Ava Outruns Them All

Before I get into the mornings play session outside in 21° weather, I want to backup the past few days to show you how we have been beating the coldest temperature so far this winter. Although it was 2024 last January and February, like now, I still call anything from November to February as "this winter". Ava continues to grow, has developed her own routines but she loves to be outside most of her time.

More Discussion About Everything

For the forth time I will try to grow another one. Originally I brought one with me in that pot from Arizona. That one never survived the winter inside. Lowes stocks them on a regular basis so I bought a couple more over the past 27 months. They have all died different ways. Did I give this one too much water? Or is there something in the soil that is killing them?

The Hounds Know

 

They may have been out a few times this morning to explore the yard like they always do. With temps in the 40's that is warm enough to where they don't want to come inside ... except Walter. While Henry and Watson walked the yard with noses to the ground, they were really interested in something else. It is something they have become addicted to. They are waiting for me to clean the yard so right after I am finished, they know they get to go on their morning walks.

We're Back

I know, I know, never say never. I guess I just needed a "rest" from blogging for a month. The urge to blog again had become a daily thing recently so here we are. Me, the hounds and the dog. 44 photos in this post to catch up and a surprise at the end. I went hiking yesterday at New Harmonie SP with my old friend. 44° and 4.8 miles later, I was feeling it in my hips and legs last night. That's good.

Squirrels Torment Watson

Luckily the neighbors I have talked to about Watson find his "baying" funny and are happy to hear him. A few think he is a great watch dog if people are around the property. Whether it be a garbage truck, an AT&T Technician, Water delivery or the lawn crews ... Watson will sprint outside and give them his loud hello when none of them are in our yard or driveway.

Henry Continues To Impress

"The Mystery" of the day, week or this next month is where did Henry find this tree limb? I asked both neighbors Friday night if they might have tossed Henry a 'toy' over the fence but neither did and thought it was funny. He is quite the explorer. Or did someone walking behind the fence, which I never see anyone doing besides me or my neighbor, toss it over to the dogs in the backyard? Not sure but it came from somewhere early Friday night.

Walter's Game Of Cow Hoof

Walter got a little overconfident tonight while I was watching the Reds game. He had a cow hoof and started tormenting a sleeping Stella by laying the hoof on her foot then picking it up when she woke up and raised her head. This went to for a while until Stella decided she might be able to get that favorite toy of hers if she stood up. Of course Stella had not chewed any bone, antler or hoof for years ... until Walter showed up. So Walter kept dropping it on her foot, then picking it up when Stella reached for it. I think you will like some of Walter's expressions in these photos.

A fine example of bulldog puppy quickness, not only picked it off of Stella's nose but was able to move it out of reach inside his mouth.

Walter swung his head so hard to keep the hoof away from Stella that he lost control of it as it slid across the tile floor. Stella didn't move ... she had a plan.

Much like a batter waiting for his pitch to knock the ball out of the park, Stella waited for her move. She had observed Walter's overconfidence and knew when in a split second she could steal the hoof.

Just as Stella raised her head, moving the hoof that is too small for her to chew, to the back of her mouth where her strongest teeth are ... Walter seems to be looking at me for some help, maybe I could come to the rescue and take it from Stella and give it back to him. I just sat on the watch watching the "hoof game" as well as the Reds game.

So it was Stella's turn to torment Walter. She would lay her mouth on top of Walter's face or head while she chewed the hoof. Walter was now on the offense determined to get his hoof back.

A gallant effort using his jumping ability, bulldog quickness and body control. Stella would just raise her mouth a little higher just out of reach of the leaping bulldog puppy.

They stopped like Sadie and Stella use to, for thinking and analyzing what the next move would be of their opponent. I could still hear Stella's teeth mashing the hoof in back of her mouth. Her jaws are strong enough that she can break these hooves into pieces depending what the brand name is. When that happens, all those pieces are thrown in the trash.

Is that a little begging I see from Walter? The pup that is always in control and running the show.

After Stella let him know he wasn't getting the cow hoof back, Walter walked slowly toward the kitchen, turned to take one last look at Stella and literally plopped down on the cold tile and was out within seconds. He never just lays down anywhere ... he just falls into the spot he wants to sleep.

I was back on my bike this morning early for as short easy 20 mile ride with a route that is fairly flat but really nothing is flat around here when it comes to bicycling. It was good to get back riding. I have gained some weight from not riding. My pulse rate was much higher of course with this easy pace ride. That will go down the more miles I get under me. I returned a little before 9am and that 87° felt like a 100°. So the plan for tomorrow is to leave around 6:15am, an hour earlier than this morning.

Nothing much after that. A load of laundry and then three hours in different calls with Directv in my attempt to get my payment for MLB Extra Innings refunded back to me as per their letter April 24th. I finally found someone that understand what I was asking and that MLB Extra Innings was NOT a *&#($&*@ MOVIE !!!!! I have never been a fan of outsourced customer service half way around the world.

By that time it was time for baseball and a nice fresh skinless chicken breast I bought at the butcher counter instead of the packaged chicken I normally buy. So much more taste in those meats, chicken, shrimp and salmon from the meat counter wrapped fresh instead of packaged.

Heidi was very active today but I didn't get any photos. It's always good to see her running around the house or laying outside and enjoying the sun and heat.

A light short rain late this afternoon here in the "Wild West" ... unexpected showers.

I see that Blogger is still making changes to their new version. It's an entirely different process adding more than one label. When I checked the photo sizes via the HTML screen I saw there was no way of changing that size from s600 to s1600 because all the photos were automatically loaded at s1280. So you should see some sharper images on any blogs you read that are on the Blogger platform. They will eventually get it sorted out but I swear not one of those programmers have a blog on blogger, or anywhere for that matter.

The Hounds Were A Little Off Schedule Today

The day started out normal time for Heidi and Stella but they were off schedule today. It might have all started Sunday night while they slept soundly on the couch I couldn't make up my mind what movie to watch or what book to read. I flipped through tv channels and saw nothing to catch my interest and out of all the DVD's I have on the shelf, same result. I probably threw off their schedule today because I went back to sleep after feeding them breakfast. Each hound had about as much energy or lack of, as I did.

It rained Sunday and the wind blew a little but nothing like the forecast. As you can see a lot of leaves are still on the trees. I might have to go back through my blog archives to see the latest date in November where I was raking and burning leaves. I can't remember something like that.

Since we started really late with the first walk of the day, Stella was well on her own walking path. I had to do a little verbal herding to get her back in the general direction I was taking. It has been months since she has taken off for the neighbor's yard while I walked away on our path. She does like to veer back and follow our return path about 10' away.

That is the return path you see just a few feet in front of her back towards the camera.

I could already tell soon after the walk started I had lost my momentum to get anything done today. That didn't mean I might have some idea later in the afternoon and end up doing something, but this morning I felt like I was in the deepest of ruts. I didn't expect any sudden energy leading me to cleaning or painting the walls. I have all the materials to use but can't seem to get started on interior painting.

Stella likes to run a few feet to catch the path I am on and head right over to the edge of the field and woods.

After a few weeks of great sleep, last night was a disaster and a night of total restlessness. Of course during all of that middle of the night chaos (accurately recorded by my Garmin) both Heidi and Stella were in a very deep sleep. The past 7-10 days, Stella has decided the leather couch is her spot to sleep all night. The dog bed in the corner of the bedroom remains vacant as does the big leather chair with the ottoman. Neither hound uses them. I take that back, sometimes Heidi will take a morning nap on the dog bed after breakfast, but no other time.

A friend of mind that has been writing and taking photos of his travels for many years, has been talking about the sharpness of his photos and how they just don't look crystal clear like they use to. I had those same type of discussions here with my photos. With the help of trying different settings and an answer from Barney over at OFM Adventures I found out why my photos are not as clear as I thought they use to be.

My friend is still trying to put the pieces of his puzzle together. It all deals with 'compression', whether a blog does it automatically when photos are uploaded or by a 3rd party photo editing service. Through all of this emailing back and forth about the photos issue it reminded me of my tv picture on Dish Network after moving from Directv last February.

That little 'not as sharp' drives me insane sometimes. I knew I was seeing it on some of the ballgames I watched or the movies, yet on different channels the tv picture was crystal clear and sharp. Of course none of the Dish Network tech reps on the phone would admit what I was seeing was correct. Nowhere online did either tv service website tell me about potential picture issues in their troubleshooting section.

That is where a good forum comes into play whether it be about computers, smart phones, cars, dogs, dog food, blogs, or even tv satellite service. I found my answer and regained my sanity on a Directv forum where customers were discussing the same things I was seeing on my screen after switching to Dish Network. On some shows, games or movies THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between companies because Dish Network will 'compress' their signal.

Other users had noticed the same thing I did in picture quality when they switched to either competitor. The bottom line, neither company has the best of everything so you have to decide what is the most important ... picture quality, equipment, lower cost, program selection and even customer service. I decided the small difference in picture sharpness was not that big after I computed what my fee would be for breaking my 2-year contract 15 months early. Plus, only Dish Network lets me watch 4 ballgames at one time.

I have no idea what she is looking at or smelling off in the distance.

In fact I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to move.

This is pretty to some but I prefer the bright sunny skies. It was warm at 49°, I had overdressed today but the thought warm weather has been scrambling my brain cells recently.

As you can tell this walk was not on a record breaking pace. One thing Stella has always done since she arrived ... she has taught me and Sadie how to relax and take things as they come. "We" are retired and are on "our" own schedule. No need to rush things.

Somewhere through the tall grass is a path we follow.

The finish line.

As you can see the yard as a few leaves back in the yard and close to the house but not that bad. Those along the house are easy to blow down the side into the driveway and either over the bank or down near the highway where traffic will blow them away.

How did I miss not putting that on the list ???  Cleaning the outside of the gutters.

There was no barking for lunch today by Heidi. In fact I had to ask Stella "where's Heidi" when it was past their lunch time. Within seconds of hearing Stella howl, Heidi was sprinting from the bedroom wide awake and ready for lunch.

I was taking a picture of Heidi's tail and the top of her forehead looking in my direction but after downloading the photo I see where I need to add more of the concrete paste to fill those cracks after the first application settled. The paste dries as hard as cement. Since it was 55° I could apply a second layer.

No lap around the house today either. Once she was finished she turned and came right back to the house.

Once inside she did a couple of sprints around the coffee table back to the carport door in the kitchen and back around the tables. Then she hopped up on the couch, scratched her blanket into the perfect position for an afternoon of sleep.

Stella was more interested getting back inside for her after lunch nap than getting off the carport floor. Her first walk of the day had only been an hour before. I decided early in the summer that I would not power wash my steps or concrete floor this year. I wanted to do that before I apply some new concrete to the low spots and then paint the floor and steps with a textured gray concrete paint next spring.

Here is some evidence we did not get the high winds that were predicted. The is the only branch in the driveway that needed to be picked up. Looks like another item for the 2019 'to do' list unless I have a hot day this fall I don't know about. I didn't pressure wash the fence this year because at the time it did not need it. Things change fast around here.

With the house quiet with two sleeping hounds and no energy to do any kind of interior work, I grabbed John Grisham's new novel and continued reading it.  The pace was just too fast today. That happens sometimes when you are retired, you just go with it.

Slightly warm and overcast today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Don't Worry About Weather

As bad as I want warmer weather and Spring to arrive, the bloodhounds don't care ... but Heidi does. She is like me ... wants it at least 70°. Since our last post nothing much has happened. About every time I put the wool socks and long underwear away, the temps drop below freezing. We took off this morning with 25° and an adjustment to Daylight Savings Time.

Even though the walks remain the same, Stella has changed her walk routine as usual. I've been letting her hang back while Sadie and I make the half mile walk. Stella has made two changes ... she gets as far as the first corner by the time we meet her on the way back ... and she comes when I call her.

I tried a few changes to my camera settings even though most of our walks anymore are taken without a camera. For some strange reason Stella seems to follow Sadie and I, when I don't take the camera. I spent a few days taking large file images in the RAW setting instead of JPG-Fine. I could tell a slight difference in sharpness but it wasn't worth the extra time it took to export the images from the computer to the blog.

About the time I made the change back to JPG-Fine, I received an updated article from 'Digital Photography' where a professional photographer made the same comparison and the same change for this general family photos.

Heidi was able to make a few laps around the house a couple of days when the temps were in the 40's after her lunch. I let her do what she wanted, but she always made it back to the door to be let in right after her lap and spent no extra time outside.

No matter what, every walk morning or afternoon, Sadie is always tracking scent ... that's what she is made for. Where Stella prefers food and sleeping.

I've really enjoyed the change from Directv to Dish Network. I now have a feature I can split my tv screen into 2 or 4 screens, showing ballgames in each smaller screen. A nice feature for a sports addict like me. With a DVR that tapes up to 16 movies, tv shows, or ballgames at one time, I no longer have channel conflicts. The nicest thing is the ability to export all saved movies and games to an external hard drive instead of taping them on DVDs, after the 2Tb DVR is filled.

We had a few days of rain mixed in between the freezing cold days but when the roads have been dry and no rain in the forecast I have taken short drives (1 hour) with the Z4. It does not get driven that much over the year but it's there when I have the urge to go out and enjoy the local scenery plus the smooth driving Z4.

Back to Directv, I am in the final few weeks to officially close my account. Since my DVR is an older model they did not request that I ship it back but they did send me an envelope to return the card inside the DVR. Of course they cannot let me know that they received it, nor can their customer service reps tell me if that card has been received, thus leading to a possible charge.

I have been told different stories, one saying that if I have received my final bill, which I did and paid immediately, then all is good without any additional charges. Directv forums tell a different story, so we will see I guess.

They continue to make offers for me to come back, this week by snail mail. My same 'Choice Package' for $29.99 for the next year instead of the $99.99 - $114.99 I was paying. To sweeten the deal they offered a Visa Gift Card worth $300 this week. Yet they day before I cancelled my account they told me they could not offer any discounts.

No matter how far back Sadie gets behind me, she will always come sprinting to and past me in a full sprint.

It shows it will be warmer by the end of the week and possible snow a few days later on Tuesday. No worries, I've seen it snow the first few days in April many years ago. While we had the coldest winter that I can remember this year, the national weather service says the Earth was warmer than ever in January.

It's the middle of March but looks like the dead of winter in freezing January.

With each step by Sadie I could hear the frozen weeds, grass and dormant flowers crunching under her paws.

This has been the area we see Stella as we make the turn toward home, at least the past week.

While looking like she is ignoring me, this week she will walk over to me and push my knee with her nose to let me know she is there. Instead of taking her normal 'alternate' path home, she had been leading Sadie down the normal return path home.

With all of the deer scent and the field cat we rarely see if every, they have plenty of work to track all the way home.

That 'field cat' made an appearance the other day during our afternoon walk. Sadie of course had to check it out and by the time I caught up with her, the cat swatted Sadie across her nose drawing blood. With the cat arching her back and hissing ... Sadie would not leave yet decided it was best not to poke her nose toward the cat.

By the time we returned home, Sadie had stopped the bleeding by having her nose pressed to the ground on the way home the other day.

The next month will be filled with 'March Madness' in college basketball, sprinkled with a few games of MLB spring training. The Reds open their season in just 16 days, snow or now snow.

The 'to do' list will be started the first day it is warm. I have a lot of things to get done this spring which will mean even less computer time than now. In the last billing cycle that just ended a few days ago I had my lowest data usage EVER!!

All is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.