We're Alive And Well

 Hard to believe it has been 15 days since my last post but that is what happens when cold weather hits, in addition to "March Madness" and then this afternoon the first of three to four days of rain. Can you believe they have predicted 4"-5" of the liquid by Friday??? We might have to get a wave maker for the backyard if that prediction happens, so we can surf in the backyard. That photo above covers multiple times per day for the last 15 days, one photo does it all.

IU Cheerleader Gets Biggest Cheer

As my team was being "taken to the woodshed" as some say, in last nights March Madness game in Portland .. the hounds, me, my texting friends and IU fans scattered all over the USA didn't have a lot to cheer about. That was until a shot by Trayce Jackson-Davis bounced off the rim, up and over the bankboard, landing on top of the goal structure full of braces, the shot clock and tv cameras.

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.

Saturday Morning Showers

A loud roar of thunder and lightning bright enough to light up the bedroom woke me a little after 6am. From what I could tell neither hound moved or sat up in the corner of the bedroom where they share a spot to sleep. I knew that I was not getting up that early again today and was back to sleep in seconds. Would our morning walk be rained out ??

The field was not as wet as I anticipated but it took forever to get Stella from the corner of the house, then into the yard and then into the field. She must have been remembering the hour before when I let her out to start the day and it was dark and pouring rain. She is not a fan of any kind of rain. Once she started the walk in the field she was okay as we continued on with an occasional rain sprinkle hitting my hand.

I couldn't capture this fast enough but she was tangled up in the thorn bushes. Bloodhounds are not problem solvers and their only response to a puzzle like that is just apply more force to tear away. That type of movement has resulted in a trip to the vet only one time in 21 years. Sadie sliced the inside of her ear open when she was a puppy by a razor-sharp thorn.

We are supposed to get almost 2" of rain today but it will be hit or miss as the thunderstorms roll though the Ohio Valley. I hope that does not cancel the Reds game at 2:10pm today. Currently there is a huge storm that won't miss us, southwest of us in Missouri.

Only two basketball games tonight as the single elimination tournament slowly reduces the 68 team field to four teams after this weekend. There have really been some good ballgames this year if you are a basketball fan, some questionable calls by the referees and some exciting last second finishes.

You might be able to tell I am grasping at straws this morning for something to write about. I've tired of the political scene and understand we have moved into the next Plan B in Democratic Party strategy. It's a long way to November 2020 and I've had enough of the political bullshit I could puke. So the tv stays off the news channels, in fact none of them are even programmed in my tv remote control.

I'll glance at the headlines online but that will be about it.

Stella continued her policy of not getting her feet any wetter than necessary and walked just off the edge of the path. I didn't feel the same saturation I felt this last week on the walk. That was strange because I saw more spots of standing water from the storms last night, which Stella and I walked around.

I had another good day of following my eating plan. I could not wait until Monday morning to see if I had lost a pound or two these past 7-10 days so I hopped on the scale this morning before I did anything. It was nice to see I had dropped two pounds and that is right on schedule for weight loss ... actually the experts tell me to expect to lose 1-1/2 pounds per week. I can live with that.

I'm going to leave you with the photos of the rest of the walk and step away from my computer. I'm not sure what I will be doing today. Due to weather I might be reading a lot today. I think a little 'cabin fever' has set in plus ... the words are hard to find this morning.

Heidi has the best plan of all for surviving a crappy weather day. I still say she is the smartest of all three of us.

It's still good though, in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Explores & The D.C Rats

This morning I had the urge to take the Nikon D3200 with me instead of the Canon 9G X and it did not disappoint. Each camera has it's own good features that the other camera doesn't have. I took 68 photos this morning but no fear, I posted only 39 of them here. As you see, Stella was back to "my" normal routine of taking the correct path on the walk. We were off to a good start.

Of course the first thing I noticed was how heavy the D3200 was in comparison to the smaller Canon G9. It also felt a little cumbersome at first as I tried holding it under my arm as I pulled my jacket sleeve back on my left wrist to start my activity timer. I almost dropped it. A slight change that was interesting, I caught myself looking at the monitor on back of the camera to take the picture instead of through the view finder.

When I use the Canon G9 I have yet to use the camera well enough to capture a close up picture like this at close distance. I need more practice, at least before the field turns green with wild flowers galore and the butterflies later in the summer.

Another change I made this morning for my own sanity and a possible test ... when Stella was busy with her nose to the ground, as long as she wasn't eating deer scat I was going to let her take time to fully investigate the scent she had picked up. If that included her wandering a little off course then so be it ... the time was hers. I wanted to see what would happen if she never heard the words "come on" and could go at her own pace.

It was cold this morning, really cold but the day has plans of warming up from 27° to 53° although by the time that happens I will be buried in my couch with four basketball games on my split screen at once. March Madness never disappoints with some upsets by schools you never could dream of them beating their opponent. It never fails and as usual, if you are a 5 seeded team playing a 12 seeded team ... watch out. 12 seeded teams have made those upsets over the years more than any other underdog.

At first I thought that Stella had some deer scat she was eating but when I walked over to see, she only had her nose pressed on the ground. It was like a magnet. I gave her the time to investigate like I promised myself and walked away.

We were not even to the first turn yet and she had already moved in front of me, slammed on her brakes so she could walk in front of me at a crawl, causing me to tip toe or chop my steps, to keep from walking into her. If I went around her, she'd eventually move back in front of me.

I do notice as I look at these pictures, the color is not as deep and defined as when I take the same pictures at the same time of day with the Canon G9 X. This is after I added some color and other editing to these pictures.

When the field is under heavy frost it is easier to see all of the hoof prints of the deer traffic and all of their paths they have worn while moving through the field from the gully or into the wooded areas. You can barely see the path that veers right, which leads to the top of the gully and moves to the bottom. I haven't been up in the 'far right corner' in a while ... Sadie use to love exploring that part of the field.

Deer traffic must have been heavy last night or this morning. Stella must have stopped a hundred times during the walk to sniff certain areas. I didn't say a word and either kept walking or getting in a better position to take a picture. It might have been below freezing temps but the birds were out in force, filling the morning with constant chirping.

The path that Stella is taking is also made by routine deer traffic. It will go straight ahead but right before that large power tower they will turn and walk in front of the tower, curl back to the edge of the field and the move to the corner of the north woods. Maybe tomorrow I'll take Stella down that path all the way to the north woods so you can see what I am talking about.

Once again, her nose is pressed hard into the ground.

She seems to be on some sort of mission today. She was very focussed which is different for her.

While I was taking pictures of things behind me, you can barely see Stella moving in front of those bushes, still curious about what she is smelling.

I don't know if she came to a point where the scent disappeared or something else was confusing her. I was not saying a word, just watching to see if we were heading home or going north to the woods

he decided it was time to head home.

On thing I like on the Nikon D3200 is the 200mm zoom lens of course. It does a better job of getting some detailed pictures of Stella's loose skin as she walks, or her frowns. The Canon G9 X zooms to only 84mm. That was a difference I thought long and hard about before deciding to make the purchase. Could I work with a maximum of 84mm??

When I saw where she was walking I thought we might be headed to the neighbor's house two doors down from me. She was on the worn old ATV path made a couple of summers ago and it circles to the backyard of the neighbor that owns the field. I remained quiet though because I wanted to see how she would do today without any verbal herding.

It didn't take long for her to get back on the path. She acted like she wanted to trot or run but didn't because her paws were cold. Not that they were, but she acted as if they were too cold to run or trot on.

Yes, same spot every day, same glance in the same direction ... checking out the small wooded area behind the neighbor's house. I saw nothing nor heard anything in the direction she was looking.

I continued to read my books last night while glancing at the ballgames with the sound turned off.  The book called "How Not To Die", talks of eating a plant-based diet and with scientific proof to validate the reasons why plus show all the different diseases it reverses.

I was surprised but happy to read when he said there is nothing wrong with having an occasional loaded pizza or a cheeseburger ... as long as "you are not dipping your fork into the eliminated foods every day" and he talked about how this dieting stuff works if you have an addictive personality. One where a person goes from one extreme to another but never falling in between.

That would be me. One extreme or another. It also explained why I have always had trouble in the past of allowing myself to eat foods I am trying not to, (moderation) then falling off the diet wagon and going back to eating anything I want whenever I want.

Still, it has come to a point in time for me, at least mentally, do I want heart surgery in my future or do I want to follow Dr. Greger's recommendations and prevent that painful process?

I am doing a pretty good job following the plan as I move into my 4th straight day. It was also good news to see that they had proven in other tests he had read in Medical Journals that it was a good thing to have four cups of coffee per day but no more, nor less than two. The results of those different test groups had distinct results.

I don't think I could handle four cups per day ... I'm fine with only two cups of coffee per day.

Like I have said before many times, just because we are getting close to the end of the walk that does not mean it will be over in a few minutes. She always finds one more thing she just has to investigate. In her own eyes she is also retired and time means nothing to her.  :)

She looked at me for an answer, what was that high on the fence post (squirrel???) but I had no idea. Have you ever seen a more confused looking hound?

After she walked down the slight incline toward the house to finish her walk, then turned in the opposite direction to check out something else, I knew the animal traffic was extremely busy while we slept last night. She knows something or more than one animal has been in her yard. She is NOT as possessive of her yard or house like Sadie was. She is not a watch dog either.

Another morning walk is in the books. We took about five minutes longer than we normally do with the freedom I gave her this morning. Our first games start at Noon with an NIT game. Heidi had not made any sounds yet that she is up and ready to start her day ... that's about an hour away.

I'll still get in some pictures of Heidi's Saturday to post tonight, normal time ... 7:15pm.

Have I become addicted to blogging twice per day?

I know I am not breaking any news here because we all know the Mueller Report has been sent to the AG, it's all over the news. I have not watched any tv news but I could tell from the headlines from different online news sites ... it seems that CNN, MSNBC, MSN are going into the 'meltdown' mode ... they just can't believe the results.

One thing that they are not reporting on but it is going to get really interesting is this ...

The past and present rats in D.C. are scrambling I would hope to see Comey, McCabe and a few others behind bars once the IG Investigation is over but I know that will never happen. So I will be satisfied seeing the truth about them be brought out in more detail for the public to read and watch them squirm, maybe make their life a little more uncomfortable.

They DID break Federal Law ... prosecute them.

Need some humor ???

The Somalis are pissed at Amazon in Minnesota. Personally I don't give a rat's ass what they want or what their complaints are. I agree with the blog author that it all boils down to, they want times off during the work day for their daily prayers. Go find another job. F*** 'em.

I could go on about a lot of stuff this morning. My political rambling is bubbling right below the surface this morning ... but I need some breakfast and get back to my book reading before my IU game at noon, then the NCAA games the rest of the day.

So I'll pass on the ranting and just leave you with those two nuggets .. in the links. Be sure to read all of the article in the first link. Trump has already asked the DOJ to review and start releasing the emails and texts they have been holding until the Mueller Investigation was over. They are taking away the redactions. Oh boy!!

The truth is going to come out, even more than what we have heard so far and that is a great thing.

It's a beautiful morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.