A Cold Afternoon

It was one of those days that no matter how many layers of shirts you put on, I never felt warm. Most of the online weather apps were telling me it was 42° outside and it felt more like -42°, not plus. I still think during these times, my sleeping bag is the warmest place in the house but I fought off the urge to climb inside, which would lead to a siesta just to stay warm.

Besides, Heidi had changed her strategy after lunch and had moved her sleeping spot from the couch back to the bed. Not only on the bed, but she had nosed her way completely inside my sleeping bag and was in the snoring state of sleep.

By 5pm I had read enough books, ate enough food, played enough Mahjong that we decided to head out for an afternoon walk. I also wanted to do my annual test of how well my baseboard electric heat works. See, it's December 5th and I have yet to turn on the heat this year. The house has been staying below 60° during these cold days outside and nights that fall into the 20's.

So I set the timer on the iPhone for an hour, cranked each control to turn on the heat in the kitchen, computer room and living room. I also took a reading of my house meter ... then set out for an afternoon walk.

With no winds it makes it bearable but I am already counting the days down to spring, back to at least some 70° temps. I am not a fan of winter weather.

Stella stayed up with Sadie and I most of the walk. I guess it was that lecture I gave before we started that I wasn't going to be calling you to "come on" and I wasn't going to chase you to follow me home. I am beginning to hate those two words "come one" after having to repeat them more than I ever wanted to.

Just as I turned back around after taking that picture above me, Stella sprinted past me as fast as she could to catch up with Sadie who had rounded the corner to their favorite spot.

I turned myself if that direction hoping to lead them in the right direction without too many commands and too much cussing. Luckily they followed me out of that area and headed out along the back of the field.

There is always areas to explore for them, no matter what part of the field we are in. It is some cheap entertainment for them and better than any dog park that I can think of. I've made them loners just like me.

As I made the turn to go home, they both trotted around me and down the path. Maybe my lecture worked as they were more than the perfect bloodhound on the walk this evening.

They still needed to check out a couple of spots on the way home which is normal. I could feel it was getting colder as the sun went down. The hounds must have felt the same way since they didn't hesitate in following me home.

As I turned for a possible last picture, I had only Sadie behind me and didn't see Stella anywhere. For some reason she decided to take what I call her June Route home, checking out the north part of the yard.

I have some new plans for that dirt area that I cleared a few months ago. Instead of just planting grass I have a plan that will add some color other than green, prevent some erosion and still keep the wild bushes from grown. You'll find out what it is next spring as I do it.

I mentioned a few weeks ago or a month ago about making some changes to my diet. I've lost weight, fat and part of my appetite on the vegan diet I started September 7th. I am finding some consistent issues with indigestion that I did not have when I cut out all grains for the year before September 7.

On the vegan diet, beans are a major source of protein and most of the different kinds of beans I have eaten give me more indigestion. Oatmeal gives me indigestion. When I tried the Paleo Diet which emphasizes low carbs, no grains, meat, chicken or fish, with fat and protein ... I never had indigestion.

Plus after a meal of meat and steamed veggies I felt full and rarely craved food between meals. On the Vegan diet with steamed veggies and brown rice I always feel hungry soon after eating. It was interesting to see that the book I mentioned a few weeks ago, The Blood Type Diet suggested a diet for my blood type being closer to a paleo diet with dairy, meat, fish and chicken as the main sources of protein.

That book also mentioned I should stay away from oatmeal, certain kinds of beans and all grains. Everything thing it listed I should stay away from in that book is what I found to be my source of indigestion on a consistent basis. It even named the beans by name ... the foods it listed to stay away from it was right on the money.

I'll not go into a lot of the book but it did say with my blood type I was more apt to get stomach ulcers than heart disease. There is something in my intestines that worked well with red meat and certain kinds of fish but not grains, or legumes.

I think I will be moving away from the diet that gives me indigestion and makes me feel hungry all the time toward a Paleo type diet with some personal adjustments I had before.

Basically I have come to the conclusion after trying different foods the past few years .... moderation .... is key but what is more important than what food you eat, is eliminating sugar, processed foods, soda's and alcohol. So that is what I will revert back to.

Back to my electric test. I just completed the hour curiosity test. I used 6 kilowatts in 60 minutes. My computer room went from 59° to 71° and my living room went from 56° to 66°. Both of those rooms are way too warm for me, past my comfort zone ... using the 41 year old baseboard electric heat system.

The hounds seem to like the heated house ... 2 of 3 of them are snoring. I don't think I have heard Stella ever snore but she does wag her tail while sleeping.

It does not feel like it should be December here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

The Hounds Are Surviving All The Football Games

This morning's skies were not much different than yesterdays ... dark, dreary weather. Yet, this morning the light mist was not around and at 41° it felt warm outside as we started the first walk of the day.

 The only thing planned today is the "greatest weekend" in college football. It really started Friday with a lot of games between 'rival' schools and that will continue today and tonight. Once again it will be a case of not having enough tv's for all the good games shown at one time ... the remote will get quite a workout today ... the hounds will do their normal viewing routine of sleeping through most of them.

We were outside early this morning for their trip after breakfast. They were more than ready to take the walk they missed yesterday but no day starts until coffee is consumed. That rule outlaws all of the Bloodhound Laws.

Stella was not real thrilled when she found out it was not time to walk yet ... coffee had not been consumed at this time. But she came inside anyway and slid next to Heidi for a short morning nap while I read the internet and refueled my caffeine levels.

Once that walk started both Stella and Sadie were pretty happy since we had to take an unexpected day off yesterday. They couldn't stay in one place very long ... too many things to smell and identify.

With the ground soft from the rain two days ago, you could see the occasional prints of deer hooves. With those and the new deer scents the hounds were going crazy with their non-stop motion. The pictures did not capture any of their quick movements.

They took off around the first turn and never stopped ... only my 200mm was able to catch them in these next pictures, I was that far behind them.

The last I saw of Stella she was sprinting following the path we take and have worn down, even veering left but as I reached the first turn she made an abrupt right turn and headed to the far right corner where Sadie was already deep in the deer scents.

They never stayed in one spot too long and proceeded on their walk staying together most of the time.

At their pace I was almost certain they were going to out run me and head for the 'no- fly' zone without looking back. They had locked onto a strong scent and were running as fast as they could while their noses were dragging the ground.

Tandem exploration.

For some reason they turned when I did to follow the path home and stayed so close to me most of the way, where the 18mm setting still couldn't capture them walking next to me as they were that close behind me.

Toward the end they slowly branched out but trotted non-stop back to the house. By the time I sat down at the computer to download the pictures into the computer, both hounds were sound to sleep next to my desk chair while Heidi was still sleeping on her pile of winter stack of Mexican blankets.

Hard to believe that November is almost over. It seems just like yesterday it was in the 80's mid summer. I've been making a list of "to do's" for next spring as I think of them or see something. It looks like it's going to be very busy compared to 2016.

My Apple iMac has finished it's 6th year. I've had zero problems with it except the time I did not read the information correctly before trying to activate File Vault to encrypt my hard drive ... only to find out later that program could not be loaded onto a hard drive as old as mine. So that was 'user error'.

Following advice of the MacGeeks on the MacRumors Forum, I have never used virus protection but I do a regular scan with BitDefender Virus Scanner to check for any malware, viruses on my hard drive. So far so good in that department with my hard drive being clean and sober for it's entire life.

When I gave up 11 years of using Windows PCs in 2006 it had turned into a constant battle with Microsoft, malware, or viruses. I ran anti-virus protection and used five different programs to prevent, check or clean of any malware and viruses on a regular schedule.

The Tiny Homes still seems the rage but I have noticed since they have a couple of tv shows this year, and as popularity has grown ... the prices have increased to the level of ridiculous. I went to a 'tiny home' 25 years ago when I downsized to a condo that was 950 square feet and this current house 19 years ago that has only 958 square feet of living space.

Filling up with gas the other day, a man offered to buy my 2003 Z4. He didn't realize how old it was and thought it was a much newer model. I let him know he could find them for sale on a couple of websites, either by private owners or dealerships. I will continue to drive mine this winter as long as the roads are dry ... only with the top up. The heater works fantastic.

I am still reading about the Blood Type diet and can't make my mind up. I started the Vegan Diet September 7th and have had some good results, some I have mentioned in the past. There are some things I don't like about it thus I am continuing to read about different options.

Well it's time to get ready for the normal Saturday that is 14 straight hours of viewing college football games. When the games are playing at the same time they seem to sort themselves out by their score on if I watch them continuous or move into the "commercials game" ... meaning I switch channels to watch during commercials of my main game, while taping another for later.

So far we have had very mild weather here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

The Hounds Survive Election Night

When I left you yesterday I thought the excitement of the day would be finishing the Leaf Project 2016. What little did I know eh?

With calm winds, if any at all, I got an early start on finishing my leaf project for this fall. By 12:15pm I was finished, body a little sore  ... plus some help by the two bloodhounds.

I didn't get photos of their help because every time I stopped to get my camera, they would get up and follow me. Where where they getting up from? Stella loves to lay IN THE LEAVES that I raked in a row across the yard. The Sadie decided that was a good idea so she would lay next to Stella.

This shows the finished product but even with trees above with no leaves, there will be some large leaves blow into this clean are from the tall sycamore tree by the driveway.

This is all the leaves I have left.

I've stated before I am not into politics but a sports junkie ... yet, last night I was mesmerized watching the election results. In fact I had to force myself to go to bed even after they declared a winner ... I was up until 4am watching the post election analysis.

After a short few hours of sleep, I fed the hounds breakfast at their normal time, and by 9:15am ... we were outside in 50° weather getting our first pictures of the day.

A normal start of the day for them and me. Yet I was pretty tired from staying up that late.

 Stella did not stay long and sprinted back to the house on her own ... they went back to sleep almost immediately.

While watching even more political analysis this morning I saw a line of traffic stopped out the window. I heard some equipment and glanced outside to see the highway department sealing the cracks in the highway before those cold winter temperatures arrive.

I wanted to make sure that not only the highway workers moved down the highway out of view but also that line of traffic, so when the hounds went outside for the walk there would be nothing new and nothing interesting for them to take off to investigate ... toward the highway.

Even after two cups of coffee I still must have been a little asleep. Although I was wearing a thin down coat over a sweatshirt ... I saw I was wearing cargo shorts and had forgot to change into my hiking boots to keep my feet try. I survived.

A new pile of powered dirt .. is a mole doing this? Luckily it's in the field and not my back yard.

All three hounds didn't have any more interest in the election than they do watching sports. Stella spent the night in the "big chair" and ottoman sleeping. Heidi laid curled up next to me in the middle of the couch sleeping with Stella on the far left side of the couch also sleeping until 4am.

With the cooler temps I was glad to see that Stella moved and followed us instead of me having to talk her into leaving her spot of natural protein.

Sadie was running all of the place, enjoying her exploration.

Stella got a little running in and her normal nose activity. She was more obedient than she normally is and that was a nice surprise at 51°.

Another new pile of powered dirt that Stella loves eating ... as does Sadie at times.

Both hounds heading home.

Stella sniffs her way through the end of the walk to the house. Not a bad walk for all of us after being up until 4am.

The afternoon walk will most likely be without a camera and taking my retractable leash to use for Stella ONLY IF she decides to go into a very stubborn mode. Sometimes I only have to hold it up and show it to her to get her to come running ... lol

On September 7 I switched immediately to a Vegan Diet after more reading. Since that date I have lost 17 pounds, 5mm of fat off the sides of my waist, size 34 jeans are fitting loose after going from a 36 waist. The urges for candy, soda, fast foods, etc are almost zero and when they do show up it's been easy for me to get through them.

Even though many in the USA are unhappy today ... all is good here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.