Two Very Different Hounds

They may have the word 'hound' in their breed name but they are all so different, as expected. I always had basset hounds starting in 1987 and didn't buy my first bloodhound until 1997. Having raised all my hounds at the time from 8 week old puppies, I could tell a huge difference between the breeds even at that young age.

Max was a big male puppy and he didn't take long to show me that bloodhounds were a breed much different than any I had experienced. Lets just say he kept me on my toes at all times. A basset hound puppy .. not so much. They like to play for short bursts and then sleep. So it does not surprise me 21 years later I still notice the differences.

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful weather, although pretty cold. I gave both hounds all the chance they needed to roam the yard while I checked the mailbox, and picked up tree limbs in the yard. Heidi peed in the mulch and immediately went back to the door to be let in.

Stella decided to wander a little bit with her nose to the ground. I let her go but watched to see if she would head back to the neighbors yard to the north. I admit I was surprised she stayed within the property line and I never had to say a word to her about walking in my direction. Bloodhounds can be cooperative when they want to be.

It was normal routine the rest of the Saturday. I use to watch as much college basketball  as I do college football but over the past few years I don't tune into many games like I use to. Once it started looking more and more like NBA type of play, more one on one instead of teamwork ... I lost interest. That comes from someone that grew up with the game of basketball with a dad that was a high school coach. So yesterday after channel surfing checking what basketball games were on ... I moved into the movie mode.

My Dish Network DVR, which I have had for a year if my memory serves me correctly, has 71% of it's 2Tb hard drive filled with movies, ballgames, tv shows, music or documentaries that I have chosen to keep on file. Seeing I have 192 movies on that hard drive is much better than seeing a new book case half filled with DVDs. Yet like anything else, there is a catch.

Just recently both DVRs for DirecTv and Dish Network has the capability to download what is saved on your DVR to an external hard drive, just like a computer. BUT .... to play back those programs on the external hard drive, they CAN ONLY BE VIEWED on the signal it was recorded. To simplify ... as long as I have a Dish Network account I can view them. Anything else is just a external hard drive filled with nothing, scrambled signals if that and computer code that does not match a different source of tv signals.

Of course to most tv viewers reading this blog that probably means nothing because you have an internet plan of unlimited data, high speed connection possibly twice as fast as my fastest 47Mbps. You stream your programs or games on your tv, tablet or phone.

Here in 'the tropics' living a few miles outside of town, streaming is not possible for the amount of hours per month I watch college football in the fall. Each game or movie roughly uses 2Gb per. When an addict like myself turns on his tv at noon every fall weekend starting at the end of August and does not turn it off until 2am that night ... that's a lot of Gb's being used for 14 hours straight watching college football.

Many times there are too many good games on at once so I use the 4 game split on the tv. I've talked to both AT&T and Verizon. Long story short after many hours of discussions on the phone, a Verizon rep told me based on what I watch and how much (ballgames) ... I had the best service for my area ... Satellite TV and Internet.

How did this discussion drift away from the title of the blog, from hounds to DVRs to tv's?

Walking along the first part of the walk I didn't know if I was ever going to get Stella off the main deer path that borders the brush and field. Deer scat must have been plentiful because she found all if it I think. I'd pull her away from one spot only to see her stop 3' later.

Finally as we rounded the first corner she walked over to get on the path then trotted by me. I could see fresh deer tracks all over the field with the ground still very very soft.

A deer hoof print that had to have been made within hours of our walk.

So back to the DVR discussion. As I opened my "movie" folder on the DVR, since I have everything in it's own folder named by me, I sorted all 192 movies alphabetically and scanned through them to see which one I wanted to watch a second time if not more. Hidden Figures was chosen. What an amazing movie, based on a true story. Not to ruin it for those that have not seen it ... I'll let your research answer your questions. It's one of my favorite movies though.

Stella is addicted to her VetriScience Glyco joint supplements. Every morning after both are fed breakfast kibble and I have walked from the kitchen to my computer with a fresh cup of coffee, Stella is sitting proudly by the bookcase filled with CDs because her small soft piece of GlycoFlex is sitting on top of the case. She likes to grab it by her front teeth instead of a wide open mouth.

At 6pm she gets her second dose of the day but things are different. Even if both hounds are asleep once they hear me open that vacuum sealed zip lock packet Heidi and Stella wake up and come running. Since Heidi doesn't take the supplement I had to figure out something to give her too. So they both walk to the kitchen cabinet right after Stella eats her small piece and wait for me to pull out the zip lock bag of dog bones, grain free but bacon flavored.

The supplement seems to work but it's not like she has the energy of a puppy, nor does she run as fast as she use to with Sadie chasing deer or chasing each other. In fact she doesn't run too much at all, with a fast trot as her max speed anymore. Where Sadie was still sprinting and running through the field over 10 years old up to the day she died, Stella stopped that kind of running a few years ago around the age of 8.

I've taken a lot of photos over the year of this AT&T tower but this was the first time I was able to catch it with the warning lights on. I didn't realize I did that until I downloaded the photo.

When Stella stopped suddenly and stood looking in the field, I was sure there were multiple deer in that field staring back at us. The wind had picked up from the east, blowing right into her face, so the scent of deer would have been strong. I scanned the field from left to right and saw nothing. Maybe we had just missed them.

We usually make the turn for home at the point she is standing but today I let her go to see what she would do. If I had not walked over to get her I have no doubt she would have taken her time exploring that edge of the field all the way to the woods north of us.

>Once I had her heading in the right direction she had no problems with that and changed her focus from deer scent to getting home.

With the temps at 31°, a forecast of a rain/snow mix and ground that is still very soft to walk on ... it made me wonder what the plan was for this spring. Will I be mowing my yard every two to three days between rains to keep up or will it ever dry out. So far after 48 days of the new year, our area is almost 3" above normal levels of rain/snow, this time of year.

I'd love to light a match to all that brush and dead leaves area on the right side of that fence but when I did that a few years ago down in the front yard, the fire got out of control to the point I had to call the fire department. So I guess I will continue to pass on that idea when I have it. It's temping.

Many years ago I came home from work to find that over half the field was blackened fire burnt grass. It had burned most of the field north of us and had  come within 30' of the yard before they put it out. The owner of the field who lives two houses away still burns his trash in a 55gl barrel inside a concrete blocked area. A spark had blown out of their burn barrel on that hot July morning when the field was really dry and lit it up in a flash.

By the time the fire trucks arrived ... half of the field was gone.

With the flooded lawn from a few weeks ago plus the 7 acre field angling toward my yard with all of it's underground water and underground springs I swear all of that land is 'sliding' towards my house. When I look at photos of the yard from 20 years ago, I see it's not as bad as I imagine.

Still I have a lot of ground damage like this along the bank in the area Stella hang out. It might be time for some landscaping ideas this spring and summer. Any experts out there about soil erosion, speak up, I need some help with ideas. Especially the bank along the driveway.

This morning when I thought the walk was finished, Stella decided I needed to be reminded who is in charge and who decides when we go back inside. It took her a long time to move from that position.\

I rarely catch her scratching the outside of her ears or her face but both ears have places where the hair is gone. No signs of fleas ... so today I will start applying Wounded Warrior skin ointment for dogs. It's a great dog first aid used on military dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Once Stella decides the walk is finished, then she will always beat me to the door but not until SHE decides it's over. I do it but always wonder if there is any reason to blur out my license plate number.

Fellow Mini Cooper Countryman drivers from the Seattle area were on the forum the other day showing pictures of their cars in the heavy snow with reports that the All4 Countryman was fantastic in the snow just as advertised. It just another reason I chose this car when I downsized from a sports car and the Toyota FJ.

For those that made comments on the last blog post or sent me emails, thanks for putting things back in perspective for me. Your words cleared out the cobwebs that I sometimes find built up in a mind of someone that intentionally stays isolated. Blogging really does make the world smaller and it's way of interaction with people is a good thing.

I'm not sure what the plan for today is. I just heard Heidi's toenails move across the hardwood floor in the bedroom so it's time for lunch time kibble. She is now hydrating herself for the day. I am amazed how long she can drink water without stopping to breath. I'm thinking it will be a day for cutting hound nails and cleaning ears a day earlier than scheduled.

A quiet Sunday in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Bloodhounds Take A Sunday Evening Walk

While sitting at the computer Saturday afternoon putting the last blog post together about Heidi, I heard sounds of a tractor slowing down out in front of the house. He knew the weather report as well as I did and was going to put on some anhydrous before it rained Saturday night.

It was perfect timing because by Saturday night was starting to rain and based on the looks of the carport floor this morning it had rained for most of the night. That mixture of ammonia and nitrogen is shot underground by the rakes being towed by the tractor.

So in the last two to three days they have spread fertilizer and then the mixture of ammonia/nitrogen before the rains came. I have not seen them put both on their field within days before.

When ever I see tanks of anhydrous I think of two stories. In the last decade but not so much in recent years, these anhydrous tanks were being stolen for meth production. It was so bad at the time they started parking empty police cars near them if the farmers were leaving them unattended over night.

The second story I remember is from sometime around April or May 1970. I had just turned 18 years old, living in a farming community and knew nothing about farming. The money paid was fantastic and I could drive a large John Deere Tractor. My friends dad always hired extra help and hired me to spread this anhydrous on his large flat fields just west of Indianapolis towing two tanks.

On this particular incident I glanced back and saw where there was a leak at the connection of the two hoses that connected the two tanks. So I stopped the large tractor, bigger than the one in these pictures and walked back to the hissing leak of ammonia and nitrogen.

Remember I was clueless about farming and this mixed chemical. I was able to stop the leak and tighten the connection between the hoses but not before some ice freezing cold chemical sprayed against my chest. I didn't know how lucky I was until a few months later a farmer had the same thing happen to him, only the mixture hit him in the face instantly passing to his lungs and killed him.

After a night of basketball of two really good ballgames Saturday night, I spent a few hours looking at those new Blogger templates again. I still don't see anything I like even after making a lot of changes to come as close to the design I have now. I still like playing around with that kind of thing so I'll probably continue to look or change the template to my Wordpress blog.

After a good night sleep we woke up this morning to warm temps, and the fresh smell of rain. Sounds of birds filled the air.

Notice the farmer parked his tanks instead of taking them with him. Why? He came back to pick them up Sunday afternoon.

They planted corn in this field and the field past those trees last year, so I am assuming they will be planting soybeans this year. I cannot remember if they alternate years or not but I'll remember once I look at the blog from May 2015. The two different fields are owned by different people.

I know the bank in back is not looking great but it's right on schedule for a non-professional job. I cleared out all of the wild overgrowth and burned it last November. Earlier this month I raked out and pulled all the roots, burning them. I may have planted grass seed too early on that weekend in early March when it was near 70°, only to have it drop below 30° a week later for a few days. So I planted more seed when it was warmer a few weeks later but that probably got washed away from the hard rains.

I planted more seed last Monday when it was warmer, watered it twice per day and with the rain last night I can start to see some new grass coming up. I'll keep mowing over this after it fills in and continue to seed it next fall. Eventually it will look like the yard on the other side of this fence. What I cannot mow I'll cut short with my weed eater.

Sadie wanted to walk early this morning but it was raining lightly each time we went outside. The ground was pretty saturated ... too wet to walk. The two basketball games today started early and both were over a little past 7pm. By the time the buzzer sounded ending the UK / UNC game I was putting on my hiking boots just in case we ran into wet grounds on our walk.

We headed out for our first walk of the day around 7:15pm ... the wind and skies looked like more rain was on the way.

Since Sadie had been waiting all day for her walk, she immediately took off and started her tracking. She loves these walks.

While I was taking pictures of Sadie I didn't realize that Stella was already heading for the neighbor's woods if not their yard. From the few hoof prints in the ground the deer traffic must have been heavy last night or this morning.

I had to head Stella's direction and trot toward her, calling her name because she was taking off on me. About the time I got about 10' from her she turned and started trotting toward me, then ran past me to catch up to Sadie. She must have thought I needed to get some running in today after spending all weekend on the couch watching college basketball.

She still likes to go her own pace even after catching Sadie. With her right front paw lifted you can tell just how slow she walks.

Sadie was into tracking though tonight so she was constantly moving.

Once she locks into a strong scent, she is pretty focused but I know that she will not take off on me and will always circle back to where I am walking. There are no problems giving her total freedom on these walks.

Sadie sprinted one direction, Stella trotted another direction.

Stella has a pretty good nose but not as good as Sadie's. She is more interested in finding stuff to eat, than to track.

By the time I approached the final turn home, Sadie had moved far to the right of the path we take, she was in the 'no fly zone' but came running to to me when she saw where I was.

Both hounds walked too close to me to take pictures for the rest of the walk home. Not sure if it is suppose to rain tonight but it definitely felt like it was on the way.

I don't have to mow anywhere near the whole yard but there is enough spots of heavy new growth that I will have to mow a few spots as soon as possible in between the forecasted rains this week. It was like this grass grew over night after the rains last night. Hopefully that new grass will overtake the damage done by the moles this past winter.

I still need to take my hand rake through the front yard one more time in hopes the rake can find the missing steel hinge pin that fell off my mower last November. You would think it would be easy to find but I have looked all over that yard and can't find it. I don't want the mower to find a steel pin while I am mowing the yard in a week or two.

Maybe I need to find a place that will rent me a metal detector.

There were some great basketball games this week. Some were won in the last seconds and with four teams left to play, one of them has never been in the Final 4 in their school's history and another has not been there in 70 some years. There will be some good games next weekend.

With time off until next Saturday night for the games to be played, I'll be back to reading books this week. I have a couple of new books I checked out from the library. If the weather is nice this week, I'll be outside starting on my 'to do' list for this year.

It's hard to believe that March is almost over here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.