Hounds Started Early

 

You can tell by the tone of the photos it was early, like 7:30am and it was overcast with rain in the forecast. The made no difference to the hounds as they were outside early chasing each other, wrestling until the light rain showed up. I had to yell'' "milk bone" to get the three of them inside. Walter is included in that treat even though he was inside staying dry.

Stella Expands Her Boundary

Stella's new adventure started as soon as the walk did. As usual she headed away from Sadie and I. By the time I looked back to see where she was, she was already past the north edge of the yard, heading next door. I yelled her name and for some strange reason she reacted immediately with an 'about face' and trotted toward our path.

It was much cooler this morning so I thought I might see some running from her but that 50' trot was about all the energy she had. At least while she was within my view.

She continued to walk as if she was exhausted, could barely catch Sadie and I ... she never did because she stayed behind supplementing her diet.

So Sadie and I quickened our pace and took off for the morning walk.

It was still very wet from the heavy dew this morning. I am going to have to go back into my library of photos for this time last year and see if I was having the same problems on the first walk of the day. That shows right there that my memory is suspect yet something 40 years ago I can remember in detail.

It was good to see some flowers return since they baled the field. These were just off the edge of the field in the fast growing brush at the top of the gully. It's the spot that Sadie would like to jump into instead of walking into.

As I walked back looking through my 200mm zoomed lens, looking for Stella. I did not see her in the middle of the field, nor the area where we left her. I didn't see her anywhere near the wooded area behind my neighbors house or near their drainage ditch ... in fact ... I didn't see Stella anywhere.

Then as I glanced along the horizon without the camera, I spotted her ... in an area she had never been except for the few times she was chasing deer and a strange dog visiting the neighbors during Christmas last winter.

She was further north than she had ever been, between my two neighbors to the north. For her to go that far from the area I left her, in the amount of time it took me to walk ... Stella would have had to trot at a fairly fast pace to get to the area where I found her.

Was her slow walk an act to fake me out?  It has happened before ... LOL

Sadie didn't care though. She ran a lot in her walk this morning and finished it with a sprint to the house. She was fast enough that I almost didn't catch her with the camera.

Around noon when all of us went outside after our lunch, it felt like rain, looked like rain but no signs of anything on the weather radar in our area ... all to the north of us.

Stella was more interested in going back inside to start her afternoon siesta rather than taking a walk. She did not move from this spot until I started walking to the door.

Heidi got this far, not even into the yard when she turned around and headed back to the door to be let inside so she could sleep on the couch.

Sadie just looked confused. She didn't even do her normal begging to walk and fell asleep within minutes of going back inside. It was like all three hounds had been zapped with low energy ... strange because it was a good ten degrees cooler than these past few days.

By noon I had very few pictures, not enough activity to blog about and had no plans to fill the afternoon with anything outside the normal day. I did help the economy this morning by spending money on groceries if if my shopping cart looked right ... I took home less food than I normally do. It's amazing how fast money goes when you are buying nothing but basic food.

It wasn't soon after we were back inside, that it was I not Sadie, that needed to get out of the house and head out for a walk. After looking at Stella during that walk I am not sure she was keen on the idea.

With the grocery shopping being the 'hit' of the day, things were almost too quiet. Once again I started a book, only to put it back on shelf after reading a couple of pages. I looked through the alphabetized DVD's and scanned sports talk shows on tv ... nothing there. What to do?

A siesta ... the hounds thought that was a perfect idea and were glad to see their training is paying off in these early years of retirement ... my daily schedule is becoming a lot like their routine.

For the first time in a long time there was no dreaming. That seems to be a big problem lately in my nightly sleeps ... strange confusing dreams.

By the time we woke up this afternoon, both water bowls (3qt & 1qt) for the hounds had been emptied. Heidi was trotting to the door to let me know she had to use the bathroom facilities outside. Stella was still in a semi-state of sleep and didn't know if it was really time to get up or not. Of course Sadie was bouncing up and down on her front legs with excitement ... thinking we were headed for a walk.

We almost were until I stepped outside with Heidi and saw the thermometer I hung on the wall the other day had it's needle above the 90° mark, enough to prevent any confusion if it was really that hot or not.

It was back to having all outside activity suspended until 8pm tonight. A much better time to take that last walk of the day, which would make the 3rd one today.

We will be back to watching Reds baseball tonight, reminding myself that its a rebuilding process  that was decided by the team owner and GM. That means 2017 is not the season where wins are important but getting young players experience playing baseball everyday at the major league level.

I think it is more like "lets cut salaries by the millions of dollars, have fireworks every Friday night after the games to draw a sell out crowd and increase our profits". But that is just thoughts from a lifelong fan that hates losing at any kind of game.

With that last thought, I'm headed to the kitchen for one of many tall glasses of ice tea tonight and get prepared for that 8pm walk with Sadie and Stella.

It's hot and too quiet here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana

What A Siesta That Was !!

It started like a normal afternoon, only to be swarmed over by a long three hour siesta.

I didn't plan on sleeping the afternoon away but I did. I still have time to enjoy a few hours of sunshine. Just a few because my nightly Reds baseball on tv starts at 7:40pm. There is something relaxing watching baseball or at least have in on in the background.

Right after the hounds had their lunch kibble we all went outside. They did their normal wandering, dumping their tanks if needed. I grabbed the weed eater and took off down the back side of the house and over to the 'new' bank where I am trying to grow grass.

Once the Black & Decker 20v Lithium battery went dead, it was time to come back inside grab my book for some reading and head back outside. Once the gnats won the war I went back inside and played a few games of Mahjong.

I can usually tell when I might be tired from my fast paced lifestyle. When I finish Mahjong games in 4 minutes or longer, instead of 3 minutes or less, that tells me I either didn't sleep well or my mind is a little slow today.  My goal is to get the games I have left over 3 minutes to under 3 minutes.

While reading my book I realized those two cups of coffee and two eggs had reached the end of their nutritious path through my system. I was hungry but didn't know what for. I've been eating really good food lately and not speeding off to the nearest fast food joint for my meals.

I pushed the hunger pains away and continued to read. Later, by the third game of Mahjong I figured why not? Why wait for dinner just to have a large plate of pasta? With my busy schedule I can still fit in a large meal in the early afternoon time period.

With that carbo load and no physical activity to follow, It wasn't long where I was staggering toward the bedroom, letting the hounds know I was headed for a siesta. Stella followed me, Heidi stayed in her prime spot on the couch and Sadie of course was sitting by the open screen door checking out all the birds that had landed on her fence.

I don't remember the exact time it started but I ended up becoming conscious again around three hours later. Sadie was hopping up and down, somewhere between barking and moaning ... telling me she either couldn't wait much longer to go outside or we had been robbed. I chose that she had to go outside.

Not only did she sprint for the field but she didn't stop there. She wanted a walk after spending all afternoon trying to break into the locked lid dog food container. While I was sleeping she had slid out four barbells weighing 15# and 25# each, only used now to block the dog food container in the closet floor instead of staying in shape.

I guess I could shut the closet door to prevent that access to all that kibble locked in it's safe zone but when you downsize and have no other place to store your carpet shampoo rug doctor machine, the high pressure hose machine and my camping equipment ... it's just a little crowed to close that door.

Stella hung around for most of our afternoon walk. When she did wander off on her own she was always within sight and trotted to catch up to Sadie. That is really a good sign.

With the outdoor temps at 78°, Sadie had not paced herself and the heat caught up with her by the end of the walk ... nothing like dragging your tongue back to the house, panting.

That was a sure sign that I needed to brew up a new batch of ice tea. As I glanced at the indoor room thermometer near my computer and saw 77°, I remembered those times this winter when that same thermometer would say 55° before turning the heat on. I laughed at the new temps and wondered how long it would be this summer before I would turn on the A/C.

Just as I stepped inside the carport with the hounds right on my heels, the sunshine caught the field just right where I could see the new growth, with bright green rows showing up in all that brown.

(there I go again, writing the content above the photo I am talking about)

While making the ice tea I thought about a Z4 drive. The perfect time for it in an hour or so when it was a little cooler. But I really wasn't in the mood to drive anywhere. I am pretty hooked on baseball right now, so I'll be on the couch next to a stretched out sleeping Stella and a curled up sleeping Heidi watching the game until it gets uninteresting.

Another good sign that Stella is feeling better ... she is chewing the heck out of her large NylaBone.

There is always tomorrow to get to work on that 'to do' list, I just have to find where I hid it.

I guess I should have taken a chance on Friday and joined the hounds in eating their attractive beef looking chews from NetGard. They have been tickless for days now after their walks and all those small creatures are finding me. At least they are smaller in size this spring but nothing like feeling that something is crawling on your before you realize what is on you.

It's time to grab a large glass of ice tea and head back outside so the hounds can roam the field while I watch and battle the gnats for an hour before the ballgame.

It's been another successful retirement day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Quiet Enjoyable Friday

Not much was planned today. The temps were going to climb from the 20's to the 50's by late afternoon. I knew the hounds would needed a couple of walks. Plus I was back in the mood for reading, after taking a day off from books.

The highlight of the week I guess was taking the car cover off of the Z4 and taking it for a spin yesterday. It had been almost a month since the last trip. It's all based on weather, when I take it out. Even in freezing temps it started right up, and the heater will blast you out of the car when turned on. I thought about putting the top down but still would have been too cold with a down parka and ski gloves.

I took it out again today after the hounds had been fed lunch. I have a few very nice country roads or highways I can take, all different directions. During the drive yesterday I decided to flip the car's positions in the carport. I had always parked my other Mini Cooper in the smaller outboard space.

Since I no longer had the FJ, I moved the Z4 to the 'inside' space and that keeps it away from the weather a little more. I'll still keep the car cover on it during bad weather and during the times the fields are being plowed or harvested due to the large amount of dust in the air.

Stella was out in front on this mornings walk. While Sadie was doing her normal hopping up and down, grabbing my hand, thrilled we were walking ... Stella trotted out in front of us.

Does it look like this chewed tree limb is getting smaller?

The hounds were a little slow in their searches this morning, not really energized and even I was walking at a slower pace. It was Friday I guess, after surviving another week of retirement.

While Sadie checked out some of the brush area, Stella was behind us and had disappeared. Instead of leaving her there, I backtracked to find her barely inside the wooded area. She came when I called and trotted along the edge of field for a while, then got distracted by something she smelled.

She didn't seem really thrilled that she had to move from her point of interest but didn't hesitate in trotting toward Sadie. Then she stopped again for the second time so it was time for the infamous standard leash. I connected it and let it drop to the ground.

It's funny how she reacts to having the leash ... she will move and stay on the path, walks slower, head lowered to the ground. I guess it's a way for her to show me her displeasure.

While she was walking along with us I moved up to unhook her from the leash and she still followed the path until we got to the far right hand corner.

She was about to take off right, until I called her name. She then ran to catch up with Sadie. She has been pretty cooperative this week.

Like I said before, Sadie wasn't as energized has she has been in recent weeks. Maybe they were tracking older deer scent that they had already identified and nothing exciting was crossing their noses.

I made the turn without looking back, calling Stella's name ... when I turned to take a picture she was already on her way to run in front of me.

It was sunny this morning but still very very cold and windy, from the SW.

I needed to make a trip to the local Walmart to pick up a new pair of sunglasses, the kind that clip on to my eyeglass. I only wear glasses to drive and watch tv. They are not needed when I am on the computer nor when reading books. But once again, I lost the clip on sunglasses yesterday in the most mysterious way. I still cannot figure out how I lost them nor where.

I parked the Z4 by the air pump, got out of the car and took off the sunglass slipping them into my jacket pocket (I thought), walked across the parking lot to the mini mart to get some change for the machine, came back to the car and couldn't find my sunglasses when I started to leave.

I went back to the mini mart to double check the counter, asked the cashier if they had found them and also checked by the ATM machine ... while walking back to the car I kept my eyes to the ground just in case they dropped out of my pocket. It was a true 'senior moment' ... they were gone!

After lunch I always let the hounds out, including Heidi, for a short trip but today I saw Sadie in an area that is not allowed. There is a small ditch behind the burn pile for her to cross to get to where she is in this photo. With all of that being overgrown with wild bushes in the summer she doesn't go in there.

For some reason when I got back from the short Z4 drive this afternoon I thought it was somewhere around 4pm. Maybe because we did so much today. So I grabbed the camera, the leash and headed out for our afternoon walk. The leash was not needed this afternoon. I only had to tell Stella "come on" and she would move and catch up with us.

It was warming up but the winds were stronger this afternoon and still blowing cold air. It's going to be great with 7 days of warmer weather and much warmer than the past February averages.

I let the hounds go where they wanted this afternoon. They were moving much faster than they were this morning. Stella and Sadie were getting in some good exercise. Heidi? She was in a deep sleep snoring when I left the house.

For some reason lately Stella has been itching a lot. No fleas were found when I checked and she will take time even during the walk to scratch herself.

Sadie was pretty happy with a walk so soon in the afternoon. I found out why as I was way off on the time, by almost two hours.

While Sadie and Stella joined Heidi for an afternoon siesta, I sat in a sunlit living room reading.

With college and pro football officially over now, I am kinda in a lull for my sports addiction. I get a daily email reminder of how many days until MLB starts but that is still a couple of months away. Maybe Heidi has the right idea and taking daily siesta isn't a bad idea.

It's sunny and nice today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.