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 !!!

Perfect Weather In The Tropics

Sunday afternoon was nothing out of the ordinary with the hounds sleeping through the heat, while I watched another miserable Reds baseball game and later some good Indy500 Qualifications. It was one of those days that you have a lot of "I don't know" moments.

Stella started her walk this morning just as she has done the past few days. It's not a direction I like seeing her go because I know she is headed north to the woods behind the neighbors or their drainage ditch. For the 2nd morning in a row I walked over through the high grass to tell her she was going to join Sadie and I. For some reason I think about her and that highway the past two days, so I will follow my intuition and play it safe.

Sadie was sure something had been on our path overnight and she pressed her nose as hard as she could against the small patch of dirt. I wish I had her energy first thing ever morning. My normal two cups of coffee didn't seem to be working so I thought a walk might help speed up my metabolism.

I could barely see Stella heading north, just past the property line pole. While Sadie never changes her routine one the walks, Stella likes to change her routine ever two to three weeks. Why is that? The routines she does not change is when is she back inside the house. She drinks water, moves behind my desk chair and sleeps until lunch.

You can see how much different some parts of the field is based on the height and thickness of the grass compared to the field next to the yard. We have a little more than a month before they normally cut it. I always enjoy walking through a cut field or when the grass is shorter. It doesn't matter to Sadie ... she just wants to track scent.

I gradually got Stella back in our direction heading up the return path the wrong direction. Just like yesterday we hopped back over to the normal path going around the first turn. While walking I could see that WeatherBug was correct in their forecast of cloudy skies all day where I was questioning Wunderground's that said we had a good chance of rain. It will keep it cool today at 80° with perfect sleeping weather at night in the 60's with the windows open.

I am in the mood to visit the library today. I haven't been there in a while and unlike a few years ago I didn't make more then three or four trips this past winter. Of course that 'to do list' I have is within view of my computer and another copy taped to the front of the refrigerator. Those reminders don't seem to be working again this summer.

I had heard a chainsaw as soon as we left the house and not until I uploaded this photo on the blog did I see the source of that noise. Off into the distance you can see one of the neighbors have someone trimming their trees. It's a nice, large house and in the twenty years I have lived here I have never seen anyone in the yard, their car in the driveway or even lights on if I pass by during the night. Yet I am told people live there all twelve months of the year and do not spend their winter in Florida.

You can see that Stella continues with her own path along the overgrown ATV path while Sadie and I follow ours along the back edge of the field.

There has never been a scent that Sadie has not enjoyed checking out.

Doesn't it look like one of those dark and gloomy days ahead. At least it is 80° warmer than those winter days that I don't care for. A friend of mine is trying to help me adapt to those freezing winter hound walks and has mailed me a Carhartt full length coverall. I should receive it in the mail today. He claims he wore it only once because it was a little long and thinks I'll have a better chance to fit into them.

Stella has one speed, all day on any walk ... "slower than slow".

There are three places she likes to stop and scratch on this walk and this is one of them. The exact some place after each morning walk. No fleas have been found, no ticks, just seasonal allergies.

Back to those Sunday's "I don't knows" ... they were basically about what to eat, what to watch on tv or what to do. When I was hungry I didn't know what for, except I was positive it was for nothing I had in the kitchen. I didn't know what I was hungry for. As far as tv, 200 channels although I don't have many of them on my programmed remote ... but those that I listed had nothing interesting on tv.

If they ever come out with a program package of just sports channels in the future, that is all I would buy. I keep thinking that by the time my two year contract is up with Dish Network the source of tv signals will be so much different by then I may not have a satellite dish mounted for tv nor my internet.

I spent some time yesterday afternoon sitting outside but it is turning into the typical summer war with bugs, bees, wasps or allergies. The hounds didn't want to stay outside long either as they were more interested in being in their normal afternoon spots where they sleep all day. That led me back into the "I don't know...." routine.

We all checked the weather outside right after lunch. No rain and slightly cooler than yesterday so I went back inside to grab the batteries to the weed eater and finish the bank along the driveway. The weeds seem to die out by the sun and heat if I cut them to ground level, not completely out of  view but much better for the hounds doing it that way.

Heidi was enjoying the afternoon and I later saw her laying in the shade in the north backyard, a place she hasn't gone, while I was beating down the weeds along the driveway fence.

Stella always likes to think after lunch before she makes any commitments. She is pretty use to sleeping right after lunch. Those weeds you see were gone soon after I took this photo.

I thought I was going to be able to catch Heidi laying in the shade enjoying the day but she saw me looking at her without the camera so she started to walk or trot toward me. I barely had time to grab the camera off the kitchen table and return to take a couple of photos.

While I was killing weeds along the bank of the driveway I kept looking toward the backyard to see if the bloodhounds were still around or had they snuck off into the field. Each time Stella was in view walking around the yard. I didn't know what she had been doing until I was about ready to go inside ... she had been eating pure brown dirt. She likes dirt.

The afternoon was slow enough and cool enough to keep the windows open. I grabbed the book I just finished the other day and started reading it for a second time. Too lazy to get in the FJ and go grocery shopping so I put that off for another day. You never want to get everything done in one day when you are retired. You must spread out your activities to keep sane.

I was almost able to set some new time records in my Mahjong game earlier today. I finished one game under 3 minutes for the first time ever and two other games I broke the previous record of 2:41. I don't think I can eliminate all of the Mahjong tiles any faster than that.

I had another friend tell me today telling me they was shutting their blog down after 10 years. They were also considering getting rid of all of their social media accounts. Is this a new trend?? Other full-time travelers are getting off the road and moving into houses for the first time in a long time.

I love the Indy500 but always watch at home instead of going to the race. Looking at the forecast for Sunday in Indianapolis it looks like rain may happen. If it does, that turns into a long day trying to get 500 miles in while stopping the race for rain and then taking the time to dry the track. That is another good reason to watch at home from the couch ... no lines at the concession (fridge) and no lines at the restrooms (my bathroom).

Another great day checked off in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Plans Her Day

With the field across the highway planted, the hounds and I had a full day of activity ahead of us. It was suppose to be hotter today than yesterday and it's almost perfect weather this time of year.


Stella started her day, thinking and trying to get her plan together.

While Sadie did a little early exploring through the wet grass as coffee was brewing inside. It looks like part of the field near the backyard is growing by the hour ... a winter full of great bloodhound fertilizer makes the grass grow faster.

I was tired of getting my feet wet the past few mornings, so this morning I put on my hiking boots and set the New Balance running shoes (yard shoes) off to the side.

Stella got so deep into the thorn bushes that the long vines were sticking to her as she tried to back out. She didn't notice them and kept on charging. In the meantime my arms and legs are showing signs of thorn cuts after I climbed up and around the bank yesterday cutting those 1"-2" saplings.

I could tell that Sadie was pretty locked into scents this morning but didn't know just how much until we turned the corner.

While Sadie went in front of us with her nose to the ground, Stella was following her own pace and taking her time.

At first by the way Sadie was acting I thought she was going to run down into the gully through the thick brush. She definitely had a strong scent and no doubt that scent was deer.

Luckily when I called her name, she came running out of the bushes and headed in a different direction.

It was a pretty slow pace back to the house. Stella kept walking in our direction without any desire to head to the woods to her left. Sadie kept her nose to the ground almost all the way home.

After we returned from the morning walk I decided it was time for Phase II in clearing the bank. I needed to move all the small tree saplings I cut yesterday up to my burn pile. They are too green and would not burn today. I'll let them set there until next fall and by the size of it I might have one of my biggest fires yet.

Here is a pretty good sample of the saplings I am talking about. There are some pointing the other way that are larger in diameter, it takes time to cut them no matter what size they are.

I decided I wouldn't wait another few weeks to burn the bank. I decided to start today and anything that did not burn I will cut and stack for another fire tomorrow. There were probably a few that I was unable to get to yesterday when I was in the cutting mode.

This area is after the last part of the fence. I remember years ago that was nothing but green grass that I mowed every time I mowed the yard. After the straight line winds in June 2008 tore out a bank full of tall mature trees, that area went from grass to nothing but saplings..

Stella wasn't up for any kind of supervisory role. I guess I didn't need to put her on the tether to keep her in the field since she slept through most of the fire burning process. She did jump up though when I asked Sadie if it was "time to eat".

Each time I would carry a bundle of saplings up the bank to the burn pile I'd look to see where Sadie was. She decided she needed to check on the new grass seed that I planted on the bank by the old fence post.

It was good to see that almost everything burned in that first section. That was mostly dead leaves. It looks bad now but in a month or two it will be covered with new green growth of ragweed or unidentified weeds.

Yes part of the fence caught fire in the same place as two years ago. My garden hose was ready to kill the flames. It looks like that big stack of thorny vines are not going to burn so they will be the 3rd part of this process.

I mentioned in my last post for every sapling I have cut over the years, three to four new ones will grow back. I have tried everything to kill the tree, from black spray paint on the fresh cut stem, to stump removal chemicals, and slamming a hatchet down the center of the stem.

With all the smoke blowing toward the house, Sadie was making sure I had the fire under control and a call to the local fire department would not be needed. That reminds me of a funny story about the fire department and my neighbor's fire last summer.

The two neighbors north of me have huge banks from their front yard to the highway. For the 20 years I have been here, they have burned the dead brush on those banks right down to the shoulder of the highway every year. I noticed last summer that two fire trucks showed up to the neighbor next to me. I thought that was strange because he and his wife were outside watching it with the garden hose nearby in case it got out of control.

I found out in a conversation the other day that someone in a car passing by on the highway decided THEY needed to call the fire department for the out of control grass fire, thus the two fire trucks showing up unexpected.

Soon after my fires were on their last legs, Sadie decided it was time for lunch. When I walked inside Heidi was already standing by her food bowl and started barking at me when she saw me.

I was about to start washing the cars when I decided instead to run to town to buy a bag of dog food. The hounds have about 3-4 days left I expect but for some reason today I decided to buy early and keep the bag in the car until needed. If I were to bring that new bag inside, Stella would break into it when she had the chance.

It was a good thing I did, I bought the last bag on the pallet and their next delivery is not due until Tuesday. On the way back home I decided it was time for a little more lunch. That salad I had did not last long and for the past week or two I have been craving the best fish sandwich I've see, just 20 miles away.

It's one of those small town, out of the way places that are a concrete block building, a kitchen and 3 tables that could cram in 12 people if needed. They have the best fish sandwich I have ever had, including out in the PNW.

So things were going pretty well with Phase II of the bank clearing finished, a good lunch, beautiful weather ... I could wash the cars or take a siesta. Since I believe it's best to wash cars either early morning or late afternoon the option of a siesta won.

It's a beautiful night for some college football, so I am headed inside to get cleaned up and drive to Bloomington to watch the IU spring football game. That will close out their NCAA allowed spring practice.

Phase III of the bank clearing may be delayed tomorrow. I just received my UPS box to return the Exede modem, power supply and TRIA. I can take that up to UPS tomorrow since there is no longer a UPS drop off in town. Exede included in their package an offer I can't refuse to "come back". All I need to do is call them and mention those two key words for an offer of a lifetime.

Too much work getting done here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... I'm tired.