Summer's Officially Here

The air conditioning was turned on last yesterday afternoon as all three hounds started panting with their tongues hanging out of their mouths ... inside the house. That's the official look to turn on the AC for another summer of high temps and high humidity. Who's complaining? Not I, I love hot muggy weather and will take this over those 7° days just a few months ago.

Again the field looked like it had grown another 6" overnight, but this portion of the field is always the tallest of all 7 acres. All the underground water flows this direction and it has a lot of afternoon sunshine. At least we could still see which way to go.

While Sadie charged out in front, I was reminded that yesterday Stella tried her best to take off to the north woods. It got to the point of no return as I watched her and listened to her ignore my calls. I had to take off sprinting to catch her. She wasn't running but had her head down and was walking at a fast pace, almost past the 2nd house north of us.

So today the focus was to keep her walking with Sadie and I ... but it was hotter than normal this morning. She slowed to her afternoon pace which is almost like me walking in slow motion, yet I wasn't going to let her fake me out today with that ... then attempting to escape.

Do you notice anything different in the picture below?

I did not see any beaten down grass, nor any kind of path but something just barely inside the brush had Sadie and Stella's attention. A lot of verbal commands were needed to get them to move. It was hot, muggy, not even 9am and the gnats were out in force.

Not even halfway through the walk my hiking boots are completely saturated.

I was curious enough to check last year's blog posts to see when we turned on the air conditioning. That is one thing that is good about a blog, it makes it easy to find answers for questions concerning the house, the hounds, the vehicles, weather or myself. It wasn't until the 2nd of June that the AC was turned on and a week later where it seemed to be running full time.

Why does Stella cry like she is in pain ... when I sneeze ??

By the time I turned around Sadie was headed into the brush and Stella was about to follow her. What was leading them out of bounds??

Calling their names and telling them no got both of them back on the walk with each hound going their own separate ways.

After yesterday's escape by Stella, Sadie was going to keep a close eye on her. She did this various times throughout the walk this morning, just to make sure that Stella was still in view.

"After further review" as they like to say in NFL games ... I have decided this morning they planted corn in the back field and not soybeans like I guessed last week.

Can you feel the 'mugginess' in those photos?

What a difference a few months makes in the weather here and the color of the fields.

At this point in time I wasn't sure if Stella was going to make it back to the yard before noon. Each step was deliberate, no signs of being in a rush and no signs of veering off course. Would she make it home by noon?

She made it to the yard about 5 minutes later but still at the same pace. She can tell it's hot and in that case she does nothing fast or normal ... everything is slower for her.

While my mind was daydreaming yesterday I thought that I might start blogging again at the end of the day instead of this time of morning. I know that will not change your reading habits nor is it an attempt to. It's just a warning that new posts may not happened until late afternoons or early evenings. That way I can decrease some of the morning photos, add some afternoon shots that would include Heidi and include a whole day not just the morning walk.

Just because the temperatures are above Heidi's threshold for activity does not mean she wakes up any earlier. She isn't real active and photogenic until after her lunch.

If anyone would like to live in 'the tropics' the house next door is going to be for rent. My neighbor of one year, that works in the Texas oil fields and stays up here a week per month, moved out last week. I knew something was going one when the satellite installers were taking his satellite dish down without replacing it. I also saw some loaded pickup trucks pulling away from the house.

Not sure when it will rain again after a forecast of a 'wetter than normal' summer ... and I don't know if my last place Reds will ever lose again since they are on a 6 game winning streak. (Have I jinxed them?) Besides, I'm back on Facebook and even signed up for an Instagram account last night so I could find some old bloggers that moved to Instagram. I can also follow that 'vanlife' group.

Does it really matter if you try to hide from Google if you have used Blogger for years and have gmail as your email service, both owned by Google ... the lightbulb finally came on inside my head and I realized they already had info on me that would never disappear so back to Google Chrome I came. It uses less data than Apple's Safari does.

I may have finally found an 'in home' pet sitter ...  waiting for a reply from her.

That's about it for this morning from 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... air conditioning was a great invention.

Heidi Takes A Wednesday Afternoon Stroll

Wednesday afternoon I heard Heidi jump off the couch, run toward the kitchen barking. Very unlike her normal activity. I had no idea what was happening. I found out as we went outside that she wanted to go for a walk. How did I know that?

By the time the bloodhounds and I were in the yard, Heidi was already heading down the path out into the field. How strange was that? I didn't have to time to go back and get the camera to record that historic and strange event. She walked the half mile, leading some of the walk. After we returned home she slept the rest of the afternoon and evening.

So Thursday I was curious what she would do after lunch. As you will see, she and the bloodhounds did nothing because it was TOO HOT !!!

She stood and thought about her next move for a while, as did Stella ... but Stella already knows what she is going to do when it's above 80°. Plus with it being so soon after eating she knows there is only one thing to do ... take a nap. She dropped to the ground right where she stood.

So far this summer Heidi has decided her spot will be right next to 'Winston's Patio' just on the edge of the grass.

Meanwhile Sadie did what Sadie does ... she roams the field with no time to lay down and relax, no matter how hot it is.

It wasn't long until I felt a little too hot as I deepened my tan ... or burn that is. As soon as all three hounds saw me putting the chair back into the corner and I was going back inside, they came running to the door ... I guess it was too hot for them also.

By late afternoon and after all three had a solid 2-3 hour nap I thought they might want to take a walk. I knew that Sadie and Stella would but what about Heidi? When I asked if she wanted to go, she hopped off the couch and with her tail wagging she headed to the door ... I grabbed the camera.

By the time she got to the yard she wasn't in the mood to take a walk and why would she? She went yesterday and besides I had my camera.

So the bloodhounds and I took off for a quick walk ... glancing back at her, she had already gotten up and was heading toward the bank. That seems to be her normal area while we walk when she is outside.

Stella immediately shifted down into her normal afternoon walking pace ... a little slower than slow.

As we walked into the yard from the north, I could see Heidi almost at the path in the field at the edge of the yard. I thought she might go walking on her own ... but Sadie had other ideas.

Once she saw Heidi was running toward us, Sadie started sprinting toward her to do her famous 'nose tap' that she does anytime that Heidi comes back inside the house ... I am guessing it is some sort of a greeting.

Within the second it took me to click the shutter again, Sadie had moved out of the picture and Heidi was regaining her balance from the 'nose tap'. You can tell by her stretched rear leg and flapping jowls she is not quite straightened out yet.

The temperature will continue to climb to the high 80's today and this weekend. With all of this warm weather Heidi's deposition has turned a 360 and is much more active than she was when it was colder than 50°. 

By the time I return from visiting an old friend in Bloomington, it will be time to mow the yard again. 

Hot weather is back and all of us are having fun in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Enjoys The Warm Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon after Heidi jumped from the couch and started barking, little did I know that not only did she want to go outside but she wanted to take our half mile walk through the field. I did not have time to grab the camera for that historic event. Today right after lunch we headed outside as usual, then a few hours later I thought she was going to take another walk, so I brought the camera. All she wanted was to go outside. LOL

Is It Laziness ??

At first I thought it was just another morning of heavy dew, so did Sadie, but looking at the fields across the highway and the outer edges of the highway I could see the predicted rain took place sometime after 11pm. It's not often we see fog but when it happens it's pretty nice to look at. As far as 'laziness' I call it 'retirement'. Anything not done today can be pushed to tomorrow or weeks, or months ahead.

I told myself last month I'd dive right into my full page list of things to do this spring and summer. It just needed to get warmer. At the same time I wanted to get all of the things that would happen outside finished before the hot temps in July and August. There is still time but I am going to have to make some drastic changes in my approach. Printing out a list of things to do was a start but that was about all it was.

As I picked up that piece of paper on my computer desk to look at those 26 items staring back at me, I brushed off the dust and found really only 4-5 of that HAS to be done this summer. I think once I get started and marking them off as they are completed, I'll finish most of the 26 items before college football season starting at the end of August ... that is when my world stops until the following April after the NCAA Final 4 in basketball.

As I tip toed out into the field of wet grass in my North Face snow boots, I swear that the grass had grown 6" from yesterday morning. With the days filled with bright sunshine and an occasional rain, the field and my yard grows fast. Luckily with the difference in color we could see what path to follow.

Last week before I noticed anything, Sadie sprinted into the woods and down over the edge heading toward the bottom of the gully. As I got close to the edge of the woods I could hear her breaking small twigs and running over what leaves were left from last fall. This morning I thought she might make the same sprint into the woods but as she looked back at me she knew I had her in my sights.

Yesterday morning the tips of the taller grass were barely visible. It shows you how much difference a day can make.

I was not even to the halfway point between my yard and the corner of the woods where we make our first turn. With the lens turned to the maximum 200mm I barely caught the hounds at the corner of the  woods.

It's interesting how the sun, the shade, and field decide what looks dry and what is still wet from the early morning hours. I can't remember the exact time we took this morning walk but it was probably between 8:30am - 9:00am. As usual both bloodhounds are off the leash roaming at their leisure. Actually that is unheard of in the bloodhound breed.

Yet Sadie and Stella along with Heidi seem to know their limits and rarely take off running away. It was 7 years ago this June when I picked up Heidi that had a note on her adoption paperwork that she was "a runner" and needed to be leashed at all times. I did that for ONE day and realized she wasn't going anywhere.

Stella's previous owner that lived on a large farm in Kentucky told me if Stella did take off that she would always come back. I couldn't take that chance with the highway 80' away. Yet after a week, maybe 5 days, I saw that as long as I was outside with her she was good off the leash. Sadie was on the leash for every walk for her first 5-6 years. I'm not sure what changed my mind but she has never been on a leash in the last 3-4 years and always stays in the back field.

Consequently during our morning walk at least, the hounds roam as they wish. My Garmin watch tells me we walk close to a half mile and the hounds usually take 13-14 minutes before we get back to the house.

I mentioned the other day I had not heard any ATVs in the field as I did a lot late last summer. This ATV path going across the back of the field from the north to south into the gully has almost grown over with lack of traffic. I wonder if the owner of the field (neighbor) put the word out the field needed to grow for them to bale hay in July?

As Sadie and I made our last turn for home, Stella was to the left of us taking her own sweet time to return to our path. Once she saw we might get ahead of her, she came walking slowly towards us.

The farmer in back of us planted his field a couple of weeks before the guys across the highway. I am still guessing it's a field of soybeans. In another few days I'll find out if I am right or not. Remember that I am not a farmer, no background in farming do I don't know anything about planting crops, so anything I say is just a guess on my part.

If anything, in the 2 years and 9 months that I have had Stella, she has taught me one thing ... PATIENCE.

Her afternoon walks are even slower. It's funny because she doesn't roam too much on those afternoon walks and strolls very slowly along the path for most of the way. If I am in front of her, she will walk by me to take the lead, then slow down again. She does not walk around me, but right next to me as if she was trying to move me off the path.

Usually toward the end of the walk I can finally get ahead of them where the camera angle is from in front of them instead of behind them.

All the way to the yard, they will take their time and sniff almost every inch. By this point in the field I am assuming they are smelling the scent of the field cat because I don't see any signs of deer traffic in this part of the field.

Stella would like to pay a visit to the neighbors next door. She will stand facing their house on all the walks. It's not what she sees but what she hears, that has her interest. Or possibly the smell of food.

Well the day is promising, sunny great temperatures outside. I'll take a drive in the Z4 and then try to attack just one thing on the list to see if that will give me some momentum. Of course to do that I will have to break away from my computer Mahjong game which I play daily to see if I can complete more games under 3 minutes.

I use the internet a lot in finding how to do those DIY jobs with house or lawn maintenance. There is a lot of good information out there but also some articles recommend opposite ways of doing things. Such as, are vents in the house foundation left open during the summer and fall to let the crawl space breath ... or closed all the time to keep the area locked tight and dry???

Do you put calk around all the outside edge of the storm windows or leave the bottom edge slightly open so condensation has a way to escape??

I saw a headline in my reading this morning that ticks were going to be bad again this summer. Yet I have not seen nearly as many as we say in 2016? or 2015, when I counted over 100 ticks pulled off of me and the hounds in the month of April. They were so bad I put a counter in the upper left corner of my blog. So far this year I have seen less than 10 on any of us.

With the field of tall grass (hay) so close to our yard plus our multiple walks per day in that field of tall grass, there isn't anyway to miss the ticks. I just have to do an inspection of me and the hounds after each walk. I guess that is the price of living in a rural area.

I got bored yesterday and was in the mood to play around with the blog. I changed some fonts in the title and posts. I tried some different widths, trying to make the page wider. Those went back to the original theme width since most of my readers look at this blog from their tables or phones. So making the blog wider would not have made a difference to most. Maybe the computer experts are right when they say desktop computers are on the way out.

Not only did I go back to Facebook a few weeks ago to follow the groups on my list, yesterday I decided to add back the small group of friends that I had before. I don't think I had more than 15-17 of them listed last time. A few told me they missed seeing the hounds when I would post a picture or two on Facebook. They have no time to visit the blog. Each time those photos I put on Facebook are the same as what is on this blog, just not as many.

Some say that dogs look like their owners ... I am beginning to wonder if the owners (me) don't start adopting the bloodhound lifestyle. After all, about the only thing I do anymore is eat, sleep and take dog walks.

It's been a great spring so far here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.