Sadie Sneaks Up On A Deer

Just as I unhooked Stella from the retractable leash late yesterday afternoon, I glanced ahead at Sadie and saw a large deer in the far right corner of the field munching grass. Stella went nowhere, but Sadie was sprinting as fast as possible through the tall grass ... tall enough the deer did not notice Sadie was running at her.

By the time the deer was aware what was going on, Sadie was within 4' of her and I actually though she might catch her. What would Sadie do if she did? I don't know what she would do. The deer made a sound and took off down the 'deer highway' into the overgrown gully ... Sadie moved around the far corner area to check out other possible deer scents.

I apologize I didn't have the camera to catch all of the action last night but we have been taking a walk or two in the afternoons and early evening without a camera. I'll plan to go out against tonight at the same time as last night and see if the deer come back. It was a few minutes past 6:30pm.

It was good to read this today, click here ... so it's just not me that feels like they are going insane owning a bloodhound ... LOL.

This morning was different though ... no deer but plenty of sparrows for Sadie to chase. I took a chance at the start of the walk to see what Stella would do. As she was still in the backyard, Sadie and I walked into the field. It was a nice surprise to turn and see her trotting into the field to catch up with us ... I didn't catch her trotting but the first picture shows her just starting the walk.

Before I got to the first turn she brushed past me again just like yesterday and trotted to catch Sadie. I'd call this the 2nd day in a row where she has shown some extra energy.

This is Stella hanging back before she turned to catch up with me at the first turn while I was taking pictures of Sadie chasing sparrows.

The thing was, Sadie ran north to chase the sparrows she saw but most of them were flying around at the back of the field, which is due east.

I let Stella go at her own pace but each time I called her, she would move in our direction. If I didn't call her I have no doubt she would just stay out in this part of the field like the other afternoon. I waited 15 minutes after Sadie and I returned home before I started to look for her. Sadie found her in the area we last saw her ... in back of the field.

I keep wondering when/if they are going to cut the field. It looks like we will have a full day of rain on Friday. Can they cut it, let it dry and bale it by Friday morning? I'm anxious for it to be cut. I will find less ticks on me after every walk than when the grass is short.

As I walked along the back edge of the field, Sadie was off to the races again chasing more sparrows. It's good that she can get some additional exercise during out walks. It also makes me wonder what she would do if I had a bird feeder or bird bath near the house.

She is certainly determined to catch them.

Evidently the farmer planted what I am guessing is soybeans in the back field without me noticing. The field was never plowed that I could tell. I never heard a tractor in that field ... but for it to be weeds, it sure looks to uniform in height. Can anyone tell by the leafs what is planted here? This is a 200mm zoom picture of whatever is growing.

It's good to see that Stella is getting more light running in ... every little bit helps.

Since the field was still wet and much more in the shaded areas of the field we take a path to the north corner of my yard so we can stay in the sunshine and it's a little drier on the hiking boots.

Stella is most liking finding out that black cat that I have only seen one time may have been in the yard near the property line pole.

What I thought would be a day of cutting driveway weeds and buying dog food, it turned out to be the short drive to town for a new bag of dog food being the highlight of the day. For every hour I could not sleep last night I made up for it this afternoon. With temps around a muggy 90° it feels like I didn't miss much outside.

What's strange it feels muggy but shows only 43% humidity. After not doing much all afternoon Sadie was more than ready for that late afternoon walk, she could not wait another minute, deer or no deer.

I let Stella do her own thing but soon after we started the walk she was trotting to catch up to us. It's been so long ago I can't remember the last time she trotted or ran in more than one of the walks we take every day.

By the time we made the first turn she was feeling the heat just as much as I was.

I was taking this picture to show just how hard it is to see the hounds now on the walk.  It was not until I was looking at each photo on the computer did I see the blue bird flying up ahead. With everything green except the hay, the blue stood out enough for even me to see.

By this point in time I knew that Stella was on her own schedule. I figured Sadie would catch up with me eventually and I'd find Stella on the way back. I turned and took off walking to get this one over with. That is how muggy and hot it felt.

Clouds were not in the forecast for today, neither was rain but it felt like rain was near. When we got back I checked the radar and saw four small areas about 50 miles west of us showing the reddish color for severe storms ... then clear skies for as far as you could see.

I glanced all over this area looking through my lens that was zoomed at 200mm and did not see Stella anywhere. I knew she had to be there somewhere but it's just hard to see the hounds on this walk as long as the grass is tall. I wondered later what would happen if they did NOT bale the field this year ... is that even possible? I cannot ever remember a year where they did not cut the field at least once.

As I walked toward home and the land starting going a little downhill I could see Stella off in the distance. She had not moved at all from the area I saw her last.

She did come my way when I called her but only at her speed. She wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere this afternoon. Sadie decided she had enough of the heat and walked right behind me most of the way home. Too close for pictures.

Stella decided she would take her time. Both hounds were back in a deep sleep within minutes after getting back inside the cool air conditioned house. Heidi????  Not even a chance of getting out of bed if that temp is not down to 85° or lower.

I didn't sleep every minute of the afternoon. I read a few pages of my book that is a pretty slow read. Then made a huge mistake but tuning into tv news for the first time in many months but at least that confirmed all the reasons I have for hating politics. I was back to a sports channel within a couple of minutes. I mixed all that exciting activity with some internet surfing and playing the 2048 game.

Sorry there is not much to report here today. I never thought buying another two week supply that's a 40# bag of dog food would be the highlight of the day. It was for the hounds also. They always sprint to the car to see what I have bought before I can bring it into the house. That scent of dog food coming for a new bag always gets them excited ... they think a 3rd meal of the day is a possibility.

It was another beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Returning To Her Old Self

Two steps outside the door Sadie saw there were three birds near her burn pile and took off sprinting to chase them away. I didn't have my camera ready for something that fast but I did catch a glimpse of a robin's orange chest flying away.

I noticed yesterday that Stella was slowly returning to her old self. The side effects of her rabies shot were wearing off but at the same time she seemed better than last week when I took her into the vet on Friday.

This morning she trotted out to join Sadie on our first walk of the day (3 yesterday) and spent most of the walk with her tail upright and curled.

I double checked the date when I made the latest change to dog off and it was in the middle of February. To wait 16 weeks giving the food a change to make some changes or improvements that puts the wait out to the middle of June. I will take her into the vet a few times before that to use the vet scales to weigh her, while monitoring her health.

Other ways I can tell Stella is feeling better is the old bloodhound stubbornness is coming back, as evidenced in the picture blow. She is also nudging my hand more when she wants something, goes to the door and nudges the round door knob trying to open it to be let outside. Plus I've caught her a couple of times in the kitchen walking around with her nose in the air, checking to see if there is any of my fruit to steal from the bowl.

I knew at this time when she wouldn't move, that I was going to have to double back to get her. I'd left her there and continued to walk but up ahead I wasn't so sure that she wouldn't take off into the 'no-fly zone'. The last walk of the afternoon yesterday I had to call her to keep her from going that direction.

It was a slow pace back to the house but she stayed with Sadie and didn't veer off the general direction we were taking. They were not ready to come inside though when I got back to the house.

Sadie gave me the look that she wanted to stay outside, Stella never moved. I went inside to change from wet hiking boots to dry running shoes, came back outside to check on them and they were still in the same place.

It such a nice day today I can tell we will be spending a lot of time outdoors today. I can see some weed cutting on the driveway plus reading my book outdoors while the hounds roam the field. Heidi has decided her favorite place during all this good weather is INSIDE on the couch sleeping while she enjoys the breeze coming through the large living room window on the north side of the house.

Have you noticed in this post I am trying to write the content that goes with the picture below instead of on top of it? It's funny just how hard that is to change.

Counting the picture above here are some highlights from yesterday's 1pm walk. After this walk we stayed outside. While they slowly inspected all of the field and part of the north backyard, I continued to read an old paperback book off my self "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".

I started reading that book weeks ago but it's a slow read so I go back and forth to it from other books I am reading. I saw where the author of that book died yesterday.

The Single Point AF would not focus on the contrails but when I changed the setting to Auto Area AF it did.

By yesterday afternoon the sun was hot enough that you could feel some heat instead of just enjoying it's brightness. It just reminds me how much I like hot weather compared to freezing temps.

Stella always thinks it is time to slow her pace when it's that hot outside.

Back in 2011 I had a friend bring his bush hog over to cut down all the overgrown wild bushes on the north side of the yard. It had been that way even before I moved here. Somewhere buried inside that growth is the old fence post from the 1940's.

For the next few years after he cut it, I would keep it trimmed down with my then working Echo weed eater with the steel blade. You might notice there are a few small saplings that grew quite tall amongst all of that.

It wasn't until April 2015, almost 4 years later, that I became motivated enough to start clearing all of that out. You can read about it here.

It wasn't so much about my motivation but two things happened since 2011. (1) When my neighbor bought the field in back they had it surveyed for property lines. That pole on the left side is what they came up with. Telling me that my property line was out to the pole.

Of course that survey does not match the property line survey I have with my original paperwork when I bought the house in 1998. My survey shifts all of it toward the camera (south) to where this property line pictured is no further than 25' from the edge of my house. That is even before the fence you see at times on this side of the yard.

The (2) that happened, that once they told me this is the property line I had a clear plan on what I wanted to do with this area, so I cleared it out. I still need to put some chairs out there, with a small table to hold beverages. AT one time I was going to install a firepit and may still do that. I thought it would be a nice spot to tent camp.

This picture was taken in 2011 right before my friend started his bush hog and went to work.

This is that same area last Friday, starting it's 3rd year of grass growth. 

In 2015 when I cleared out right of the trees is when I found the old fence post and fence line. There is a 2nd post behind those trees right next to the corner post of the wood fence.

This year I decided I wanted to clear out the left side of the trees and plant grass seed, while leaving those concrete blocks where they are for erosion control. I wish I would have kept those other 51 or 52 blocks I took out of the yard when I bought the house in 1997. Little did I know the house builder in 1975 put those blocks in the ground for a reason, all I knew was they were in the way of my lawn mower.

Today will not be much different than yesterday. I might fit in a Z4 drive after the hounds have their lunch. You cannot beat this weather in the Midwest this time of year ... although ... late yesterday afternoon the 2017 squadron of gnats flew in and continued to bother me this morning during our walk.

Yes, I did almost forget to edit my pictures before publishing this post. Do you like the difference in picture quality or can you tell a difference?

Beautiful weather here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.