The Hounds Love The Weather

I waited to post this at the end of the day because I wanted to include any photos I would take during the afternoon while we were outside enjoying the weather.

That turns into a long post with a LOT of pictures. I can't seem to post just the best pictures but I try to add pictures that lead into those best pictures because it adds to the sequence or narrative.

Due to staying up extremely late last night, we didn't start our day until 10:30am. The hounds did NOT miss their breakfast at their usual time around 7:30am, so they didn't have to wait ... they would never let me be late for breakfast.

It was perfect weather when we stepped outside. Close to 60° and you could feel the warmth from the sun, unlike a winter day. Yet, the day cannot start without a couple of cups of coffee.

The only thing that moved Stella toward the house that first trip outside was, she thought she heard something about 'food', 'eating', 'do you want?' ...

So, soon after their lunch we headed out for our first walk of the day. I can't get around the new routine. I have always let the hounds out after they eat. It was part of the housebreaking process when Sadie was a puppy, as well as all my other puppies. So now Sadie expects that we will be walking at that time.

I knew that once Stella stopped at her 'new' spot this past week that she wasn't going to leave. Sadie and I kept walking and I'm sure that Sadie enjoyed getting to all the new scents first.

This is a zoomed picture of Stella ... but she is really pretty far away, like at the start of the walk.

You can barely see Stella in the center of the picture. Sadie and I are at the first turn.

I am still trying to show you just how deep the gully is. You can almost see it here. Just past that row of trees in the center of the picture shows just how fast it drops almost straight down. It is so steep that even the hounds would NOT be able to walk down the side of it.

Sadie is getting the first scents before Stella shows up. Both popular spots both hounds love checking out.

As I turned to see if Stella was coming ... she was trying to get caught up ... but, she was going to stop just long enough to check out what her nose picked up.

They figured two noses were better than one when they hit the far right hand corner and along the back edge of the field.

These next two pictures are a panoramic view of the field from left to right. It's a great piece of property and we are very fortunate to be able to use it.

How did this tree grow into that type of form? Where did all of the lower branches go? I shot this directly into the sunshine without any lens filter.

While the bloodhounds and I walk through the field, Heidi hangs back to check out all of the yard. She is looking better because ... finally ... new hair continues to grow on her legs and paws.

Once again the picture shows her tail drooping when it is actually wagging back and forth.

Stella's theme of the day has been "I'm going to do what I want to do" ... Sadie, Heidi and I are ready to go inside but Stella still is hanging out in the field re-smelling her first spot of interest.

It was nice enough today that we spent more time sitting outside enjoying the great day.

I wasn't sure if it would happen but the thought of cutting the nails of the hounds outside. These clippers always bring different responses from Stella and Sadie.

Stella does not mind having her nails cut, so she sniffed them and then moved over into the yard and laid down expecting me to cut them. Sadie didn't stay around long enough to even sniff them ... she saw them (probably caught the scent of them) and took off running.

I was just enjoying the great weather, Stella was sleeping and Sadie was wandering like always. As you can see the grass does look a little long and tall enough to mow. That is what changed my mind from cutting the hounds toenails to mowing the yard one last time.

Stella loves the yard, the sunshine and the cool breeze from the southwest.

So I decided to cut the yard one more time. I was planning to do it within the next three days with the high temperatures in the 60's and even 70's on Wednesday. By the weekend those highs is suppose to drop to the 40's.

I was able to mulch the last of the leaves ... BUT A BIG PROBLEM !!!

In the area of the center of the yard as I was mowing, I glanced down at the side discharge guard and saw the hinge pin that holds it to the side of the mower had vibrated loose and was about half way in. I stopped and slid it back into position. I mowed most of the yard doing that and checking it as I mowed.

Near the center of the front yard the discharge guard blew off the side of the mower. The pin was gone. With the length and weight of the pin it should have been an easy find ... but wasn't. So far I have walked the path of the mower over the whole yard. In some places I was on my hands and knees running my fingers through thick grass just in case the grass was hiding the pin.

It's there somewhere. I'll buy a new garden rake since mine broke while fighting the fire on the north side of the yard a few weeks ago. Then I'll run that rake through the yard and have it show up that way. I'll have to find it by next spring because if I mow over it, it could really tear up my mower. It's a steel pin.

For the last cut of the year I always lower the mower blade one level shorter. The yard is about the worse shape I've seen it in this year. I can already see my first "to do" list thing next spring is to pull the landscaping bricks out and then backfill with dirt to put the edgers back up straight.

I'm thinking about a trip downtown for the Chinese Buffett for dinner and then watch a couple of good college basketball games tonight. I think I have only cleaning the gutters one last time to do before winter. I installed new insulation around my windows and doors on Monday so the house should be pretty air tight for those freezing winds in January and February.

I can't pull the trigger yet in folding down the back seats in the FJ, laying matching color Mexican blanket over them and letting the hounds take short trips again. It really does look good without the hair from the hounds, the dried drool and smudges on the windows. It will eventually happen, just not sure when.

We had THREE hound walks today, the yard mowed all by 3pm.

A couple of more days of great temperatures before it drops to the 40's here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Good Monday Morning

With overnight low's the lowest so far this fall, it was kind of hard to open that door to let the hounds out knowing it was in the 20's. They relieve their bladders while I pour out their breakfast kibble. Without the heat on inside, my house was showing 56° this morning when we got up. LOL

Stella was really ready for the daily walk this morning. She sprinted toward the back of the field behind the house.

So after the normal routine of some coffee, some internet reading ... the temps get to warm up. By the time we left a little after 11am, it was borderline 50° but really nice. I don't mind this kind of weather, although I am a huge fan of spring and summer.

From the very start the hounds were really active showing evidence there was a lot of 'traffic' last night while they slept. I wonder if deer can smell where the hounds have been?? I know nothing about deer, zip, nada.

The temps must have felt perfect to Stella because she was running all over the field. It was kind of like watching a race horse slowly galloping for their morning workout.

The both took off and I was pretty sure they were heading in their favorite spots. I was right. I did let them do what they wanted and figured that if I continued to keep walking, both of them would get some great exercise in by running to catch up to me.

They may love having their noses to the ground but Stella especially loves sprinting to catch up to me. She loves to run.

Here is Sadie looking at me from the corner of her eye. I never see that until I download the pictures. She has done this before.

One of Stella's recent favorite spots, right by the corner of the first turn on the walk.

Her form of "intervals" known to runners and riders that bicycle race.

With her jowls and ears caught in this picture, it might be one of the best I've taken.

Sadie wasn't waiting for her. She moved up into the far right corner of the field to get all the good protein before Stella could get up there. By this time she is already exploring the back edge of the field. When you see a hound nose to the ground and their tail is curled, their radar is locked in.

Stella eventually made it to the far right corner but didn't take long to run again to catch up to Sadie and I.

I'm pretty sure that her ears are fold over each other ... looks earless.

She still did an immediately stop and stop to check something out before she got to us.

Finally they both decided it was time to head home ... must have been getting close to their lunch. They never let me forget what time it should be served.

Yet, Stella still had a couple of more areas to check out before really going home.

Sadie also had something to check out before the final steps back home.

I was going to hold off posting this time of day but recently it seems to be a better time for me to post. By the time I get to the end of the day I have close to 75-100 pictures choose from and much more to write about at times.

When I do post more than one post per day I am not sure everybody realizes there are two posts available that day, so I tend to try to post just one per day for that reason.

I have a few more days it looks like where it might get up to 70° and then suddenly drops to highs in the 40's. The more I look at different parts of the yard I might mow the yard for the final time. Some parts of the yard is still growing and high enough to mow it.

I also plan to buy another 50' of water hose to connect to the one I have so I can have it next to me with the water turned on, so I can burn the tall pile of tree limbs. I normally do that every spring but I have a stack higher than I normally do. I'd hate for that pile to double in size, the last burn I had 20' flames.

Someone asked if the hounds had  rode in the 'new' FJ ... No, they haven't. LOL I love having a clean FJ and it still has that new car smell that dealerships use when they detail the inside of the car before putting it up for sale. There isn't a dog hair anywhere although Stella has left some nose smudges and dried drool near the rear door.

Well it's a great day so far here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

To Blog Or Not To Blog

I am pretty sure today's blog title will drive a lot of traffic to the blog. It always does, right along with the titles that include 'deer', 'rambling', 'winston', 'stella ...'

But I don't blog to drive traffic. I don't do anything suggested to drive traffic to my blog. I has not been nor will ever be a blog that pays me with affiliate links. That's hard work and my blog traffic is nowhere near the total that would be needed to make some monthly cash.

No, this blog started out only as a journal as I started to explore the life in RV travel. Once I made the decision I would not be traveling with three hounds at the time, different than the three I have now, the blog turned into one about the daily lives of the hounds living here in 'the tropics'.

All of these pictures are ones taken today but I'll be talking about the why's and why not to blogging since it seems to be a popular topic recently from the list of bloggers on the left sidebar. Anyone that currently blogs has always thought about whether to stop or not. I even deleted this blog a few years ago but was able to reactivate it with all the pictures because I did it within a certain time period.

Chinle Miller was the first I guess of recent talk of blog closures. She spoke of internet addiction, getting back to old types of communications, etc. All good points for people to consider and probably really good for her. I was going to link her discussion from a few weeks ago but found her blog was set to private sometime since her announcement. You can find her here: Spotted Dog Ranch in case she comes back to blogging.

Kim over at The Travels of Kimbo Polo made her announcement the other day that she was going to leave blogging. I always enjoyed reading about her travels in a Class B RoadTrek. That might be a future option for me once the hounds are gone.

Mark over at Box Canyon Blog came back to make an announcement he was attempting to stop blogging. He had not blogged since he read Chinle's blog post a few weeks ago. He has always had great photos of hiking the mountains in Colorado, the BLM lands in Utah and mountain biking pictures. He has reasons to stop blogging and many of them are the same that most bloggers have asked themselves over the time they have blogged.

I've gone all through that mental torture trying to decided to get off the internet or not, stop blogging or not. I did stop for a time or various times in the past five years of blogging. I might cut down on the frequency of my posts from time to time but it is something I enjoy and more important fact to remember ... there are readers that like the pictures of the hounds and even some of my rambling about living in 'nowhere usa'.

A lot of them have told me they don't have blogs of their own. Some have never been to the Midwest and find the pictures of the field in different seasons interesting. Some just scroll through the pictures and want as many as possible. While all or some of them enjoy reading about what it's like to live somewhere they will never have the chance to see.

I find those reasons enough to take the time to blog and post pictures of the hounds or even me and my August 2015 Weed Pulling Project that for some strange reason turned out to be a blog 'hit' with a bump in traffic numbers.

Due to the fact that I do enjoy writing, I have two other private blogs that I write on not daily but frequently depending on what is going on in my life or the hounds life ... out of the ordinary.

It might sound strange but I write in those other two blogs to help documenting things that I might not remember in the future as my memory gets older and possibly not as accurate. For example it is always nice to go back to check if that water spot on the ceiling is something new or has been there for years.

Or maybe when you swear the field is slowly moving earth underneath toward and up against your house. When I can go back and look at the same pictures five years ago to compare, it can let me know if I am going insane or it's a legitimate concern.

There are always times you will have pictures that are not really for public consumption on a the blog but is nice to see and document as a record.

I also have a personal type journal in a private blog. I like the blog format better than using Word on my computer. There is nothing there that would cause me trouble if it were hacked and published. I doubt that Wiki Leaks would be interested in that information, then again it might be a book that's a best seller, so who knows.

I tried and have another blog here on Wordpress that has only a couple of sentences before 6-8 pictures per post. Some blog readers here take a peak over there at times but hardly any at all. I keep it because I like it, in someways better than this blog, it's easy to maintain and to post on. Meaning, it doesn't take a lot of time.

Time seems to be the major reason for stopping a blog. It does take time to take pictures, download them from the SD card to the computer, then edit them and in my case with an iMac ... export the pictures I want on the blog to a separate folder outside of my Apple Photos program ... then from the blog, uploading the pictures from that folder into the blog.

That takes more time than I like but with only 15-20 pictures in a blog post it's not that time consuming. I edit all of my pictures taken at the same time as the ones I export to the blog.

So another reason for my blogging is loading the pictures of the hounds with a little commentary, for those that enjoy seeing them and for me to look back on when I am at the age of drooling from my mouth and possibly not remembering my name ... lol

Now one difference in the three people that announced they were not going to blog any longer, they all have one thing in common but not with me ... they travel. They write about those travels. So take all of the time I mentioned above about just putting a blog post together and try to put that into a day, a week of when you are traveling. I would NOT want to blog if I was traveling.

In fact that week the hounds and I went out to Utah and Colorado in June 2015 I did NOT have any time available to put a blog post together. Not only that, I did NOT have the urge to blog during those days. I did not miss television, I did not miss watching baseball games like I do here at home, when I traveled that week. I did NOT miss the internet as far as surfing the net.

I used my internet connection for looking at maps and tracking that one storm that was moving our way in Utah, more than anything.

Now if I were staying in one spot for couple of weeks or longer I could see myself blogging while traveling, but not a lot.

One thing about this next picture. I am sure as I usually do with pictures of Heidi, that I will get at least one email telling me she looks so sad, that something has to be wrong with her. The fact is, the camera cannot catch her tail wagging non-stop nor her barking at me and Sadie right after I clicked the camera.

She wanted to go inside because it was 50° or 20° below her self imposed threshold.

So as far as the internet and blogging I am not changing my current lifestyle, daily schedule, just because I want to spend less time on the internet or the blog takes too much time.

Neither of those, internet or blog, has ever been the #1 priority of my life. I have never asked myself "would this make a great blog picture" before I take that picture. I take the pictures and decide later if it's a blog picture.

I have the ability to turn off the internet when I want. For example I track my data usage daily and plug the running total from my Exede page and log it into an Excel spreadsheet with a bar graph ... just so I can see if I am going to have to pay for more data at the end of the billing period.

For 24 hours yesterday I used a total of 19Mb ... 19. Showing I was not on the internet longer than a few minutes. I went online to print out my tv schedule of football games for Saturday.

So I am not really addicted to the internet nor need to run from it. It's a fantastic place for reference. It's a great way to stay in touch with friends that live 200-3,000 miles from me. I can get fast news and sports on Twitter than I can anywhere else. I also find Facebook a good too to keep in touch with friends that live far away from me. I post two or three pictures on Facebook of the hounds most everyday ... but mostly the Facebook pages I follow there keep me updated on bloodhound groups, basset hound groups and my sports teams.

I DON'T log my life on Facebook like millions of people do. In fact by choice I think I have only 27 friends on my list, not hundreds or thousands.

In the summer when I spend all day outside doing yard work or house maintenance I am not missing the internet nor do I have my iPhone on my hip so I don't miss anything ... it's inside on my counter while I am outside. There are some times I even turn that off to get away from the electronics of today.

Finally, any blogger that has decided to stop blogging, all have good reasons to do so. No one should feel any kind of obligation to blog only for their readers while it takes away from part of your life where you want to do something else. There are a few blogs I still have listed on my left sidebar that I loved reading and following ... they disappeared without any kind of announcement but that's okay, after all it's their blog, their life ... I was just an online visitor to their blog.

If I ever feel I am taking away time from my hounds, or things that I like to do such as reading or bicycling, or other people in my life then I'll stop blogging. In the meantime I have "tons of time" on my hands and I enjoy the picture taking, and the writing it takes to put a blog post together.

Thanks to all of you that stop by ... the hounds love the attention !!

Cold and sunny here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.