Still Confused On Day Of The Week

The highlight of the week has been watching this farmer move his mower along a bank and around an old highway sign no longer in use. He was also able to mow grass right up to the edge of his field without a trimmer and not mowing over his first rows of corn. I'll confirm that he does better at the job of mowing near the highway than the state highway department does.

These three photos were taken while standing in my kitchen in an air conditioned environment.

Although the noise was loud enough for me to hear and to get up to see what was going on, Stella was in a deep dream state and didn't move a muscle.

Looking at the temperatures throughout the USA yesterday, I really don't have anything to complain about. My temps only in the high 80's, was one of the cooler parts of the whole country. I assume in the RV parks generators are running at full maximum while people stay inside using the AC. For those that don't have or use the AC in their RVs or trailers, I wonder at what elevation they have moved to trying stay cool?

No matter how hot it was, Sadie kept bugging me to go outside late in the afternoon. At times she will get frantic wanting outside and then sprints to the tallest grass and starts eating it. I saw her run to this spot finding the tall grass amongst the ragweed to eat.  Ten minutes later when I looked outside she was gone.

It was pretty easy to figure out where to point the camera to find her. This is one of her favorite spots in the past month.

This gives you a better idea of how far away she was, as I stood at the corner of the house. Even out there she was giving me the stare down, seeing if I would take her for the 3rd walk of the day. I went back inside where it was nice and cool.

I was also in the middle of watching the Reds game on tv, so it was ten more minutes before I went back outside to check on her to see where she was ... once again ... she's gone.

That meant she was probably over near the woods by the neighbor's house. As I walked to the north part of the yard I called her name ... there she was trotting up the hill from the direction I thought she might be.

It's not has hot as it is out west but it was ~90° and she was feeling it.

Last night sure seemed like a Sunday night for some reason. Each time I looked at the computer or iPhone it reminded me it was only Thursday. Not that it matters to me or what I do.

To start Friday morning off we tried getting back to an earlier start. My garmin vivo tells me I am getting most of my deep sleep between 5am - 8am. So I didn't recall that 7am passed and barely saw 8:30am show up. I was thinking last night all of this weirdness started when I made a mistake last Friday and grabbed a bag of 'decaf' coffee.

I have found out the past week I probably don't drink coffee so much for the taste, although that is important, but for the caffeine boost to start each of my days. I need all the help I can get to wake up ... I never have been a morning person.

So by 10am Sadie, Stella and I headed out for our morning walk. Stella did her normal very wide loop from the yard to the middle of the field to dump her tanks and then circle back to meet Sadie and I. She will turn those directions on her own, I don't have to call her name to get her to come that way.

There is a lot for her to see and it seems more and more she moves on her own schedule, going where she wants.

This is one of those days she looks like she is gaining weight. You cannot see her ribs.

Sadie still cannot figure out why Stella has stopped walking with us.

The longer I walked the hotter it began feeling. All of the rain in the forecast the past 5 days missed us. I remembering the reason I mowed the yard on Monday was because it was going to be a day of thunderstorms on Tuesday.

Stella did a little fast trotting today but not quite a run. I hope this is a sign that she is improving with whatever is wrong with her.

While I walked home following the path, Sadie and Stella decided they would take their own path home. After walking into the yard just past the property line pole that is still standing, they found something interesting enough they they would not leave. Nothing to eat but just a strong scent.

I had cleared out the right side of the trees by the old fence post in 2014. Once the neighbor had the field surveyed during his purchasing process and they decided my property went about 65' further north than I had been told, I decided to burn out all of the overgrown brush, pull out the roots and plant grass. That is the area you see the hounds standing.

It wasn't until last October in 2016 that I decided to do the same thing on the left side of the trees, just at the corner of this bank by the old fence post.

There were some wild flowers but more weeds and ragweed than anything else. I guess now I could have covered that corner with seeds of wild flowers to add some color to a yard that is nothing but green.

I pulled all of those roots out with a rake, then burned them. Once it was warm in March of this spring I planted grass seed only to have it go below freezing the following week. More seed then the rain washed it away. I spread the last third of the bag of grass seed and it has filled in pretty well for it's first year.

I need a landscaping hobbyist or expert, to place some flowers throughout the yard for some color.

While burning leaves last fall I decided I'd burn out all the dead brush on the north side of the yard. Out of nowhere some wind picked up and started taking the fire toward the field further than I had planned. The fire got under control as it was just inches inside the field.

I took this picture with my iPhone while standing in the field wondering if I was about the set that part of the field on fire. Luckily I got it stopped. Someone passing by on the highway stopped to see if things were okay, did they need to call the fire department?

It wasn't until this summer that I saw what damaged that fire caused in the wooded area next to my yard on the north side. You can see which trees were burnt last fall, as it's the only brown in the neighborhood.

I'll be sure to take another photo of this area next summer to see what changes take place.

After our morning walk, I loaded up my 32 gallon container of recycled material. We don't have to sort it for our local center. They compress everything into containers, then those are trucked to Indianapolis where the sorting takes place. I watched the process on YouTube for the specific company. It's interesting to see semi truck containers of compressed paper, cardboard, plastic and glass being sorted as it passes by on conveyor belts.

Heidi jumped in the passenger seat for the short 6 mile ride. With the windows down she was able to sit her nose on the window edge by the side mirror to capture all the scents on the way.

We found out the state highway department is doing work that I have never figured out the reason for. Digging out spots on the highway about every 10', a rectangular shape across one lane of traffic and then covering it back up with new asphalt. The backed up traffic was at least 1/4 mile long, maybe longer.

I was lucky enough to catch our lane moving in each direction so there was zero sitting time for us. As I turned in town to head south toward our house I I noticed stakes about 10' apart along the side of the road for the first mile heading out of town. I am only assuming they will be coming our direction with their strange repairs.

Any ideas what they are doing?

They are not installing any new pipes or drainage systems. When I glanced at the dug out section as I passed, they had taken the asphalt out all the way to the base of the highway. Then filling it immediately back up with new asphalt.

With the lines of backed up traffic it looks like any traveling I need to do or grocery shopping, will be done at night after the road crews have stopped for the day.

Heidi started nonstop barking to let me know it was past time for lunch. With it feeling cooler outside today plus some added wind, I thought she might be interested in going on our walk. Not only was she not interested, neither were Sadie and Stella.

While Heidi studies her next move, Stella has got an itch on the top of her nose. I see nothing there when I checked it out.

As I sat back down in my chair, Heidi gave me a look as if to say "you expect me to stay outside in this?" ... she ran for the door when we all headed back inside, didn't even pee.

I believe the invisible black field cat has been checking out the north side of the yard where the hounds were earlier and also the driveway where Sadie and Stella had the same response.

I remember in the early 1980's when I was living in Carlsbad California, I use to sit on the porch in front and see the Pacific Ocean across the street named Carlsbad Blvd.

Now when I sit in a chair at the corner of the carport, that ocean view has changed to this. A lot can happen in 30-35 years.  LOL

About all I can see happening the rest of the day is ... the hounds sleeping the majority of it. All of them are sleeping scattered in the house at their favorite spots.

Sadie and I will take a late afternoon walk. Stella will decide if she wants to go or not. She passed on the 3rd walk of the day a couple of times this past week.

In the meantime I am going to search my bookshelves for something to read, something that will hold my interest. If that is not possible then I look through my large dvd collection of movies and find something to watch.

(2:17pm - As I started to walk up the drive from the mailbox I saw my first Casita trailer drive by the house ... made my day)

Another good day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Get Their Wish

I heard the sound of a tractor slowing down on the highway from my computer desk this morning. It looked like the farmer that bales the field behind the house but they were going the opposite direction for getting into the field. The hounds were about to take their first walk of this morning and I never have walked them while they are mowing the field ... I decided to take a chance today.

About the time I had changed into my hiking boots and stepped outside into sunshine for the first time in two days, I saw the old tractor with the mower on the back, making a turn to head past the house heading north. From the sounds I heard as we started out walk, it certainly sounded as if the field was going to get mowed today. Stella didn't show a lot of reaction to the noise but Sadie was more than curious.

It was heading along the north edge of the field so we continued walking. I knew which way he was going to go and figured by the time the hounds and I got near the back edge of the field we would meet. So before that happened I guided both hounds toward the middle of the field so we could watch him pass, keep the hounds out of his way and follow his mowed path back home.

At this time both hounds were off leash but I had the 6' standard leash in my back pocket for Stella. I was pretty sure what Sadie would do but not Stella, once the tractor drew near. Like many of you, he wanted to see the hounds. So right after he went around the edge of the "far right corner", he pulled his mower up off the ground and started driving our way.

Am I seeing this correctly? Reading a text from his smart phone while mowing the field???   LOL

Mowing along the back edge of the field almost to the far right corner.

Not only to see the hounds he wanted to know if I had the tether attached to the 'spike in the ground' so he would not mow over it. They always check with me every time before they mow along the backyard. When the tractor was coming right at us as we stood in the middle of the field, Stella sat down next to me and Sadie stood in front of me not really sure that thing was coming towards us.

As he pulled away and headed around the first turn, Sadie wanted to run after him but with a loud "no", she trotted back toward me and walked just in front of me. Before the tractor drove over to meet us I had put the leash on Stella's collar. She acted as if she had been around tractors before in her earlier years.

With a nice path mowed why walk through the taller grass on the way home?  It was great to walk on the mowed path of the field.

The last of the yellow flowers. It will dry out all day today and rolled into 2,000 pound rolls of hay tomorrow or Monday.

He is over by Stella's all-time favorite place ... the wooded area behind the neighbor's house.

One last look at the flowers before they are mowed.

Later on he will come back in the opposite direction to cut the edge of the field, just like trimming your driveway or sidewalk after mowing your yard.

Once he finished cutting the field, since the hounds had their lunch we went outside to enjoy this great weather. It's such a change from the past two days of dark skies and rain. While I cut some weeds, Stella decided to nap under the sun.

Sadie was more interested in exploring the field now that it was cut. Heidi was laying about a foot away from Stella but out of camera range. Anytime I pointed the camera at her, she would get up and trot away. She might be tired of blogging, who knows?

I whacked weeds until my batter died. It was a great time to take our first walk in the mowed field. It makes a lot of difference because I can see where the hounds are at all times plus I find there are less ticks on me after the walk.

Stella took her time soaking in every inch of mowed grass.

Sadie walked along the very edge of the field and thought there might be a chance to curl up to the far right corner since it was cut. That is where she saw the one deer the other night.

Stella did not run fast but it was more between a run and a trot. She had not been to the far right corner in a while and was happy to head that direction.

I am hoping now the field is cut that she will start running more like she use to, but that will be up to her.

Too many deer scents to walk away.

Sadie and I headed off along the back edge of the field following a path created by the mower. I don't want to mess up their rows of hay that will be raked up tomorrow before they bale it ... so we stayed on the same path going out and coming back home.

It looks a lot different once the field is cut ... much more enjoyable doing the hound walks. Once everything is raked and baled, the path we walk every day will show up in dark green from the grass that has been mashed down as I walk.

We picked Stella up on the way back.

The last of the yellow flowers until next year.

Although the high temperature was only low 70's today, Sadie had enough exercise exploring the field plus a lot of running full steam trying to catch sparrows while I was cutting weeds. I was on the north side of the yard at the time with the weed eater and did not have the camera to show how far she was running to get them. She had never ran further or faster chasing sparrows until today.

It started last night when I tried to reply on a couple of recent blog comments. Blogger would not load my box to reply in, then did not recognize my user name. After a few attempts I decided I'd try to clear out 'cookies' and erase all the built up data. I hate doing that because that means I have to re-sign into all the websites I use that require a user name and password.

After doing that, I was able to reply to the comments and thought clearing out the cookies of the browser Google Chrome fixed the problem. This morning while starting this post it was even more messed up. It was trying to load all of my photos in their original size instead of the smaller version like the settings I have. So I rebooted my computer thinking I might have a network problem with just Blogger.

Not only did that not work but when I clicked the link to edit the post I had started, my Activity Monitor graph I have open on my other monitor, started to max out and I was going through data like water while the page was hung up trying to load. I shut Google Chrome down and tried using Safari.

My blog loaded fast the morning photos loading without any problems, almost instantly while using only 5Mb of data. I have been using Google Chrome the past few weeks for their Data Saver app that seems to work based on the decreased amount of data I am using in a 24 hour period.

The major plan for today was cutting weeds on the driveway until the battery died. I'll probably wait until tomorrow to mow the yard making sure the sun bakes out all of the wetness from two days of rain.

Since he turned around soon after passing the house I had the feeling he may have been doing a test drive before buying the old tractor. I didn't know of any tractor shows going on locally but I think I remember seeing this tractor for sale a few days ago when I drove to town.

It's back to great weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.