My First Post By Invitation Only

Well it's been an interesting couple of days. If you are able to read this post, you know why I went private and 'by invite only'. Blogger has two different ways to do this ... I have added your email address to a list of approved readers. If you are reading this you already know that Blogger asked you to log in to read the blog.

I am not sure how that works for those that don't blog on blogger and if it matters where your email address is coming from. Let me know if this process causes you problems.

The other way, Blogger tells me I can add your email addresses to a list where you will send the blog to you by email when I post something new. For those that have already signed up to follow by subscription I am not sure if me going private will block your feeds that you have signed up for ... so just in case I will add your email to an email list.

Early in the evening yesterday, after I had gotten back and was sitting here trying to wrap my fingers around someone looking in my house, not invited, and a stranger ... I heard some big slow moving noises on the highway and was pretty sure it was the combines to harvest the soy beans across the highway.

I guessed right and closed all my windows to control the amount of dust that would blow up to my house ... it does because I can see how much on my cars.

I was too confused/pissed over the daily event to go out and take more pictures of their progress but they were loading trucks late into the night ... even for a field that small. By this morning everything was finished ... or I thought. They continued to fill up these trailers multiple times as they returned empty.

The hounds and I slept in late this morning. That means we get up at 8am no matter how late I am up, feed them breakfast and I go back to sleep while they are eating. They all sleep after their breakfast until I get up.

We were on our first walk around noon.

Stella stayed near Sadie and I ... it was different for her.

They really like that right corner of the field but today they picked up a strong scent and headed left.

Sadie has a very strong ability for tracking, better than Stella.

As we made the turn for home, they both take off trotting. They knew where they were going and what was there.

Whatever it is, it must be good.

Stella always looks disappointed when I tell her to "come on".

After lunch we head out for a short trip outside. I had just received a text from my old college friend, who was bringing his canoes to a lake close to my house. It was a chance to go canoeing.

Once again Heidi found one of her favorite spots. That pipe is a capped off water well from 1975. The have been on 'city' water every since. At least that is what I was told.

This is part of my overgrown yard and will be mowed over on Wednesday ... as will all the fallen leaves.

By 2:30 I was down at Lake Greenwood, somewhat of a private lake because it's on government property. Since the lake is closed for the season very little if any traffic and it's only a few to fish or people with a canoe.

A few years ago, this same friend brought up his small sailboat that we took out, but there wasn't enough wind to sail. Yet, it's great for canoeing and great to fish in.

We canoed way past that area to the left ... almost 3 hours total time on the water. A good workout and I'm sure I might feel it by tonight.

Since Ralph has been using a 35mm camera since I met him in 1975, I asked him about my recent photos ... that seemed out of focus to me. He immediately gave me the solution, so from this photo on ... my photos should be much better.

Neither one of use took cameras on the canoes with us, so when we came back and got my canoe out of the water (48lbs), he grabbed his camera to take some across the lake of in area we both agreed would be a great photo. It gave me a chance to try the new setting.

My photo sequence was with him all the way to the boat ramp, but I chose to only go this far.

The setting on my camera had been set to "auto area focus" instead of "single point". What I was getting was a lot of blurred photos of the hounds and a sharp clear photo of the grass they were walking or running on.

Like up above I wanted a clear photo of the combine but it was blurred while my leaves along the fence line were perfect.

A family across the water, where I took photos from in April or May 2015, were the only ones tent camping ... so after we left, that family had the whole lake to themselves as well as all the woods ... plus if you didn't have some sort of government, government contractor or military id card, you would not be able to get inside the huge area similar to a National Forest, let alone find the lake .. one way in, one way out.

I have other news ... quite surprising but something I had been working with off and on. I mentioned some part of it in recent posts. I'll include new photos and a story of how it all transpired in tomorrows post. It will shock most of you, but as usual a lot of analysis was done before the decision was made.

That is if my "invited readers" can see and read this blog.

Really, all is good here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana ... but a few things to think about and to keep an eye on. I've been here 19 years and have never seen anyone looking in my house.

A Very Nice Sunday

It was sunny and cold when we woke up this morning but I'll take that over winter weather any day of the week.

Not much was planned for today, besides the normal Sunday NFL games, buy some gas for the FJ, and cook my weekly batch of brown rice, different beans for salads and burritos this week.

Knowing I had shoes that could handle the wet field dew, our first walk of the day was pretty early but after the two cups of daily coffee. Today I thought I'd pull another new pair of hiking boots out of my closet to make sure they were waterproof. I wanted to try them on this wet morning walk.

I had bought some Oboz Tamarack hiking shoes a couple of years ago and never used them because I couldn't make up my mind if I really liked them after I bought them. I had gone to the store to buy some Keen's but they were sold out and I was told they were getting great feedback on this model of shoe.

They also worked well in the wet field, were comfortable, but didn't feel as good as the last pair of Keens I had wore out. Since I've worn them in the field, no chance I'll sell them 'used' on eBay for any price close to what they are worth ... so I think I'll start wearing them a little bit each day to break them in before this winter.

It was another beautiful morning and Sadie didn't want to wait to long before she and Stella could start their exploring.

They didn't wait for me to take the picture above, by the time I looked down after taking the picture both of them were sprinting for the turn ... I didn't see any deer on the horizon but they obviously had found something of interest.

I finally caught up with them and let both of them roam at their own pace. No commands, just let them do what they wanted ... as long as Stella stayed within her boundary.

After taking a lot of pictures this time of day, late morning, I have come to the conclusion that might be the worst time of day to take pictures because of the lighting.

Both of the hounds were very active with scent tracking. We must have missed deer by minutes or half hours ... but they had been through this area very recently.

They don't know what to do ... obviously the deer scent is really strong but they don't see or know anything is in the area ... should they take off or return to where I am. I still had not said anything to them.

They are almost beside themselves with confusion.

While we made the last veer to the left to head the final leg home, they still had a lot of stuff to identify. Really that is what the majority of their nose activity is ... 'identifying' what has been in the area.

Finally Sadie decided she was coming in for the afternoon.

Between that last walk and the first football game at 1pm ... the hounds jumped into the FJ and we headed to Country Mart gas/mini mart. Their gasoline quality is rated a top tier plus their 91 octane gas has no ethanol in it. Since it was mentioned on the FJ forum that might be the reason for my warning lights on my dash ... I thought I'd give it a try. It's the same gas I put in the Z4.

While suffering through another Indianapolis Colts game ... only they won this time after blowing a lead ... I decided that as soon as the game was over I'd give Heidi not only a bath with shampoo but end it with a 20 minute soak in warm water and Epsom Salts for her skin.

She actually laid down in the water this time and almost fell asleep again. I was ready to pull her out of the tub if her nose went below the water line. It came close as her lips were underwater with her eyes closed.

After that it was time for the afternoon walk. How did I know that?? Stella was howling and Sadie was hopping up and down on her rear legs as if we were going for a ride in the FJ. It was already 5:30pm.

 
Once again I let the hounds roam at their pace. As Sadie and I were almost to the back of the field ... there was no sign that Stella had even made the first turn.

By the time we were walking parallel with the back edge of the field, Stella came running as if she had heard a gunshot somewhere. She is 'gun shy' but I did not hear anything.

She was really on her own pace during this afternoon walk. Sadie and I were heading for the last half of the walk and Stella was still at the back of the field.

She finally figured out I wasn't going to call her and she was way behind us.

That gave her and Sadie check out some places one more time before coming in.

Sadie was ready to 'call it a day' ... Stella had other plans.

Sadie and I were already back at the house. I went inside, loaded the photo card into the iMac and made sure Stella was still out there. I wanted to see if she would come home on her own.

It didn't take long for her to glance up and she could tell Sadie and I were not around. She sprinted from the back of the field directly behind the house all the way to the door ... she was happy to come inside.

With only one NFL game on local tv at 4:30, I've had it turned on in the background but while it was on I've washed hound bedding and vacuumed the house. I'm going to put air in the tires of the mountain bike and start riding that around the border of the field without the hounds.

It seems like a picturesque idea to have both bloodhounds follow along side me while I ride around the border of the field but there are two issues with that.

1. No matter what I am doing or where I am riding -- they would follow their nose at their pace.
2. If I ride along the edge of the field I will be going by the yards of three neighbors, places where I don't want Stella and Sadie to become familiar with. The old 'out of sight out of mind' theory works for them.

Big plans for Monday afternoon ... mowing the grass and mulching as many leaves as possible during that exercise. There are not many more times left to mow the yard for this year but a lot of leaves left on the trees. 

I can't complain about anything ... the weather has been great this fall and October is a week away of being over. I am hoping for a mild winter.

All is good today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Beautiful Saturday Morning

I stepped outside with my first cup of coffee this morning wearing cargo shorts and a sweatshirt only to see the old thermometer showing 46° ... but the sun was out.

Not a cloud in the sky and it actually felt like what I call "football weather". Looking at the print out tv schedule today, and yellow highlights of the games I want to watch ... not as many as past weekends but some good games that will fill the day and night. Basically that means I won't have to watch a lot of different games at once. Each good game will be on a different time without running into each other.

I had not finished my first cup of coffee yet when I glanced over from my computer desk to see Sadie sitting 'at attention' giving me the stare down to let me know it was time for a walk. Yet, from our first trip outside I knew the field was soaked and wetter than normal, with heavy dew and at 46° my wet feet would be freezing.

I grabbed my last cup of coffee .... THEN IT HIT ME ... A BRAIN FLASH!!!

I have had shoes in my closet for years, in brand new condition because they were made for hiking in the snow. They are The North Face Northortic Pro 2.0

They would keep my feet not only dry but warm. They are extremely light and I had only worn them outside during the winters when we walked in the snow or I shoveled the driveway. Why not give them a try?

So I changed from my old New Balance 'yard shoes' with a mesh outer shell, into these boots that came just above my ankle. I do have some brand new, never used, hiking boots on that closet shelf ... sitting up high to prevent Stella from inspecting them, but I thought these boots would fit the situation with the wet grass.

The hounds didn't mind the wet grass ... they were off in many different directions, almost in a hyper state of mind. Luckily with the dirt piles from moles being more wet than fine powder, neither were interested in having the dirt for a snack.

We had a couple of hawks flying above us but they are hard for me to catch with a picture ... this was the only picture worth posting.

It was a day where Sadie didn't want Stella to get away with something she might like and vise versa.

With all the scents deep into the brush along the fence line in back of the field, Stella recently has been going deep enough into that brush where at times you cannot see her. There is an old fence to keep her out of the field behind the field we walk but is low enough for her to jump if she saw deer.

A little different path on the way home. As we were in the section of field directly behind the house walking back to the house ... both hounds moved to the far left exploring the area we walked through to start the walk.

Even after arriving at home they still had to explore the field near their yard, the north border then the backyard instead of walking with me directly to the house.

In the meantime the North Face boots worked out perfect. They were very light in weight, very comfortable and kept my feet dry. I have no idea why I didn't think of them before today. They are now lined up with my other running shoes I wear for the afternoon walks and will be used every morning if the grass is wet.

My day of football starts in about 10 minutes but we will fit an afternoon walk in later today. The three hounds will assume their normal spots around the living room to sleep while I watch the games. Although Stella does not like it when I am yelling at the referees on tv and will wake up on occasion whining if she hears me ... LOL

A beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.