A Normal Saturday Morning

This morning started no different than the other 6 mornings of the week. I'll not list the routine since it has been listed before. I always have plans the night before for the next day but they rarely happen. Today I hope to drive down and spend some time at Lake Greenwood. I need to get out of the house more often then I do.

Neither of the hounds waited for me this morning. Even Stella trotted out into the field by the time I was finished taking some flower pictures. Both of them were more interested in eating fresh deer scat than doing the walk. I did most of the walk by myself this morning.

I wanted to take Stella over to the vet to get her weighed yesterday but I didn't do it. I am running out of gas and money with 12 days still to go in the month.

Stella trotted past me this morning ... I had also given her the buffered aspirin at breakfast.

It wasn't hot yet during the walk that we didn't start this morning until 10am. But it will be in the high 80's today and even hotter tomorrow. Those two window air conditioners I bought two years ago have been life savers and they don't use a lot of kilowatts to run.

Eating far away ... no interest in walking.

I was happy to see Stella come my direction when called.

They took off running and not sure how they knew there was scat where they ran too.

I am sneezing non-stop and eyes are watering with sinus problems today. I'll be taking some pills for sure. I am going to take the camera with me to Lake Greenwood today. It will only get hotter so I am going to head out right after I feed the hounds. It's already 11:14am.

Beautiful weather today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Looks Like A Busy Saturday Is On The Way

After a long session of sleep Friday night, all of us were up at the crack of dawn this morning. I think the coffee might taste better when it's made before the sun comes up. That meant our first walk of the day was made a minute after 8am and with the field shaded most of the way, the heavy dew soaked through my hiking boots to my socks. I can tell it's going to be a busy day today.

That is one reason I posting early this morning. With the high temps predicted to be down to 82° and grass growing tall enough to mow by noon, I can see even more things checked off my list by the end of the day.

After getting Stella headed in the right direction, she looked a little gimpy this morning. I have always suspected her rear legs/hips were giving her problems, possibly from getting older. (8 yrs). Places she use to be able to jump up on were not possible yesterday. She would put her front paws on the edge but never attempted to jump or climb.

I think you can see from the fast growing field, just how saturated the grass was this morning. Stella had to lick the dew that was dripping from her nose. Her ears were also getting wet when her nose was to the ground.

As fast as they both turned the corner and trotted down the edge of the field I was sure that deer were either in the area or had been there just before our arrive. They turned to head to the rolls of hay instead of turning right into the far right corner where the deer like to hang out.

They continued their investigation on the back edge of the field as they moved around the rolls of hay and over to the edge of the grass, following what is likely the same path the deer take.

On the way back when Stella got into this pose I was positive she was smelling or hearing the field cat near the woods. Once she curled her tail with her nose high in the air I thought she might take off running in that direction. Luckily she turned and walked with Sadie and I when I said "over here".

Sadie and Stella angled across the middle of the field away from my path, to end their walk by the north side of the yard. Could this be the path for the field cats while the hounds sleep?

It has to be because they both spent enough time in this area of the yard that I was able to go inside the house, load the SD card into the computer, go back outside and called them to "come on".

I thought of letting the yard grow a little longer so it might repair some damage caused by yard moles and the hot July sunshine. I don't use a grass catcher and I don't like leaving small piles of grass left by the mower due to excess amounts of cut grass ... so most likely today will be mowing day.

I also plan to cut by the Japanese Yews by a 1/3 of their height. I just trimmed them at the end of May and they have grown so fast this summer they need to be trimmed again. With it being cooler today it will be a good time to get that done. When I have to trim them more than once per summer, I feel like getting rid of them.

If my motivation continues then I'll end the afternoon with some domestic tasks that I always put off till the end.

I'll discuss my experiences so far using the Circular Polarizing lens filter late ... but I'm find it hard to focus it to the 'sweet spot' and still catch the action shot of the hounds, even though they are slow movers most of the time.

The beautiful weather continues here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Bloodhounds Walk Before It Rains

They predicted this and they were right .... it's cold !!!! Nothing like going from the high 70's on Thursday to the high 40's earlier this morning as we stepped outside. By the time we started our walk it had edged up over 50°.

That didn't bother Sadie at all, in fact she seemed a little more energized than normal but it might have been those new scents that were filling her nose instead of cooler temps. She did not even escort me to the field this morning and took off running from the very start.

With Wunderground being right on with their rain prediction time yesterday I decided I would believe them today. We needed to get outside and walk before 1pm when it was suppose to start raining.

Sadie spent the majority of the walk way ahead of Stella and I. We were cruising the path together, on a slower pace than I am used to.

By the time we hit the first turn, Sadie was almost to the far right hand corner of the field. I don't know what scent she picked up but she went from her head buried in the grass to sprinting around the turn. The pictures did not capture her speed.

Stella did not attempt to chase her. I have a feeling that Stella is feeling the effects of an annual rabies shot and a dose of NexGard yesterday. The vet office had the same offer as last year with a coupon, one that I did not bring with me. Nancy at the front desk fixed me up with free NexGard chews for all three hounds.

Last year after picking off over 100 ticks in the month of April from the three hounds and myself, a dose of one NexGard for the hounds only (LOL) eliminated the ticks for the rest of the summer. I decided as long as I didn't see any on the hounds, there was no reason to give them anymore doses.

As usual Stella was more than happy to eat breakfast as it was served about an hour earlier at 7:15am. Too early for a Saturday or any day for that matter but we were wide awake and coffee sound too good to pass up on a day that looked as if I was in Seattle, overcast cold and rainy.

Sadie cannot figure out where the deer are. By this time last year she and Stella had a couple of deer chases under their belt but so far in 2017 they are being shutout. It would be a good test to see Stella's response if any deer showed up on the horizon.

When Sadie has her head buried that deep into the grass, she gives off that strange sound that only a bloodhound makes with her jowls making a sound moving while Sadie is sniffing as deep as she can into the earth.

This wasn't a morning that Stella was interested in exploring. She walked at the same pace throughout the walk but did have time to check and see if I would catch her veering off to look at the neighbor's house where the mystery dog showed up last Christmas.

While Stella was doing that, Sadie was back on another adventure way ahead of us.

Once I yelled at Stella "over here" she slowly turned and started the slow walk toward my direction. It's her personality more than anything. She is just laidback and obviously has her thoughts on other stuff besides doing this walk.

Sadie was wondering what our problem was and why weren't we up to where she was. She waited and waited, then took off running for the house as soon as I caught up with her.

Stella did pick up her pace the closer she got to the backyard. I didn't have to call her to do that but she seemed anxious to end the walk and get back inside ... where she was back to sleep within minutes ... her normal activity until lunch is served.

I am not sure how long that nice blue 2017-18 rabies tag will last on her collar. It doesn't matter how tight I crimp them to the collar they always find a way to come off and get lost. In stead of scanning the vet receipts and rabies certification this year I decided to just use my iPhone camera. It's easier and faster than scanning plus gives you the same file as a scanner does ... a file that you will probably never use.

After talking to the vet yesterday I decided that I would give Stella even more food than the extra I was giving her the past few weeks to a month. It will double her quantity I gave her in the past and will end up 33% more than what a larger Sadie eats. Of course if I let her, Sadie would eat the 40lb bag in one setting.

As with any large breed dog, you have to be aware of them getting bloat. In all the years I have had a bloodhound, since 1997, I've been very fortunate not to have to experience that with any of the bloodhounds I've owned.

With the weather outside, all of us hid inside. The hounds slept, I watched baseball and read out of different books. It's too quiet for a Saturday.

BTW ... for those of you that read this far .... it didn't rain today and by that 2pm prediction time, it was nice and sunny outside.

It's been a good day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Beautiful Saturday Morning

The day started with one of the strangest dreams I've had in a while. Maybe it was because it woke me up, but I remembered a few of the details of the dream.

It was so strange because I was confused why I needed to go to a job from 25 years ago. I was late for work and couldn't figure out why I was even going to work, since I thought I was retired.

I had some of my past hounds playing in the house with none of them being bloodhounds. It was so weird to see the old Winston wrestling with himself as a puppy. The other two basset hounds were laying in the sunshine sleeping and I was still trying to figure out why I was going to work if I was retired. Had something changed?

So I was more than happy to open my eyes to see Sadie standing next to the bed staring at me at eye level with that look she has every morning "I have to go outside". The bedroom was so full of sunshine I had no idea what time it was and from the dream I wasn't even sure that day it was. To say I was confused would be a compliment. I knew I needed coffee and I needed it as fast as possible.

I could tell it was extremely cold outside as I changed into my clothes, because the storm windows were covered with frozen ice. As I walked through the kitchen to let the hounds outside, my iPhone weather app told me it was 13° with hopes of getting all the way up to 38 by this afternoon.

The hounds made their normal first trip outside while I poured their breakfast kibble. Once inside Heidi sprints for her bowl, Stella starts howling with excitement and Sadie goes into her hopping up and down routine ... to bad that exercise does not help her lose weight.

I have to have both of their bowls of food sitting high on a shelf because I cannot have them on the floor when they walk in ... each bloodhound will do anything to eat both bowls of food. Yet, they never both Heidi or her bowl of food.

By 10:30am it was up to 21° although the 'feels like' was only 9°. A perfect time for a walk.

The field was covered with frost, the air was crisp but it did not feel as cold as 9°, in fact it felt a little warmer than yesterday's morning walk. With the down parka and ski gloves I was very warm.

I would really like to find out what is buried so deep inside those frozen leaves and grass that Stella and Sadie find so interesting. The times I have walked to where they have their noses plastered to the ground, I don't find anything most of the time.

Sadie turned one last time to see if Stella was coming and then took off for her walk. She is the perfect hound for walking. She keeps up, still wanders off following her nose, yet never falls too far behind ... and will come when called. Even Winston use to lag way behind at his own pace and at times in June before they baled the field he would get no further than the corner of the house barking the whole time we were gone. I still miss that hound a lot.

At this point I am almost to the corner of the field where we veer right. I could tell by Stella's lack of movement it was be the same for her as it has been the past week or so. She will not get as far as the first corner and will walked toward the neighbor's wooded area without heading our direction.

An interesting leaf ... makes me want those 100° days in July.

The cold weather had energized Sadie. She was running everywhere and at times faster than I could keep her in the view finder of the camera. The camera caught this strange stance ... she was actually moving at the time.

She tracked a lot of area today but never stayed long whenever she stopped.

In the meantime there was still no sign of Stella as she was off in her own little world.

Hard to believe I walked into the same pile of frozen dirt causing me to stumble forward with the same sore toe from previous accidents. I was still able to hang onto the camera and decided it might be time to move back to the steel toe hiking boots in our next walks.

As I was about to make the final turn toward home, look who I see up on the horizon staring right back at me. Does she come when I call her name ... not a chance. She went right back to eating deer scat.

Sadie decided to go check on Stella without me saying a word today. I kept walking and knew I'd have to walk over to Stella before she would move. I can't say that I am a big fan of her recent routine and can't wait for it to change.

I kept calling her name as I got closer. I might as well kept my mouth shut from the response she was giving me. Not until I got within a foot of her, did she left her head and walked over to me. I guess she expected me to hook her up to the leash, but I never took it out of my pocket.

It didn't matter what she was doing, at least the morning was beautiful with bright sunshine, clear blue skies and higher temps on the way.

The highway in this picture is a lot further away from her than the picture shows. I'd guess Stella is about half way between the highway and the path I am on ... that's a lot of field between us.

I don't care for Sycamore trees in general but this one is still nice to me. I had two more like it on the bank along the driveway until the straight-line winds pulled them out of the ground like weeds in June 2008. After they fell they covered all of my front yard.

When the ground is really saturated and winds get up in the 60mph range I wonder if that tree will fall like the others did. I hope not because if it fell due north like the others, that will be right down the center of the house.

It might be time this summer to have a crew come in and trim the top 25% off but I always hate seeing that happen to trees. If you look at the far right tree you will notice it does not go as high as the other 3 limbs.

The top of that limb was struck by lightning in that 2008 windstorm and fell onto the corner of my carport. It was long enough to be sitting on the ground at an angle, damaging the corner of the house and a good 6' above the roof.

By the time I almost to the house, the hounds were happy to go inside where they instantly fell asleep, which will last until lunch kibble is served.

No plans today but continue reading my books. I guess I should start giving some of the books I read a title and author. I guess today I will take the chance of hearing some sort of backlash and tell you what I am reading. In today's world on social media, phone calls with old friends or those that have family dinners ... hardly anything can be discussed anymore about current events without an argument starting.

So the book I started reading yesterday afternoon and couldn't put down, forcing myself to turn off the lights and go to bed at 3am is by Roger Stone -- "The Making of the President 2016". It's a great book and shows just how close it was to having a different result in this years election, plus all the action behind the scenes you never read about.

I tried to head a different direction in subject matter yesterday in the library, but I pulled this off the 'new' book shelf. After this is finished sometime today or tonight, I'll flip into an old John Grisham novel for a change of pace. I still have plenty of books on my personal bookshelves that have never been read, yet some have been read three or four times.

No plans today except reading and another late afternoon hound walk. Did you like two posts in one day or prefer one long post showing up in the 6-7pm range?

I have stated in previous blog posts that I am a football addict but it's the same this year as many years before ... I don't watch nor read anything about the upcoming Super Bowl. I'll not turn my tv on until the exact time for kickoff and will not only turn down the sound but will turn the tv off at halftime of the game. I really wish we could separate sports and politics.

I figure by Monday I will be back at the library to turn in the two books I have now and search for more reading material. I am addicted to reading right now. Any suggestions for good books to read, any of your favorites?

I am happy and the hounds are happy today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.