A Beautiful But Confusing Day

With the overnight temps dropping into the high 50's it was perfect sleeping weather with all the windows open. It was so perfect that all four of us overslept and from the start, the daily routine seemed confused. One thing I was not confused about was just how beautiful today was ... no AC, windows open throughout the day and a fairly strong breeze moving through the house from the south end.

With Stella having a snack of tall wet green grass, she had a little added bounce to her step this morning. I even caught her trotting around the first turn. We spent a lot of time outside today doing a lot of nothing, as you see in the last photos.

The local tv weatherman said last night the first two weeks of August would be cooler than normal so these great weather will continue the next few weeks here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Battle Hotter Weather

As the temperatures get hotter every afternoon this week, our routine didn't change much. Fewer photos were taken and there was less interesting things to write about. I continue to be on the fence on deciding a few things. So here are a few photos from the last few days that I didn't blog.

Every day after her lunch Stella likes to take a 30 minute nap in the sun. Heidi sprints back inside as soon as she relieves herself and Sadie roams the field. While Stella wanders the field during the morning walks, Sadie will get her running in as the grass gets taller and taller all over the field.

Each time Sadie finds Stella over by the neighbors house. I've been letting her do what she wants since our last post here. I have been basically lazy and haven't done anything besides two walks per day, nibble food during the day only when I feel hungry, without fixing what you would call a meal. Then every night I watch Reds baseball on tv and while the hounds sleep.

With my food supply very low it was time to find some groceries and the perfect time to get serious about what kind of food I was going to start eating. I went back to logging all my food intake on Cronometer.com It will break each food down into the micro nutrients and track your protein, fat, carbs and calories plus all the vitamins and minerals. If you click on one of those topics, it will list from the highest to the lowest food in that category. I can see now why my weight was starting to creep upward while I ate less food before this recent change.

So far I am losing a pound per day after three days. Most likely that is just water weight. I can make it from breakfast to the time I go to bed without feeling hungry. Basically no grains, no pasta, no beans, a few nuts or seeds and dairy is allowed but not much because that kills your required low carbs count.

On the Friday morning walk I didn't see Stella anywhere on the horizon and she wasn't near the edge of the woods behind the neighbor's house. So I told Sadie "go find Stella" and she took off with her head in the air as high as she could get it.

She stopped once looking in all directions, then moved left toward the last place I saw Stella. About the time I started walking that direct she turned completely around and started running toward the neighbor's backyard.

Sure enough, there was Stella right next to the woods in their yard where they throw food scraps out for the field cat. Stella was scarfing down food as fast as she could. I couldn't take any photos of that because I was trying to get to her as fast as I could. That included jumping over their small drainage ditch that goes along the edge of the yard.

Sadie headed her back in the direction of the house ... the afternoon walk I had Stella on the retractable leash to keep her near us.

Late Thursday night I logged into my two week old Instagram account and deleted it. Then I logged into my Facebook account and deleted that. All in the name of downsizing my internet footprint and spending time on this blog and my private blog whenever I feel like writing.

I still have a Twitter account which I will keep. I use it as a reader mostly for all my sports teams. I do follow James Woods, the actor, because he comes up with some great stuff to remind people just what the truth is in this time of constant manipulated information.

For some reason the Z4 has not left the carport for the past three days. I had a big workout mowing the yard on Thursday afternoon late. It was hotter than I had planned on and 52 minutes later I finished and then stood in front of a fan to cool off as fast as possible. My highest pulse rate during that time was 82% of my max and for the past week my resting pulse rate has averaged 49. I think that shows  have a healthy heart. Now to get rid of some of this gut.

When I put some gas in my FJ the other day it was the highest prices I had paid but was still not higher than prices were in 2013 based on my checkbook register entry that I do on a spreadsheet. I have done that on a spreadsheet since 1997 when Lotus 1.2.3 was the spreadsheet to use.

I did think about starting a blog where I could rant yell and scream about anything that made me mad. Plus I would talk about life in general, ask questions I wonder about at times. I even talked it over with a friend of mine that is also thinking of downsizing his blog activity and social media.

The more I thought about what he said and what I felt, I decided I did not want to have a blog like that. I want my life as simple as possible, the fewest conflicts as possible and computer time online the least amount possible. That might change next winter when it's single digits outside.

I'll be prepared this winter though. That same friend I was talking to me, mailed me a full length Carhartt Coverall that fit me perfectly since I am two inches taller than he is. Last winter at times on the walks I found out that high quality ski underwear and jeans were not enough to stay warm during that half mile walk. The Carhartts should change that drastically.

Sunday will start with the daily hound walk, then back home in front of a tv by 9am for the F1 race at Monaco. After that I will flip over to ABC to watch the Indy500 at noon with the hounds being fed and out for a pre-race pee. I will not watch all of the preliminary pre-race stuff loaded with commercials.

I am thinking of stepping out on the 'thin ice' and expanding the "Other Stuff" part of the blog title and possibly bring some life to this boring blog where no topic will be left behind.

All is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana because I LOVE hot weather.

Heidi Takes Her First Walk In 2018

I decided earlier this morning that since it was so sunny outside that I'd wait to post today because I was pretty sure I would be able to get some photos of Heidi, although the temps were not going to get as high as her threshold of 70° As you will find out I have a lot, over 50 photos in this post.

It was so nice this morning that we took the morning walk before I started my coffee. Now that is a slight change in routine but I couldn't resist the bright sunshine, reasonable temperatures, plus the hounds were ready to get outside. The grass in the field looked like it grew 6" over night and in some places I could barely see our worn path.

After a lot of sleep, Stella was energized this morning and got a little jogging in. No verbal herding was needed again today as she followed Sadie most of the walk for the first half.

While Sadie and I walked away I figured I'd pick up Stella on the way back but she surprised me today as you will see below. It looks like I can get a lot done outside today although I don't have that much on my list. I may try to get the Z4 washed today even with a high temperature of 59° but it's sunny.

Sadie was more intent on tracking today, possibly more than she normally is. I was seeing fresh deer hoof prints along our path so her nose was quite active.

You can tell that Spring is near as semi-trucks off load new inventory at the landscaping place nearby. The owner is kind of between a rock and a hard spot. He usually asks me about retirement when I shop there, was it a big adjustment going from work to no work. He is a few years older than I am and could retire any time yet he has found no one that is interested in buying the landscaping business.

He knows how valuable his business is to the local small town and surrounding areas, thus very hesitant in closing his business ... and he still enjoys work at his business but would like to retire.

Sadie was faster than my camera could catch her today ... therefore some of her running photos are a little blurred.

Not sure what had walked near the large roll of hay on the back side of the field, but Sadie smelled something strong enough that she walked into the roll of hay pressing her head against the roll and holding it there as she investigated the scent. Rabbits ???

I was headed home when I turned around and saw her in a full speed sprint. She likes to run in the field and gets a lot of exercise for a 'almost' ten year old.

I was keeping an eye on Stella to see if I needed to divert my path over to the woods to get her to follow us home but she had other plans that worked out for both of us. She wasn't walking to meet us, she was walking with speed and a focus that she had plans of heading across the field in a direction I wasn't sure where she was going.

I let her walk and watched to see where she was going.

When I saw she was about to walk across our path and head a direction away from us, I called her by name and she stopped. She acted as if she did not know if it was I or Sadie as she stood there investigating us ... finally once Sadie touched her, she knew who we were.

We had a slow walk home, all of us going at our own pace. Everything is turning green again and growing fast. I could almost mow the south half of my backyard again today.

Looks to me like another relaxed day.

I am at a point I would normally post this to the blog. Today, I think I'll wait to post until later this afternoon and see if I can capture some action shots of Heidi this afternoon. She did come outside to roam the yard yesterday during our afternoon walk. She has found something she likes on the bank behind the driveway. Not sure what it is but she is always in that area when we return.

It wasn't long after their lunch that I knew I was going to spend some time outside. I had a couple of things I wanted to do in the yard so I let the hounds roam at their leisure. I decided that instead of cutting down all of the small saplings along the driveway bank that I would just out a width of 16' that lined up with my tv and internet satellite dishes.

I forgot what someone thought these saplings are, sassafras? but I remember when they told me a few years ago, I read that they would only grow to 20' tall. That would be okay and still keep my southern sky clear for the satellite dishes. So I left all of the other saplings up so I can see just how tall they get 3 years from now. I usually cut them down every two years anyway.

By the time I climbed the bank back in the yard, Heidi was looking as if she might take a walk with me. I knew Sadie would by the way she looked. She was ready to go ... but where is Stella? I knew most likely she would disappear while I worked over the bank out of sight.

Sadie and I headed straight north toward the neighbor's backyard but before we were even close I saw a tan reddish object bending over in their ditch between their yard and the field. When I called her name she hopped up on the bank and started walking toward Sadie and I.

By the time we waited on Stella and walked across the backyard, Heidi was ready to take her first walk in the field for 2018.

She made the half mile walk with no problems. Sadie is getting ready to tap noses just to make sure she is okay. She always does that when Heidi comes in the house from outside.

As I post this mid-afternoon, it has never gone higher than 57° but the bright sunshine makes you want to spend time outside. Sitting in the sunshine is a little warmer but it's good to some kind of spring weather show up.

A beautiful day today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.