The Hounds Asked If Spring Is Really Here

I needed a break today from spending so much time outside, it's that nice. So I guess it's time for a little update on nothing in particular.

It really does make a difference to my mental state to be able to open the door first thing in the morning to let the hounds outside and not be hit with a blast of freezing air.

I am not a fan of the winter months but I try my best to find something good in them and get through the best I can. Having another mild winter definitely helped. With the warmer weather, there are more birds on the ground when we first open the door. That means Sadie starts off her day with a full out sprint from one step out the door to the yard chasing away any birds in her area.

They both wanted to take that first walk early this morning but I had to have at least one cup of coffee. It took some convincing this morning to get them to head back to the house with it being so nice outside so early.

Once that walk started, Sadie was so happy she took off running out into the field and down the edge along the wooded area. It was a rare time that she didn't try to grab my left hand with her mouth to lead me to the field, like she usually does.

The plan with Stella was once again, 'escort' her past the first turn and then let her do whatever she wanted. I am feeding her a lot more kibble per meal and I think you can tell she is starting to gain some weight back. I don't know the reason for the loss of weight this winter but she was getting too thin.

You can almost feel the warmth from the sunshine in this picture and it's still pretty early in the morning when these were taken.

Stella stopped to checkout the same location she stayed in yesterday while Sadie and I walked. She was about to enjoy another feast when I said "come on Stella" and shockingly she followed me and Sadie.

I don't know what it was but every time I called her she followed us today. There were even a couple of times she walked over to look over the small fence into the corn field, then turned around and caught up with us.

I was somewhat surprised that both of them kept up a pace returning home. I expected them to stay out in the field at different spots with the weather so nice today. They only stopped a couple of times and then trotted toward the house.

I always say that Heidi has a 70° threshold before she is interested in coming outside for any length of time. Yesterday I was almost certain she was not only going to stay in the yard for a while but might join us on our 2nd walk of the day.

I was wrong ... she had other plans and headed the opposite direction.

Today was a different story though. Their lunch kibble was fed a little later than the normal time today. I'll discuss the reason why down below at the end of today's post. The older thermometer propped up in the corner of the carport had the needed slightly above 60° ... Weather Bug app was showing 62° ... when Heidi walked straight out the driveway instead of heading for the front yard.

For those that are interested in how much my ground shifts due to the 7 acre field slanting toward the corner of the yard with underground water ... the top of that tree stump to the right of Heidi's head use to be at ground level just a 2-3 years ago.

As far as Heidi I think you can tell she is gaining her weight back. There is new hair growing on all four legs and paws. Her front paws are almost full of hair for the first time in almost 3 years. The edges of her rear shoulders have new hair and more trying to grow. All of those bare spots are very soft and supple skin.

This is the most improvement I have seen with her in 3 years. I am still feeding her the SPORTMiX lamb meal and rice that I posted about a few weeks ago. All the hounds are on the same food. It is manufactured by Earthborn Holistic Pet Food.

She was headed for a bath and shampoo right after these pictures were taken today. All the hounds will get their nails trimmed and ears cleaned while we are outside. They seem to be more cooperative outside when ears are cleaned and toenails are trimmed rather than trying to do it inside.

As I came back from the mailbox with my camera in hand, Sadie was almost positive we were headed for a walk, so she came running full steam ahead. Stella ... lol ... she was on a different mission.

She has that attitude this afternoon where "you guys can walk all you want, I have things to do"

As I walked around the yard today picking up some stray sticks, I thought that I have never seen my yard in worse shape as is in right now. I know the winter just passed but it was a mild winter. I know there will be some damage to the yard but always seems to recover after it is mowed a few times and is hit by the spring rains.

Due to major mole damage in the front yard for the first time in 19 years I am going to apply some grub worm killer at least in the front yard. With the field running into the backyard, it's an impossible war to win against the moles.

Since there is so much damage I am very very tempted to apply so Scotts Turf Builder. I have always hesitated in the past due to the hounds. I know that if I apply that right before it rains I will have to escort them and lead them with a leash to the front yard for 24-48 hours until that Scotts fertilizer is absorbed into the ground.

Or ... is it even worth it?

My neighbors have much nicer, flatter yards than mine and all have the same mole problems that I do. They have not found anything to keep them under control or kill the mole traffic. I have tried everything advertised over the years without much success.

So maybe I'll keep doing what I am doing ... mow and let the spring rains heal the yard.

I am pretty sure the freezing temps killed the grass seed I planted those few days earlier in the month with the temps in the 70's. So I tossed out the last of the grass seed I had today and watered it. There was enough to cover the bare bank in the backyard that I am converting from wild growth to grass that can be mowed and trimmed ground level with the weed eater.

This next part will be of little interest to any reader here if you are not into sports. It is my explanation why the lunch kibble was served a little later than normal, though. Plus an old obsession has come back.

With my team firing their basketball coach only five days ago, social media, basketball fan forums and message boards have seen traffic at an all time high. If you are the owners of those message boards, they are loving it because of all the increase in traffic to their websites. Believe me these fan message boards are popular nationwide for all college teams and are huge money makers. They are probably making about a half a cent per click paid to them by advertisers. Yes ... some huge amounts of money is made when only ONE thread that I am following about the search for a new coach just went past a million visits since last Thursday. That is only one of the many IU fan sites.

So I have been a 'little' pre-occupied following all the rumors, discussions and of course those small tidbits of information by those that have
'inside' sources close to the decision makers. Huge amounts of money are involved, power struggles by rich boosters and/or board of trustees, wanting "their man" to be the next coach.

Needless to say, time passes quickly hitting the refresh button all the time for the latest news. In a matter of minutes a 100 new posts can happen or 100 new tweets can happen from the few people that I follow on Twitter.

The old obsession I spoke of that has returned is the amount of time I spend in 3-4 different IU sports forums reading the latest. I use to pay $9.95 per month for what they call premium information but stopped that a few years ago. Can you imagine the amount of money made at $9.95 per month and thousands of paying members?

Through all of this excitement the hound's schedule does not change from any other day. They get their 2, now 3 walks per day with great weather, they get fed twice per day with an occasional 'treat' if I need to bribe them.

Yet, today time flew just a little faster than normal while on the IU message boards. Since I did not have the warning of Stella howling for food, I lost track of time and the lunchtime kibble was served an hour late. I couldn't believe that Stella and Heidi had slept through lunch.

The hounds must be happy this afternoon because they are all in a deep sleep and it's quiet enough in here to 'hear a pin drop'. Oh and yes I thrilled that the past IU coach was fired last Thursday. A nice man but a poor coach in my opinion.

I am concluding this by saying that Spring is OFFICIALLY here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana ... now back to those message boards.

Smooth Blog Merger

The merging of the two blogs went pretty smoothly until I made a major mistake and didn't back up my old blog. It was simple to transfer the newer blog posts and comments, by exporting them and importing that file into the old blog. It even sorted them by date without changing any formats of the older blog. I chose the option of posting the new blog posts automatically.

The mistake was made when I didn't back up my old blog, then tried something different for the blogs I follow on the left side. I thought I would have 'traveling bloggers' and a separate section for 'retirement bloggers' that I had moved from my new blog. It looked ok but I decided to even merge them into one section because it would be hard to see both sections due to the amount of blogs I have added.

With a quick glance I thought I had the correct section that I wanted to delete but I didn't see that the newest section 'retirement bloggers' was at the top when I added the gadget. So without a blog backup, I deleted all of the blogs I have been following for 2+ years, of people RVing. It took a while but with the help of other blogs I follow and using their blog lists I remembered most of them I think. Other's I found by typing their blog names and having my browser memory bring them up automatically.

I think this is a good move getting back to one blog. It will be easier for the readers, myself and will follow what I said I was going to do last month ... blogging about the three subjects in the title. Which you will notice I did a slight change to the blog title.

One post that you may not have seen on my other blog, will show why I have had a hard time trying to decide over the years to move, sell out, stay part of the year, etc. This blog post and photos will give you a good idea what at times I have a hard time deciding what to do.

You can read about it here: Some things that keep me here.

I will say I have not looked at any RV sites recently nor Craig's List for something to buy ... but I have thought about traveling off and on. With only 2 hands available and the DNA of the hound breed, I still feel it would be too hard to travel with 3 hounds.

Tonight on the daily walk was a good example as 3 deer hopped out of the woods that border the field we walk through, totally unexpected, while Sadie and Heidi came close of pulling both leashes out of my hands as they were taking off to catch the deer. Even when I held them, I could almost feel the retractable leash break with the strength that Sadie was pulling. The leash held up but it was a struggle to keep 2 of the hounds from breaking away. Winston in the mean time was walking his slow pace and with eye allergies I don't believe he saw the deer.

Still, some short trips will be made locally with the hounds.

Thoughts on a Saturday

Some of you may have witnessed my blog was changing its template and format about every 15 minutes Friday night. I went to bed with the template I thought I liked but changed it the first thing Saturday morning. It now looks just like that RV and Hounds blog that I stopped writing on. I am still undecided about the two column format on this blog but I believe this template will stay around. I like the colors and the feel it has while I'm reading it. Feel free to send any suggestions.

I went to bed last night with major plans this morning. So far at 10:38am local time I have not started anything except the usual. That usual is two cups of Starbuck's coffee as I read online, maybe do a blog post and read what little email I get. I am not really happy with that start because it is becoming more and more routine. Like a daily routine. No worries, my plan of weed eating the rest of the hay around my rope anchor will get done but it will cost me because the temperature will be much higher when I am doing it ... unless I push it to Sunday morning.

One of the things I notice in retirement, I usually don't know what day of the week it is and if I do, it's very rare. It's only an observation, doesn't really matter but a change when you have lived a pretty structured life for 40+ years. At times I wonder if I am bored or am I just content with my life? After all, I have never lived anywhere as long as I have in this house. That seems very strange because I use to like to move and in the past that use to be costly not only in starting over but the funds used to get there. So for me being here in this house since 1997 is hard to believe at times.

Still, I find there is plenty to do around here but it only happens when I get out of this desk chair and get outside or down the highway. I see myself falling into a rut that I don't want to happen and at times find I don't have the motivation to make the change. That concerns me a little. It's something that I thought might happen during those days off in a 3-day weekend when I had a job.

Like last night I completely forgot it was Friday. I woke up dreaming, trying to figure out why I was at work and why I needed to work 14 hours to get caught up. I was thrilled to open my eyes and see Sadie standing next to the bed giving me a look "I need to go outside". It was nice to know I was no longer working a job.

I'm usually a late starter anyway. I am much more of a night person than a morning person but the hounds have their routine and that has not changed since I retired. They still get up around 6:30 for their first of many trips (depending on weather) outside. This morning I could not believe it was June after seeing this horizon. I had to take a photo of it.

2014 June 21

Then after waking up to a very confusing dream and glad it was only a dream, the hounds go back outside for a 2nd time. I wonder if they do this because the want to go outside or that they know once they come back inside they get their "milk bone", that I buy at Costco where they are hand packed into a 15# box. I am beginning to think they like that 2nd bone of the day.

Speaking of Costco, I usually make the 90 mile trek to the north side of Indianapolis for dog food, milk bones, some groceries and that also puts me in the vicinity of Trader Joe's. I use to buy Costco's brand of Nature Domain dog food. It is made by Diamond Foods. They also manufacture Taste of the Wild along with their dog food under the Diamond Name. The Nature Domain food at Costco has the same ingredients as the much more expensive and smaller bag Taste of the Wild. Here is my typical trip to Costco.

Dog Food & Dog Bones

That's a lot of miles to drive just for that but it's nice to wander around Costco at times as long as I keep the billfold closed. After one of my infamous spreadsheet analysis on dog food costs, including gas to travel, I decided it was best to buy at my local Bloomfield Feed Store. I buy the Diamond Natural for Large Breeds. Dog Food Review ranks that food as a 4-Star and it's $33 for a 40# bag ... Your credit or debit card is not good there, it's either cash or check.

Another thing I like to do in Indianapolis is not going to the Indy500 race but I like going to Indy500 practice. No traffic problems, usually plenty of sun, good food and a lot of loud laps. No, I am a fan of the other races at Indy, just the Indy500.

During practice you can get a little closer to the cars. I like seeing the designs that will change from year to year. A drastic change was made from standard body design for many years to this design in 2013.

This is a 2002 Model

2002 Red Bull Team - Tomas Scheckner

This is a 2012 model which was the most drastic change in decades, with the body wrapped around the rear wheel. Just for towing purposes, the nose is not attached on the car below.

Body Behind Rear Wheels

Besides racing and basketball, Indianapolis has a professional baseball team, currently the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A new stadium was built in the past 14 years by the same company that designed Coors Field in Denver. This stadium is easy to get in and out of located a few blocks north of I-70. Tickets are much much cheaper than the MLB prices and you can get better seats. It's a nice way to spend a night watching baseball, if you are a baseball fan.

Indianapolis Indians

One of my favorite towns of all time is Bloomington Indiana. It was one of the reasons I moved back to Indiana in 1994, besides the employment reasons. I attended college here in 1970, just after all the anti-war protests in the 60's. During my time on campus they had great concerts by big time 60's bands, have a highly ranked School of Music, Business School and of course all IU sports are in the BigTen Conference. I've attended IU Football and IU Basketball games since I was I a kid growing up. I was born my dad's senior year on campus and spent my first year of life on campus, maybe that is why I "bleed", IU.

Assembly Hall

Memorial Stadium

Even thought I am a graduate of Indiana University, I attended many games in Seattle watching the University of Washington Huskies while living on Whidbey Island. I still think the most beautiful surrounding area to watch a college football game has to be the UW stadium on Lake Washington.

University of Washington Stadium

In a rare IU appearance in Seattle, I was able to fly out in 2003 and watch the Huskies pound the Hoosiers in football. It was nice to see that the surrounding Husky fans understood and told us Indiana was a "basketball school" and not known for football, they understood who their opponent was that day. They were more interested in beating Oregon that fall, as many of the cheers during the IU - Washington game were about beating the Ducks of Oregon.

IU vs UDub 2003

I've talked about my change in diet since I retired in April 2014 and most of my meals look like this with no limit in amounts of veggies or fruits. This is a typical lunch or dinner.

Daily Salad

Yet in Bloomington is one the 'all-time' favorite places for IU fans and alumni that has been located here since the 1940's. They keep expanding the building by adding floors. On the wall going to the 3rd floor are autographs of the 1984 Olympic Basketball team, who trained in Bloomington that summer since Bob Knight was the Olympic Coach for that year. Just a few of the names are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. No doubt a few drunk patrons have tried to get that piece of wall out of there and into their collection.

Just called Nick's and people from IU know nationwide what you are talking about.

Nick's English Pub

That is not what Nick's English Hut is noted for, the autographed wall. What they are noted for nationwide by any IU alumnus is what I eat about every 3-4 months just to keep my cholesterol up.  lol It is their world famous strom. I've been told by the bartenders I am one of the few that orders the 12" strom and finishes the 12" strom. I usually make it home 25 miles away just in time for an afternoon siesta after eating one of these. It is full of provolone cheese, Italian sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and pizza sauce. It has been slightly changed by new ownership in the amount of ingredients they fill the Italian bread with, just like most restaurants in today's economy.

"The" Strom

It doesn't matter where I am in Bloomington nor what I'm doing, if it isn't the strom I buy ... I will drive out of the way to the SE corner of Bloomington to 5Guys to have one of these. The last time I visited, I decided to change up on the order and buy my normal cheese burger (standard is double) and a "Jr's Cheeseburger" which turned out to be a single cheeseburger. No fear, I ate them both and never felt full. They tasted great!!

5Guys

I realize for the purist in good diets NEITHER of those are good for me ... but I like the word I see most people say ... MODERATION! I guess I'll keep eating them with possibly a longer period of time between meals.

So as you see, I don't do a lot around here but there is enough to do once I make an effort to get in the car. I think that since I have all kinds of time on my hands now, I don't feel as rushed doing different things because I am not trying to fit everything into a weekend between the work weeks. I like doing all of these things during the work day now ... less crowds, less traffic.

The thing is, these are all fun things to do, but I've been doing them for a very very long time. At times it feels like it's time to move on to other NEW things, NEW places. I want to see the stars at night where is absolutely no traffic sounds, unlike here. I want to wake up in places that have no one around for miles. I want to sit out in the early morning heating water up for a cup of coffee or tea.

So we will see what happens.

Still, as my other blog Hounds and RV's shows a 2+ year history, I have had a very strong urge to travel these past couple of years. I can't decide how to go or where to go, but the options have always changed. The hounds have played a role in those decisions or lack thereof. I believe they deserve to be considered when I am thinking of traveling and/or making major decisions.

That's about all I have for today. One good thing about retirement, if you don't get your next item on your 'to do' list finished as planned, there is always tomorrow.

BTW ... I finished what I had planned this morning. No photos but I did cut all the hay the farmer chose to leave around Sadie's rope anchor. Of course for the 3rd year in a row, I got so close with my metal blade on the weed eater that I caught her rope. It's been shortened enough from my previous two mistakes that I cannot tie it back together and have it long enough to reach the house. The length was based on two things, short enough to keep her out of the trees and long enough that it would reach the house so I can hook the rope to her collar without me going out into the yard in bad weather.  :)