The Weather Changed Fast

When I opened the door for the hounds to have their first trip outside Saturday ... what a rude awakening ... it was freezing.

The strong winds from the southwest had blown the memories of summer completely away and far enough that I could not even remember just how warm it was just 24 hours before. Even Sadie didn't stay outside long for her trip after eating breakfast.

By the time coffee had been consumed, internet reading finished and my two pages of the tv schedule of college football games printed out ... it was time for the first and only walk of the day. It felt warmer then it looked when we first started the walk ... that would soon change.

Of coarse the hounds never care about the temperatures. As long as they are walking in the field working their noses, they don't seem to care if it is grass they are walking on or snow. I am the only one that has to adjust what I wear.

Without saying anything Stella kept up with Sadie and I but was still able to get her running in by hanging back at all of her familiar spots.

I mentioned Friday that Sadie likes chasing two things that fly ... birds and leaves. With the strong 15-20mph winds, the blowing leaves were driving her crazy. There were so many of them airborne she didn't know which one to choose so she would just stand there looking at them.

About the time we turned that first corner ... that 'warmth' we felt was blown away. What felt warmer was now freezing. Cold enough where I wished I had worn a pair of gloves along with a heavier coat besides the "all season" jacket I had on from Lands End.

Sadie planted her nose to the ground and ever looked back and she tracked that worn deer path all the way to the far right corner.

Stella stayed back for just a few minutes before she came running around me and headed to join Sadie. She never knows what Sadie might be getting instead of her.

It surprised me that they both followed me as I made the left turn to follow the back edge of the field.

About the time I thought they were headed for the 'no-fly' zone, once again they turned and came running to follow me home. Were the colder temps making them a little more motivated today to get home?

They stopped and waited for me to catch up to them I guess I wasn't moving fast enough.

Later in the afternoon we came back outside after their lunch and before my first football game to watch. Neither one got much farther than this before they trotted back to the door to be let back inside. You can always tell how cold it is by how close they sleep together. Saturday afternoon they both settled on the couch next to each other and me to sleep during the games.

I would check the temperature on my iPhone during the games. It kept dropping. As I watched the IU / Michigan game, those snow flurries in Ann Arbor, MI turned to heavy snow by the end of the game 3+ hours later. Locally my temps were also dropping. All afternoon walks were canceled.

I was still in denial that winter was here.

It was 26° this morning when we stepped outside. It's still early here so the first walk has not taken place yet. I also have just a little coffee to finish before I put on my Down Coat and gloves today, along with a ski cap to stay warm on the first walk.

Highs in the 50's are forecasted this next week ... I can live with that.

Cold and sunny this morning in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Last Day Of Warm Weather

With gusty winds starting early this morning, the hounds have only a few hours of warm weather left this year. I really doubt we will see 70° until March or April after today.

In 'the tropics' there is always a weird winter day where the temperature might be 70° and then snow two days later ... so there is that chance for that I guess.

We hit the trail a little after 10am and it was windy and 68°. I could feel just a little chill wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts. It is suppose to be a high of 40° by Saturday. You can see that a lot of the leaves have blown into the field and there are still a lot of leaves on the trees along the wooded area.

I could tell that Stella was going to be hanging back today. I didn't even bother calling her, with Stella and I continuing our walk. It would give Stella some good exercise to catch up with us.

You can barely see Stella but you have to look pretty hard. I wanted to catch just how far away she was as Sadie and I made the turn to the back of the field.

It was not long before Stella came sprinting up behind us. She loves running, so maybe letting her hang back isn't a bad thing, at least in the first part of the walk.

Of coarse both hounds headed for the right corner of the field. The deer scat is not just laying up on top of the grass so I am not sure what they are enjoying so much ... because they are 'nosing' their way through the grass to bare ground.

Once again Stella isn't moving and is ignoring my calls to come on. After her Monday situation I really don' t want her to stay back in this part of the field ... but Sadie and I continue our walk.

Once again a 18mm shot just to show how far away Stella is. I think you'll see her about dead center near the tree line.

Sadie doesn't know what to do and wonders if Stella is every going to catch us. I am pretty sure she isn't and tell Sadie "let's go".

Stella acknowledges she hears me calling her as we walk toward home.

Then just basically goes back to what she wants to do ... "stubborn" is a key word in the AKC description of the bloodhound breed.

Once Sadie and I cut across the field toward Stella and calling her name ... she finally gave in and started walking toward us.

The sound of helo's are always very distinct to me. We first caught the sight of it just about tree line height but my camera missed the picture of it through the trees. I waited it to get near the tower and focused my camera in this area. Based on the altitude and the path of flight, I am pretty sure they were checking those high power lines.

Sadie only chases two things in flight ... birds and leaves. When she heard and caught a glimpse of this helo she wondered if she might have a third thing to chase in flight. Luckily she turned and followed me home.

As far as lunch time being served, along with the change to Daylight Savings Time, I think we have come up with a time that will not change next spring when the changes take place again. So during the fall/winter they'll eat around 11:30 and 12:30 during the spring/summer. That is also about the time Stella starts howling to be fed.

Short time outside after lunch. The winds had increased from the morning walk. Sadie found the first two tree limbs to be the start of the 'burn pile' for next summer.

Even with twigs that small, the burn pile will be just as large by next spring.

Heidi made her normal daily appearance outside after lunch. She is hanging in there but no changes in her skin condition or weight. Both do not look good to me but they have been stable now for over a year and four different vet procedures that did not work.

Stella is pretty interested when she either hears Harley's flying down the highway or sirens of the small town police department. Today someone had made a costly error in the high speed they were traveling. Does that mean it's getting close the last week of the month to meet their ticket quotas?

We were able to get one more afternoon walk in before it rained. The skies started changing around 1:30pm, the winds from the southwest were becoming stronger ... so we headed out.

I wasn't planning to let Stella go out at her own pace. As long as she was walking our direction, that was fine ... but no hanging back.

I was told yesterday that these oak leaves are ones will turn colors but will stay on through the winter and not fall off until next spring.

The hounds will always find places to stop and investigate no matter how fast I want them to move. It's their walk any way ... let them go.

I'm not sure what Sadie was smelling or hearing. I looked that direction and didn't see anything that she would have stopped for.

Clouds are turning darker even in the north.

Both of them were on a pretty good pace. The far right corner was not part of the walk this afternoon.

While I thought all three of us were walking along the back edge of the field, I turned to look and saw Stella had snuck away and was headed up to that corner where she would have never come if I had called her. Luckily she heard me, she turned and started walking slowly toward me. She NEVER runs when she has to do something she doesn't want to.

When she is irritated and walks, that pace is slower than slow, as I have mentioned before.

Dark skies to the east.

And back to the southwest. The winds were really picking up at this time plus that chill I spoke of earlier was getting colder.

We made it back with no issues, and the last half was into a strong headwind.

I did not notice these red leaves yesterday while I was burning the bank. This is just to the right of the burn pile that I had.

Sometime around 5:30pm the sky got really dark, very windy but I had time to slide the car cover on the Z4, although it needs one more hand wash before the winter.

We are preparing food for the weekend of football and college basketball, so there may be more games than food is available. My vegan diet continues and I continue to feel pretty good.

Will Friday night be 'movie night' tonight or will it be a college football game.

The rains finally came to 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.