Hounds Get A Second Walk In Today

Surprise, this is my 2nd post today.

I had no doubt the hounds would get their 2nd walk in today. They always get two but lately the afternoon walk has Stella leashed, so no camera is taken.

Today I wanted to take some photos and hid the leash in my pocket just in case Stella became so stubborn where she wouldn't move. It was not planned but I ended up taking most of these pictures today at 200mm lens setting.

Like I said, I am going to have to find another dog food for Stella because recently she has been scratching more than she ever has. Does that mean it's the food or something else? Maybe the food is okay.

This is the tree I spoke of this morning. The high winds blew it over in February 2009. The sound of the tree snapping made it over quite a distance to the house, through closed windows, over the loud noise of the winds, plus the volume of the tv. The limb that is being stripped of its bark is the lower left, barely visible.

Stella was showing some great motivation this afternoon, attempting to keep up with Sadie and I. Something to consider, almost all of these photos were taken with the lens set at 200mm, so it's not like she was that close to us.

She was moving right along until she stopped and faced toward the wooded area behind the neighbors house. Looking through the view finder I could see her nostrils moving and thought she might take off sprinting any second.

She stood that way for a couple of minutes while I tried to decide whether to pull the 6' standard leash out of my pocket and prevent a sudden change in schedule of our walk. I decided not to put her on a leash and see what happens.

What a shock to see her start walking toward us. But that didn't mean she had lost all curiosity. She had not walked 10' when she stopped again to look in that same direction where she was so curious.

In the meantime Sadie had moved ahead of both of us and was enjoying running around the field. Once Stella saw that Sadie had found something, she ran to catch up ... there was no way Sadie was going to get something that Stella would miss out on.

I continued my walk to the back edge of the field. Turning to check the hounds, Stella had not moved. Remember all of these pictures this afternoon are 200mm zoom.

Sadie had found a new spot, one that she did not want to share.

I am not sure what these are but I can assure you that when the ground is frozen with temps in the 20's, where you might not be paying attention as you walk in soft toe shoes, they feel like a concrete wall when your foot accidentally hits them. They don't break either. Luckily I didn't drop the camera as I stumbled.

Another one just in case I missed the first one.

I'm on my way back and the hounds have not moved.

And they won't move either ... no matter how close I get or if I walk past them.

Finally they decided they were finished and were ready to get home. Both of them came running past me, only to stay on the path and slow their pace to a slow walk.

A whole field to walk in and they have to walk in front of me, slowing up my pace.

Sadie had one more thing to check out before she officially finished her walk. For some strange reason, Stella had sprinted ahead and was waiting at the house.

It was good to feel my 18-20 hour digestive problem was gone today. I felt good enough to load the car with the one 32gl container of recycled stuff and head to the recycling center. I needed another supply of books so I stopped in and picked up an old novel by John Grisham and another political book off of the "New" shelf. The Grisham book will be my first book with large print (LP).

I did think more about starting a new Wordpress blog when I sat down at my computer. The thought of a different subject blog flew through the brain cells for a nano-second and then the urge for any new blog immediately disappeared.

I think its more of wanting to play around designing a new website or blog, more than starting a new subject to write on.

The hounds are sleeping in the sunshine that has warmed the house up. They always like a nap after a walk.

Nothing else to report from the 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Stella Does A 180° In Attitude

The logging operation finished late this afternoon. What was pretty neat about this, the same machine that was moving and loading the cut trees, was also the same that cut the tree trunks to those lengths right before he loaded them.

After lunch the temps had increased to 23° and it felt nice enough to take the hounds out for a walk. Only this time I was putting Stella on the 25' retractable leash. Maybe that would help her remember how to walk again. She never minds it and will always run toward me when she sees I have the leash, then wait for me to connect it to her collar.

She took off walking as soon as I connected her. She followed Sadie and I on our walk, had 25' to explore and rarely stopped to eat anything. In fact she spent most of the walk leading Sadie and I. Along the walk I kept giving her positive reinforcement whenever she did something correctly.

So with our 2nd walk today, in mid-afternoon, it was a good test for her even thought the walk with the leash was only a couple of hours before. What would Stella do off leash now?

She and Sadie had been out in the back of the field for about 10 minutes while I put on a warmer coat, grabbed the camera and came out to let them know we were going for a walk. Sadie always sprints to me every walk, this afternoon was different.

As I started up the path, Stella came running toward me like Sadie does on every walk, so it was a surprise to see her do that. She must of thought I had the leash with me. I can't remember the last time she ran toward me to start the walk when I didn't have the leash with me.

She must have been happy that she was not going to get connected to the leash because she turned almost immediately with Sadie and took off ... it was the first time unleashed that she did not hang back like she has for weeks, if not a month or more.

It was good to see her follow Sadie along the path.

I can't describe how much warmer it felt during this walk at 36° compared to yesterday in the teens. It almost felt like a day in March, not December. A 20° jump in temperatures will do that. We are suppose to reach the lower 50's later this week.

As we made the first turn, Stella was walking just the way I wanted ... wander nearby but keep up the pace that Sadie and I take. It does give them time to check out areas and I'll stop during times like that ... as long as they are moving.

She still kept the lead whenever Sadie caught up.

I was curious if they were going to head right to the corner but they followed the direction of the path I take and headed for the back of the field.

Once again she wandered off a little to the left but also turned and trotted toward Sadie as we approached the final turn toward home. It was just like she had done most of her walks prior to a month or so ago.

As all of us made the turn for the final leg of the walk ... Stella trotted around both Sadie and I ... taking the lead again.

They both trotted away from me, all the way up to that first corner ... nothing needed to be said to get them to follow me home. I was shocked in the difference in Stella's attitude.

As we approached the backyard, they both continued to walk toward home. I really couldn't believe in the change they both had on this walk. It may have been a month or longer since Stella has walked off leash the whole walk instead of hanging way back and then meeting us at the first corner to turn around and come home.

Does that picture look like a day in December?? Of coarse I remember last Christmas Day in 2015 it was in the 50's if I remember that correctly. Although at the start of the walk 36° didn't feel too bad, by the end of the walk it was freezing.

The hounds were not the only surprise of the day. My brain was. The light bulb in my mind flicked on as I stepped inside the door and out of nowhere I knew exactly what I had to do to my old door so the new door knob would fit. That doesn't sound too out of the ordinary but I bought this new door knob over 3 years ago.

I didn't install it then because the hole in the door was too small to fit the new door knob. I pulled out some sandpaper, a small wood chisel and a pencil to mark just how much bigger I had to make the hole in the door.

I didn't have a drill with that diameter and I realize that would have made it much easier and faster. The one I did have was too small, was one that I had used for the shower faucet years ago. Anyway I made the hole large enough to fit the mechanism of the new door handle, with what I had.

It works perfect.

What got me thinking about fixing it, was the other night I could barely slide my key into the slot to unlock the door and at the same time this morning I could barely turn the lock from the inside to lock the door. Too old, too flimsy and too much movement while even jiggling the key would not work. The locking mechanism was just too old.

My decision to trade the FJ for the Mini Countryman must have been a good one ... not a sliver of 'buyers remorse' has floated through my brain cells.

The temps are suppose to continue to climb here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana and that's always a good thing.

Nothing But Photos & Jif Peanut Butter

After the hounds finished their afternoon nap by waking up at the sound of crackers being opened for peanut butter ... Sadie, Stella and I went on an afternoon walk. Later, after I had finished the last of the peanut butter, Sadie cleaned out the top half of the Jiff jar then let Stella try getting the hard to reach peanut butter in the bottom of the jar. She decide that if she could just chew the jar to make it shorter, it would be easier for her tongue to reach the bottom of the jar.

Nothing but photos ... you can click the top photo to see the slideshow.

Most of the time it's movies at home on Friday nights in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.