It Was A Great Weekend

Between rain on Saturday and hearing gunshots in the field across the highway on Sunday, out of sight (common in rural area), Stella canceled both of her morning walks. We were able to walk later Sunday once she realized she was safe and the weather was tremendous.

With temps in the 40's at night and back up to the 70's by late afternoon, a wet field is to be expected. My hiking boots were soaked soon after we started.

When I glanced outside this morning waiting for Stella to give me the word to walk, it looked like the field had grown over a foot taller since Friday. I could see the path was going to be another morning of heavy dew, basically both of us would be soaked by the end of the walk.

Stella didn't hesitate and knew right from the start that would would take the 'rain option' where she will start the walk on the return path, then move over to the regular path about the time we get to the first corner.

It seems like a Monday for some reason. It will be another day full of outdoor activity. I have a few saplings that I cut last month that need to be cut to ground level. I also will be going around the edge of the roof checking all the screws that attach the gutter to the soffit. It seems like after every winter I find one or two that need to be retightened.

She was doing a lot of smelling this morning, no eating and was on a pretty fast pace for her.

The old return path was beginning to disappear with the growth of the field. We took this way a few times last week in the afternoon so I wanted to go this way this morning to keep it visible. Stella had other ideas

She was following the normal return path that ends up in the north part of the yard. I have to follow her otherwise the chances are high that she will sneak over to the neighbors backyard.

She stopped to glance back at me to see if I had gone the other way and what the possibilities were of sneaking away.

About the time I thought the walk was ending, she decide she had one more spot to smell before heading inside and turned around to do it. At first I thought she had seen a spot of mud she wanted to bite into.

It is official ... the morning walk has been recorded.

A good example of just how wet the field was this morning.

Where's Heidi???

She has been boycotting all attempts of getting her picture taken since Friday. With all the sunshine yesterday she spent most of the afternoon alone sleeping in the grass in the back. If not there she has been camping out on the couch or in her big leather chair, depending  how cold it is with the windows open.

With warmer weather the flies are showing up inside the house. A few other bugs have been seen outside in the carport area and I had two mice that decided to torment me and the hounds for a few days until they were eliminated. I luckily didn't find one in my shoe but did find a couple of pellets meant for them. Someway those pellets were moved from inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink to my computer room where the shoes were sitting next to my desk.

They love Stella's hair they find in the trash after I brush and comb her.

That is about all that has been going on. Since I am not sure I'll be doing much with the camera this afternoon I am going to post this now, right before lunch.

Stella Jumps At Dirt

Up too late makes a late start to the following morning. It didn't matter though because we couldn't see that well until a few hours passed. At first Stella would not even go out and turned around inside the house. Later she decided it was time to head out for her morning walk. Since it had been raining last night, she took 'her wet field route' and didn't wait for me.

Due to the misty air I wore a light rain jacket but that didn't keep my cargo shorts from getting drenched with the tall wet grass. Stella's face and ears were soaked within ten feet inside the field.

Sometimes though you just have to sit and think for a while. I didn't say a word to her today and let her dictate the pace and direction of the walk.

No sounds, no sightings of dogs, cats, deer, or people yet she had to study what she was smelling off in the distance next door

At first I thought I might be tracking through the wet field after her but she suddenly turned and headed back on the path. I could tell she was pretty relaxed this morning. That is saying something since she is always in a relaxed state of mind until any kind of food is involved.

Since she started by walking on the return path, she likes to cut over to the regular outgoing path right at the corner of the woods. Smart bloodhound.

The path was sloppy with all the rain yesterday and Wednesday, I could hear my boots splashing water sometimes but Stella kept a pretty even pace on this walk. All the deer scat must have been washed away.  :)\

No signs of that AT&T tower this morning.

More nose/scent exploration.

Then suddenly turns and heads for home.

Anytime I walked in front of her to get some photos from the other end of her, she would walk back in front of me and then slow down, way down. I think that is her favorite thing to do on these walks.

Does she hear someone? Smell something? I could see nothing in the direction she is looking.

Another walk is complete. We are suppose to have a day of sunshine tomorrow and that will be a nice change of pace.

Here she is dodging a small patch of mud. She jumped at it right before this pictures but the camera or user was not quite fast enough to catch her with her front paws in the air.  She was just getting ready to take a bite out of that fresh new dirt that had turned to mud. If she likes something she will eat it as long as it is not a dead animal. We don't run into those.

This walking as close to the house as possible morning routine has lasted longer than I expected. Looks like that landscaper I hired needs to show up and pull some weeds.

I can't remember if I mentioned the other day when I didi my monthly measurements and had not logged in my food intake for weeks ... I ended up losing a couple of pounds, the fat calipers showed an additional 2mm but my stomach was the same. Strange movement I'd say and a little surprising of eating what I want when I want for the past few weeks. I can't remember now when I stopped logging my food intake.

It was cool weather this morning with all the windows open. Heidi slept through most of the morning and moved from the dog bed in the bedroom to her chair in the living room, then on to the couch. I guess she was restless this morning.

Not a damn thing went on today. Even Heidi didn't want her photo taken and acted like she was sleeping with her head up.

Looking for action in 'the tropics of Southern Indiana ... it's the weekend !!!