Lost Track Of Days

Every since I retired in April 2014 I find it normal that I lose track of days. With our fast paced lifestyle her in 'the tropics' it's really not a big deal when that happens.

Whether it is Wednesday or a Saturday the hounds have the same routine, even on declared holidays.

So as we were out this morning, me with a cup of coffee in hand while Sadie and Stella walked around the field, I realized I had no idea what day of the week it was. Luckily the print out I have for the college football bowl games on tv reminds me not only who is scheduled to play that day or night ... but shows me the day of the week. How convenient is that?

Even with my cup of coffee in my hand and no camera, Sadie still gave me that stare she has when she wants to walk.

When I told her "not yet" ... she went back to what she was doing.

It wasn't long though ... just one more cup of coffee ... then we headed out to enjoy a beautiful sunny morning, no wind and a crisp feeling to the air.

The hounds were more than happy to get started ... meanwhile back inside the house, Heidi was in full winter mode and had not come up for air while sleeping under a sleeping back, every since she had finished her breakfast kibble. That routine in the winter cold temps is nothing new for her ... she has done this every winter since I brought her home in 2011.

The hounds were on their own as I walked. I could tell early in this walk that Stella had different things to check out and most likely would not be walking with Sadie and I. She was good though, getting back to us without being called.

When I zoomed in for this picture I knew Stella had no intentions of following our pace.

That never bothers Sadie as she sprinted past me on the path and headed for the back of the field. Even at 34°, it felt warmer than the pictures show.

Has Stella even moved since we left that spot? Even lifted her head from the ground?

Then out of nowhere, she decided she had better catch up with us.

Just as she glanced to her right up to the far corner of the field, while Sadie and I were heading home ... she made a quick left turn only to be interrupted by something her nose found.

Not to be fooled into who was really in control of this walk ... she took off trotting to a corner that is about as far away as she could get. Sadie and I continued our path home ... I was really curious what Stella would end up doing. I wondered if it was going to be one of those days where Stella lags so far behind that she is out of sight as I would make my last turn home.

But just like before she started trotting our way. With her nose to the ground she followed our steps along the edge of the field and evidently smelled Sadie and changed direction to come right at us.

Maybe she was getting cold and wanted to get home, I'm not sure. She let Sadie know she was headed home.

By the time I am almost at the edge of the backyard, Sadie gave me that stare again ... only this time she wanted to stay outside.

Stella was in no hurry to come inside either so I let them roam while I picked up more twigs around the yard on the north side of the house. When I made it back up the hill after a quick trip to the mailbox, both of them were waiting for me at the door, thinking I had left them and had gone inside.

Stella had to come to remind me it was time to feed them lunch. A quick nudge by her nose gives me the first warning shot, after that she will move to the howling stage which gets Heidi out of her deep sleep into a barking mode. I find out within 30 minutes if I am really behind in the feeding schedule.

I tried getting a picture of Heidi today to let everyone know that she really does have a pulse and actually gets outside her (mine) sleeping bag. She was so quick I barely caught her as she was moving under the yews and out to the front yard.

Stella debated whether to head out to the field or back inside. She is also not a fan of cold weather and since this morning, winds had picked up and was blowing freezing air from 15-20mph. She turned and went back to the house with Heidi and I.

Sadie never cares how cold, how much rain or snow ... she just loves being outside. I let her hangout in the field for almost an hour, then I hooked Stella up to the retractable leash and went for a 'supervise' afternoon walk. The winds were stronger and the air was colder coming from the west. Sadie was happy with a 2nd walk and was quiet the rest of the afternoon.

While they spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping, I spent time setting up all of my new spreadsheets for 2017. Seems like it was a pretty fast year and some of the spreadsheets were showing some interesting results over the past year.

It is another night of no interest in watching the 3 college football bowl games being televised so it might be back to book reading or watching a movie.

I almost forgot ... Heidi had a 20 minute soak in warm water and Epsom Salts. She likes that enough that she almost lays down in the water but that would put her head barely above water. Her skin looks good but compared to past Decembers, it's about the normal condition for this month. I've thought for the longest time this year her skin problems are airborne allergies.

As long as the sunshine is out, we are happy here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Walk In Light Rain

The rain that was predicted started last night but was not as heavy as expected. You could 'hear' the wet pavement of the highway as cars passed during our first trip outside this morning.

The hounds started their normal routines but today it was a little harder to convince them to come back inside so I could start my daily intake of coffee. Even yelling the keyword "coffee" did not get them to respond as they normally do.

There is a cause to all of this ... they have a nose 200x stronger than people and a reputation of being stubborn.

It never fails that Stella will aways take her time, possibly walking even slower than she normally does, when she comes to my call and she doesn't really want to. If I were to mention any kind of food in my yell, she would be sprinting for the door to get back inside.

Just in case it would start raining harder later, I wanted to get at least one walk in this morning ... so I cut the internet reading short, waited to drink that 2nd cup of coffee when I got back and headed out. It was warm enough to switch from a down jacket and gloves to a all-season jacket, no gloves. Amazing how warm 45° feels with no winds.

With a light rain I put the lens hood on the camera to prevent any rain drops of hitting the lens. It wasn't a steady downpour but it wasn't a light rain. It didn't matter to the hounds ... they had things to check out, not waiting for me. The Tamron lens has worked every day since I bought it last summer. Thanks Tom for the suggestion.

About the time I thought they would head to the far right corner, they made a left to follow the path. It's hard to say what their noses picked up to make that decision for them. It was a good move since we were walking in the rain.

Whenever I go see what Stella is eating, there is nothing there. Her nose will have pushed the brush back to ground level and as you can tell, the brush is thick and deep.

The amount of rain drops stayed the same throughout the morning walk. Both were happy to get back inside where the dropped in their normal spots for a late morning nap. Life's rough as a bloodhound ... very similar to being retired.

Yesterday afternoon after a lot of demanding by Sadie's stare, then Stella's howling ... we took out for the 3rd walk of the day on Tuesday. It was still pretty cold but the sun was out and the skies were blue ... very nice.

It was Sadie this time that stayed back in the corner and then came sprinting ... great exercise for her at 8-1/2 years old.

You may notice she is down to just one front tooth. I guess that is what happens when you are a puppy and are determined to get out of a large indoor kennel while I was at work. She chewed and even was able to bend those heavy black rods that made up the wall of the kennel. I was glad to finally put that kennel away, never to be used again.

Tuesday afternoon.

Just a few years ago, the wild brush that grew around that 75 year old fence post and those trees to the right, was so high and thick you couldn't see it or the base of the trees. I'm glad I became motivated enough in April 2015 to cut, burn all of that out and plant grass seed.

The burn pile for 2017 has started.

Yesterday was colder but so much nicer than today. I knew it was going to be one of those kind of days where the light rain or drizzle would never stop. Yet, plenty to do inside. Some new books to read, college basketball games, some college football games with plans of a lot of food to eat stretched out over the weekend.

Heidi had her 20 minute Epsom Salt soak today. Once again she almost fell asleep with her head propped up on the side of the bathtub.

As the day moved along, it continued to rain and a little harder. So we didn't get another walk in and stayed inside except for the short trips outside for them to dump their tanks. I did more reading about the Blood Type Diet and of coarse with anything written in a book or online ... the reviews voice both sides. I go with my intuition after reading reviews from what kind of dog food, to electronics and/or diets.

Here are some pictures of the hounds during "Football Saturday" or even during the week while watching IU games. Very rarely that the bloodhounds argue about couch space. Mine is a little smaller than your three section couch, so this past Saturday we had a power struggle going on. Instead of Sadie moving over to her chair by the wall ... they decided sharing space was better.

Heidi decided to move out from the bed to the couch. It must have been that Mexican blanket I pulled out of the old FJ and put it back into the active stack of blankets. I am sitting to the left of Heidi and Stella.

Happy Thanksgiving from the hounds and I here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Sadie's HUGE Mistake Today

Monday started off beautiful, great weather and the next 7 days looks good in that regard. I had plans for a couple of tasks today. Getting up early, I felt recouped from my lack of sleep over the weekend.

Until I walked my face into that invisible spider web this morning as I went to take the daily photo from the rear corner of the house, facing the backyard. I don't know if this was the spider that built the web but when I glanced up at him, he was moving. By the time I took the photo and headed back to the house, he was in this position.

With that happening I realized today might be one of those 'critical days'. Remember 30-40 years ago when we were all into Biorhythms? For some reason I just remember the 'critical days' warnings.

Stella decided after walking to just the edge of the yard, it was too wet to go anywhere in the field, to do anything ... she headed back to the door and went back to sleep until lunch.

By leaving the car cover off the Z4 the past few weeks, I had some heavy blowing rain storms leave rain drop marks and some dust from the highway on the Z4 ... so it was going to get my first hand wash job. It was great weather to wash the car.

To keep Stella from wandering off while I washed the car, I pulled out the old 80ft tether and connected it out in the field so she would have some room to roam and hopefully cut down some of the giant ragweed in the field. All she did was protest by laying down in the field right by the yard ... and howled like she had lost her last friend. I guess she doesn't like that tether anymore like she use to.

I knew Sadie would go out to her favorite spot in the field and she had not been going outside the 'boundary' so I didn't worry about her. Maybe an hour later, or when I finished drying off the car, putting the water hose away and setting my bucket, and wash mitt in the sun ... I started to look for Sadie because she had not returned to the house, like she normally does. That was odd.

Stella and I took off north into the field heading to Sadie's favorite spot ... she wasn't there. Yelling her name as I walked out into the field ... I didn't see her and that was quite odd with her. She never does that. I heard a lawn mower but she never stays around the house when I mow the yard like Stella does ... still, that meant the neighbor or neighbors were outside.

Could it be? I really hope not. If they go to the neighbors then they can also head out into the highway following their nose and ignoring their brain. I glance over at the neighbors house and he is on his riding mower, his wife is outside in the yard ... but no Sadie. Now I am getting more than a little concerned.

Just as I start to turn to go back to the house to get the FJ and start the dreaded drive to find her ... I see Sadie running in their front yard. They also live on a hill above the highway but it seems closer to the road than my house but isn't.

When she hears me yelling her name, she sprints into the field not toward me but the house. She knows she is in trouble. The neighbor was trying to talk over the sound of the mower, but she said that Sadie had been following her around the yard and garden. She knew it was my dog and it was okay with her that Sadie came over to visit.

So within the last month both bloodhounds have gone way outside of their boundary when I left them alone to wander the field like they had for almost a year. I am debating whether to declare 'Marshall Law" but troops are stretched too thin to come to help me here in 'the tropics' ... so I will have to start some 'adult supervision' and only let them roam the field while I stand watching them while taking photos or am sitting in the backyard where I can stand and check on them ... at least until they cut the hay. Then I won't have to stand ... LOL. From now on, neither of them will be left outside to roam on their own anymore.

I just can't afford to make a mistake of giving them a chance to run into the highway, while they innocently follow their nose.

Other than that, it was a very productive day. After my two cups of coffee and some organic coconut sugar replacing the old granulated sugar ... normal morning reading of blogs, news, sports and emails ... I gave Heidi her 20 minute Epsom Salt soak. During that soak I will also take a wash rag and clean her stomach, armpits, legs and paws of any dead skin and/or dirt. The salts must have worked ... she eventually sat down in the deep bath water, laid her chin on the edge of the tub and fell asleep!!!

So besides the Sadie escapade, I had already given Heidi a soak, washed the Z4 all before 1pm ... a trip to buy groceries was next on the list. The daily hound walk would take place today back at the normal time of late afternoon. The photos of the walk have been the ones you have seen posted between my rambling paragraphs.

In May 2015 I started the Paleo Diet. I had good results, losing 15 pounds, a couple of inches around my gut, two inches on my waist and body fat was reduced 9mm. I loved it at times. At other times I 'wondered' if I was making the right decision ingesting that much fat with a family of heart problems on my dad's side of the family. I admit bacon tastes fantastic but all of that fat ......

Way back in history, in the 70's I was a strict vegetarian. I knew what it was like to eat that type of diet. I was also younger, weighed only a 160 and rode my bicycle training for racing roughly 400-450 miles per week. It's too long of a story to tell why I came back to what many consider a 'normal' american diet. I will say laziness was a big reason.

Over the past couple of months I had decreased the amount of red meat I was eating, decreased those trips to DQ and other fast food joints, less to no candy but I could feel myself falling off that wagon again. So about a month ago I started researching again about different diets. Not really diets but different ways of eating.

I had been leaning toward a lacto-vegetarian like before ... eating dairy, poultry and fish. Yet my digestive system hasn't liked dairy products like my brain does in recent years. I consider chickens as some of the filthiest animals in the world and those huge pens of cattle in Kanas out in the middle of nowhere always flashed into my mind after seeing them many years ago.

I could feel myself leaning "veggie" again. So with the decrease in eating meat, fish and chicken the past couple of months I was almost there anyway. It was that dairy getting in the way ... the ice cream, the yogurt with me needing TUMS later on in the middle of the night to survive. Could I really go to Nick's and not order my favorite strom or never head to 5Guy's again for their great burgers????

So last week I decided to go vegan. I started with a 3 day water fast and could have gone longer but started fresh vegetable juice on the 4th day. It will be a week tomorrow since I started this radial change in my eating habits. Hard as hell to get through 14 hours of college football on Saturday and 12 hours of NFL football on Sunday ... it wasn't the games ... it's those damn commercials with all the food you love to eat that made it hard. I survived.

Yet, 3 weeks into the football season I have been able to survive the urge to buy junk food, all the stuff I use to eat non stop while watching football games in the fall. I know there will always be strong urges waiting around every corner for me.

Otherwise there are just really a few changes I made ... I went back grains, beans and legumes instead of fish, chicken and red meat. I've always been big on vegetables and fruits ... that is if I can keep Stella out of my fruit bowls sitting around the kitchen.

Losing weight is not the main objective ... it's the cholesterol, the triglycerides, feeling lighter, eat less foods that cause mucus build up and general inflammation throughout the body. I've always have had low blood pressure, low resting heart rate. I've passed the two stress tests with flying colors and I've made it to my mid 60's without a heart attack or by-pass surgery ... my dad and uncles did not. I just felt better getting back to fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts.

I will admit though it's really hard at times to get through those periods of around 20 minutes to go out and make a fast food run, order a pizza, or just run out for a tub of Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream ... I have found that drinking ice cold water during those urges kills the pain and it goes away.

I think the last picture of Sadie and Stella show once again they are pretty close friends and Stella has been great for not only me but also Sadie ... having another hound her size.

They will be on a 'short imaginary leash' though ... no more leaving them out of sight knowing they will come back. I gave them an inch and both of them ended up taking a mile.

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