Good Weather Turns To Snow

Our weather continues to be above their historical averages the past couple of weeks. Still our routine of winter hasn't seemed to change. The hounds spend more time outside while Walter and I stay inside. I was thinking the other day "if you have the windows open it is warm enough to go on a bike ride" ... but I am lazy, very lazy this time of year. History repeats itself.

A Quiet Saturday For The Hounds & Dog

 

Hard to believe it was a week ago tonight where a lot of things changed around here. It's going to take a pretty long time to forget it. The two previous owners of Samson and I have analyzed, talked and asked many questions. All of us have second guessed what we did, then why we did it. Thanks to Lynn and another reader that commented, all three of us had a better understanding on what happened with Samson. In hindsight, there were some red flags after we read about "rage syndrome". There is a lot of moving pieces to that puzzle, all with a sad ending.

Knucklebone Day & Flooding

 

With high winds and rain in the forecast I thought it might be time to reach into the bottom cabinet drawer, the dog drawer, and pull out three brand new knucklebones. When they cannot go outside they need something to occupy them. I bought three last month to store not knowing then I would need four, but it has all worked out. Oh ... those high winds and rain have not arrived as of this morning. Typical for this area. A lot of times storms blow around our location and that is always a good thing.

8 Days Until March !!!!

Sunshine always makes a difference, no matter what the temperature is nor what month it is. It just makes a difference. I had not even started my first cup of coffee when I could hear the birds outside singing to each other like it was a Spring day. It was 29°. Again we all started our day later than a few weeks ago but none of us minded sleeping an extra hour. I couldn't stop reading one of the books last night, just picked up from the library yesterday. Can you guess which one kept me up past 1:30am reading?

With the high today going to climb into the middle 40's, all of the frozen puddles of water were starting to melt in the yard. Although the large puddle inside the carport remained water. I was happy I chose the North Face snow boots to wear this morning. I use them as my rain boots also ... because I am cheap. LOL

Stella had her own plans this morning. She veered off the return path and headed to the middle of the field. As long as she was heading in the general direction that I was on the path, it was okay. I kept an eye on her while I enjoyed the great morning, a little past 10am. The air was filled with different kind of birds chirping away, the sky was blue and the sunshine was bright. A perfect morning.

I was wearing layered clothing with my light down jacket, not the parka. I really didn't even need my gloves but wore them anyway. As I walked, so did Stella at a pretty brisk pace.

Slowly without any input from me, she gradually moved toward me and about the time I got to the first corner, she cut me off, walking in front of me over to the brush area next to the woods. She was so close to me when she cut in front of me she almost stepped on my boot !!!

After I moved out in front of her, I glanced behind me and didn't see her!!!! She had walked down into the woods maybe 6' before I barely saw her. As I walked over to find out where she was plus prevent her from getting further into the woods and then down into the gully, she turned and walked toward me like nothing happened.   LOL

As we moved into the part of the field that was no longer frozen but extremely saturated, I could still hear the sound of the leaves and long grass breaking with a crunching sound with each one of my steps. Water came up along the sides of my boots with each step. Stella stayed just to the side of the path to keep her paws dry as possible.

I let her move along the back edge of the field at her own pace. I walked up ahead of her and had moved over to the path that Stella was walking on.I had not walked along the edge of the field in back for many months. It was also drier up there compared to the path we use every day.

I was able to take the same photo of the turkey farm and AT&T tower but it looks so much different today because I was standing at the edge of the field about 20' closer to the tower. In my eyes it makes a huge difference while I used the same zoom setting as I always do. I could not believe how different it looked.

When I told her "let's go home", she was happy with that and headed out on the path, with a few stops along the way. She is such a funny bloodhound. No plans, no focus, and walks as if she goes from moment to moment without any thought of a plan. To say the least, she is a pretty laidback bloodhound.

This does not happen often ... she beat me to the yard this morning.

What is she thinking ????

LOL ... I have no idea. Classic pose for Stella, obviously in deep thought.

With the morning so nice, she and I spent some extra time right there in the north backyard. I picked up some new limbs and tossed them into the overgrown brush area. This is the area I'd like to light a match to and burn about 20 years of dead limbs, dead leaves and give the ground some new area for new growth.

See .... she can be a nice bloodhound when she want's to be. She isn't stubborn all the time. How can you resist that kind of look?? Yes ... she does get everything she wants, at least 99.9% of the time.

For new readers or first time visitors ... that fence post and rolled barbed wire has been there since the mid 1940's based on the story my dad told me.

Stella still continuing to move to her right to finish her walk along the side of the house.

Just because it was beautiful outside Heidi still had sleep to catch up on and wasn't happy when I woke her up. Later she came out, inhaled some water and went back to sleep on the big leather chair. It's the same chair that Winston use to use, then Sadie and now Heidi. It's a great comfortable chair and I sit there sometimes for hours reading.

With the great sunny day outside at noon you would think that the hounds would have gone outside and stayed for hours enjoying the great weather. I was willing to stay outside that long. It was up over 40° and sunny. I think you will find the following photos shocking. I'll let them tell the story. No .... neither went any further than the photos show.

Heidi seems to like Oikos Triple Zero blended greek yogurt. The brand by Greek God's is a little too sour for her and she will not lick the last of the container. As you can see with the Dannon brand she has no problem burying her head inside the container to lick the bottom of the container. I always share it will both hounds.

I like Plochman's Mustard but I hate their container. I keep the nozzle clean so it spreads the mustard evenly. The problem is the mustard blocks the opening of the container and prevents the flow of any mustard, no matter how clean the nozzle is. So to fix that .... I poured half the Plochman's container into a French's mustard container, which never stops the evenly smooth pour when the container is squeezed. Is that politically correct to do in today's society?  (joke)

That just shows you some of the exciting activity around here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I tried again, giving the hounds a chance to go outside to enjoy this weather but Stella did not wake up and Heidi went outside just long enough to pee and came back to the door.

Because of that I can almost assure that there will not be enough hound activity this afternoon to blog about. I will not get many more photos than what I have right now. Therefore I am going to post this now as my only post of the day instead of waiting until 6pm, thinking or hoping I'd have more photos to add.

So which book kept me up until 1:30am, where I had to force myself to put the book down and go to bed?

Hero Dogs by Wilma Melville with Paul Lobo.

I started the Bernie Sanders  book first yesterday afternoon because I was really curious what I would find. I started the book with an open mind and read 79 straight pages. It was interesting because many of the things that he wanted "his movement" to accomplish ... Trump has done since January 2017. Granted, Bernie wrote this book and what he wanted before the 2016 election but the fact still remains a few things have been accomplished by a man he hates.

Although I had read 79 pages without stopping, two names of people that he respects (in his own words) made me stop reading and my first impression of Bernie Sanders was correct. This is a man I want nothing to do with. Those two people? ... Linda Sarsour and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (my favorite dingbat)

Like all the other far left Presidential hopefuls, he wants to tax the rich and give more free services to those in need, middle to low incomes or those not wanting to work, plus of course ALL immigrants, legal or otherwise. Yet with millions of dollars in his bank account, and three luxury homes, I find it hard to believe that Bernie would like to give himself that same tax increase.

What he preaches against he has ... wealth.

Would he make the last ten years of his income tax returns public like he wants President Trump to do? Would any of the screaming Democrats make their tax returns public? Doubtful. Including Trump they have all followed the US Tax Code, I have no doubt about that but I also beliew a few people walked away paying nothing in taxes just like Amazon because they have top notch tax accountants.

Here's a tidbit about Bernie ... enjoy reading it:  Bernie's A Fraud !

Jussie Smollett ???   I can't stop laughing. What "a piece of work" .... let's see just how far they follow the letter of the law because I can bet my ass if that was me, I would be convicted as a racist, hate crime offender and would be behind bars the maximum amount of time allowed. Just mailing that hate crime letter to himself should put him behind bars based on Federal Law. Prove to me that I am wrong with that assumption.

A beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I'm going back to my book.

New Books New DVD's

Like any other rainy afternoon, it changed the level of energy and plans for me and the hounds. Right after lunch Heidi was so disappointed in the rain she was hearing that she didn't even get to the edge of the house before stopping. I knew I was changing plans, rather than reading the book about Steve Jobs. I decided while waiting for the hounds, that I'd take my one 32gl trash can to the recycling center where they will accept my 1 bag of trash for a whopping $2.

Up until a couple of years ago, I was paying $20 per month for weekly pickup down by the mailbox, where many weeks I had nothing set outside for pickup. The savings per year equate to about four 40# bags of dog food ... not a bad exchange.

Stella wasn't much happier than Heidi was with the early afternoon weather. I wouldn't know until about 15 minutes later and 5 miles down the highway it would be much worse, with a full on summer thunderstorm. I see 60° as a possibility on my weather app in a few days. Can I sneak out of Febrary witout much winter weather this year?

With the hounds tucked away in the bedroom I not only went to recycling but stopped at the local library on the way back. There is nothing better than a small town library on a rainy afternoon. I did my normal quick shopping trip by eyeing the section of "new" releases. I grabbed a book called Hero Dogs by Wilma Melville with Paul Lobo.

I then head down the aisle where they have a long short bookshelf with more 'new'  books lined up on top in a display. I decided to expand my political awareness, taking Where Do We Go From Here by Bernie Sanders. I've always been curious what makes this man tick. Could he be the surprise of 2020?

While I was satisfied with my choices and checking them out at the counter, I glanced over at the DVD section where there were six 'new" DVDs lined up on the top of the case. I am rarely lucky to find anything interesting to watch, especially with those that are labeled 'new' but today must have been my day.

I grab The Old Man & The Gun with Robert Redford along with a western called The Sister Brothers. By 2:30pm I had watched the Redford movie and was about to put in the second DVD when I decided to hold off watching that until later.

I did not have to go outside to verify it was still raining, lightly. I took these next to photos from inside the house standing at the large window in my kitchen. It's the best window in the house as far as I am concerned. The hounds were still in their deep afternoon slumber in the dark living room.

Every time I see those posts I want to replace them with something else this spring. IF the new posts are going to be centered in the available space, a square post will not work. Today I am thinking I might have to look for a rectangular type post ... but new wrought iron posts might be my only option. I'd still like to change them to a wood post of some sort.

While Heidi was sleeping in the big leather chair and Stella stretched out on the couch, I opened to the very first page of Hero Dogs and started a new adventure. Sometimes I'll read multiple books at once but the last time I read each book individually before starting the next one. Freedom of choice is a great feature in retirement, ranging from eating, sleeping, reading, screwing off, yard work or to being a slacker in general. There is no finer way to enjoy life than having freedom.

Oh, back at the library I did see on the tall shelf of 'new' autobiography's was the book by Andrew McCabe. Glancing was all I did, the stench from that direction made me make a fast exit to the checkout counter.

Life was fast paced this afternoon in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Enjoy The Sunshine

"25° and you think I'm going outside????" ... No Way!! There is one thing about having hounds, they are pretty consistent. They might change parts of their routines but still remaining consistent. During the winter months that means Heidi rarely gets outside until after her lunch besides her trip first thing in the morning. She went back to sleeping while Stella and I took off for a walk.

You might notice a difference in the lighting with these photos and it wasn't just because the skies were blue and sunny. It was the difference in time from the normal 8am start time. We were not even conscious this morning at 8am, so a late start to the day it was.

It was great to feel a hard surface as we stepped into the backyard. So much nicer than mud or a very wet path. Stella seemed to enjoy it also. By the time I started my Apple Watch to track the walk, slip on my gloves and grab the camera ... Stella was trotting away from me.

It was good to see her getting in some running this morning.

I came very close of just wearing a light 4-season jacket of my fleece sweater this morning but a few feet into the walk I was glad I had the Mountain Hardwear Parka on. the wind was freezing and strong. Maybe you can tell by the blowing tall grass.

Last night after 1am, the last thing I remember hearing was the howling wind, rattling the old storm windows and sounding like we were in tornado warning. It's my paranoia from June 2008 when straight line winds blew over two 100' + Sycamore trees across my front yard. I still have a small group of Sycamore trees just as tall, due south of my house, next to the driveway. Strong winds after a lot of rain are the same conditions as they were in June 2008.

Stella at times acted as if she was ducking her head into the wind. I knew when we would make the last turn for home we would be walking directly into the wind, It kept moving from the SW, from the W and then from the NW. Which ever way it came from it was freezing cold. My eyes were watering and felt like I had poked myself in the eye.

The picture of the AT&T tower is always a good indicator of our weather.

Once she sits down to scratch, that gives me time to get ahead of her so I can hopefully catch some photos of her running. Today I was 3/4 of the way to the first turn before she moved. You can see the sequence of her in the photos below.

Didn't seem to have much interest in running but moved right around me then stopped!!!\

No ... there is no one outside, there are no sounds, there is no cat in view, no deer in the woods ... nothing. But something is interesting to her. As she sat there like a statue ... I kept walking toward home.

It was an uneventful finish to the walk this morning. The only question now will be if I post this now or wait until the end of the day?

I received an email notification from the local library yesterday that a book I had wanted was available to be checked out. It is the newest book (From the Ground Up) about Howard Schultz. I know I mentioned I was no longer reading above the government, politicians etc ... but I want to know more about this man, just in case he can work his way through the maze of the 2020 campaign. So far so good after reading about a third of the book.

Besides reading about coffee in his book I noticed my supply here at home is getting low. That in itself is a reason for me to take a roadtrip to the store to replenish my coffee supply. I can run out of food but NOT coffee!!! I'll probably take that trip after the hounds are fed lunch.

I still use the "cord system" to keep Stella shut off in the bedroom with Heidi while I am gone. That keeps her safe and my fruit in the bowls. I also don't have to 'child proof' my house when I leave, in case she would escape. There are signs that she sleeps while I am gone and that is always a good thing.

When I see on Twitter that there are 40 days or so until baseball's first game ... that means Spring is right around the corner. Looking at my 10-day forecast and seeing all the icons showing sunshine or clouds ... no rain or snow ... it is perfect for February.

Well it looks like we have moved back into the regular schedule after a late start to the day. I might even find some motivation to go outside this afternoon and pick up all the small tree limbs, sticks and/or twigs out of the yard then add to my burn pile. It's going to a HUGE fire this year ... maybe next month.

We are much drier today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.