I Guess I'm Back

After a couple of weeks on 'blog vacation' it looks and feels like I might be back to blogging. I read all the comments and emails I received after announcing I was retiring from blogging. A newsletter was suggested to keep in touch but I finally decided, if I had time to do one of those I have time to do a blog post on occasion. 

I have always come back to blogging after a few times of trying to quit. The thing is I like to talk which leads to writing and I have always liked taking photos of my hounds and now dogs. 

One thing that really got me thinking about the readers that really enjoy just the photos of the hounds and dogs came to me last Saturday. 

I noticed in my Apple Photo Library, after years they returned the file names under each photo. Was it an update or did I click something that made them show up? I don't know.

When I went back before the year 2000 to see if the file names I manually changed at the time I took photos and saw they were still there, I grabbed another cup of coffee and started scrolling. By late Saturday afternoon I had scrolled through 82,000 + photos. It was like reading a book. Good and bad memories came back to me with the photos that I would click to enlarge and look at. 

I Am Retiring From Blogging

I know in the past I have either announced I was going to stop blogging (December 2015) or took unannounced months off (May 2019) but this time it's for good. 

I am going to stop blogging.

Just like that old oak tree pictured there, things change over time and it has gotten to the point I really struggle to put a post together. Probably some have noticed that in my posts.

With two dogs and two hounds there is plenty of stuff to blog about I guess but when most of that is here at the house ... to me as a reader, that is not something I want to follow or read.

I know, I know ... most are here to see photos of the hounds and dogs. Yet, even with a new puppy, taking time to take photos just to put a blog post together is becoming a chore.

An old blogger told me once, "some of the best photos you ever take will be the ones you don't". I have to agree with that because a lot happens around here besides what you see.

Dog Crate Possession

Friday was a day of battling the heat and deciding who owns the dog crate. Early morning cool enough to leave the patio door open but the majority of time it is closed with the AC on during these hot temperatures. I did get the yard mowed for the week. No calls nor repairs to lingering storm damage. Reds game ends in a weird and exciting way, with a win. Ava walked in the crate on her own and laid down.

Ava Needs A Crate

Ava has lived here a little over two months. She has been the best puppy I have ever lived with and I have raised a few in the past 37 years from 8 weeks old. She is easy to live with, she gets along with the other three. She has never needed to be crated at night to sleep and always whines at 5:30am to wake me so I can trot with her to the patio door so she can go out for a quick trip. Then back to bed she runs and we might sleep for another 30 minutes to one hour.

Storm Damage Saga Continues

For the first time in a long time I am putting a post together spread over a lot of days. I changed my mind about his post before 11am. See below for the reason. As I sit here Saturday morning June 8th, I hear a light rain outside my open windows. It will keep the lawn green, the one that I mowed yesterday just in case it would rain like it predicted. What's that picture above????

Hounds & Dogs Approve

 

Watson, Henry and Ava approve of all the work that was done today and things are very close to being normal again. Fence appraiser said all I need are 7 new posts, the sections and gate can be reattached to the new poles. With their new system the same concrete will be used, no need for pulling them out and digging new holes.

Walter refused to come outside and enjoy the beautiful cool weather at 84° today.

Storm Repair Finished

I am calling the job finished because the major part was done this morning by a 3 man crew that contracts out for Spectrum and AT&T. By 11:30am not only had they hung the three cables on the new pole but tightened my AT&T fiber wire and started the job at my neighbor's backyard by connecting her Spectrum wires back up to the pole in her backyard.

Storm Repair Update

Just off the phone with CenterPoint Energy. They are not liable for the damage to my fence "call your insurance company" ... "we are only liable for the damage to our poles, our equipment" But they are going to come out and repair the hole from the transformer hitting the ground and the tracks from their pole hole machine that tracked through the wet saturated yard.

A friend of my neighbor's (cousin) showed up early yesterday with a large trailer, the truck to pull it and two different size chain saws. By 9am they had the tree nearest the pole, completely cleared. By 3pm their yard looked like this ... completely cleared.

Compared to this just the day before.

Storm Damage Sunday Morning

I was watching the F1 race in Monaco and started to lose satellite tv signal Sunday morning. I pulled the fireplace out enough to reach in there and get that antenna that tapes on the wall so I could see the Indy race on NBC. I knew that antenna would work, as all the four network channels are in HD quality. While I was leaning against the wall the loudest clap of thunder I had ever heard shook the wall I was leaning on.

Baseball On The Radio

A little bit different Saturday night, but it's still early as I write this so plenty of time for a movie after the Reds game is over. Since 221 miles is more than 168 miles, the local FOX channel is showing the St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs game instead of the one I want to watch the Cincinnati Reds vs the Los Angeles Dodgers. So I have tuned into the radio broadcast, which I like better actually since the radio play play announcer is better than the one on tv for the Reds games. As you can see, Walter was more interested in enjoying the cool weather with the ceiling fan on.