The Hounds Still Making Small Changes

{This morning, Thursday, I re-read this post and was astounded to see so many misspelled words and poor grammar. I corrected what I could find and rewrote some sentences. I always proof read the post before publishing it but it's obvious I have not even done a good job of that. I'll try to improve.}
 
Changes happen to all of us when the seasons change or they decide we need to turn our clocks back or forward. It stays darker longer in the mornings thus the hounds wake up earlier instead of later. (strange) The two feeding times are the same and rarely change. Yet, I have noticed some small changes in Stella and Heidi since Sadie is gone plus Heidi's teeth extractions. Nothing bad but interesting.

I mentioned either yesterday or the day before that Stella was now whining when she wants to do for walks. They might wake me up earlier than normal, like before 7am now, but within minutes of chowing down on breakfast they have both moved back to the dark bedroom and are soundly sleeping. Time seems consistent, where Stella now walks to me in my desk chair and whines while wagging her tail ... it's a few minutes before 9am and that is her way of telling me she wants to go for a walk.

You might think she just wants out to pee but that is not the case as these photos show every day. She wants to get in the field and start walking. Another change for her that I am sure you can see from the daily photos is that she is exploring more off the beaten path. It's not all deer scat that she is thinking about, so I might have been wrong to say that yesterday. She is checking out different scents and covering both areas to the left and right of the path.

When she took off this morning I thought she was just looking for that place to poop that all dogs of any breed searches for. About the time I was thinking it is so strange how in a big field like this, she has to find that one spot ... but she wasn't doing that at all ... she was just tracking a scent she picked up.

Another good change from the past ... when I call her name she seems to be running back to me more than I can remember. Once she is on the path she doesn't wait to be petted or hear a 'good dog', she trots right by me and gets as far in front of me as possible.

I remember when she was acting sick, yet the vet at that time (different vet as of Sept 15) couldn't find anything wrong with her ... her tail was lowered all the time, she walked slow and never trotted and was losing weight. So it's great to see her tail in the curled position, telling me she is locked into some scent she has picked up and she is running more.

I took these next two photos back to back on two different settings. This first one had the normal 'no flash', which I use 99% of the time.

This next one I put on the 'landscape' setting on the dial ... maybe a little difference but to me, not to noticeable.

I tried the 'flower' setting on the dial for these but I see no difference than when I take photos of flowers with the 'no flash' setting.

While I was messing around taking landscape photos ... Stella was on her own mission of trying to figure out what had gone from the woods to the field and then into the gully. I thought I was going to have to start running toward her when I saw where she was and the way she was acting.

She turned and headed further away from me. See the difference in her compared to a month or even longer ago?

With the temperature at 40° for the morning walk, Heidi was in her winter routine of sleeping under Mexican blankets and a sleeping bag. She might dig a little to get them in the perfect position but I usually help her out by covering her up ... she likes being under them hidden as much as possible.

Stella will also whine during the afternoons now around 3pm to walk again. That is much earlier than we use to take afternoon walks. One day I thought I'd see what she would do if I didn't take her for a walk at that time ... she kept whining until I said 'let's go' ... she headed for the field as we stepped outside.

I don't see either hound taking the open position of 'leader of the pack'. It was obvious a few years ago when Winston was no longer here that Sadie was in charge. She didn't fight either Stella or Heidi but always would check on them as they walked back inside the house. Or if we returned from our walk with Heidi still in the yard, Sadie would always run to her and tap noses. She would even get up in the middle of the night if I got up sick.

Stella and Heidi basically go with the flow of the day. Neither is demanding except at lunch time, if I am late feeding them. Neither seems to be in competition for the most attention. They still share water. Neither wants the food of the other. If Sadie had her way she would have eaten Stella's and Heidi's kibble after she finished her own bowl in 45 seconds. She always checked their empty bowls for that one possible piece of kibble left behind.

The times I let Stella outside on her own in the afternoons when she goes to the door, nudging the round door handle with her nose to see if it will open, she never goes into the field to explore or wander over to the neighbors house. She rarely gets off the carport, looks around and then comes back to be let inside.

Heidi is a lot more active. She is back to running laps around the house in the afternoons. She does not try to play with Stella. They don't chase each other. About the only thing they do together is sleep next to each other. A lot of the changes in Heidi are due to the surgery to extract a couple of teeth that were causing infection. Plus ... she has barked more since that surgery than she has the 7 years that I have had her.

So those are the small changes I am seeing in both hounds.

I finished up the last few files of papers that meant nothing and were too old. I have a half a trash can of paper to take to recycling. That trash can is the 32 gallon Rubbermaid can. I also cleaned out three drawers of a small wood desk I have.

Before computers or at least in their early years I was obsessive in filing everything. Each hound had their own folder and each vet receipt was filed with the newest on top. Same with my tax returns. Same with all the different cars, trucks and VW buses I had. If they had a receipt for something, it was filed. I even found folders full of paper files that I had forgotten all about. Some of the dates I was seeing was 1991. LOL

I found a folder of all my receipts and manuals for the Yamaha stereo I bought in 1984 and still use today. Furniture receipts ????? Why ???

So the end of this story is, I went from three file cabinet drawers that were full, plus three more plastic file tubs that were full of filed papers ... down to one plastic tub that has 4 folders in it. The few papers telling me "Paid in Full" are in my fire proof safe.

Throughout this sorting of papers, throwing away, recycling or the burn basket ... I ran onto some photos that had been misplaced. Those showed a lot of different hounds I had in the past, photos of friends and their kids ... those kids now in their twenties and thirties. I guess the next project will be converting maybe a thousand or a few hundred less 35mm slides into digital photos.

I also have a lot of foreign paper money I need to exchange. I'm not sure it would amount to much but there would be a lot of countries represented.

I guess this was my way of downsizing the paper files, computer discs, floppy discs, and some books. Since I downsized my clothes, dishes, pots and pans in 2014 when I thought I was hitting the road full time ... the two hounds and I are living in a fairly empty house. I like not having clutter sitting around.

I took this next photo for you and I. For you it's proof there was frost last night ... for me it's showing me that 'my' summer and hot weather is over. Time flies when you are having fun.

 

One more small change in Stella ....

Lately the morning walk ends with her standing at this tree staring out me. She does not move when I call her. She does not move under any circumstance .... until

She sees that I am going inside and I'm not bluffing her.

Most mornings I have not been able to catch her running through the camera lens but this morning I did.

After striking out trying to find an electronics recycling center and a window business, I thought I'd try my luck at Walmart in finding a Speck iPhone case with rubber gripping. With colder temps my iPhone without a case is slicker and harder to handle. My 'no case' experiment is over I guess.

The electronic recycling business was no longer a business, the building was empty. If there was a window business in the location I was told they have terrible window signage ... I saw nothing for 3 blocks that dealt with making or selling windows.

At Walmart they had every case imaginable, even for the new Apple XS phones and Samsung 9 ... but not in my 8plus that was black. I didn't think a Speck case that was turquoise with pink trim would work for me.

I fed the hounds and noticed it was up to 60° so what better time than to go out and enjoy a little warm sunshine. By the time I started my return trip up the driveway from the mailbox both hounds were gone !!!!

It is rare anymore to see Stella out in the field by herself. That has to be the first time in a month for her to do that. As I walked closer to the yard and could see around that edge of the carport ... there sat Heidi enjoying some afternoon sunshine.

I could feel the warmth on her coat ... she was probably warmer there in the yard than sitting in the house.

Once I asked Stella if she wanted to go on a walk, she went from that position to running toward the path. She was ready.

Heidi thought her stomach needed some sun and her back scratched by rolling in the grass. I thought she might go on the walk with us but she decided to stay where she was.

I checked one more time to see if Heidi was following us or looking at us leaving just in case she wanted to go with us but she was sleeping sitting up.

The light is much better for taking photos this time of day instead of early morning.

As Stella and I approached the north yard I could see that Heidi had moved. When I called her name, she could hear me but could not figure where where the sound was coming from. She never saw me.

I have a feeling that Stella is pouting on her walk because I wouldn't let her eat deer scat. That is her pouting look when she doesn't get the food she wants ... such as the food I am eating for lunch or dinner.

Again, Heidi can hear her name but acts like she can't see me.

Still walking slowly and acting like she is mad.

There is a story about this water meter. 20 years ago when I moved in this house, that steel cover for the water meter was 1" above ground level. 10 years ago I lost a large Poplar tree and a Maple tree due to straight line winds, that stood about 10' in front of the house and maybe 30' above this meter. My front yard is slowly sliding downhill. I guess those trees not only provided shade but did a good job of preventing erosion.

My replacement Garmin VivoSmart3 that Garmin sent me for free when my strap broke at the end of September, is now acting weird. It will not download accurate information and the screen to Garmin Connect on my iPhone that collects that information keeps changing screens. I have not gone far enough into it to see if it is a Garmin problem or the iPhone app problem.

I believe it's my watch after it failed to record my sleep, total steps and some of my hound walks consistently the past few days.

That doesn't really matter though. It's warmer, sunny, leaves are blowing away by the wind, I have some food in the fridge, gas in the car and two sleeping hounds in the middle of the afternoon.

A great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

That Arctic Weather Is Gone !!

Not only was I thrilled but so were the bloodhounds, waking up to temperatures in double digits for the first time in a week. Heidi is still hibernating but when I saw the temperature at 17° I knew we had to take our first morning walk in 5 days. Sadie was beside herself with excitement when she realized I was getting ready to go outside. She has had cabin fever to the max these past 5 days.

I know we did not get the high winds and all that snow you may have seen on the national news in the upper NE of the country, but we shared their temperatures. Most days were spent with high temps in the 5°-7° range with a wind chill below 0°. The hounds were limited outside to just long enough to dump their tanks. I never had to call for them because all three were back at the door to be let in as soon as possible.

For the first time that I can ever remember, a few mornings ago just after Sadie finished relieving herself in the field, she started to walk ... stopped ... then lifted her paw. It was that cold. She never gets that cold. She along with Stella staggered to the door but ran inside once I opened the door for them.

We spent a lot more time inside than I can remember. The bloodhounds played, slept and ate. While Heidi slept, slept and slept ... only getting up to eat. I transferred movies and ballgames from my Directv DVR to DVD's. I watched college and NFL games and spent time on the computer researching different things I had on my mind.

So this morning it was nice to get back to the normal routine. It felt warm with a wind chill up to 7°. The temperatures alone will climb to the high 30's today and believe it or not, there is a good chance to see Wednesday and Thursday in the 50's and Thursday being just a few degrees below 60°.

I was very happy to hear my local tv weather man tell his viewing audience that after January 15 we are headed for a "warmer than normal" winter. My electric heat bill will welcome that news or is it my checking account will like that? The utility company and I don't settle up until the end of April since I am on their 'budget plan'. In my case my annual date is April 30 before my new monthly rate is adjusted for the following 12 months.

I could tell very early in the walk that Stella had no interest in joining Sadie and I this morning. As I walked away I only hoped we would meet her back in the field on our way home and would not have to send out the search team to find her somewhere in that wooded area.

Sadie was back in true form after a 5 days layoff. I cannot describe how much she begged to go outside these past few days. She did not understand how cold it was nor how dangerous it was to be outside for longer than 5 minutes. Let's just say she wasn't a happy bloodhound and spent a lot of time just sitting, starring at me, then moving with excitement every time I got up out of my chair.

So today's walk was a big relief to her and to me also.

Whenever I would check the temperatures online I could see that unless you lived in the SW near Arizona and San Diego ... everywhere else in the USA was just cold. My Facebook friends in Florida were in shock and couldn't get over how their change in weather had rocked their world.

These are Christopher's ATV tracks down into the gully from the opposite side. This gully is all part of the field, owned by the neighbor a couple of houses north of me. When he stopped to talk and see the hounds last fall while we were walking ... I told him the deer moved from the far right corner, over the hill and into the gully ... he must have decided to check it out.

With the severe weather, the argument of climate change pops up on the news, on social media and forums. Everyone has their own feelings on the subject and at times those discussions become pretty 'heated'. I stay away from any kind of discussions like that.

Yet I found in this article in Apple News that is delivered to my inbox ... some scientist agree with me. "It's just winter". You can read the article here.

I did start the Z4 every couple of days in the afternoons during the freezing weather. I wanted to see if the battery was okay and I wanted to idle the engine for a short time as a workout. The FJ did go on a few trips in the extreme cold temps but we didn't go far and only a couple of times. Food needed to be replenished.

Standing in back of the field there were very little signs that it had snowed. Just a few patches of frozen ice laying around ... but the ground felt like we were walking on solid rock.

My friend in Phoenix enjoyed reminding me it was 75° yesterday.

With that cold weather also slowed blogging down. I wrote a little in my private journal just to document what was taking place. As for finding anything to write about for the blog, without any hound photos, it was pretty hard ... thus a blogging vacation so to speak.

I still like my decision to upgrade to the iPhone 8plus last month. I no longer notice the larger screen. I do not find it inconvenient and the photos taken inside are sharp and clear as ever even in low light situations. I cannot say it will be my last iPhone because I know history shows that I upgrade every 16-24 months. I have done that since I bought my first iPhone 3s.

As Sadie and I were finishing the back half of the walk or really the last third of the walk, I noticed Stella walking at a pretty fast pace across the field near the house. That was much better than the option of not seeing her anywhere and having to spend time trying to find her. In the last minute I changed my mind about taking the regular path to the alternate path so we would meet.

She had her nose to the ground and was semi-trotting. You can see how close she is to the path we are taking, just straight out from that property line pole with the red tip.

Sadie ran to catch us once she saw Stella.

At first Stella thought she could continue doing the whole walk when I called her name. She was walking toward me, then walked right past me like she was going to do the walk on her own. That wasn't going to happen ... LOL

When I told her "we're going home" she seemed happy about that while doing an immediate turn and trotted toward the yard.  With both hounds trotting out in front of me did that mean they were a little cold in the 17° weather and wanted to get inside?  Neither lifted their paw and acted normal during the 12 minutes outside.

With days off from walking there were a lot of scents to catch up on in the yard. The followed the property line along the backyard all the way to the burn pile before I called them inside.

After watching some very good college and pro football games recently, I have two more NFL playoff games today. I am not really excited about the match ups today but will at least have the games on in the background, along with check college basketball. Monday night will be a great game between Alabama and Georgia. I am happy to to have the 'reminder' helping me from forgetting there is one more college game to watch.

I have tried to read books on my coffee table but can't seem to focus long enough to keep reading. I've have improved my times on a few Mahjong games finishing more of them under 3 minutes. The other app game I play is '2048' and finally have high scores on all my devices in the 35,000 point range.

The Garmin VivoSmart3 still does not want to connect to my iPhone 8+ so I have been downloading all the data into the Connect App on my iMac. That is NOT nearly as convenient as just tapping an icon on my phones home screen to see my data.

The transferring of movies and ballgames to DVD is working out well. The reproduced picture is not HD quality but it's very close. This work will clear out my DVR so I can do one of two things ... either threaten to move to DishNetwork for a lower monthly fee and a 3 year lock on cost or stay with Directv, which I like much better, and upgrade to their newest model of DVR.

That idea I had LAST winter of scanning old photos into digital form is just too slow of a process ... do I have enough trust to let a business do that for me?

The hounds are glad to be back walking and blogging from 'the tropics'of Southern Indiana.