A Typical Heidi Afternoon

Right after their lunch both hounds are given the chance to do what they need to do. Lately with them demanding my 'professional' doorman abilities they go out when they want and not after every meal. So this is really the latest high paced time. Both stare, collecting weather data, wind speed and direction, scents or sounds before deciding it's not worth going any further. They turn and head back to the house with a full body shake in preparation for their first afternoon siesta.The naps in the morning do not count ... they were only practice.

I guess it's "Official", that Heidi as claimed the chair as hers now. She spent most of her time there last night while I watched the football game. She continues to move her blanket to a perfect arrangement every time she hops aboard.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if she is sleeping or in deep thought. Today it was evenly matched, where about the time I had an answer choosing between the two options, I actually didn't have the right answer.

I know this post was suppose to be 100% about Heidi but I had to show one of Stella's normal nap positions so you know she doesn't live on the couch. The OLD Berber carpet has held up pretty well with too many hounds walking inside and out, sleeping on it, at times getting sick on it. It needs replaced but I hope to wait until the hounds have passed. I hate the thought of seeing an older hound getting ill on brand new carpet. Besides, my priorities are keeping the house maintained in good shape with manual labor while my cash goes towards new/upgraded electronic toys and/or cars and SUVs.  Another benefit of being single and/or retired.

Even though the picture is lighter because I was playing around with the camera picture modes, that is a sleeping position of Heidi ... she can and does sleep with her head up.

Not quite dropping her head in the full sleeping mode but she is slowly getting there.

Is that it? That's the position for the afternoon siesta? Yes, that's the official position. You have now seen Heidi's typical afternoon, and it does not matter if it's rain, hail, sleet or snow ... in the summer the only difference is, she will find the perfect place to sleep with the sun shining on her.

It's one of the benefits about retirement ... I can also choose when a siesta is needed. Today was one of those days for the first time in a long time. It wasn't due to lack of sleep though ... it's what I had for lunch, which was loaded with too many carbs thus giving me the same results as always in recent years ... I get really sleepy ... like a Carbs OD.

With the temps starting their decent toward the 30's, Heidi started her decent off the side of the carport. As my yard "slides" down the hill, after 21 years I have lost that much front yard ... it use to be level with the concrete. Let the comments section be filled with preventions or fixes for yard erosion suggestions.

Looking at the back of the house towards the north, it was an entirely different planet ... it looks like the storms have arrived everywhere but here. The winds are howling in the middle of the afternoon and I am well rested with a nice two hour siesta, tracked by the sleeping app on my watch. The GarminSport did not track siesta time.

A few minutes later as I write this, those same skies are blue with scattered clouds and bright sunshine. That's "tropical" Southern Indiana weather for you.

Stella and I headed back inside for warmth ... Heidi headed out for her afternoon exercise by doing her lap around the house. It's one of many tracks she follows to keep her aerobics in top condition. I anxiously wait for spring so I can start the 2019 To Do List and play with some concrete to patch the chipped out low spots.

Also ... I'll not be watching news on tv nor reading any online headlines. Those two sites I spoke of this morning have been deleted from my Feedly account. I am going back to No News like I did last October.

It was another good day in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Does Get Outside Sometimes

A few people have asked if Heidi is okay since they don't see many pictures of her on the blog. Weather dictates most of Heidi's actions. She has always been like that even when Winston was around. She has always been somewhat of a 'loner'. Readers that don't know ask about her bare skin around her feet and ankles but compared to early 2015 that looks fantastic. She is actually doing very well. She goes outside 3x per day at a minimum and is sleeping most of her other time.

The first thing in the morning she runs outside either behind or under the bloodhounds to relieve herself after sleeping all night. Then right after lunch she will go outside with the bloodhounds for the same purpose. If it is great weather she will lounge and possibly even nap in the sunshine during the hot summers. Other times she was roam the yard giving her nose a workout. Or she will do a lap around the house.

A lot of times that mid day trip is nothing more than out to the front yard, dump her tanks, trotted across the yard to the driveway for a slow walk up the hill with her nose inspecting every inch. Her toenails have been longer than normal since the first day I got her. One of the vets that was treating her skin problem told me in June 2015 that most likely hair would never grow back where her skin was raw ... but it did on her legs  and shoulders where there is white hair. Not all but some.

Almost daily Sadie will make sure she is okay and will walk into the front yard kind of like helping her back to the house, even though she does not need any help. At night Sadie will wait and meet her at the door as Heidi walks back inside with her 'infamous' nose tap as Heidi scrambles back to the couch.

She will always go outside around 8pm or 9pm at night after sleeping most of the afternoon and early evening away. I basically let her do what she wants. If she wants to join us on our walks she will hop down off the couch and run to the door on her own without me saying anything. If she wants to stay outside on her own, she does, but only during hot weather.

She will greet me at the door every time I come back home from a shopping trip or a road trip. She roams the house while I am gone while the Sadie and Stella stay together in a shut off room, for their own safety and my sanity. Stella still dreams of riding in the Z4 but that will never happen, sorry.

Since she was picked up from the shelter by the basset hounds rescue service, her exact age is not known. Best estimate is she is around between 8 and 9 years old right now, maybe a few months older.

For all of the plant experts that visit the blog. I think I am seeing some deeper colors and maybe some new life in the Azaleas I planted last summer in the middle of the hot weather. I was going to leave them and let nature take it's course to see what they do in the winter. Is that a good plan?

Do these look normal? Okay? I've only let the little rain we've had this fall water them.

I am not sure about these. Are they dead or dormant? I guess I'll find out next spring.

I'll wait to see what the winter weather does to them and then do any changes in the spring this year instead of changing my landscaping plans in the middle of July.

Thanks for asking about Heidi. I know a few readers consider her their favorite hound of the three.

Hard to believe how fast this week has passed here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Enjoy The Heat Wave

Everything looked the same this morning. Windy, overcast skies and signs of recent rain. Yet there was a huge difference as we started our morning walk. It was a 29° difference and a coat, gloves and ski cap wasn't needed in the 62° weather. I am not sure if the hounds noticed or not, they were excited as usual that we were heading outside.

With it raining most of the afternoon yesterday once again they didn't stay out long after they had their lunch. It does mean that Heidi makes her appearance within camera range for her second trip of the day outside. She walked as close to the house as possible, under the overhang to stay dry, but once she headed to the yard she tip-toed one paw at a time to check how wet it was.

You can see just how close the Azaleas miss the rain for water, just to the front edge. It's like that on all four of them. I placed them in the middle to allow for growth and not having them hang into the yard when they are fully grown. I guess I'll find out my next move next spring if they survive the winter.

With all the rain yesterday and last night, Stella had some nice fresh wet grass to choose from this morning. She stretches each blade of grass out like she is using it to floss her teeth.

I could tell soon after we started that Stella would probably not be joining us this morning, then going off on her own. I was almost at the first turn when I started to wonder if Sadie was even going to come with me. As usual she started sprinting toward me when she saw I was too far ahead.

One last look at Stella had me thinking this might be a day she disappears into the woods by the time we get back. In the past I can only assume that is where she goes when we can't find her after a hour of searching and calling her name. She will always come home on her own not too long after we finish the walk. I'd rather have her in view instead of wandering.

With the strong winds behind me from the southwest I as amazed just how different the temperature was compared to just 24 hours ago. We are still looking at Sunday being above 70°.

This picture doesn't tell the story. To me that looks like freezing weather with wind and even possible snow. It is one that I will see this January when it is that cold. I am very happy at this part of the walk to feel the warm air.

Sadie doing her normal exploring ... her walks never change no matter if we take two or three of them in a day.

As I continued to walk home I could barely make out a moving object far in the distance. I lifted the camera to my eye with the lens at 200mm and could barely see it was Stella. She was moving at pretty good speed in the direction of the neighbor's woods.

I gave Sadie my normal command of "go get Stella" and she was off.

I thought I was going to catch them tap noses so I left the camera on them ready to capture a picture of that happening. Not today. In fact Sadie spent time checking out what Stella had found before leading her back to the path we take.

From the half mile walk, sometimes for Stella the last 100' is the slowest and longest of all. She will get distracted right up until the time she is standing at the door, nudging the round door handle with her nose hoping it will open. Here is an example of that slow 100' in today's walk.

You might think she is on her way to the house but when I turned around again to check on her she had walked back out into the field.

Once I yelled her name ... she headed toward the house.

But again .... sharp right turn to see what that is ... nothing is ever definite with her.

Finally she realizes it's time to come in and start that morning nap that will carry her to lunch ... life is tough for a bloodhound.

Not much planned again today but my food supply is telling me it's time for a grocery trip again. I usually stop and grab a 40# bag of dog food for the hounds on the way home even with a few days of meals left from the previous bag. That 40# lasts on average 17 days for two bloodhounds and a basset hound.

With the World Series finishing last night I am back to two sports to follow ... college football and in about ten days college basketball. My NFL time has decreased a lot this year, down from last year and that seems to be the trend nationwide.

Another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... it's warm again.