The Storm Came Early

With the current weather early this morning and the slim chance of the daily hound walks today, I decided to post early and include the photos from yesterday afternoon's walk ... Sadie was the featured hound.

I am not sure what time it was but it was still dark when the roar of thunder and a lightning bolt bright enough to light up the bedroom woke me up. It was almost immediately I felt a bloodhound muzzle trying to lift my hand up from the side of the bed.

It was Stella standing by the side of the bed wanting to let me know it's storming and to remind me that she is not a fan of thunderstorms. I was told when I picked her up that she hated thunderstorms but compared to my first basset hound, Harry, she is not bad at all. She whines a little and paces a little during these storms but isn't what I would call frantic.

All of us got back to sleep as the thunder continued to roll but I didn't hear rain hitting the storm windows so maybe that took place earlier while we were sleeping. Wunderground shows there is a pretty good chance of rain continuing from now until Wednesday at 10am.

Sadie was wondering this morning if there was still a chance to take walk in light rain even before the first cup of coffee was poured. No, there wasn't.

With Stella not interested in getting any further away from the driveway than this ... plus the light drizzle ... the morning walk has been canceled at this time. When there is standing water in the low spots next to the house, that means the field is too wet to be hiking through.

So with that in mind, I'll post some pictures from yesterday afternoon. It wasn't planned but Sadie turned out to be the featured hound of the walk All hounds were given free reign to go and do anything they wanted during this walk.

Heidi chose not to go on the walk and only took her back way out to the front yard long enough to relieve herself and then back inside for her afternoon siesta.

Stella stopped within 20' of starting the walk and didn't move, so I knew what her plan was and I wasn't going to stick around to watch.

It was Sadie and I enjoying the walk and the warm weather. There wasn't any wind, a lot of birds chirping among themselves and clear blue skies. It was perfect weather for a mid-day walk.

The way Sadie reacts every time we start to walk, I really think we could walk an unlimited amount of times per day and she would never care. In some cases Stella has a limit, where by the 3rd walk on some days she has zero interest and will take one slow step at a time to get through it.

This picture gives you some idea what Stella's plan was for the afternoon walk. You can barely see her just right of center.

Sadie on the other hand was intense in her exploration. She was in her own world enjoying every scent she could pick up. Her strong tracking instincts show up every walk, in all kinds of weather.

She started rolling in something before I could catch her. The only baths that I give her are outside with the hose in one hand and her tethered so she will not sprint away. I've tried before but there is no chance of her getting into the bathtub to get clean.

Luckily whatever she rolled in just smelled good to her and didn't leave any kind of residue on her back and shoulders ... too cold for an outdoor shower and not enough time to give her a bath.

While I was talking Sadie into getting away from that spot, Stella sprinted up behind us to checkout what all the excitement was about. By that time Sadie had walked away from the 'real good' spot to keep it hidden from Stella.

Once again Stella stayed behind while Sadie and I continued on.

I am not sure what the reason is or what she is thinking but on a lot of the afternoon walks, Stella will follow the path walking extremely slow, after she catches up to me, without the leash. She will do this up to the back edge of the field and then go into her search mode at a faster pace. Of course you will notice I needed her to keep up with us on the last half of the walk yesterday and I attached the leash as a motivating tool.

Sadie explored every inch of the field to the left of the return path home. Stella walked right behind me, out of picture range for the return trip home. I shut off the camera and enjoyed the weather the rest of the way.

It was a great afternoon with the temperatures just right.

Al over at The Bayfield Bunch has been having problems with a program called Live Writer that he uses to create his blog posts. He finally got the problem solved and is back to using it and as you can see is as happy as a kid in a candy store.

This has increased my curiosity enough about this Live Writer stuff that I am going to pour another cup of coffee while it is bad weather outside, then tear into Google Search and see what I can find out about this program. I am sure they will have a Mac version I can download to my iMac so I can play around with it.

I want to see what I am missing. About all I know about it right now, is that I could write a complete blog post with pictures, offline and someway it will post that to Blogger when I would turn on the internet. That sounds good for someone that is traveling full-time. I remember on our trip to Utah and Colorado in June 2015 I did not have an internet signal a lot of the time to where I could post on a blog.

This Live Writer also works with Google Photos. I only know that from reading Al's blog post this morning where he described how he fixed his latest problem. I use Google Photos daily as I upload every picture I take for the day into Google Photos to use as one of many picture library backups.

I took the two books I wasn't interested in reading back to the library yesterday and then picked up two more and started reading them when I got home, late into the night. So it must have been the subject matter I wasn't interested in and not the lack of interest in reading.

IF the weather clears up later today, long enough to take new pictures I might post again. Otherwise this post is it for the day while it rains outside.

It might be raining but at least it's warm on the last day in February in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

The Hounds Check Out The Mini Cooper

What a day!!! I didn't plan to have all of this happen in one day but it did and most of the action I am sorry to say was not photographed due to the requirement of me sprinting after the hounds.

I took a trip out of town this morning, the new 'Countryman' drove fantastic. It's quiet, economical and fast when I need it to be. I'm getting 34.5 mpg for all types of driving. By the time I returned home the hounds ate their lunch and it was perfect timing for a walk. I still needed a jacket but the weather was fantastic.

I would have liked to have seen this machine in action. I guess the tree cutting job from two days ago wasn't all that was in their plans.

It was warm enough I thought Heidi was going to turn and go with us. She got about two steps into the backyard as we were leaving ... then turned and sprinted to the house. I went back to let her inside to keep warm while the bloodhounds and I walked.

Once again Stella had a good walk. There was just one time she lagged behind but about the time I turned to check on her she came sprinting by me to catch Sadie.

Sadie is the one that always her tail curled upward when her nose is on the ground.

While she was behind, Sadie had her nose to the path and took off sprinting . I didn't see any deer on the horizon. She ran non-stop all the way to the back of the field, then along the path we follow all the way over to the large electrical power lines tower.

I guess she had seen enough or found her answer, as she glanced up then turned and headed my direction at a full speed run.

This is where Stella sprinted by me to catch Sadie and they took off for the corner.

Stella came our direction every time I called her.

On the way back I saw something going on in the part of the field that I can't see from my house nor do I photograph this part of the field across the highway.  I was pretty sure they were laying some new underground drainage.

Looks like I guessed correctly. The last system them put in, within view of the house, in fact it's in the first picture of the day every day, has worked very well for them with little to no flooding.

The past couple of days I've thought about testing the bloodhounds inside the Mini Cooper S Countryman. For those that are unfamiliar with the model, it is bigger inside than their smaller convertibles or hardtops. It's their version of a SUV, similar to the BMW X-1. With the seats folded down I have 41 cu inches for storage or hounds riding.

I wanted to make sure they fit in the back for the times we go to the vet for regular shots and checkups and hopefully never an emergency. The back seats laid down but there was a large gap between the seats so I'll need to fill that in with an extra rolled up blanket.

It is 43" wide, no wheel wells to worked around and is 5' from the back of the seats to the back door. Remember I did not buy this car to take cross country with the hounds like we did in June 2015.  Otherwise I would have kept the FJ.

Sadie was inside long enough to turn around, sit down for one second and not any longer, then decided she had seen enough. She had plenty of head room when she sat down but I couldn't take a picture fast enough. She wanted the FJ back.

Stella was like 'a bull in a china shop' ... she danced a little in the back and then jump up into the front passenger seat checking out all the new places she could sling her drool. She wouldn't come out the back, I had to open the drivers door for her. By that time she was moving to the driver side and didn't care what she was stepping on ... as usual.

It was a good test and definite confirmation that the hounds will only go in the car the times we need to go to the vet. Plus when I bought this I no longer planned on taking them everywhere like I did in the FJ. Too much hair over a period of time and too much drool.

The excitement of the day, month or even for the year 2016 took place not long after the hounds jumped out of the car and went back to the field. While I was vacuuming what dog hair had migrated like a magnet to the black cloth interior ... plus wiping off all of Stella's paw prints from the front seats, sunglasses case and the driver seat .... they were back in the field doing what they do best ... exploring.

It wasn't more than ten minutes when I last checked them and it was just pure luck that I checked them when I did. They were gone, I couldn't believe they had disappeared that fast unless they saw deer or another animal. But I didn't have my glasses on and things in the distance are not that clear.

Well I see something in the wooded area and instantly I thought they were hunters. I'm not a hunter so I don't know if it's hunting season but that was my first impulsive thought. Then I see what I think are Sadie and Stella.

In the 19 years and 10 months that I have lived here I never seen anyone in the wooded area directly behind my house. So I wasn't sure what was happening.

My next thought was wondering what they were going to do to the bloodhounds since they were probably as surprised as the hounds were. About that time a dog runs out of the woods flying ... looked like a Springer Spaniel. Of course Sadie and Stella are chasing it full speed with no chance of catching them.

My concern once again is having the hounds in their state of "being oblivious to anything" and running into trouble. This time they had gone further than they ever had as far as houses along the side of the road.

The neighbor that owns the field lives two houses away and on occasion will drive his pickup truck around the edge of the field to look around, as he did two days ago. I found out the people I saw were his his older son and grandson. We walked together to their house wondering how far both of our dogs were going to run to. They are from Houston Texas, visiting for Christmas.

So instead of hunters it was only neighbors taking pictures and walking with their dog not knowing they were going to run into Sadie and Stella. When they saw me arriving they ran over to me acting proudly of their discovery and were anxious to get back home. I walked as they trotted way out in front of me .... then straight to their water bowl once inside.

My next plan of the day was to rearrange my computer room plus a couple of different closets. I wanted my computer room back to where ithad very little in it plus some things in a different location. That took the rest of the afternoon ... it was very good that the computer booted up and worked after turning it off, unplugging everything and moving it.

The dog food containers have been moved out of the way, of coarse the water bowl and food dishes will remain in the same spots to prevent any confusion for the hounds.

We tried another walk late in the afternoon but didn't get much further than the first corner with the camera. Stella heard gun shots, maybe an early Christmas gift or just practicing. It doesn't matter what it is, she is not a fan of gun shots.

So the camera was turned off, the 6' leash pulled out of my jacket pocket and we did the rest of the walk with her on a leash walking as close to me as possible since the rounds were being fired most of the way. She was so close to me walking I doubt that I needed to put the leash on her for her own protection.

Here she hears her first shot.

Since I moved the indoor bicycle trainer out of the computer room ... I am going to assemble that to one of my road bicycles and start riding indoors this winter. It attaches to the back axle. The mountain bike is ready to go for trips through the field in back, without the hounds. I am not sure how that is going to work out.

Heidi is eating as much food as ever but not gaining weight that can be seen by the human eye. She doesn't seem to mind and has her own routine and that has never changed since the time I got her in 2011.

She came with no records since she was a multi visitor to her local shelter as a runaway. Of coarse when she went to GABR basset rescue they had the vet do a thorough exam and he thought at that time she might around 2-1/2 years old. So we have always named December as her birthday, which means she was 8 years sometime this month.

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

A Roll Of Hay Scares Stella

Sunday morning started hot and muggy as soon as I went out side until past midnight. I was pretty sure they would be back to bale this hay Sunday afternoon with possible rain on Monday.

With their field cut, Sadie and Stella had to investigate all of the new smells and any animals that were hiding under the hay. I found one on the walk yesterday afternoon that looked like a mole. It was squeaking as Sadie poked it with her nose.

It's easier for me to see them and now I can tell where they were going recently when I couldn't find them. They were getting pretty far away and out in the center of the immediate area.

Stella continued her morning exploration around the edge of the property, moving along the edge of the yard and trees.

On the border of the grass and river rock is a large mole track where they have pushed up dirt and about 4" of rock. It might be time to spread some grub worm killer today before it rains.

By the time they had finished lunch it was scorching hot and you could smell the hay even more as it dried out.

Heidi is still refusing to walk in the field but does get outside for her normal trips. I was looking back through photos of her in her file and her skin has stabilized this past year. Many months there is not that much difference in appearance with occasional flare ups.

While sitting at the kitchen table playing Mahjong and staying cool with the AC running at 100% I saw a small tractor with a rake on the back then another pulling a baler ... I was hoping they were coming to the field.

The confusion I had was they were coming from the opposite direction from where they live. They do not live near here. I am pretty sure it's the same farmers that baled it last year. My neighbor that lives a couple of houses north of me owns the field and lets one of his friends take the hay.

It was good to look out the window and see they were in the process of raking it and baling it at the same time. I'm not sure if their baler was out of adjustment, needed a tune up or what (I'm not a farmer) but it was not picking up all the hay as it moved through the field.

It looks like they have a new tractor this year but I couldn't get close enough quick enough to see the company label.

On the second lap, that baler backed up a little bit and dropped a large roll of hay close to the yard. After they were finished the hounds and I went out to inspect. Stella didn't know what it was.

Stella figured if she barked and howled at it, that it might go away but it didn't move.

She is still suspicious of it.

It was early in the afternoon, around 3:30pm and really hot ... but the hounds wanted their afternoon walk.

Here you can see the path we made this past year. That path to the left was made by Sadie as she would veer off as we walked back to the house.

This is where I think I saw the mole. I heard it and Sadie refused to move so I walked back to see what she had found. I am not sure why I didn't get photos of it.

Stella was on her own time ... you can see some of the hay they left behind. Not quite enough that would make a whole roll but if they would make another pass just to pick up the hay they left it would be an amount worth doing. It's more than I have ever seen left in the field.

With this front and rear loader they can move two rolls at one time. I noticed they had moved 7 rolls off to the opposite side of the field and had 10 more rolls to move. Last year they brought in a long trailer and hauled all 16 rolls out of the field. This almost makes me wonder if it is someone different this year getting the hay.

As we got back from our walk yesterday afternoon, both Sadie and Stella had to make one final pass around that roll of hay next to the yard and make sure nothing else was in the yard before they would come inside.

At 10:45pm last night it was still 82° and humid ... this morning at 6:30am it didn't feel much different.

It was a good weekend in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.