Pace Is Fast And Furious

With nice weather yesterday there were a lot of farm equipment just like this on the highway in front of the house. With rain predicted for Monday, farmers were plowing, spraying anhydrous or fertilizer on their fields. Due to the two fields within view of the house being in an official flood zone, they usually don't start any kind of work until later in the spring. Here at home today a lot of things could be happening inside and outside ... depending on my motivation.

Before I could barely get outside this morning Sadie was already checking out the field drainage ditch that moves behind my burn pile. I have never seen water in this ditch but based on the dugout shape of it, there must be some kind of drainage from the field.

I could tell early on that Stella was going to march to her own drum beat today. I let her do what she wanted during the walk Sadie and I took. At no time did I call her name to follow us or to verbally herd her in the direction of the house ... she was on her own clock.

Although it was warm enough just to wear a light jacket, Heidi was back in bed sleeping after her breakfast with no intentions of walking this morning nor getting her picture taken. She also is always on her own schedule.

While walking I was going through a list of things to do today in my head. Like always what gets done will be determined by the time of day or night. I have a baseball game to watch at 2:15pm, an IndyCar race to tape and watch after the ballgame sometime and a Pacers NBA playoff game to watch tonight. A DVR makes all of that convenient if I decide to chose to work the 'to do' list during the daylight hours. I'd also like to take another drive in the Z4 today on one of the many routes we can choose from.

Like I said ... Stella was marching to her own drum today.

No, I never called her name ... I just kept walking with Sadie.

Sadie may not pay much attention to Stella during the walk unless she sees her getting out of bounds or heading in the opposite direction of us ... then she takes the supervisory role.

I mentioned I had added the free Flipboard to my reading list. You can chose which subjects you want to follow and Flipboard does the rest by supplying you articles that are not listed on the mainstream media. In some cases the topic might be the same but are written by web authors not associated with newspapers or magazines.

Tijuana is a town I use to spend a lot of time in when I was 40 years younger and living in Southern California. There were a lot of things to do there from places to eat, their horse race track or enjoying the entertainment the city provided. It was shocking to see today on a headline in Flipboard that since January 1 of this year 650 people have been murdered, related to drug cartels fighting over neighborhoods.

It was also shocking to see on tv the other night where a California senator was talking about the gang problems in a town called Oceanside California, a place I either lived in or 5 miles away in Carlsbad for close to 9 years. It is hard to even imagine either of those two stories being possible in towns where you could walk or drive in while feeling safe.

That's what makes living here in 'the tropics' so nice. The bad thing is, this town is usually closed for the night by 9pm, nowhere to get something to eat ... yet low to zero crime.

Looks like the neighbor finished plowing his large field yesterday. A sure sign that Spring has officially arrived ... finally.

As I looked for Stella along the wood line to the left of me, I couldn't find her. Then out in the middle of the field there she was with her head down and walking fast, heading north, as if she knew exactly where she was going. Without me saying a word, she stopped and stared right at me.

When she decided to ignore Sadie and I, heading her own way north ... that is when Sadie decided it was time to step in to let her know that was the wrong thing to do ... running after her to get her headed back in the direction of home.

I did not say anything to Sadie either ... she did this on her own.

I have thought more about moving again, only this time with a change in strategy as far as looking at houses. One of the main hold ups is me not wanting a mortgage payment for the rest of my life, since it's been years since I have had one. I never planned on having a mortgage payment during my retirement years. That might be too 'old school' in theory.

So the other night I started looking at houses in the town out west, that might need some work, a little paint or yard cleanup and even some new flooring installed ... all for a lower price range than I had been looking at and where it would be an even swap financially if/when I sold mine.

I came up with some new houses to look at and some of them had been remodeled inside, where the only thing I would need to do is paint outside in a color I like and work in the yard installing a 'desert landscape' so I would not have to spend time mowing grass.

All the same questions linger in back of my mind on the decision to move. Those have never changed really since this blog started in October 2011. Although at that time I was thinking of traveling full time in some sort of RV and with only one bloodhound since Stella had not arrived yet. (2015)

Some people say if you can't make a final decision then you need to stay where you are. Others say if the urge is there, then move even if you are undecided and things will workout once you get there. I use to put very little thought into moving decisions and it always worked out but as you get older I guess that 'free spirit' becomes hard to maintain.

Of coarse this field is perfect for the hounds and it would be hard to leave just because of that. Not only would they have to turn into 'city' hounds but I would also have neighbors living within 25' of me ... could I even handle that?

It never changes over the years, I always run different possibilities in my mind and usually decide to delay my moving or traveling decision until after the hounds pass.

There are definitely other things I enjoy about this area besides just this field for the hounds. If I had things I didn't like about it, I would have never stayed here 20 years. So we will see what the summer brings.

That is about all I have for this morning. I might post some photos of Heidi on my other blog later today. That blog is on my sidebar here called "It's A Hounds Life".

As you can see Stella decided to take a detour as Sadie and I walked into the yard.

She teaches me to relax about things ... nothing is really that important. You can tell by the look on her face she is giving me a teaching moment on patience.  LOL

It's almost too quiet today here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

A Lazy Saturday

As you will see, it's been a lazy Saturday so far today and it's not quite noon. I made a run to the local recycling center, walked around the yard, thought about washing the Z4, sat outside for a while and took all of these photos from my seat. The hounds were not interested in anything besides what you see. Their lunch was served early so they are content for the rest of the day.

Flickr was bought by SmugMug and I was happy to see that I will not lose my free account with Flickr. It's sunny in the mid-60's but still enough chill in the air to keep the windows closed and the sweatshirt on. Glancing outside just now to see that Sadie and Stella still have not come up for air in the field, with their noses to the ground.

Spring has arrived in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Takes Her First Walk In 2018

I decided earlier this morning that since it was so sunny outside that I'd wait to post today because I was pretty sure I would be able to get some photos of Heidi, although the temps were not going to get as high as her threshold of 70° As you will find out I have a lot, over 50 photos in this post.

It was so nice this morning that we took the morning walk before I started my coffee. Now that is a slight change in routine but I couldn't resist the bright sunshine, reasonable temperatures, plus the hounds were ready to get outside. The grass in the field looked like it grew 6" over night and in some places I could barely see our worn path.

After a lot of sleep, Stella was energized this morning and got a little jogging in. No verbal herding was needed again today as she followed Sadie most of the walk for the first half.

While Sadie and I walked away I figured I'd pick up Stella on the way back but she surprised me today as you will see below. It looks like I can get a lot done outside today although I don't have that much on my list. I may try to get the Z4 washed today even with a high temperature of 59° but it's sunny.

Sadie was more intent on tracking today, possibly more than she normally is. I was seeing fresh deer hoof prints along our path so her nose was quite active.

You can tell that Spring is near as semi-trucks off load new inventory at the landscaping place nearby. The owner is kind of between a rock and a hard spot. He usually asks me about retirement when I shop there, was it a big adjustment going from work to no work. He is a few years older than I am and could retire any time yet he has found no one that is interested in buying the landscaping business.

He knows how valuable his business is to the local small town and surrounding areas, thus very hesitant in closing his business ... and he still enjoys work at his business but would like to retire.

Sadie was faster than my camera could catch her today ... therefore some of her running photos are a little blurred.

Not sure what had walked near the large roll of hay on the back side of the field, but Sadie smelled something strong enough that she walked into the roll of hay pressing her head against the roll and holding it there as she investigated the scent. Rabbits ???

I was headed home when I turned around and saw her in a full speed sprint. She likes to run in the field and gets a lot of exercise for a 'almost' ten year old.

I was keeping an eye on Stella to see if I needed to divert my path over to the woods to get her to follow us home but she had other plans that worked out for both of us. She wasn't walking to meet us, she was walking with speed and a focus that she had plans of heading across the field in a direction I wasn't sure where she was going.

I let her walk and watched to see where she was going.

When I saw she was about to walk across our path and head a direction away from us, I called her by name and she stopped. She acted as if she did not know if it was I or Sadie as she stood there investigating us ... finally once Sadie touched her, she knew who we were.

We had a slow walk home, all of us going at our own pace. Everything is turning green again and growing fast. I could almost mow the south half of my backyard again today.

Looks to me like another relaxed day.

I am at a point I would normally post this to the blog. Today, I think I'll wait to post until later this afternoon and see if I can capture some action shots of Heidi this afternoon. She did come outside to roam the yard yesterday during our afternoon walk. She has found something she likes on the bank behind the driveway. Not sure what it is but she is always in that area when we return.

It wasn't long after their lunch that I knew I was going to spend some time outside. I had a couple of things I wanted to do in the yard so I let the hounds roam at their leisure. I decided that instead of cutting down all of the small saplings along the driveway bank that I would just out a width of 16' that lined up with my tv and internet satellite dishes.

I forgot what someone thought these saplings are, sassafras? but I remember when they told me a few years ago, I read that they would only grow to 20' tall. That would be okay and still keep my southern sky clear for the satellite dishes. So I left all of the other saplings up so I can see just how tall they get 3 years from now. I usually cut them down every two years anyway.

By the time I climbed the bank back in the yard, Heidi was looking as if she might take a walk with me. I knew Sadie would by the way she looked. She was ready to go ... but where is Stella? I knew most likely she would disappear while I worked over the bank out of sight.

Sadie and I headed straight north toward the neighbor's backyard but before we were even close I saw a tan reddish object bending over in their ditch between their yard and the field. When I called her name she hopped up on the bank and started walking toward Sadie and I.

By the time we waited on Stella and walked across the backyard, Heidi was ready to take her first walk in the field for 2018.

She made the half mile walk with no problems. Sadie is getting ready to tap noses just to make sure she is okay. She always does that when Heidi comes in the house from outside.

As I post this mid-afternoon, it has never gone higher than 57° but the bright sunshine makes you want to spend time outside. Sitting in the sunshine is a little warmer but it's good to some kind of spring weather show up.

A beautiful day today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.