What A Surprise !!!

As I was watching college basketball Saturday night, I glanced out the window to see the largest snow flakes of the winter and possibly the hardest snow of this winter. It was really coming down after a day full of rain. This is normal for this time of year here in 'the tropics' but it was still a surprise. Enough so, that during the next tv commercial I grabbed my camera and headed outside to record the moment.

This same type of snow took place last year on April 16th.

As Stella and I did our Saturday morning walk in a warm 56° I knew by late afternoon the wind was supposed to increase and change from the SW to the NE/N. With that change the temperature would drop into the 40's and overnight lows in the 30's. What the forecast did not tell me, there was a chance for snow.

I just glanced at my weather app on my iPhone and it says the "feels like" is 26° at 10:29am this morning. No worries though because after today the temps get back to our spring averages with many days in the mid to high 60's. This is just a reminder I guess of the weather gods telling us that winter is officially over.

That didn't keep Stella and I from taking our walk this morning. With the standing water in the field across the highway I know our path was going to be very wet with standing water in some spots. What was weird, if Stella and I walked in the thick grass off the path, there was a crunching ice sound on top of a very saturated field.

Heidi was in her daily routine as usual, a nap after breakfast, so none of the light snow or freezing temps outside bothered her. Yet, I can almost assure you that she will NOT be taking any kind of afternoon walk with Stella and I today.

It's always nice to see all the different clouds after a day and night of storms. Weather is moving across 'the tropics' but we will see nothing but bright sunshine all day. That will not interrupt my schedule as a sports addict though. I have a Reds game starting at 1:10pm and the last two games of the weekend for the NCAA College Basketball tourney starts a little after 2pm. Thank god for the split screen feature DishNetwork gives me.

BTW, I am noticing the programs to stream tv are slowly increasing their prices. By the time I add the channels I would need to see all the sports channels I have now, there is only a ~$30 to $35 difference in my monthly price ... hardly enough to make a change, especially if I don't know if it would work well with the lag time of satellite internet service.

Stella was stubborn as ever by the first step she took outside the carport. She curled around the corner of the house to the left, walking as close as she could along the side of the house basically to keep her feet dry. She was heading north I was heading east ... this wasn't going to work. How did she know that the path we take every day was soaking wet and cold ???

After the second time she looked right at me, turning away and walking north ignoring my verbal herding ... I marched across the yard to manually direct her in my location. We were taking the normal path one way or another, wet or cold. Sometimes you have to decide to be a leader I guess.  :)

This is what she was wanting to avoid. When it is this wet just a few steps into the field that is a sure sign that water will be coming up over the sides of my boots with each step I take for the next half mile.

She was okay with the decision I made, or at least she acted as if she was. She had scents to track and like any other morning after a night of snow, she had more than enough scents to follow. They always seem to increase after this time of weather

As you can see there were some massive clouds today, moving slowly in a NE direction.

As I was feeling the effect of freezing cold air on my face I was happy when I remembered it was going to be April tomorrow. That has the sound of spring and I instantly starting picturing t-shirts and cargo shorts. I am more than ready for summer to show up ... the hotter the better, humidity does not bother me. Bring on the heat !!

You can tell by the way Stella was walking on the path that she didn't like getting her feet wet. The problem was wet feet are colder when stepping on the lightly snow covered field. I know that temperature difference may not be felt by a bloodhound that not only has a high pain threshold but the pads on her feet resemble those of a bear. She can walk through anything, fire or ice.

You may notice if you are reading the blog on a desktop computer or laptop, that I have been doing some blog "housecleaning" and some of the sidebar is no longer there. That list of links wasn't being used much, in fact readers on a phone or tablet do not even see the sidebar unless you click the three dashes in the upper left corner to open the menu. (WordPress design).

So I added a few of the newer links to my old blog's sidebar, here. One thing that is nice about Blogger's platform, they automatically move the blog link to the top of the list based on the most recent post. Plus it will show you when the last post was for each blog or website.

I also changed the Archives from a list to a dropdown menu, got rid of the list of recent comments for a more cleaner look on the sidebar. I also did a little rearranging on my old blog, which I still use to go back to look at old posts plus it is easier working with the blog list, knowing the latest post.

The eating plan continues to go well. I have noticed from my spreadsheet, where I log in daily calories, carbs, proteins and fats, then average them for the week ... that I have basically flipped the nutrient targets of carbs and fats. It shows I have really reduced my fat intake but I also remember that any carbs not burned at the end of the day turns into fat. So really, is that really a difference ??

The biggest issue I still find and always have ... the nightly urges for sweets or snacks. These cravings usually take place after 8pm. They are very strong cravings and once again last night I was this close < > of getting in the car and heading out to buy some sort of snacks or junk food.

I didn't want to disturb Stella and Heidi's sleep just to move them to the bedroom while I was gone, so once again the hounds kept me on my eating plan. Away from fast food and junk food.

I did find a new way to cook a skinless chicken breast and it's fantastic. What a difference there is between the chicken I eat now compared to baking it. The other day out of curiosity I did a search for "the best way to cook a chicken breast" and found this technique.

Heat your cast iron skillet on high ... once hot, apply oil and lower the stove to 'medium' heat. Cook each side for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to 'low' and cover the skillet for 10 minutes. After that period, turn off heat, leave the cover on and let stand for 10 more minutes. After that 10 minute period make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through (so far mine has been cooked all the way through).

If you have an electric stove like I do ... move the skillet to a burner that was turned off for that last 10 minutes. You will end up with the juiciest, moist chicken breast you may have ever had. I know after the past few days I will not cook my chicken breasts or thighs any other way.

Where there was only one of these yesterday, there was a new one added and both were filled with water due to the high underground water level after all the rain yesterday.

decided to move over to where I could follow Stella and to my surprise there was more spots of standing water along that path than anywhere else in the field. Water was also standing in the thick grass to the side of Stella.

Here she steps around one of those puddles you cannot see.

She didn't hesitate to make the turn for home when I said "come on, let's go" ... she must have been cold. It was freezing like a January day this morning.

Looking in the direction of the neighbors a few houses away from mine. I wonder if she smells food in the air, hears something is just looking for the field cat. I do know that during the walk this morning a woodpecker was very busy in the north woods which is on the other side of the field and was working non stop while we walked.

Why she decided to sit down and then look at me ... I have no idea. At first I thought she was getting ready to scratch herself but as I walked closer to her, she got up and trotted  away.

It is going to take a while before the north yard grass is tall enough to mow. Right now the yard just in front of the carport is the tallest as usual, followed by different spots in the backyard where the hounds have helped fertilize it during the winter. I'll start the spring by cutting the yard taller so the root base can be established and as usual I'll expect to mov every two to three days or in between spring rains.

Another morning walk in the books and hopefully this was our last walk in extremely cold temps until next winter.

It was another night of some great college basketball games. Things changed in a matter of seconds and between the two games there were just too many highlights to describe here. I did tune into the baseball game in San Diego during commercials of the basketball games. They did a fantastic job with their stadium design as you can see the city skyline in the outfield. It's right downtown. It reminded me of the years I lived in the San Diego area many years ago.

You could tell by the sky, sunset and what people were wearing to the game, just how nice the weather was. Why wouldn't it be nice, it's San Diego. I did think to myself that after the hounds are gone maybe I should sell the house and move back to Carlsbad CA and rent a place. Of course living there now compared to when I lived there in the 70's and 80's are two different worlds. Maybe I need to visit some friends out there first before making any moving decisions.  :)

I'll try to get some photos of Heidi this afternoon and post those later. Due to Saturdays weather she wasn't real active and the only photos you would have seen, were her different sleeping positions on the couch.

Let me know if you like or don't like the sidebar changes.

It's cold but at least it's sunny here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

Walks Always Excite Sadie

Just because the bloodhounds and I thought it was a great weather day yesterday, didn't mean that Heidi agreed. Just after lunch she sprinted for the door to go out with all the rest of us. It's the daily routine and I thought it was warm enough that she might spend some time outside.

She made a sudden stop at the edge of the carport, stood and gazed out into the yard, then once she felt that cold air hit her nose, she didn't hesitate to turn completely around running to the door for me to let her back inside. The bathroom run would have to wait until later for her.

While I was talking to Heidi about the advantages of getting off the couch and spending a little walking time outside ... Stella was sure she had found the moles, not realizing it wasn't their time of day to be out tearing up my yard. She walked almost the full length of the yard along the edge where I mow next to the field tracking something.

We had a major highlight yesterday afternoon in 'the tropics'. I was sitting at the kitchen table moving some of my Mahjong games to under 3 minutes completion time. I barely caught a glimpse of a large object backing into the single gravel road that I walk down when I go to the old steel bridge. Obviously this driver needed to turn around as soon as possible and head back to town.

Most would think he might be lost but he is actually wants to approach the parking lot of the Dollar General store from the right lane instead of the left lane. It's a better angle to pull in that 53' trailer, into a very narrow two lane driveway into the parking lot ... hopefully not driving over the concrete culvert as he makes the turn, then having his rear wheels becoming airborne, spinning in midair ... stuck.

Ask me how I know something like that might happen with this same Dollar General truck.

So with my two cups of coffee under my belt, only 56Mb of data used to read some Facebook news, some Twitter updates and a few other sports sites ... all sports news nothing else ... we headed out for our morning walk around 9:30am. The sun was bright, skies were blue under a crisp 34° ... and the ground was frozen like a rock. Heavy frost twinkled under the early morning sunshine.

Same picture of the mole traffic yesterday but today's frozen ground gives it a little more definition so you can see the path easier. I am up for any suggestions from you on how to get rid of these pesky destroyers. I've battled them for 20 years but this past year there seems to be a lot more of them. I know it's almost impossible to get rid of them since I live next to a field but there has to be something to stop them. I've tried every thing over the years.

After I had put on layers of clothes in preparation for cold weather I was more than likely going to let Stella go where she wanted. I didn't expect her to take the lead this morning. She simply trotted away from Sadie and I ... I barely caught her with the 200mm lens. Who knows what she was thinking but she had to get somewhere fast.

A poor visual of the heavy frost.

By the way Sadie charged into the edge of the brush/woods I thought she had seen a rabbit, maybe a stray bird. Whatever it was, it was moving and she was going to get it. Sella??? She was more interested in natural protein.

Their attention span was short and whatever Sadie had found was no longer the focus. They trotted past me and didn't stop. Both of them had places to go. With the field having heavy frost it was easy to see the fresh deer tracks from earlier this morning. At least they were easy for my eyes to see while I walked but the Nikon D3200 didn't catch them.

When the front paws are curled, Stella is going at a faster pace than her normal one, where she drags her feet. It was good to see her get a little exercise this morning although the duration was short.

This is a worn deer path from the field into the wooded gully. In a few months when these bushes fill in, neither hound will be this deep into the woods.

Sadie was on her normal path, stopping in the same spots that she investigates 2-3 times per day. At least I don't have to call her nor put a leash on her. She always catches up to me while following her own walk.

Since the field is not frozen that hard and there isn't mud .. the deer tracks were easier to see. These two were from the same deer ...

It wasn't until I was at the point where Sadie has her nose that I saw what she was smelling. It was a deer hoof print, a fairly new one from earlier today ... she thought she was close to finding them.

Again, while Sadie and I kept walking the normal path, Stella had not moved more than 10' from where I last saw her. The only difference today, she started walking toward us and with us toward home without me saying a word.

All walks in the afternoon, whether it is one or two of them, Stella is on the 25' retractable leash and the camera is left at home. I really need to switch that technique because there is better light in the afternoons and I'd get better photos of the hounds.

It was hard to pick up with the camera but I could see they were following worn paths the deer had made when they move from one side of the field to the other ... or from the woods toward my house. They also like to walk from neighbor's woods to the woods on our right side when we start the walk.

I was almost ready to tug at Stella's collar to get her to move when she looked up and took off trotting to catch Sadie. She is one stubborn hound.

It's not often that both of them will walk on the path, let alone on their own all the way to the yard but they did this morning.

Either the farmer that lives behind me bought a new tractor just like the one that cuts and bales the field ... or the farmer that bales the field is a long way from home. They live about 12 miles north of town and only cut the field as a favor the the owner, which lives a couple of houses down from me.

I shocked myself late yesterday afternoon when I started house cleaning and couldn't stop. I finally forced myself to stop around 7:30pm. I have the last two rooms to clean in detail today. With the weather the way it is I can see us getting in at least one more hound walk today ... maybe two since the days are gradually getting longer.

A bit of moving trivia since it seems the title of the post yesterday was too interesting for many to pass up. My blog traffic doubled in visitors yesterday  ... that website I linked gives my current town a grade of "A" in the crime section ... the town I have seriously thought of moving to was given an "F" in the crime section.

I follow their newspaper on my Facebook news feed and this morning I see a picture of a young Mexican man with a couple of small tattoos on his face. He was arrested for an armed robbery and kidnapping attempt at their Walgreen's Drug Store ... 7 felony counts ... he was caught because the vehicle he tried to steal as the getaway car had a manual transmission, not an automatic. He did not know how to drive a stick shift.

I am still trying to digest that news along with being told I have a 1 in 28 chance of being a crime victim in the town I am investigating. An investigation serious enough that I called a real estate agent last Saturday.

Is that what you call a 'red flag' ???  Feel free to comment.

Otherwise it's a bright sunny day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana and it's not even noon yet.