I'm Stuck In The Land Of Laziness

With a forecast of a possible high of 70° today, Heidi was thinking it might have to hurry up to get that high by the way it felt a little after 10am. It was the coldest 58° she had felt and she wasn't sure what she was doing outside when the only reason she was barking nonstop inside was for lunch to be served. Lunch kibble at 10:15am is just a little too early. She stayed and explored the yard while Stella and I did our morning walk.

Stella was all over the field this morning, hopping in the air when she wanted to change direction. I took a lot of photos to capture that and only one of them barely caught her with her rear feet raised off the ground.

I saw this morning that Dog Food Advisor had the Sportmix Wholesomes food I have been feeding the hounds rated as a 4-star food. (chicken meal & rice) It was the food that cleared up Heidi's skin issues in February 2017 and put weight back on Heidi and Stella. I found it by accident at my local hardware store, who was observant enough to start carrying dog food after the local feed store went out of business due to the owner's death.

What I did find out before using this food was that it was made by the same company that makes Earthborn Holistic Dog Food, in factories only 90 miles away. With low shipping cost a 40# bag is only $31.99 and was one reason I was skeptical of the quality. Another reason of skepticism was it did not list Chicken but Chicken Meal as its first ingredient. I had spent top dollar on the Grain-Free foods for years or the higher priced foods with chicken and rice included. I never could clear up Heidi's skin allergies until I tried this food. Plus Stella had lost close to 20 pounds that same year.

It was good to see all of the activity Stella was doing this morning. I take it as a sign that the yelping in pain Saturday night was just for something that happened short term like a twist or tweak of her back, maybe her hips. I still keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary for Heidi and Stella.

It doesn't look like a day of 68°-70° today does it?

In 2008 I had two other Sycamore trees just as tall as this one ... only one large trunk for each tree and located down along the side of the driveway bank. In June 2008 I had straight line winds from the southwest but some way turned due north right at the bank. It pulled two of those 100'+ Sycamore trees out of the ground like weeds and laid them across my front yard parallel to the house.

That is one reason you saw my tv satellite dish mounted to the side of the house in a photo of Heidi the other day. The winds demolished the Directv dish they had mounted on a pole in the front yard. The tree is due south of the house. I have a quote to trim the trees but the only problem is some of those tree trunks are on my neighbor's property. Actually the property line between our yards is a right away from an old railroad company that had tracks at the bottom of that driveway bank.

Stella tried to test me toward the end of the walk this morning by gradually walking out to the center of the field. That is okay because she likes to end her walks by walking past the pole on the north side of the yard. When I was watching her today, she was going to the center of the field but also was gradually turning to head to the neighbors yard or the woods behind their house. She turned back toward the house when I yelled 'No' ... just a little test I guess to see if I was paying attention.

These photos of Heidi show a sad basset hound as we return from the walk. They couldn't be farther from the truth. She was wagging her tail nonstop and then started barking as we got closer. She was happy to see us, and happier to get back inside.

For a few seconds it looked like Heidi and Stella were going to play with one another in the yard but they only tapped noses. Stella was just starting her run toward Heidi.

Right after that nose tap Heidi turned and sprinted to the door.

It's really hard to believe it will be November this Thursday in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

REMC Tree Crew Shows Up

The tree crew from the local utility company showed up mid afternoon on Monday. Sadie and Stella let me know that something big was backing up the driveway with that loud piercing beeping sound that probably drove the hounds insane. I was very surprised that they cut more than I thought they would and was happy with their job.

When they started I had one small branch touching the transformer and a few others very close to the power lines. I wasn't sure how much they would cut back but I gave them an offer to cut the whole tree down if they wished. I've been quoted $1,300 to take it down.

The young kid that was in the bucket and going to do all the work looked familiar when I asked if he mind that I take pictures during the operation. He didn't mind and said take all I wanted. I still couldn't remember where I had seen him before or had I worked with him somewhere? I found out after he was finished, he also drives the tractor that cuts and bales the field behind my house.

I was happy to see they were cutting the limbs from the tree trunk and not just cutting the ends of the limbs. I now have only a few limbs hanging over my driveway. Basically any limbs pointing toward my house they didn't touch ... if they pointed to their power lines, they were cut down.

I might have that wrong but from these 5 cut limbs while leaving 1 seems to back up my theory of them cutting only those that pointed toward their power lines.

It looks a little strange with that big open spot  but they are Sycamore trees, the most worthless tree on the planet. Although they do a good job of shading a lot of the driveway.

Nothing is near the transformer or power lines and we are good to go for another ten years I guess.n That poor transformer has been struck by lightning a few times, had tree limbs blown into it during storms and exploded once a few years ago when a huge power surge took place.

What I did not know was that they would be leaving any limbs they cut with me to figure out what to do with them. I thought it was strange that a chipper truck pulled in behind the large truck with the lift/bucket but I didn't see either truck pulling the chipper. Nor did they say anything.

After they left I called the office and she said "I must have forgot to tell you it was your responsibility to get rid of the limbs, the other day when we set up your appointment".

It's not a big deal to me. That is just more fuel to my fire next fall or spring. These limbs are so green that I may not burn again until next spring in 2018. I'll use my lopper to cut a lot of them up into smaller lengths. Anything I cannot cut I'll pull them back into the woods.

Of course the curiosity of Stella was too much for her while she stood inside at the door watching. During the process she opened the door with her nose joining me and the supervisor in our conversation. Sadie never comes out of an unlocked door but she could not let Stella get all the attention, so today she lowered her head and pushed the door open to come outside. They were both very popular with the tree crew.

With Sadie and Stella inspecting the work after they drove off, Heidi decided it was time for a little relaxation in the sunshine and the soft grass.

Life is pretty rough when you are a hound in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

A Sunday Morning Hound Walk

The past few days I've noticed that Sadie is slowly changing their routine. It use to be all the hounds would go back to sleep after their breakfast and then around my 2nd cup of coffee, Sadie would come to my computer desk to let me know it was time for her and Stella to go outside. They would explore the field until I would go out to call them.

A few days ago, that same thing happened until they both got outside and then they just stood there looking at me. The didn't head to the field. With the weather a lot nicer and my camera in hand ... we took off for an early morning walk. Today we get outside and both hounds are standing right next to me at the corner of the house, after whining to go outside. I thought they wanted to walk so off we went.

The sun is out to start it's path to 65° weather today. Strong winds from the southwest and low energy from the hounds. Stella stopped a couple of times to see where Sadie and I were. Neither of them took off running like yesterday's afternoon walk. They walked together with noses to the ground and barely a trot anywhere.

I thought they might take off as we came closer to that slight right turn ... they didn't, they stayed together.

Stella ended up so far away at the other end of the brush line that when I turned around to get ready to take some running photos I didn't see her. Had she gone into the brush, or over the fence into the neighbor's field? As I yelled her name and the camera worked, she came into focus and started to run towards Stella and I. She was all the back to the corner of the field.

As we turned the corner of the path to head home ... no hounds. Both of them are in single file, walking slowly behind me. They were so close to me that I didn't have enough room to fit them into a photo with the 55mm-200mm zoom lens that was mounted on the camera. When I stepped aside for them to move in front of me .. they walked even slower.

Maybe they didn't really want to walk this morning ... who knows maybe they didn't even want to go back outside. It's going to be a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I can see those two things I didn't do yesterday getting finished today.

Stella always has an interest in motorcycles when she hears them driving by. In this photo she is not even close to the highway.

They finally walk in front of me and then stop until I catch up. It was one of the quietest and strangest walks we have been on.

Is there any tree more worthless than the Sycamore tree? What is their purpose?