I had just started my second cup of coffee when I heard Stella whining, sitting looking at me wagging her tail. It was still 36° outside and I wasn't ready yet to walk through the wet field for the first time this fall in temperatures in the 30's. She wanted to go for a walk.
Once again she was at the back of the field directly behind the house before I even took my first step in the field. Luckily I didn't feel any wind so it would be warmer than my wildest imagination had told me inside. I've decided after this morning's walk she wasn't tracking deer scent like Sadie use to, these past few days. She is tracking scent to find deer scat.
With my hiking boots still a little damp from yesterday's walk, I stepped into the wet field thinking of a new plan to not only dry my hiking boots today but also apply some Scotch Guard to keep the water out of the insides. The solution for drying the boots enough to spray that Scotch Guard will be written later.
With a wool hat and my lighter North Face gloves on, I was going to be warm for the next 12-15 minutes. Stella was trying to high step through the wet grass on the path. I don't think she likes getting her paws wet either. She wastes no time when she gets back home to start licking her paws and legs until they are dry.
Her ears show how fast she may or may not be going.
She had turned to look at me but by the time I snapped the camera shutter, she was in the middle of turning back around and trotting away from me. It was good to see some blue sky hidden behind a hazy sky with a little fog mixed in.
Her plan was to not look back and stay out in front of me as far as possible this morning.
With a gentle trot, she was covering the very narrow pathway of mashed down grass that deer had taken earlier this morning.
This gives you some idea of how the sunshine is trying to make an entrance to today but first it had to burn off some light fog and clouds.
After we made the turn for home, Stella took off galloping in the tall wet grass. She was energetic this morning.
There is sound that goes with this picture ... hard to describe and only one that a bloodhound makes with their jowls.
Once she saw me pass by ... she was going to get back in front of me but still made a few stops along the way.
She is almost positive that some kind of animal is in her yard while she sleeps at night.
I thought she was sitting down to scratch herself but she just sat there looking at the field. Without her collar on, she has been scratching less.
Of course with the morning as cold as it was, Heidi was already starting her winter hibernation and it's only in the middle of October. Will there be a fall this year? Or will it move from summer to winter, just like it missed spring this year.
It was chilly today where Heidi only stayed outside long enough to relieve herself. She chose a different area than the front yard which was nice. She is spending more time growling at herself and rolling in blankets when not sleeping, a sure sign she is feeling good.
On really hot days you can flip the trashcan over and let the sun dry it out if some fluid happens to seep through the large trash bag. Days like this it might not happen. Stella didn't know if it was a decoration or an intruder so of course she had to check it out.
She has never shown an interest in the fence along the driveway until today. I will see birds and squirrels move across that top piece but rarely see anything on the ground running in front of the fence. She had to check it out though. I was reminding her that she was out of the boundary.
About half way down the driveway she decided she turn around and head back to the house. She was never close to the highway but had moved too far from the house. I'd prefer she would continue to stay out of the front yard and spend all of her time in back.
I thought she was going to come inside with Heidi and I because I was actually getting cold. I cannot believe 'my' summer is gone. When I didn't see her in the driveway or carport I expected to see her in the field but I was wrong again. She was over by the north part of the yard, another place she hasn't had a lot of interest in.
I cannot wait any more for it to get hot and dry outside so I can open the windows. I have to apply the polyurethane now to the windows and inside the front door. Otherwise all the sanding and staining I have done will have condensation destroying it. I guess I need to break down and buy a large humidifier to use during the winter to cut down the amount of condensation on the windows. I need an excuse to go look around Lowes anyway.
I have a small stack of papers left that I need to sort through. These are old tax returns which will be burned and some older work files where they had too much information to take any chances of recycling yesterday. I'll burn those also in the next few weeks as I burn the fallen limbs from last spring and the leaves I rake this fall. It feels good to have organized closets and a lot of old paper files no longer taking up space.
Not a lot happened today. I did finish the paperwork project. I also cleaned out three drawers in the desk so as of this afternoon the desk is clean, all of the closets are reorganized and clutter taken away. I'll start scanning a few old photos sitting on my computer desk and put all of the hound photos away since it's pretty obvious I am not going to scan hundreds of photos where I can only scan one photo at time through my Epson printer.
It's great weather again to work inside here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
