Hounds Watch The Leaves Change

I had an impulse to blog yesterday, late in the afternoon, so I grabbed the Nikon and headed outside. I am not sure I like the new process of Blogger uploading and posting the photos to the blog all in the same step, not giving me a chance to reorder them before posting them. They did post them in the order they were taken though but I was wanting a different order and I refuse to upload and post them one at a time.

We Still Have A Pulse

Has it been almost a month since our last post? Hard to believe because we really haven't been that busy doing things. The weather has been fantastic for this time of year yet when I look back through these photos ... nothing out of the ordinary has been going on. I guess ... just watching football and waiting for the leaves to fall. As you can see Walter is pretty content with his fast pace way of life.

Leaves Hounds & Walter

 

Blogger is at it again as it listed my photos in reverse order than I sent them. In this post that will not matter because it's going to be all photos about Walter, the hounds and leaves. Leaves are starting to fall and change color. As you can see Walter was not interested in getting his photo taken.

The Hounds Battle Frost This Morning

With my iPhone weather telling me it was 30° outside I decided to try something different with my North Face jacket that is for warmer temps ... I wore a down vest under it, keeping me warm and freeing my arms to move more than if I had worn my ski parka. With the combination of frost and heavy dew I did not hear the grass and leaves crunching under my boots. Stella enjoyed some frozen green grass before she started her walk this morning.

Also for the first time I turned the heat on low last night while we slept. I keep my house temps pretty cool but I knew it would drop below our threshold since it was going to drop below freezing while we slept.

Contessa made a comment on yesterday's post that none of the hound walks were routine, that each was different. I forget that sometimes since we walk the same path in the same field and seems to be the central point of this blog anymore. I guess I need to get out and drive the local area more, taking photos of that.

This walk was started off entirely different than recent walks. From the start Stella headed north while Sadie and I walked out into the field due east. For some reason I didn't want to let Stella head that direction on her own today. I found out the reason until I came back at the end of the walk.

On the way back, taking the alternate path to the corner of the north property line, both hounds stopped and stared next door and was almost starting to run after the neighbor. He had backed his pickup truck down the driveway to pick up his trash cans by the highway and bring them back to his house. Sadie and Stella thought he might need help.

I had to yell "No" to keep them with me and herd them back toward the house. If I had left Stella on her own I have no doubt that now only would she have been next door but down by the highway once she saw the neighbor step out of his truck.

So I walked over to the middle of the lower field and told Stella she needed to come my direction. After a few steps with me back toward the path, she took off running to catch Sadie and both of them were off due to what their noses had picked up.

I had not made the first turn yet when I glanced down and my hiking boots were completely soaked. It looked like some of that dew had froze just a little. My feet were still warm and dry.

When I see a look like this from Sadie it's time to be aware of what might be in our area and I might have to take off running.

Then I see Stella in this pose and I am almost certain I am going to have to run after them this morning when I am really not in the mood to jog. I only jog to and from the fridge during a close game on tv and it's a short 30 second timeout. I only jog in this field when I am desperate in catching the hounds.

We must have missed the deer by minutes or just an hour. It didn't matter by the way the hounds acted. As far as they were concerned, deer were just ahead of them and reachable if they ran fast enough.

Consequently they were way ahead of me.

About the time I convinced myself that I would be jogging, then running along the back edge of the field heading north ... both hounds made an abrupt right turn into the far right corner where the deer scent was stronger. That was good for me as that part of the field would do the 'herding' for me.

It was at this point of the walk with them picking up their pace that I yelled "Hey" ... getting both of them to stop and let me catch up. Otherwise they were gone.

We were back in the 'walking' mode and the chase for potential deer was over. Their pace slowed to a walk, I did not have to jog or run and we were back to a leisure morning stroll in the cold air.

Stella's nose and ears were telling her there was still something within reach ... luckily she decided whatever it was it was not important enough to take off running after it. I saw nothing on the north horizon.

I have declared my Mahogany tree, a series of 3-4 trees making it look as one (red) ... the 2017 Fall Color Champion. I don't see the other trees making a comeback before their leaves fall off.

With the excitement of tracking deer scent over it was time to head back home. By the way my face felt I was sure the wet noses of the hounds were cold also. That doesn't even phase them though as they are built for cold freezing weather.

I wasn't sure how my photos of the frost were going to look on the blog as I took them, so I took a few different ones and posted them.

The hounds seem to be making the 'alternate' path the normal morning path back to the house. My Garmin VivoSmart watch tells me there is no difference in distance compared to taking the normal route.

More frost examples.

The plan was to mow the yard, mulching the grass and leaves later this afternoon when the temps are above 60°. The front yard grass needs mowing, it's tall enough but this picture made me second guess my decision. I might just rake the small amount of leaves and burn them on the burn pile, leaving the length of the yard as is.

That's the type of tough decisions you have when you are retired and doing nothing.

Could be scent from cats, squirrels, rabbits or even that ugly opossum I saw the other night across the highway as I pulled into my driveway. Whatever it was the hounds tracked it right to the end of the walk.
 

I have had no issues and good results in data use the past two days using Firefox as my browser. For someone that likes changing their mind a lot it's nice to have different browsers, different cars, and different jackets to choose from. My total data use yesterday and last night was less than 500Mb which is good to stay within my 20gigs per month.

The AT&T mail flyer told me they would pay up to $650 for me to switch from Verizon. They would let me upgrade from a iPhone 6s to the new 8's for very little money. I would then have unlimited data for my internet and streaming via DirecTv.

I had seen and heard of AT&T offers like that and already had been told in the past they did not have that service in my area in small town USA ... even with that tower you see photo'd in our walks at times being AT&T. Also, my neighbor told me his AT&T service paid for by his company that he works for, did not work well in this area but works great SW of Lubbock TX.

So I had to call them.

Same results ... they do not service my area with all of that unlimited data on internet, and streaming tv.

I am sure their internet service would never match HughesGen 5 speeds I have. It tested at 47Mbps yesterday afternoon. It's been that fast 99% of the time since I made the change 2.5 years ago.

I've done nothing to the Z4, so I can drive it to the body shop a mile away for an estimate and have them fix the damage I had the last week of September. It's all plastic under the front with a grill and air shields that need to be replaced. I just need to either take the broke pieces off or tape them with duct tap so they can see what the damage is.

A night off from the World Series will give me the chance to watch Stanford at Oregon State at 9pm. I am telling a few friends I am predicting by the end of the season Mike Riley will be fired at Nebraska and will go back home and take the Oregon State job (its open now) for his 3rd different time in his coaching career.

Sadie wants lunch but it's too early, even with her stare down right now. Heidi will come up for air from under her blankets around lunch time. Stella is not ready.

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

The Hounds Changed Their Strategy Today

With the upper right corner of my computer monitor showing me it's already Friday, I have only 7.5 hours to get anything finished today before my life stops for another weekend college football marathon. Throw in the MLB playoff games, and the NFL games, the hound walks between games or at halftimes, eat a little ... there isn't much time for sleep or house cleaning until early next week. The hounds never are pressed for time ... ever.

While I am always changing my mind or never coming to a firm decision on things, the hounds always know what they want to do ... eat, sleep, take walks and repeat. So our morning started out normal with hopes of sunshine today so I can mow the lawn. Due to the recent rain and overcast skies with cooler temps ... it has changed from "mowing the leaves" a week ago to "mowing the yard and leaves" this afternoon ... the grass has grown a lot this week.

It might look like it was a pretty easy walk for me today after getting some unexpected running in yesterday afternoon as I chased the disappearing Stella. That was not the case this morning as the pictures do not tell the whole story 'behind the scenes'.

I think I would have rather been running after disappearing bloodhounds than doing all the 'verbal herding' I had to do this morning. I guess they do change some of their routine ... after a week of very little deer scat eating this morning it's all they did. No need to track new ATV tracks or new deer scent ... it was time to add a protein supplement to their diets and ignore all of my calls to "come on".

Herding usually is required when Stella goes in one direction while Sadie and I are going in a different direction. Yesterday proved it's best to try to keep both hounds in viewing range of my eyesight ... otherwise, I am jogging slowly after them as I feel every organ bouncing inside of me. Does a heart move because yesterday it certainly felt like it was coming out of my chest as I jogged then ran after Stella.

This was a key point in the walk this morning ... Stella wandering further away while Sadie had made the turn for home but still looking for more to eat. My friend told me a few weeks ago that scat has molasses in it thus why the hounds are addicted to eating it ... it's sweet, much like my addiction to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.

It wasn't my voice that got them together, yet as I made the final turn home ... their desire of not having the other hound getting all of the good stuff, they merged into one area to share what Sadie had found. Luckily that was near my path as I walked home.

This picture shows the real definition of the word "ignore" ... Webster's Dictionary has it all wrong, Stella has the definition correct ... that is ignore me saying "come on", and eat as fast as possible before I try to lead her away by her collar.

Of coarse with that gentle tug of her collar and a lecture on the pros and cons of listening to "your owner" ... she and Sadie tear off into a 'happy-go-lucky' jog toward a new spot they know of way in front of me toward the middle of the lower field. So much for that lecture on obeying commands. I doubt that the bloodhound bred does well in any kind of dog obedience classes. I am too cheap to find out plus I like that they can have the freedom to do what they want ... so why am I complaining?  LOL

Only in my dreams would these two 'partners in crime' be running straight for the backyard and wait for my return.

No ... since their noses are some of the best of 70+ dog breeds, they already know where their next snack is and it's far enough away from me that they can eat as fast as possible before I get there. At first I thought they might be heading all the way to the neighbor's drainage ditch, that is always a favorite of Stella's after some rain.

Sadie was faking Stella out ... she led her toward the neighbors only to turn fast and run to a spot left of me, leaving Stella way off the pace. So once again I have two hounds in totally opposite directions with the house in view.

See what I mean about this walk being hard?

Stella was back to eating so fast that even my Nikon D3200 couldn't pick up the speed of her mouth and forehead moving as she gobbled as fast as possible. There is much more to the picture than meets the eye. It does not pick ups the sound of her gobbling.

As I stood in the yard finished with my walk ... I didn't yell since they were close but kept saying those infamous phrases of "come on" and "over here" ... then a few words that would require me to changed the settings of the blog to 'adult content'.

They become more interested in heading to the house when I mentioned 'we' had to mow the yard today after "Lunch" ... I have a feeling the words 'mowing the yard' wasn't what they heard. They know what "lunch" means.

I thought of waiting to post this and then add some afternoon shots to the post and more commentary but honestly I find it hard to post like that, plus I end up with too many photos for just one blog post. So I'll edit the photos and recheck the spelling before posting ... not a lot of time as Sadie and Stella are standing just to the right of my desk chair with drool hanging from the sides of their mouth ... because it's minutes away from noon and they haven't had lunch yet.

Pressure's on to finish this.

For those that have asked me this past week since restarting the blog on why I chose to go back to Blogger instead of Wordpress ... Using the free version of Wordpress lets them post advertising on my blog posts when I don't want advertising nor are those going to make me any affiliate income.

The main reason is, I wanted to keep the 6+ years of posts, comments and photos of the blog. I could upload the backup file into Blogger with no issues. If I were to try importing that same file to the free Wordpress blog, the different platforms don't play well together and a Wordpress Tech would have to edit the code to over a 1,000 posts for Wordpress accept the posts and photos.

If I were to pay for my own web hosting and use the Wordpress.org platform then there would be no issues importing the 1,000+ posts, along with comments and photos into that platform. But building that site would take more work than I am interested in doing and I can't see paying over $100 per year for website hosting where the blog is making me zero income. Nor do I want to have a blog for making income.

So ... I went back to blogger last Sunday, or first went to Google to establish a new email address for the blog log in and contact email ... then started the rebuilding process.

I added my own email address to follow this blog because I want to see what shows up in followers emails when I do any kind of corrections or changes to the post after I post it for the first time. I have a suspicion that every time I go back to correct spelling errors and click the update key, all of the email followers are getting a new email ... that's not good.

The sun is out so there's a good chance to mow this afternoon. I am going to try something new for the first time in 20 falls seasons at this house ... I am going to mow blowing the leaves and grass in just one direction toward the highway instead of mowing in a back and forth pattern or even in a square while blowing the leaves and grass to the center of the yard. It will take longer but should clean the leaves up better than just mulching them. In the back I will go one direction blowing mowed leaves and grass toward the field.

Can you tell I am trying to find a way to get out of raking leaves this year?

By the time I finish mowing and putting all the stuff backing my small shed, I'll be ready for another hound walk, some dinner and the MLB playoff game before watching the Washington State Cougars start their game at 10:45pm my time.

Well I have to go. The hounds are still staring at me and the drool is getting longer ... like glue.

Everything is fine in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Refuse Leaf Duty

With plans to replenish the food supply while the leaves dried from the morning dew, then raking and burning them in the afternoon ... I knew it was going to be a busy day and one where I would probably need supervision.

Before either of those two tasks were started I decided to get the first walk in around 9:30am (new time). Is anyone else looking at the clocks now and automatically adding an hour to tell yourself what the real time should be? Except those people in Hawaii and Arizona. Well I am .... I got up too early so I knew the day had not lined up correctly with the moon and stars for today's leaf project.

As usual the hounds took off and as usual when I lose an hour sleep my pictures are not the sharpest or the clearest ... so a few of the pictures I took and would have included in this post, didn't make it out of the editing room.

It's beginning to bother me that Stella has decided she would rather eat everything in the field instead of getting her running in. She was even scratching at a fresh pile of mud in hopes of finding some dry powered dirt to eat ... Remember when I told you the day had not lined up correctly, this is a sign.

While Sadie moved along the back edge of the field alone, I had to go back and talk Stella into moving away from the 'feast of the day' and join us. She has almost won "The Most Stubborn Hound I've Every Owned Award".

She sprinted up to Sadie, more or less running away from my lecture.

She then turned right around and headed for her 'no fly zone' and ignored me while Sadie and I continued home.

I decided I'd take a seat and let the hounds come home at their own speed. It was slow and slower ... I reminded myself once again that the day was not lined up to be a smooth one ... so be aware.

Not only in this field but on my way to the store I saw another farmer doing the same technique to his field. I can't remember ever seeing them do this to prepare their field for the winters. They might disc some but this has large rakes moving through the dirt instead of plowing.

I'm a little late posting tonight but the leaves I raked in the front yard, the north side yard and along the fence line kicked my ass today. I ended up taking a short siesta for a couple of hours after raking and still did not feel any better. It's amazing what the movement of raking leaves can do as far as a good exercise.

Rain is forecasted for tomorrow, so the few leaves I have left in the back will take a couple of days to dry out and I should be able to finish on Thursday, unless the weatherman is wrong with this prediction. I need a day off so I am hoping for a little rain.

I almost forgot to tell you the store of the hounds revolting against the Leaf Project 2016. Last year I had the team to supervise if you remember. Click here to see the supervision team. Heidi of coarse refused for the 2nd year in a row but did spend time outside today roaming both the front and back yards.

They didn't stay nearby while I raked. Instead of enjoying the 7 acres behind them in the field, that wasn't good enough for them either. The hounds can't see that well but they did notice the neighbor had hung her clothes out on the line to dry. There they went, slowly sneaking off while I raked the leaves. She was not outside but they had to approve her work instead of supervising mine.

That left me no choice but to put them inside while I raked the front yard. Otherwise they bark and howl if I tether them in the back while I am in the front. I can only assume with the lack of leadership from Winston this year, The Leaf Project Team 2016 was not a true team effort and a total failure.

Otherwise ... another great day in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.