A Quiet Holiday Monday

Since retirement I rarely look at a calendar anymore while I use the 'Reminders' program that came with my Apple phone and synchronizes to my computers. At times I also forget what day it is but I knew today was Monday but I did not know why the traffic on the highway in front of the house was so light. I found out it's a holiday with a lot of government workers having the day off. Farmers don't have days off, especially this time of year.

Stella wasn't sure what to make of the sound from the combine. She wasn't going to run toward the road but was a little curious what that weird sound was coming down the highway. She will also show interest in loud motorcycles and pickup trucks that pass by ... as if they are part of her past in some way.

The morning walk started as they all do. Heidi in a deep sleep after her breakfast kibble and Stella adding some wet green grass to her diet. As you can see the ragweed is dying out fast only to leave those small brown burs that like to stick to my clothing and in Stella's hair if we get too close on the walks.

It will be interesting to see how much the leaves turn colors this week. By Wednesday the high temp of the day will be in the 60's and by next weekend or sooner the high temp of the day will be in the 50's. As I write this my AC system is running at 100% power ... hard to believe it will be that cold later this week.

The photos don't capture it but Stella likes to walk in front of me but only if she can walk as slow as possible. If I lag behind giving her room, she will slow her walk down even more. If I walk around her to get in front there are times she will walk on my heels. So we go back and forth trading who is in front for a lot of the walk.

I had to be very quick to get this photo of her behind me before she was moving right past me.

The mosquitoes continue to be thick on these walks. I am hoping they disappear with the high temps this Tuesday night while we sleep.

She glanced down in the gully that is overgrown but a place the deer use to run to. I am not sure they visit that area after last summer (2017) when there was a lot of ATV traffic up and down the hills through the woods. I see no signs of deer passing through with worn down grass/weeds.

She started to head to the 'far right corner' of the field but stopped, stared and then looked at me for permission. When I told her 'over here' she turned and got back on our path and walked toward the back of the field.

I did not watch any NFL games yesterday nor did I tune into the MLB Playoffs. My lack of interest surprises me. I spent a lot of time sitting outside reading in the bright sunshine and watching the neighbor mow his yard with his huge riding mower. There just isn't that much going on lately around here. I also like watching traffic. (strange)

Walking fast enough to blur her photo.

Although Stella walks at a slow pace, the total time for the walk doesn't change much from the morning walks to the afternoon walks. Now that my brain has calibrated itself, why would the total time change with Sadie gone because we both walked or did the walk in whatever time it would take Stella. It just seems slower now with her taking her time moving through the field. Obviously from her looks, she doesn't understand the urgency of completing the walk before the mosquitoes haul me away.

This is from a small 2" diameter sapling that I cut down about 4 years ago.

A sure sign that fall is here and the leaves will be changing color.

I walked over to check out what Stella was staring at and saw nothing in that area below her nose and eyes. She stood in that pose long enough for me to take the photo, walk over to her and away from her. I would love to know what goes through that bloodhound's thought process.

She trotted toward the house, fast enough that it was hard for me to get these two photos taken.

Last night there was a huge visible cobweb right in front of the shed door, near the lower edge of the carport ceiling. This morning I could barely see what was left of the spiderweb and this victim was moving as fast as possible to get away from being tangled up inside it.

I had a few things I wanted to get done today. Of course when you are retired anything can change in an instant, consequently I did nothing I thought I would while drinking my morning coffee. Instead I spent time outside, went to the library to turn in two books and bring three more back with me to read.

This question is for all the plant experts ... why isn't this mum blooming ??? The yellow one I bought just as it is .. in full bloom but the two crimson mums I bought have not. When I look at them at the business I bought them out, within view of the house, all of their mums are in full bloom. I need help just like the two mums do.

Stella had a good lunch when I returned from the library. It was Heidi's non-stop barking when I got home that let me know I was late and she needed to be fed now!!!

The spider from the photo above taken earlier in the morning was still moving trying to escape. You can see how big the spiderweb is.

I could see Stella's nostrils working overtime trying to capture some scent.

Very rare to see her nose pointed to the sky ... that is too much effort for her.

Her right eye is looking good after the two growths were removed. With a face like that and a laidback personality how did three different owners give her up within her first six years of life?

She has been living here three years already ... time flies.

I have a driveway bank and seven acres of field behind my house for Heidi to dump her tanks ... but she loves the front yard the most. She never goes to the field. Sometimes she will move in back but mostly in the front yard.

She is headed that way now.

She then follows up by taking a lap around the house to inspect the area before coming back inside to sleep all afternoon.

Oh, Stella sleeps just as much as Heidi does between her meals and the two walks we take per day.

Here are some highlights of our early evening walk a few minutes ago.

I know you probably get tired of hearing me say it but it really is another beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Escapes

... from the retractable leash.

I wanted to try something brand new this morning, something I had never done before and I wasn't sure if it would work or not. With Stella wandering to the north almost immediately on our morning walk the past few days, I didn't want to go after her this morning so I thought I'd put her on the 25' retractable leash PLUS take my camera.  (also none of the photos this morning were edited)

I have used this leash on many of our afternoon walks and she does fine with it ... until a couple of days ago when she refused to move from the corner of the house. In fact when she did that yesterday, I let her back inside the house, then Sadie and I did the late afternoon walk in 8:19 When we returned she was sleeping on the floor.

The first test started as I walked toward the field and she walked along the house, her 'new' path heading north and eventually to the woods behind the neighbors. I thought to myself "well, you have 25' from me to find out that path isn't going to work today".

The small wire springs were found at the foot of my driveway this morning where someone must have decided they did not need them or it fell out of someone's passing pickup truck. It looks like the size of a chair seat cushion. I'll hide it back here until I make my recycling run this week and give it to them.

Stella wasn't happy about it but she turned and started to walk toward me at the edge of the field and yard. I stood as the leash retracted, not wanting to pull on her collar.

With me on the path already getting soaked from a field that was wet from late night rains, she was walking up the return path which gradually moves further than 25' from each other. I stopped to get a better grip on my camera and felt a tug ... a strong tug ... an escape tug.

Seconds after I took this picture, I heard the leash retracting fast and on the end of it was her collar. She had wrestled herself out of confinement when I was feeling those strong tugs with my head down looking at my camera.

Collarless ....

Sadie was oblivious to everything going on between Stella and I. She was darting back and forth across the path and finally started making a beeline to the corner of the field.

At the same time, Stella walking as if she was proud of what she had accomplished, walked on the return path ignoring me when I was calling her name and saying "over here".

She finally decided to join Sadie and I and jumped over to our path heading out to the field. I could see that a lot of the tall grass had been blown down or beat down by the rain sometime last night after 1am. I didn't hear any rain while sleeping so maybe it didn't rain at all but the field was wetter than anytime this spring.

To make it easier for me I left the retractable dog leash on the path right at the junction where we either take the original path to the left or the alternate path to the right that heads to the north backyard.

Every one of those tips (buds) were wet and somewhere out there is our path that we wear down with our two to three walks per day unless it is raining. I remember when my neighbor bought this field a few years ago, he told me he was thinking about planting corn. Hearing that I was ready to move. Luckily for me and the hounds he left it as it was and trades the hay to the farmer that cuts the field in exchange for them to plant corn in one of his fields.

Yes that is Stella continuing up the return path in total denial that she is hearing me calling her. After weeks of following Sadie and I on the morning walks, a few days ago she decided she was going where she wanted, when she wanted and would ignore any sound coming from my mouth ... except ... when I ask her "do you want to eat". Then she howls.

Sadie continued her quest of finding who and what had been in 'her' field in the hours since late yesterday afternoon. She was intense in her search this morning.

Until I told Stella 'no', she had made a left turn to head up the overgrown ATV path from last summer. At the same time you have to remember that she is walking slower than slow in all of these photos.

Sadie is nowhere in view and may have already ran up ahead and made the turn for home.

Unlike Stella, she will always turn and run toward me if she gets too far ahead of us. I am beginning to believe this field is growing by the hour.

Stella is now in her pace to get home. She is tired of the walk, no interest in sniffing scent and stays on the path almost all the way home. She is already thinking about her morning nap.

Sadie will explore and investigate scent all the way home.

Stella followed the path all the way to the yard.

Is it a habit or an allergy? This is one of three places she will stop and scratch herself on the walk. Each place she stops is the exact area within a two foot diameter.

I was standing partially hidden around the corner of the carport just enough where I could see her with the camera but she couldn't see me that well. Dogs don't see well to begin with but with me out of view it was even harder for her ... and to enough to cause her concern.

She moved faster than she had the half mile walk when she thought Sadie and I had left her outside.

A little dark but I wanted to post all the photos on the blog this morning with no editing of any kind. I have gone into the html of this post to change the size of the photo from s640 (Google's compressed size) back to the original size of s1600, which makes them sharper.

Let me know if you can see that much difference in the quality of the photos you normally see here. Thanks.

I am not sure where all of my good energy took off to but it wasn't too much past mid-afternoon where we were headed for an afternoon siesta. Those small corn tortilla soft tacos must have killed any motivation I had to be an active member of society. I think by these photos you will get the picture.

We always go outside right after lunch, usually pretty close to noon or a little after. Each hound does their own thing. At times the bloodhounds take off for the field, Heidi will explore around the house by doing a full lap with her nose to the ground and I will sit outside to soak up rays to get a little extra natural Vitamin D.

It was another day in the low 80's with a slight breeze, right on the borderline of having all the windows open or closing them and letting the air conditioner run. It wasn't quite hot enough for the AC yet a little too warm not using it. Add in some allergies for sneezing ... not much was done this afternoon.

One thing that does happen though daily, is the area the hounds inspect or sit is always different than in the morning as we start our walk.

Stella just about in the scratching mode.

Heidi was just as confused as I was on what to do. Walk? Nap in the sun laying in the grass? What? She decided sleeping all afternoon on the couch in the cool shade was the best thing to do.

It's already late May but still a lot of farm equipment using the highway. I am pretty sure this is the same guy that has the field directly across from me but today he was coming from the south while taking up about a lane and a half of the highway.

It's was one of those times that the best thing I can do is pull the car cover off the Z4 and take a little drive. It doesn't matter which direction we take nor if we have been on that same drive before, it always feels good  by the time you finish and return home.

It really was a nice day in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.