The Hounds Talked Me Into Walking

I was tired but with Sadie giving me the stare down and Stella howling ... I put on my shoes, grabbed the camera and headed out for the early evening walk. I was tired from mowing the yard as usual, add in some pasta for dinner and I was thinking more of siesta before watching the NFL Draft tonight instead of walking and blogging.

As I mentioned this morning, Heidi had a bath to wash off some ointment residue on her chest and neck. Plus I needed to clean off some dead flaking skin and clean between her skin folds on her legs.

By 12:30 she was looking pretty good and by 2pm her skin color was the normal tone. By 4pm her rear hocks were red and she had chewed a small spot on the edge of her rear shoulder. Overall I think I can see some progress.

While I was walking slow, the bloodhound that was doing all the howling to go ... took an early lead and moved way ahead of Sadie and I. No matter what I was going to maintain my pace, a little faster than Heidi's but not by much. I was tired.

With all the rain and sunshine, the hayfield is growing fast but the tallest and greenest of all is near the house where the hounds have dumped their tanks all winter.

I'm starting to see a little 'waistline' on Sadie so that shows me she is losing some weight like we planned. Less weight will be easier on her hips as she grows older.

Stella has gotten bigger since she arrived last August but is still trim around the midsection. She would eat the whole bag of food if I poured it out.

Both of them seemed to have been in a hurry tonight. Yet on the way back after making the final turn - they slowed down. I think they hope to see that deer again.

Looking in the direction of where the deer was a last week.

I guess that is all they wanted ... just a walk. They were sound asleep 5 minutes after going back inside.

I didn't make any edits to these photos tonight ... can you tell the difference?

Almost forgot, not one tick found on either hound after the walk but I did have two on me.

Another beautiful night here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Love Hot Weather

After some lunch the hounds decided it felt nice enough to spend a little time outside this afternoon. By 12:30pm, the old thermometer in carport was a tad above 85°. There are ten acres to roam and a yard to lay in ... but Stella decided he could move me from "her" spot by laying partially on my feet. I did move but only to take the photo.

Heidi came outside on what I like to call 'on her own' .. no calling her name, no begging and no food bribery. She just walked outside with the other hounds ... sniffed around and found a comfortable spot. In the 4 years I've had her I have never see her lay there.

It didn't take Stella long to be lights out under the hot sun.

Sadie as usual didn't lay down, wasn't interested in laying down and had the usual look on her face of "what's next". She has been that way for 8 years next month.

By this time Heidi decided the gravel was too hot and moved to a grassy area. Stella moved to the cooler gravel and fell into such a deep sleep she stretched out while I baked my face and head under the sun to start the summer tan.

Sadie was about to lay down but Heidi caught her attention so her nap was called off. By this time I can feel that it's getting hotter and I can also tell that Sadie wants to go inside.

For her 3rd move, Stella decided that grass wasn't a bad idea afterall ...so she found a good spot, thought about it a little, heard a long line of Harley's drive past and then laid down to continue her Sunday afternoon napping.

It was too hot for the hounds after an hour in the sun ... they thought they loved hot weather but forgot just how hot it can get here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. I hope it's like this all summer, I love hot hot hot weather.

While it was shaded and cool inside, they took their normal siestas, while I watched a little bit of the Reds/Cardinal game, some of the IU/Iowa game, the end of the F1 race and all of the IndyCar race in Long Beach Calif.

With 8 laps to go Sadie was anxious to get in the afternoon walk. We watched the end of the race before leaving. The bloodhounds were out the door just like that, Heidi stayed on the big chair in the living room not showing much enthusiasm. Once I connected the leash to her collar, she sprinted to the door, and out into the field. I took off the leash and tossed it back into the yard.

As you can tell they are anxious to get started.

Heidi started to lead just like this morning but it wasn't long after a lot of stops like the one in the 2nd photo, she fell pretty far behind and was walking too slow for me to follow. Still she didn't want to be left behind.

Of coarse while I am trying to keep up with Heidi, the bloodhounds went way out in front and Sadie kept wondering what was wrong with us. This IS the daily walk isn't it ... and not a crawl??

They let us catch up to them and then took off on their own path. They didn't drift far away though this afternoon .. stayed pretty close.

A farmer's day is never done. He has been going at it since 7am and by the time I took this photo it was close to a 11-1/2 hour day.

Once we turned the corner to head home, Heidi figured out the faster she set the pace the faster she could get back into that chair for a nap. She led most of the way and anytime a bloodhound would overtake her, she would move to get the lead back again.

The heat must have zapped them today because all three were walking pretty slow back to the house. They were so close that it was not possible to fit them in the photo using my 55-200mm lens until I let them get a few feet ahead of me.

As I walked into the yard and leaned over to pick up the retractable leash I had tossed, there were 4 ticks out in the open crawling on my legs. Easy to take off since they had not attached themselves yet. They are out in force so far this spring ... warm winter???  I take off 4-5 after every walk these past few days.

None of them were embedded in the hounds but crawling on their hair ... each of the hounds have one and I have moved out into an insurmountable lead for 2016. Yet, I'd rather take them off me than them.

It feels like a summer night here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... minus the humidity.

Friday?? Really??

First of all if you glance left, you will see that I have decided to track the number of ticks I pull of me and the hounds. I won last years contest by a landslide and am off to a fast start in 2016.

Having the house and yard so close to the field, it doesn't matter if I spray the backyard. Plus I don't follow all of the tick laws. I don't tuck my jeans in my socks ... how would that help my waistline or neck? I do wear a hat though and as the temps get higher I also wear cargo shorts as we take our walks through the field and I know that is against the rules. So anyway, out of curiosity I am counting ticks this year, all the way to December 31, 2106.

I really didn't have any idea it was Friday when I started my day. That is a common theme while retired, losing track of days. In the fall it is easier to keep track of the days due to my addiction for college and pro football ... even though anymore you can see a football game almost any day/night of the week.

Warning - It's Friday and that means a LOT of photos and a LOT of rambling. Click any photo for a better/bigger view, scroll through them to the bottom, or grab something to drink as you read along.

Early on it looked like rain but nothing was planned on the two weather stations I follow online. Sadie and Stella didn't stay out long on their first trip. Heidi has gone outside every time the bloodhounds have gone ... that's a nice change.

A little after 10am, she made her next trip outside. Where I had clouds to the west but blue skies to the NE, I decided it was time for a walk. My long sleeves were off and it was t-shirt weather even at 60°.

Just past that edge where you see green under the fallen tree ... goes straight down.

Looking left I caught something in a tree, not sure what it was since I was not wearing my glasses. You can see the zoomed photos here. I wasn't sure what it was, nor did I know it had "landed" until Stella took off in a very fast sprint. By the time Sadie arrived I saw the hawk (?) taking off from the ground, kind of running into the woods.

When I got back to the house, I checked google images to see what it might be. I am not a 'birder' so if any one knows please comment below and let me and the other readers what kind of bird that was. The best I could come up with was some kind of hawk.

In the past I have seen them fly up out of the ground, hawks do that. I have also see skeletons of them in the field. So I think it is safe to add the hawk scent to many spots in the field that the bloodhounds are too interested in, besides just the deer.

Both, Sadie and Stella, were not into the running mood this morning, the were mostly slow paced besides the sprint to the hawk. Sadie spent most of her time walking next to me on the way back to the house.

A different type of photo than I normally take, but thought the leaf was an interesting shot for this time of year. Not a lot of weeds growing in the field this spring like I remembered last year, so they should get some pretty good hay in July.

I guess since it's Friday, Stella deserves to be a little low key after another fast paced week as a bloodhound.

Heidi stayed near the house outside as the bloodhounds and I walked this morning. Once inside she was wagging her trail and trotting under and around the bloodhounds to growl to herself and scratch each side of her mouth. She seems more active today, so the Epsom Salt soak must have helped. I'll give her another one this weekend instead of waiting for her skin to become irritated.

The biggest decision of the day was trying to decide how high to grow the lawn. In the past out west where I never saw a yard mole, I could cut the grass down to the ground and have it look like a fairway at Augusta. Here due to the bumpy surface, small dirt piles or rises from mole traffic plus hotter summers, I've had to cut the lawn taller.

I think I have it about the right length for this area but I haven't really measured it ... some say to let it grow to 3". If so, I need to raise my mower blade another notch higher. I may try that just for a change of pace ... kinda like driving the Mini Cooper instead of the FJ or using Firefox instead of Google Chrome.

Or like today I decided to list ALL the labels I have used the past 5+ years instead of just the 200 or so of the ones I edited. I had plenty of room to run over 500 of them down the right side ... does anyone click them to go to a specific topic?  I have no idea.

At least we don't have to schedule a meeting to decide those things ... that is all I remember about my working career ... meetings and power point presentations. Did I ever tell you how much I hate Microsoft Office Power Point?  LOL

It wasn't too long after their lunch, the three hounds decided I needed to mow the yard today. Before that, we hopped in to the FJ and took a trip downtown to the local feed store. An establishment that opened in 1938 and is still owned by the same family. The times I've gone in to buy dog food, I noticed they had bully sticks.

It's either cash or check there, so I robbed my trash fund and left $2 for my next trash run. The balance of $6 was going to the hound's bully sticks. I bought 3 of them at a $1.86 each ... $6 with tax. They were long and cost less than the once I bought yesterday but didn't last as long.

Not to worry, I have used only half of 1 stick, while I was out mowing the yard. Once again Heidi, grabbed her portion and with her tail wagging, trotted off for the far corner of the living room which is another favorite stop of hers.

I'm really out of shape but know my wind will improve the more I work outside. Today instead of mowing back and forth across the hill in the front yard I wanted to mow a different direction ... that meant pushing the mower up my hill every other turn. It was too soon in the "mowing season" to be doing something as strenuous as that.

Each time I mow, the hounds like to come outside and inspect my work. The inspection didn't even get started today ... Stella found a nice spot to take a nap ... she seemed to have lost interest as an inspector.

You can tell by her mouth that she was getting warm in the sun. Her jowls were wet and she was panting. Sadie looked over and knew she was staying near the shade where I was.

It wasn't long before Stella woke up and moved to the shade but the spot wasn't as comfortable as the one she had. She didn't lay there long either.

In fact she decided the best option was going back inside the house with a cool breeze coming through the open windows and taking a siesta.

That is what all three hounds have been doing since I came back inside. Since mowing the yard, my sinuses have been going crazy. I think that might be the cause of some of Heidi's skin allergies becoming active that would lead to more chewing and itching.

I have already had my Dairy Queen Blizzard for the day, so it looks like the rest of the night is water and some baseball on tv.

I still cannot believe it's Friday night, here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.