Hounds Relax On Sunday

The "cold front" that moved through on Friday night has made a world of difference this weekend. With temps in the mid to high 80's and the heat index not much higher ... outside is once again tolerable.

Not much was planned for the day. The hounds would sleep, a drive through the country for me with the top down, and possibly some ice cream later in the afternoon. The mood to drag out lawn care tools wasn't there ... the trimming of the yews sounded like a good idea for Monday.

Once again earlier in the morning, Sadie and Stella went into the field long enough to dump their tanks and didn't have much interest to roam or explore. Both of them came back running to the house shortly after they were finished. I am beginning to think they like the air conditioning as much as I do.

Since they had breakfast around 9:30am, their lunch was not served until almost 1:30pm. It didn't matter to them. Anytime kibble is in front of them, or baked chicken breasts, they are always interested in eating.

Heidi decided to take a trip to the backyard for the first time in weeks. She didn't move more than a foot into the yard where she found her spot to lie down and soak up some sunshine.

I think you might notice that a lot of hair has grown back on her legs and paws. It's not the normal thickness but does cover them. Also no redness like she has had in the past a lot of times.

Sadie of course cannot find it relaxing just to lie down like Stella and Heidi, she is always on the hunt for something.

Whether it be on grass, hay or gravel, Stella always enjoys taking a nap in the sunshine. She was so sound asleep that she did not hear my camera beep when the autofocus locked in. Normally that beep would have woke her up.

The day progressed kinda slow the rest of the day. I watched a little Reds baseball, surfed the internet, read my book and by late afternoon we decided it was time for the trip to Dairy Queen to pick up one of those large blizzards that had our name on it.

With the first NLF pre-season game tonight at 8pm local time, I decided it was time to fit in the pregame walk ... but they were not interested!!!!

Stella only wanted to chew grass. Sadie wanted to track the mole traffic. I took all of these photos with the 55mm-200mm zoom lens.

Sadie found out that sometimes that dirt from the mole tracks doesn't taste as good as it looks.

Stella is more than happy to eat grass rather than walking today.

I always like it when I catch Sadie staring off into space. I wonder what she is thinking about?

I stood up right after I snapped this photo sitting down. I thought they might beg to go for their walk but both of them sprinted to the house, came inside and were asleep within minutes in the cold air.

Ed had a comment on my post yesterday, a little confused on what a "strom" was, thinking it was some kind of local language. I looked through my blog via the search box and for some odd reason nothing showed up after using 3 or 4 different search terms. I could have swore I posted a photo of a strom in the past. The word strom is a shorten version of the word stromboli. Although they are made different, depending on where you order them. Here is a photo of one that I took last fall, another one of my addictions.

Inside that italian bread is pizza sauce, a lot of cheese, Italian sausage, mushrooms, some chopped tomato and toasted in the oven. I'm told by the bartender I am one of the few he has seen that can finish the 12" strom. Usually by the time I drive the 25 or so miles home, a siesta takes place soon after my arrival. For years I have always finished the whole sandwich.

Life is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... the Colts first NFL preseason game is on tonight.

The Hounds Were Lazy

From the start, all three hounds declared the afternoon was going to be more than just the normal slow pace. We started with weed eating as much of the drive as possible, along the north fence before the battery wore down. With clouds rolling in and rain looking probable, the car wash was cancelled.

Instead Heidi decided it was time to join us on a trip to the local Dairy Queen for a large Blizzard. We had to turn down the offer of a "pup cup" because that would be too much sugar and possibly affect her yeast infection ... by the way her skin looked all day today, we should have taken the ice cream when it was offered.

Stella moved her nap inside to outside. She put some serious thought into it and one photo catches her with her head up and her eyes closed. Can you see it?

Of course Sadie rarely lays down like that and always has to be on the move. With Stella sleeping and Sadie out in the field ... I moved inside to play with the blog template and change it ... I was bored, I needed something different and more tweaking may be involved.

It might be my eyes but the photos do look sharper to me in this template due to the dark background. Is it just me or can you see it also? Let me know if there is anything the new colors do that make it harder for you to read the blog. I am not sure if I like the color of the links on each sidebar.

It rained for less than a minute today ... huge drops of rain. Also another day of not finding any ticks on any of the hounds. Heidi has spent a lot of the afternoon rolling on the carpet, growling at herself ... and scratching.

I think I am feeling a quiet Saturday night here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Was More Active Today

Less than 24 hours after Heidi had her 20 minute soak in warm water and Epsom Salts, she seems more active. I have not done this on a regular basis because each time the skin on her legs and paws look irritated with redness. A lot more redness than what was there (none) before the soak. I don't think I will give her those soaks with Epsom Salts again.

Yet, she has been a lot more active inside and outside since her bath and nail trim. She's back to doing her sprinting around the inside of the house and spent more time being social with the bloodhounds. After lunch today she went outside and toward the backyard on her own, she usually heads to the front yard. I thought there was a chance she was going to spend an hour or so in the sun, but she turned right around and headed for the warm concrete floor in the carport.

Stella in the meantime had been pushing her nose on the door knob inside to let me know she wanted out. It didn't take more than a step into the yard when she decided it was the perfect time for a short pre-walk nap.

Sadie convinced her they needed to walk. I decided I would only take photos of "highlights" during the walk today ... as you can see there were no highlights.

Approaching the house I thought I might see Heidi laying in the backyard. When she wasn't on the carport where we left her, I thought she had moved to the door while waiting for us to return. She wasn't there either. I glanced out front and didn't see her ... but she never runs away. As I walked out to the front yard, I see her on the other side soaking up some sun.

I wonder what happened to her reputation she came with from the rescue service ... "must be leashed at all times" or "she is a runner" ... but that was more than 4 years ago. I guess that shows she likes living here. She has never stepped a foot in the direction of the highway ... still, I don't leave her out there alone like this, at least in the front yard.

As you can tell from the sunshine, it was another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.