Stella Expands Her Boundary

Stella's new adventure started as soon as the walk did. As usual she headed away from Sadie and I. By the time I looked back to see where she was, she was already past the north edge of the yard, heading next door. I yelled her name and for some strange reason she reacted immediately with an 'about face' and trotted toward our path.

It was much cooler this morning so I thought I might see some running from her but that 50' trot was about all the energy she had. At least while she was within my view.

She continued to walk as if she was exhausted, could barely catch Sadie and I ... she never did because she stayed behind supplementing her diet.

So Sadie and I quickened our pace and took off for the morning walk.

It was still very wet from the heavy dew this morning. I am going to have to go back into my library of photos for this time last year and see if I was having the same problems on the first walk of the day. That shows right there that my memory is suspect yet something 40 years ago I can remember in detail.

It was good to see some flowers return since they baled the field. These were just off the edge of the field in the fast growing brush at the top of the gully. It's the spot that Sadie would like to jump into instead of walking into.

As I walked back looking through my 200mm zoomed lens, looking for Stella. I did not see her in the middle of the field, nor the area where we left her. I didn't see her anywhere near the wooded area behind my neighbors house or near their drainage ditch ... in fact ... I didn't see Stella anywhere.

Then as I glanced along the horizon without the camera, I spotted her ... in an area she had never been except for the few times she was chasing deer and a strange dog visiting the neighbors during Christmas last winter.

She was further north than she had ever been, between my two neighbors to the north. For her to go that far from the area I left her, in the amount of time it took me to walk ... Stella would have had to trot at a fairly fast pace to get to the area where I found her.

Was her slow walk an act to fake me out?  It has happened before ... LOL

Sadie didn't care though. She ran a lot in her walk this morning and finished it with a sprint to the house. She was fast enough that I almost didn't catch her with the camera.

Around noon when all of us went outside after our lunch, it felt like rain, looked like rain but no signs of anything on the weather radar in our area ... all to the north of us.

Stella was more interested in going back inside to start her afternoon siesta rather than taking a walk. She did not move from this spot until I started walking to the door.

Heidi got this far, not even into the yard when she turned around and headed back to the door to be let inside so she could sleep on the couch.

Sadie just looked confused. She didn't even do her normal begging to walk and fell asleep within minutes of going back inside. It was like all three hounds had been zapped with low energy ... strange because it was a good ten degrees cooler than these past few days.

By noon I had very few pictures, not enough activity to blog about and had no plans to fill the afternoon with anything outside the normal day. I did help the economy this morning by spending money on groceries if if my shopping cart looked right ... I took home less food than I normally do. It's amazing how fast money goes when you are buying nothing but basic food.

It wasn't soon after we were back inside, that it was I not Sadie, that needed to get out of the house and head out for a walk. After looking at Stella during that walk I am not sure she was keen on the idea.

With the grocery shopping being the 'hit' of the day, things were almost too quiet. Once again I started a book, only to put it back on shelf after reading a couple of pages. I looked through the alphabetized DVD's and scanned sports talk shows on tv ... nothing there. What to do?

A siesta ... the hounds thought that was a perfect idea and were glad to see their training is paying off in these early years of retirement ... my daily schedule is becoming a lot like their routine.

For the first time in a long time there was no dreaming. That seems to be a big problem lately in my nightly sleeps ... strange confusing dreams.

By the time we woke up this afternoon, both water bowls (3qt & 1qt) for the hounds had been emptied. Heidi was trotting to the door to let me know she had to use the bathroom facilities outside. Stella was still in a semi-state of sleep and didn't know if it was really time to get up or not. Of course Sadie was bouncing up and down on her front legs with excitement ... thinking we were headed for a walk.

We almost were until I stepped outside with Heidi and saw the thermometer I hung on the wall the other day had it's needle above the 90° mark, enough to prevent any confusion if it was really that hot or not.

It was back to having all outside activity suspended until 8pm tonight. A much better time to take that last walk of the day, which would make the 3rd one today.

We will be back to watching Reds baseball tonight, reminding myself that its a rebuilding process  that was decided by the team owner and GM. That means 2017 is not the season where wins are important but getting young players experience playing baseball everyday at the major league level.

I think it is more like "lets cut salaries by the millions of dollars, have fireworks every Friday night after the games to draw a sell out crowd and increase our profits". But that is just thoughts from a lifelong fan that hates losing at any kind of game.

With that last thought, I'm headed to the kitchen for one of many tall glasses of ice tea tonight and get prepared for that 8pm walk with Sadie and Stella.

It's hot and too quiet here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana

The Hounds Prepare For Rain

I could tell after lunch that not much of anything would be done this afternoon, hounds included. The occupants of this house barely had a pulse.

Even though it was not raining Heidi heard the forecast and walked out to the front yard just long enough to dump her tanks. She took her bad weather path behind the Yews, climbed the three steps up to the porch and then jumped into the front yard. She came back the same way, only walking around the porch to get behind the Yews.

Sadie and Stella didn't get any further than this before they came back to the house to go inside. That's really strange for them as they are usually trying to talk me into a walk after lunch.

As much time as they have spent in this area the past 24 hours, I suspect the big blonde cat has paid us a visit sometime in the pre-dawn hours.

The house got so quiet this afternoon you could hear a pin drop. Instead of that, all I heard was constant ringing in my years. The hounds were in such a dream state of sleep, none of them were snoring.

While sitting at the kitchen table playing some Mahjong on my laptop, this piece of machinery drove by the house and made a right hand turn onto that one lane of gravel I was on last week. I have no idea what they are spraying. Since it's wild mustard and they have plans to plant there, my wild guess is that it is weed killer.

Or maybe they are spraying fertilizer before they plow them under????

Just like Heidi, they went back the way they came. I was so lazy I did not even get outside to take this. It's shot it through the kitchen window as I sat at the kitchen table.

It was one lazy afternoon. I heard the sound of thunder after we returned from our afternoon walk without the camera. It seemed like the perfect time to crack open a window in cool weather and take a siesta.

No plans for the weekend, except a 100% chance of a lot of rain here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Are Slow This Morning

As you can tell from this mornings photos, the world has stopped here in 'the tropics'. The temps are up into the mid 50's, its not raining so that is good.

Maybe it's the overcast skies that laid out the energy levels for today???  I do know one thing and it's just not me but Sadie and Stella also ... today has turned into a slow-motion movie. They are taking the morning off so far ... but I know there is plenty of time left today to rally and make something of ourselves. What that might be is hard to imagine as I have my 2nd cup of coffee 3+ hours later than normal.

The first trip out every morning this is what they do ... not all they do .. but you understand that somethings they do are really not for public viewing. So these are the before and after shots. I have to wonder though, what is it that makes them so interested with their noses to the ground?

Is there really that much animal traffic at night in the field while we sleep that gives them new scents to smell? Or is it just that one cat that I saw months ago sprinting in front of me while I stood outside at 1:30am.

I think as you can see, they are not really energized this morning nor have I been. I've been back to that Apple site looking at comparisons between the new iPhone 5se and the older 6s. Yes ... I am considering going back to an iPhone for the camera, the GPS, a library of "notes" that substitute for my memory and a few other features. Notice I said nothing about phone calls ... rarely get them since the world is texting now.

We will get in a walk or two today but it's nearing their lunch time ... I haven't seen nor heard any begging for lunch so that confirms this day is definitely off the earth's axis.

Everyday cannot be exciting here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

A Quite Rainy Day

I actually enjoy days like this if they don't happen often. It's warm enough to have all the windows open, you can hear the birds talking and a light rain in the background. It's been a steady very light rain all morning, so a lot has not been done outside. The hounds sleep, I read the internet, play Mahjong or try to finish the book Area 51.




We didn't do much after their lunch. I had to make a trip to Bloomington and that was going to test Stella the 3-4 hours that I would be gone. They wanted to check the work I did yesterday clearing that small section of yard, sniff the field a little and then come inside.

Since I was going to be gone for 3-4 hours, I decided I would load up the Kong balls/bones with treats. They would be able to smell the treats but not get them out of the Kong balls. With the Kong bones, after a lot of work, they would be able to get the treats out to eat. I thought that would give Stella plenty of time to work at something besides her separation anxiety destruction.

I am not sure if those were shared between the two bloodhounds but I could tell by where they were when I got back, they were the main focus of activity. I didn't see any kind of damage when I returned home.

For her own protection, I always move Heidi and let her have the run of the house. About the only movement she has I think is from the chair she sleeps in and the water bowl. I am not sure if it is the supplement the vet gave me called Hera A Spike but her eyes have really improved this week, plus she has been a little more active. She is still scratching at an obsessive pace at times, but over all her skin color is normal and less irritation on her back paws and legs.

With her and the bloodhounds eating the Fromm For Large Breeds kibble, 2.06 pounds per day are consumed. I have been feeding Heidi the same amount of food as Stella gets to eat. I think she would even eat more if I poured it out into her bowl. In fact I don't think she would ever stop eating. With the new supplement the vet gave me to give her, I will take Heidi back in 30 days just to get her weighed and see if there is any gain.

As long as it is raining there will not be many photos the next few days. Along with college basketball getting into their conference tournaments and then the NCAA tournament ... my days and nights will be and have been shortened to from the time I wake up until noon. After that it is nothing but basketball games on tv, fitting in some meals in between or during games and a hound walk once the ground dries out. After a few weeks as the number of teams still playing decreases, then I will have days available but not nights. That is the way it is for a sports addict that loves college basketball in the month of March.

That will make no difference to the hounds schedule. They will not be neglected but will do their normal routine, whether there are games going on or not  .... sleep, eat, sleep, eat and walk when the ground is dry.

This morning Sadie checking to see if she wants to step out into the light rain or not. They don't mind the rain but she always checks before walking out into the rain. As far as Heidi, she will run immediately behind the Yews in front and stay under the roof overhang to stay dry. She is strictly a sunny and at least 70° basset hound.

After Sadie and Stella moved out into the yard, they didn't have a lot of motivation to take off in the field, and it wasn't long before they turned and started walking back toward the house. Rainy days bring decreased activity.

With the rain and not much going on here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana the hounds and I may take a 'mini' vacation from blogging. At least until it stops raining in a few days and the grounds dry out. Thanks for stopping by to read the blog and check the photos of the hounds.

Feedly Issues

Sadie In The Coachman

Feedly Subscribers: I don’t know why it is doing it, but that feed is treating every post I edit here as a new post on Feedly. I don’t know who I would contact there to fix it.

The problem is I am in process of editing hundreds of old blog posts that transferrer the other day from Blogger. I found by accident that the majority of them didn’t have a category, a tag or both. I have checked my old blog and did see that the posts that I am having to edit did have labels on Blogger. I have completed about 33% of them.

Based on some feedback I received on different things on the blog, I added a little color for the background color. I would give more separation between the white background and the blog.

What happened to the 100 photo slideshow?

A reader mentioned it was using a lot of his data when they failed to turn it off when they visited the site. I knew that if he and I did the same thing, there might be many more that visit here doing it and not realizing it. Not everyone has unlimited data. People like me and others pay for a limited amount of data per month.

In my case I noticed that Chrome Google was using almost 100% more data per day since moving to WP but didn’t realize why. Understand that while I was either working on the blog in the background, uploading photos, even editing all posts … as long as I had my home page open with the slideshow turned on … it was using data.

So you will notice it’s gone and I replaced it with a tiled mosaic of 15 photos.

While I was busy most of the morning working on WP, correcting different categories and tags … the hounds were sleeping. They never asked to go outside. They didn’t play inside, they just slept. Maybe they had a wild night after I went to sleep last night.

I tuned into my college ballgames around 12:30pm, with plans of more work on the blog between the basketball game I watched until the NFL Playoff game started at 4;30pm. I didn’t make it. A siesta sounded better and the hounds agreed.

So … here are the only photos of the hounds taken today. As you see they were as energetic as I was … which wasn’t much. I guess all of us need a rest day sometimes.

I'll try to be a better blogger tomorrow here in the 'tropics' of Southern Indiana.