally wander.

When I worked I can only remember changing my mind on life outside of work. Work focussed me and I was a workaholic on top of that focus. Time meant nothing then, only to get the work done. Until I neared my retirement decison, I don't remember spending a lot of time with questions running around my head. There was no mental chaos.

Now it's great to have the freedom to do most anything I want, when I want. Of course the hounds, past and present since April 2014, took advantage of that freedom and promoted me to "professional doorman" and "hound caretaker", thus giving them all the freedom and food they need. It's a good position actually since they are pretty easy to work for and meetings are not required. Nor do they have a lot of rules or regulations.

We don't have to be 'politically correct' either ... that's always a good thing.

I can see it too, just like you are thinking, as you read this. This post is going nowhere. I am jumping from one thought to another with nothing in order. It started out promising. Sitting here trying to write, I look just like Stella does in that photo ... lost ... but not as confushed as she is.

I look back on past blogs I have started over the years and then deleted them for one reason or another. Most of them were just impulse decisions or an idea that popped into my head. A spur of the moment type of blog. They never worked out really, had only a few readers and I was basically just talking to myself in a public form. I deleted them, some within 24 hours. Maybe it was just the design building I liked.

So why couldn't I transfer those thoughts to this blog?

For some reason this blog feels like it is made more for the hounds and not me. Of course it is winter and there is not a lot to write about since I am not involved yet with any house projects. Yet, I am not sure those kind of activities could be blog worthy. I have blogged about stuff like that in the past. I have a private blog where I can record house projects, maintenance, problems or ideas. Other's blog about stuff like that but in some cases that is the theme of their blog.

Here it would fall under the "Other Stuff" I guess.

I've also wondered lately where did that obsession of mine go from 2011 - 2015, to sell out, buy an RV, or a trailer or tent camp and travel full-time? I have the answer to part of that question. It's not an excuse but a fact ... a bloodhound(s) is hard to travel with. She (they) liked taking rides and could handle an 8 hour day in the car/FJ with no issues.

It's those times not driving that they are hard to deal with. The few short trips I took with the hounds were more of a hassle than enjoyment ... plus they like being home. How do I know that? In June 2015 as we pulled into the driveway after traveling for only six days, all three of them started barking with excitement. I had not even got to the top of the hill and they knew where they were. They were excited they were home.

Once inside they ran from room to room, tongues hanging out, more barking, smiles on their faces and eventually falling into their favorite spots to sleep. At the time I had two basset hounds and a bloodhound. Sadie was back in her element and loved the field. The two I have now like to ride but would rather keep their routines right here.

I can't say that I will travel a lot if I am ever 'houndless'  because I like my daily routine also. There is a chance that I'll take some trips but a bloodhound will not be included. A basset hound? They are much easier to travel with, no comparison. So trips west with a basset hound is possible I guess.

It will be like anything I've decided ... nothing firm, it will be analyzed to death, maybe even mapped out but in the end it will be mostly impulsive. Impulsive acts and I get along quite well. Always have.

Bad weather always seems to bring out the thoughts to make changes. Blog changes, diet changes, future changes, or activity changes. Will any of them happen? They might or might not because it just doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. I'll do what I feel like or may decide to make no changes. It's hard to say. Those changes could be nothing but passing thoughts.

A few thoughts on my diet or eating decisions.

I've done a lot of reading this past week, especially last weekend. I found some new things to consider, read some stuff I already knew and was reminded of what I had read only a few years ago when I went through the same process of deciding what to do.

Just like blogging, I will do what is good for me. In this case it's grains and dairy. Depending on which doctor you are reading, those are either good food groups or not good for you. I can tell which is good or not ... how my body reacts to eating from those two food groups.

As an example ... Paleo/Keto says no grains, no dairy ... Plant Based says eat grains, some dairy or no dairy. My digestive system says eat from neither food group unless I want gobs of indigestion and sleepless nights. Just like I blogged about three years ago, when I went to the Plant Based diet, my digestion problems came back tenfold this past weekend. I lived on Tums ... but following the Plant Based Diet rules of eating multi-grain bread, brown rice, pasta, some beans, lots of carbs .... that is all suppose to be good and healthy for you. My body was saying something different.

Past blog posts on the other blog will show that all of that went away when I followed the Paleo recommendations. They like veggies, fruits and meats. I also didn't spend all day feeling hungry. I also ate fewer calories per day. I didn't feel lethargic. My stomach didn't expand and feel as hard as a rock at 3:30am like it did Saturday night/Sunday morning.

So yesterday after I cut out all grains, no pasta, no breads, no brown rice, no lentils and no butter ... I had a full night of sleep and didn't take one Tums tablet. I felt full throughout the day. I bacon and one egg for breakfast with no issues later. For dinner I combined a large salad with Italian seasoned grass-feed ground beef, mixed in pasta sauce. I was expecting a little indigestion from that but found out when I didn't have any it must have been the pasta in the past that was mixed with the sauce.

It is just like anything else, from traveling with dogs, different diets, activities, or life in general ... everyone has their own opinions what is the best thing to do but none of us can actually experience what others feel doing the same things. Just like doctors and their books or their affiliate filled blogs or online products to buy ... they all justify why their way is the best way.

The fact is ... you can only decide what is best for you.

I can only decide what is the best way to eat based on what my body is telling me. I can read all the medical articles and books I want, look at all the different RV blogs and forums I want but I can only decide what is best for me.

I have always done that and always will. I also will always change my mind about things. I'll change what car I drive or whether to have two hounds,  four hounds or none at all. Life is constant change full of surprises. I probably think and analyse it more than most people but it's no big deal. All I can do is ride it, make adjustments and enjoy every day. Like Stella says ... kickback, relax and let it flow.

I was looking at the different lists of foods last night suggested by a three or four different diet ideas. I found myself moving back to my own diet, where I take each one of them and modify them. I mean can oatmeal be that bad for you just because Paleo says no grains, while a Plant Based diet said its a great breakfast? What about potatoes or sweet potatoes? Carrots? Bananas and apples ... Keto says no ... doctors say yes.

Do you see what I am saying?

So really it's just eating whole food, good food ... no packaged food, no salt, no soda, no fruit juice, stay away from pastries, and things will be okay. I just can't see how a nice thick piece of fresh caught salmon can be bad for you. Or even a pizza full of veggies and no meats. How can a banana and apple per day be frowned upon just because it throws you over the Keto 20g of carbs per day limit .... it's good fruit !!!!

It's just like blogging .. one post a day, multiple posts per day, once a week, once every three to four days or none at all. Or a modern looking blog vs the old style like I have now while losing interest in this design? A skinless chicken breast with steamed broccoli or beans instead because they are a major source of protein on a Plant Based diet ... and for me, gobs of indigestion?

Rambling or fact supported blog posts? Politically correct words or let it fly?

AIt never seems to end. All those questions make life fun. I am not as crazy as I sound nor some readers belive. It's just I type them out and publish them for the world to see. So in a way I am open when I write but I just don't have enough chaos to make things interesting.  :)

Some other weekend activity of the hounds captured with my iPhone ---

That is why it's another great morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

A Bloodhound Surprise

Starting this post I have only been up less than two hours but I have seen more change and surprises than I have in a month. What is in store for us today for the rest of the day? Will sitting on the couch duplicating yesterday afternoon and last night be a factor? I can't imagine seeing as much as I did this morning in less than an hour ... I hadn't had my second cup of coffee yet !!!!

It didn't matter the bedroom was filled with bright sunshine. Heidi was on her dog bed in the far corner of the room where the sunshine through the east window streams right on her. I may have had a different schedule this morning but she didn't.

I can tell it is spring, even if it's only been official for a couple of days. I can see it in the field across the highway and I can see my yard turning green from front to the back. It's time to drag the lawn mower out of the shed and make sure everything is ready for the first mow. Do you notice the two Sassafras saplings are not in the lower part of the picture?

I had not stepped off of 'Winston's Patio' when I knew immediately that the world had slipped off its axis and Stella was going to dictate what was going to take place. I cannot remember how many months it has been since he started her morning walk and did not take the path into the field.

When she kept ignoring my calls I knew there was no hope today. All I needed to do was 'buckle up' and enjoy the ride because Stella was behind her wheel of stubbornness and anything I said wasn't going to mean a damn thing.

She did stand at the property pole at the corner of the yard before she took off down the return path. She turned to look at me as I stood on the normal path, soft with a lot of saturation. She looked proudly at me, acknowledging my "get over here" ... then turned and walked away ... as you see here.

As I slowly walked back into the backyard toward the return path I wondered what the hell was going on today. With Stella's new ideas for the walk this morning combined with all of those very weird dreams that kept waking me up last night, I could tell the earth was having its own case of vertigo.

By this time I had stopped saying a word to Stella because I knew from past experience, when she gets this way it will not matter what I say or do. I could have gone back into the house and she would have continued on like nothing was off schedule. I am sure you have picked up through all of my drivel since December, that I like things in order. I don't like change that much ... well when you start walking the opposite direction taking the return path first ... how much change could I handle ??

As I walked up the path, I see Stella now meandering back to the middle of the field between both of our worn paths I really wondered if our walk this morning would amount to anything more than just walking in circles. I wasn't sure we would get to the first corner, let alone finish the half mile path. See how I like things to remain the same ??  LOL

My one cup of coffee at this point had done nothing to calibrate my brain cells. I had gone back to bed as the hounds were eating their breakfast kibble. Watching basketball games, sometimes two or three games at once on the split tv screen evidently wore me out. I was out of March Madness shape. I had a problem though.

During the day, I before the games, and on the way to buy more food, I stopped by the library to pick up the two books I had ordered through the state library system by Dr. Michael Greger. "How Not To Die" and his recipe book that went along with it.

Off of the "New" shelf I took a book named "The End Of The Myth" by Greg Grandin.

After reading a few pages of each, both books were so good I couldn't put them down. So I turned off the sound on the tv and would glance up from my book on occasion to check the scores or any action I needed to watch. IF it was a close game, I'd put the book down, turn up the sound, bring that game to the full screen and watch the last five to seven minutes of the game.

I was wrong to suggest the other day that Dr. Greger might have been influenced with bias, stressing a plant-based diet is the way to eat because of his position as the director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the US. He loves animals just as much as I do but he has the scientific proof that the plant-based diet is the way to eat. He also has proof that eating that way DOES reverse heart disease and many other diseases. To me, scientific data to back up his recommendations is the key factor in all of this.

It was his grandmother who influenced his diet thinking and his career path. I'll not go long on this because you can read her story in the first two pages of the preface in the book. Basically she is released from the hospital at 65 years old in a wheelchair, told by surgeons she has weeks to live and there is nothing more they can do for her. She has already had by-pass surgery. She signs up for the Pritikin's Study and showes not only signs of heart disease reversal ... but lived another 31 years to the age of 96 !!!

It's a book you will find hard to put down once you start reading it.

While going the opposite direction, not quite to the first corner, Stella turned and looked at the neighbor's house like she does every morning on 'the way back'.  LOL ... funny hound.

The other book is a great lesson of US History, something I wish I would have spent more time studying in college. I've only read the first 75 pages of the book but WOW ... what a story. Was I taught all of this in past history classes and forgot how this took place?

It starts after 1750, describing in detail the strategy, the famous men in charge and the movement west in the USA. Early in the book there were hints describing how our country got to all the racial tension today, the polarization that pushed Trump to the presidency. The last comment on the book sleeve, just inside the cover states ...

"The border wall may or many not be built, but it will survive as a rallying-point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism."

I highly recommend this book and that is based on reading only a few pages.

As you can see Stella decided on her own that taking the walk backwards was not good for brain cell health. She made the short crossover to our normal path, then over to the edge of the wooded area like always. Even I felt better after she moved back to our normal routine. Whew ... close call.  :)

Can you tell between these two pictures which is on my manual settings and which one is taken with the automatic setting? Which one do you like?

With underground water seeping up the sides of my hiking boots, Stella was also aware of the wet path and walked along the edge of it in the taller grass to keep her paws dry. Rain, snow, sleet or ice ... she doesn't like her paws getting wet. Sadie would have charged through just to show me how high she could splash the water.

I surprised myself yesterday at the store and how I felt throughout the day and night with my changed eating habits. With March Madness it use to be sandwich material, liters of Pepsi, huge bags of tortilla chips and large jars of salsa. Not yesterday. My 36 oz jar held cold water. I munched on carrots and broccoli with no salad dressing to dip into. Later when I ate dinner it was another large salad and two cups of 15-bean soup.

Was that the cause of my weird dreams last night?

Stella wasn't done wandering ... I let her go. She knew what she was doing and where she was going ... I followed the path while keeping an eye on her. She hasn't run off to the north woods since the time that Sadie decided it was a good time to lead her to new frontiers. They sprinted away from me that day in a playful run, hopping up high enough to see over the tall hay as they ran north.

What's this ??? She is going to cross in front of me while I follow the normal path ?? I couldn't believe she was in the same area of the field as I was after all of the changes she had this morning. I glanced at my watch and it was hard to believe, we were on time for the walk. It had not taken any longer than following the normal way. Once again I think Stella is trying to remind me to 'lighten up' it just life ... relax. Go with the flow.

Of course with the change of direction in my eating, the fat content has dropped a lot. I am alway below my recommended 1,850 calories per day although both Dr. Greger and Dr.  Fuhrman say counting calories is not important eating a plant-based diet.

So is it Vegan or Vegetarian? I would have thought it would be one or the other. Last weekend I could not figure out where the term "Whole Food Plant Based" diet came from. I had been a Lacto-Vegetarian for 8 years many years ago, I had never heard of that term until recently.

After reading the past three to four days on this diet plan I finally figured it out and it was something that Jeff over at Respectful Living told me this past weekend in an email.

To many Vegans and Vegetarians still eat processed food, bags of chips, sugary sport drinks, pastry with tons of sugar, candy, etc ... all because it was meatless, possibly dairy less. The Whole Food Plant Based way of eating does not include any of that type of eating. Basically it is fruit, vegetables, beans and legumes.

I am still not getting enough protein. Taking my weight x .4 tells me how many grams of protein I need per day and with this meatless diet I am not getting anywhere close to that. I AM seeing more positive results in the nutrient content of the food I am eating. Like both doctors say it is not the quantity of food you eat but the quality of food, optimized nutrition. Cronometer tracks your food intake right down to the very last mineral.

>Unless I shock myself, I still think there will be times I'll grab a pizza at Mother Bears in Bloomington or a strom at Nick's, even a Five Guys cheeseburger. The neat thing about Five Guys, I no longer have to fight traffic to drive to the other side of Bloomington, then south out of the way just to get to a cheeseburger, because they have built a new store next door to Nick's on Kirkwood Ave ... perfect.  :)

Right after I took this picture my camera's battery icon started flashing red at me. With a morning like this mornig why was that not a surprise? I knew it would be touch and go the rest of the way if I was to finish the walk on film as we usually do. I started turning the camera off and on to nurse it back home and still get a few pictures of Stella as she finished her walk ... like nothing out of the ordinary happened today.

This time last year I had already mowed my yard once. Not a chance to mow for weeks from now unless some hot sunshine shows up and makes it grow faster. I look at this picture and thank my lucky stars for what I and the hounds can walk through every day. Compared to the current pictures of Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska with water up to the roof line of all the houses ... two different worlds. I feel for the people going through all of that.

I have wondered about my recent blogging activity. Twice per day ??? Really ?? I know it has only been a few days but I like doing that early evening post of Heidi's afternoon activity with just a short paragraph and all pictures. This morning post seems to have evolved into a step by step narrative of Stella's daily walk. I find it hard to decrease the number of photos since there seems to be some sort of story following her through the field. Her post doesn't look right with few pictures.

It doesn't bother me blogging twice per day. Jon Katz at Bedlam Farm, posts multiple times per day but has only one photo each on each post. So each blogger has their own way, which is fine.

With my late start this morning I have not taken the time to look at the news online nor have I turned on the tv. By the time I finished my first cup of coffee and read all of my email, Stella was whining to get started. She is a great house dog, minus her occasional bouts of anxiety when I am gone. It is hard to believe that both hounds will be ten years old this summer.

I forgot to mention one interesting thing about following the recommendations from both doctors ... if I were to follow the amounts of fruit and vegetables to eat, I would have to go to the store to buy more fruit and veggies everyday and no longer than every other day. I tried eating the recommended amount of vegetables yesterday and could not do it ... I was full and didn't have any hunger cravings at any time.

Probably this weekend, after the NCAA field will be reduced to 32 teams from 68 teams, I'll spend one morning raking and picking up all the loose tree bark, sticks and a couple of limbs from the yard and add to the burn pile. My huge bonfire is scheduled for early April. It might be my biggest fire ever.

Stella may have started her walk off entirely different this morning but that didn't mean she would end it that way. Right after she passes that last tree on her right, she veers down the slight incline toward the house and follows the edge back to the carport. How long will it be before she changes that routine ??

A beautiful day this morning in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.