No Snow ???

For the second time in the past 5-7 days our 'winter weather advisory' turned north and barely hit us. This morning that 3"- 6" of snow prediction was nothing more than a little ice. Of course Heidi has started her winter hibernation a month or so early this year and passed on the offer to take a morning walk.

Stella Says It's Too Cold

We tried the morning walk this morning around 8:30am. I thought it was still too cold but I had one sleeping basset hound and two bloodhounds with a bad case of cabin fever. So we tried it and it wasn't long that Stella was showing me, with a raised rear paw, that it was still too cold. She was happy to get back home.

Stella Resumes Her Walking

Everything outside looked freezing cold this morning and it was. It was a few degrees colder than yesterday so I was interested in seeing what Stella would do this morning. We took a walk yesterday afternoon a little after 4pm and 3° warmer and she completed the walk with no issues. I am guessing she may have picked up some frozen snow between her toes yesterday morning and that made her turn around.

I find it a little surprising that I really don't mind this cold weather. It's part of living in the Midwest, happens every year, and I am just as comfortable in cargo shorts and t-shirts in the summer as I am in a down parka, ski cap and ski gloves in the winter. Sadie doesn't seem to mind either.

With the frozen snow crunching under my boots the hounds headed out with new scents in front of them. The deer traffic is taking place when we are not around. I could see a few new deer tracks as we started our walk.

While both hounds veered left to the middle of the front field, I followed my path and kept an eye on Stella to see if she was showing any signs of being cold. It was 16° this morning at 9am. I had a feeling that Stella was not going to join us and was hesitant in going on and leaving her behind.

It was a pretty quiet Christmas Day here in 'the tropics' yesterday. Nothing was open in a 12 mile radius except for one Chinese restaurant. My local Chinese place took a two week vacation over the holidays for the first time in 15 years. This other restaurant was also a buffet, a lot more seating and shocked me as I walked in ... the place was 3/4 full. By the time I returned home, all the carbs put me in a nap mode ... I found no problem sleeping while it was bright and sunny outside.

Sadie did what she did yesterday in her exploring. She was everywhere, running from spot to spot.

We noticed yesterday afternoon that the neighbor had been doing a lot of ATVing on Christmas Day. I wondered if he got a ATV or new gear for Christmas.

Sadie continued to follow her nose along the normal route of the deer based on some of the tracks I have seen in the past. It's along the back edge of the field heading north past the electrical tower and into the woods.

I guess the red helicopter we saw last week had nothing to do with Santa Clause since it was back today, surveying the same area as last week.

I was happy to see that Stella was in the general vicinity and reachable when we used the alternate path we take home. Of course she ignored all calls of her name, never even raised her head to acknowledge that she heard me. It took a while but she gradually meandered our way the closer we got to her.

As I walked past both hounds I was beginning to think that neither one of them was going to come back inside but with the temperatures in the teens and a single digit wind chill factor, leaving them outside was not an option.

It wasn't fast but Stella finally made it back to the yard.

With the temperatures never warming up, it was still 18° at 4:35pm, we didn't make it outside the rest of the day. It was an afternoon of watching movies and trying to stay warm.

It was a good day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Inspect The Frozen Tundra

Evidently Stella may have had a piece of frozen snow between her paws yesterday when she turned around and went home soon after we started. She did the afternoon walk with no problems. This morning being a few degrees colder than yesterday, she stayed in the field while Sadie and I did the walk. Heidi refuses to come out from her Marmot sleeping bag.

The Hounds Check Out The Snow

For once the weatherman was right last night. It rained a lot over night and by the time we hit the field for the first walk of the day, water was coming up the sides of my hiking boots with each step, plus it was freezing cold. Snow showers were suppose to start about the time we went outside.

While the hounds split up and went different directions I was hearing water going down the gutter downspout but saw no rain of any kind on my sleeve. Some of the path I take had standing water but Sadie had to get her walk in.

It was borderline freezing with a windchill in the 20's. I was now seeing small balls of snow hit my parka sleeve but couldn't hear it. Sadie marched through the high grass with water trails behind each of her paws ... this was going to be very wet walk.

I left Stella where she wanted to be. That was not far from the house, out in the middle of the field between my house and the neighbors. Sadie had ran and disappeared around the first turn and I could hear a snow/rain mixture hitting the shoulders of my parka. Too late to turn around and if nothing else, I had to go get Sadie.

By the time I caught up with her she was almost to the far right corner of the field. I had dressed for freezing temps but my face was telling me just how cold it really was. The sleet was starting to come down a little harder.

It was darker than this photo shows but you can tell it's a dreary day but maybe not how cold it is.

That did not matter to Sadie ... she had a lot of ground to cover yet as I kept telling her we had to go home.

You can barely see the sleet coming down with against the background of the trees.  As it hit me in my face I increased my walking pace with Sadie trotting right beside me. Stella was no where in view from what I could see.

About the same time Sadie and I caught the alternate path home, I saw Stella over to the left of me and it didn't look like she had moved from the place I last saw her while we began our walk.

She wasn't happy about it but decided to trot toward the house as Sadie and I ran to the house. It was more rain than snow at this time.

It's hard to tell from this photo, as you can see the sleet ... a little after 9am, just like they forecasted. I poured another cup of coffee once inside and sat at the kitchen table watching the weather. A pot of chili was started right before we went on our walk.

About an hour and a half later it started snowing hard with huge flakes of snow. Based on what I heard on tv last night, this would not amount to much more than a 1/4 inch where we are. Once again, north of I-70 would be getting 1"-3" accumulation, which is 75 miles north of us.

With the temps dropping, it started to stick. It kept coming down harder and I was beginning to wonder if the weatherman was just a little off in his prediction from last night.

With the snow sticking I wanted to take the hounds outside to check it out before they had lunch. Normally the snow will energize them into playing or running around the backyard but not today.  Even Stella wasn't sure that she wanted to go any further than the carport.

Stella was more interested in frozen natural protein laying around, while Sadie acted as if she wanted to go back inside and continue her late morning nap, and wondering why Stella didn't follow her.

Once Stella heard me say "do you want to eat" ... she didn't hesitate trotting to the house for some lunch.

I didn't think Heidi would stay out too long with the weather the way it was. She went to the door after her lunch to go outside but once she stepped off the carport she wasn't sure where her perfect spot was to relieve herself. It was already too cold for me, so I stepped back inside and waited for her.

To my surprise she took off around the front of the house to do a lap around the house while staying underneath the overhang. It wasn't longer than 5 minutes after she stepped outside that the snow stopped. It went from snowing hard with large flakes to nothing ... just like that.

By the time she walked around the FJ heading toward the door where I was waiting for her ... the snow had melted leaving no evidence that it had even snowed today. They were all happy to get back inside. Stella picked up her bone to chew on ... Heidi jumped back up on her sleeping bag for her long afternoon siesta and Sadie fell asleep guarding her water bowl.

With it getting colder we don't have anymore plans for being outside today except when they want to go outside to pee. I started my 'movie marathon' last night and have a stack of DVDs from my movie shelf that I want to watch. I may or may not fit in a couple of NFL games today. Playing a game outside in Green Bay, Wisconsin later tonight could be an interesting game to watch on tv.

Perfect weather for the pot of chili that has been cooking in the crockpot since this morning

First snow of this winter, here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.