Stella & I Slosh Through The Field

Stella didn't like this morning's walk any more than I did. It was just to wet after a night of rain added on to the Monday rain. I knew we were in trouble as I stepped off "Winston's Patio" into the back yard as water rose over the side of my boots. One step on the path in the field and it was all mud. My boots were only protected by the cover of wet leaves. We decided to go anyway. You can see after one photo that Stella isn't really enthused about taking the walk.

The water kept rising over the sides of Stella's paws and she hates that. She was looking for an alternative route as was I but even in the thick grass, water was above the ground with each step I took. After all, this morning once she saw standing water on the carport floor she made an immediate left and walked around the Mini Cooper to go out into the yard.

Turning on the Canon G9 X this morning as we headed out, the battery light was flashing. I didn't try to nurse the camera's battery on this walk. I put the battery on the charger and took the Nikon D3200 this morning.

About the time we made it to the first turn I seriously thought about walking over to the return path and head home, calling the walk off. Stella was cruising along the edge of the field and brush so I took a photo of my boot and kept on going.

This was taken after the water was going back into the ground. You can see just how much water was coming over the top of my boot sometimes. I moved over into the high grass to see if that would help. It was wet and muddy everywhere.

It was extremely warm this morning. Gloves were not needed nor was my Carhartt sock hat. I knew the only way we would take a second walk today was if that afternoon freeze would harden the ground fast enough to take that wake. I thought the chances were pretty slim for that to happen.

Just because her paws were wet did not mean she would increase her pace to get home. Same slow pace, one paw at a time and not a care in the world. She knew what her plan was for the day and there was no need to hurry up. The world clocks will adjust to her clock, not the other way around.

I had not made it to the yard when I glanced at my lens and saw that somehow drops of rain were on the lens. It wasn't raining, so it possibly came from the tall grass brushing against the lens. That was hard to understand since I made an effort to always hold the camera high as we walked through the tall grass.

I remembered how much it rained last Spring, way above our normal levels. I wondered if we are headed for another wet Spring and Summer? What do you use to see what your weather will be in the coming months?

By the time we had returned from the morning walk, Heidi was just curious enough about the noise Stella and I were making that she raised her head from the dog bed in the corner of the bedroom floor. I don't think she was happy having her morning nap cut short.

It was only a few hours later that I could feel the forecast was right. It was becoming colder and would probably get below 32° by this afternoon. Stella could either feel rain, hear rain or smell rain and she wasn't going any further than the edge of the carport right after lunch.

Heidi didn't have any different thoughts than Stella either. She went to the edge of the yard and mulch to relieve herself and then sprinted back to the door.

As the afternoon passed, the weather answered the question about the second walk of the day. One time I would glance outside it would be raining. Another time I'd glance up from reading my book in the living room, I was seeing snow flurries outside. We were back to temperatures a little below the normal average temperatures for February so the next few weeks of the month are set.

When I did my taxes in January it did not take me long to understand why my tax refund would be less than last year. Evidently people across America forgot their tax cut starting in February of last year, where they had less money withdrawn from their paychecks. That has two results. For those that get refunds, would get smaller refunds this year. For those that always pay taxes, like I use to when I worked, they might have a higher amount to pay in taxes. A third result would depend on what income bracket you are in, with the new tax laws in affect.

What is so hard to understand about that?

I planned to repeat on Tuesday what I did on Monday. NO TV news and NO online news headlines. NO reading of political blogs or tweets. If I can do that 10 straight days I will be well on my way of being "newsless" again like I was last fall. I think that's a good goal.

After 50 some pages of reading, I had a small snack and continued my new routine of an afternoon siesta for a couple of hours. I have gradually moved back to my regular schedule of staying up late, sleeping past 7am, with a late afternoon siesta. Long gone are those days of getting up at 5am just a few weeks ago.

It looks like a night of college basketball on tv tonight. Besides that, it was another successful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Sunday Ends On A Lighter Note

The bright sunshine today made the day seem much nicer. A little snow did not matter to me as long as the sun was out. That didn't mean we did a lot. The hounds slept most of the day away. I took a drive for a couple of hours and the good news was, Stella did not break out of the locked bedroom with a third  option to prevent her from getting out. I propped up a chair against the baby gate, both on the outside of the door. The cord was used again and everything was as I left it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Right after their lunch they had interest in only one thing. They wanted back inside the house as soon as possible and both were asleep within minutes of getting inside.

A few minutes before 5pm Stella and I headed out for the afternoon walk. A lot of the snow had vanish with the bright sunshine all day, still it was never higher than 30° today. I drove over to Bloomington for the drive itself more than anything else. I needed to wash away some of the 'cabin fever' I've been feeling. It makes it extra nice when the highways and streets were clear of any snow, sand or salt. I thought about a run to 5Guys Burgers, or a pizza at Mother Bears but the urge was gone after I drove for the 30 minutes it took me to get there. I ate dinner when I got back home. How's that for some discipline?

I can't remember the last time the Mini Countryman had been on a high speed run. Not so much breaking the speed limit but just Interstate driving at highway speeds. The Mini purrrred like a kitten.

As we approached this part of the walk I kept an eye on Stella to see if she would take off, although I doubted she would. She was on her 'afternoon pace' and that means very little trotting, very little veering off the path and it's almost like she crawls around the loop back home.

She didn't forget that ice was still there, hidden under the light snow. She lined herself up early enough to take the left side of the path and missing any possible melted snow.

With no wind it was a perfect afternoon to take a walk. It felt warm and not nearly as cold as the 28° the weather app was showing me.

Unlike this morning or past mornings, she had no interest to explore the fence line, ignoring my calls ... instead she turned when the path was getting ready to head home and led the way.

Walking directly into the sunshine I knew there wouldn't be many, if any pictures taken until we got back to the yard. I posted this one just to show but it was a lot brighter than this photo shows. I could  barely see without my hand blocking the sunshine like the bill of a cap.

She hears the St. Bernard barking from the house across the highway. Neither has attempted to meet each other at the edge of the front yard.

Once back inside, she curled up behind my desk chair so I couldn't move. Heidi was sunbathing on the couch as the whole room was lit up with bright sunlight. With no plans of changing blog templates, it will be a night of watching tv. I think this is the last night for the show called Valley of the Boom. I can't remember if the other show I found last week, Project Blue Book is on tonight or on Monday night. Whatever I don't watch will be automatically taped on the DVR. Otherwise Sunday will be over for another week.

A very relaxing Sunday in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Vet Gives Stella An A+

With an 11am vet appointment for Stella today, we were able to fit our morning walk between a light rain and our departure. As you will see from the photos, Stella's walk was more of a leisurely stroll  than anything else. It was 69°, all the house windows were open again and the AC was turned off. All of that did not mean that Heidi would take the morning walk with us, she didn't.

With the photos being just as dark and dreary as my eyes were seeing, none of these photos were edited. It was fantastic news last night when Barney made a comment on my post yesterday afternoon, explaining why my photos did not look as sharp, clear and crisp as Mark's over on his BoxCanyon Blog. It's the moisture in the air that makes the photo quality different than his in the mountains of Colorado.

I never thought about that. One reason is, I still think to this day that the first week of using the Nikon D3200, it's photos were much better than recent ones. Still, it was great to hear Barney's reasoning and from someone that had experienced using his camera in Colorado and Texas locations and noticed the difference.

As I approached the first turn it was good to feel less mosquitoes this morning. I hope the cooler temps tonight and tomorrow drive them away for good. Stella had to be in front of me today. Anytime I took the lead on the walk so I could take a photo in front of her, she would trot and pass me.

Finally as she found something interesting enough to stop ... I was able to move in front and get pretty far in front of her for these next pictures.

These next two photos show how slow she walks ... you can see each front leg raised, one at a time. I know they both should not be off the ground at the same time but every step is defined in a slow movement.

One thing I have noticed between the two cameras .. the Nikon D3200 and the Canon SX530 ... I am taking the same photos, holding the camera the same way and the Nikon D3200 would be 2°- 4° off in photos that had a house or a cell phone tower, maybe some trees in the photo.

That tells me that one day in 2017 when a strong wind picked up the chair the Nikon was sitting in and blew the chair/camera about 10' into the driveway, it did something to the Nikon camera. I was washing the FJ at the time and there were no signs of strong winds, until that sudden wind burst.

While I reminded Stella that we had a pretty tight schedule to keep to get to the vet on time, 12 miles away ... she continued to observe the area and walk as slow as possible. Her world moves on her time, no one else.

I am able to take better close up photos with the Canon SX530.

This is another time I wish I could find out what Stella is thinking.

Finally it clicked in her brain that it was time to leave for the vet. She was excited to go somewhere.

The vet removed the three staples on her inner left front leg. It had healed nice. The spot on her head above her right now healed quickly and is growing hair back. He thought her right eye was looking very good and I could stop the eye ointment I had been putting in her eye twice per day. He reminded me to keep her eyes clean as possible due the way a bloodhound and basset hound eyelid is designed opposite most dogs .. they fall outward.

With the off and on light rain all day, it was a good day to read the books I brought home from the library. My 'to do' list is on hold until tomorrow when the rains are gone. Plus I played a lot of games of Mahjong, trying to get more games finished under 3 minutes. You can barely see the rain going at an angle from upper left to lower right.

It is the only app I have ever bought ... 99 cents. (Mahjong Deluxe) That keeps all the advertising away. There are 4 levels with 40 games per section. One of the best time wasters I have ever found.

While Heidi refused to come out for photos ... Stella found it pretty easy to stretch out and sleep the afternoon away.

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