Some Beautiful Days Between Storms

I'm not sure how long it will last but I have to admit we have had a couple of beautiful days in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana since the storms this past weekend. Of course rain is in the forecast for the next few days, it might blow over and never show up, so we will see.

It won't matter to the hounds ... they sleep most of the day anyway rain or shine.

It's only been three days this week but it's been pretty productive so far. The problem is, all the things I've done, all but one, were not on my house "to do" list. I washed the Mini Cooper, mowed the lawn, washed the hounds last Sunday and even did a little house cleaning. All normal stuff.

Yet all of that is not listed on the "to do" list.

I did get the carpet shampooed yesterday and that was on the list ... so at least after marking through that as completed it looks like I've started to get something done. I have big plans for the rest of the week that should knock of more of the listed things.

I've been having a problem with my Nikon D3200 auto focusing. Maybe some of you photographers and readers can look at the following photos tonight as well as some I've posted this past week and let me know by commenting or email me if the photos don't look clear and sharp.

It started last week when I noticed my photos were blurry or were not nearly as sharp as I remembered when I bought the camera this past year. Could it be my eyes? Almost all of Monday, the camera would not auto focus. If I held the shutter button down half way, I heard a clicking sound. Even though the battery showed a 1/3 to go before the battery was drained, I went ahead and recharged the battery ... the camera started working with auto focus and auto flash after that battery was charged.

I read the Nikon forums after searching on Google for my problem. A lot of Nikon users were having the same problem and recently. I read the owners manual and checked all the settings both on the camera and my two lenses. I tried both of my lenses with the same results. I inspected the inside of the camera, the lens contacts ... all were good.

Anyway I'll post some different photos tonight and let me know what you see.

Monday June 22

I've been noticing Heidi losing what I think is a lot of weight recently, such as since April. Way too thin in my book. So we took a trip to the vet Monday afternoon for him to inspect her and find out what might be going on. She has been fighting allergies since last October.

Records show she has lost 13 lbs since last September and 7 of those 13 were lost since March. Her appetite is always great, normal activity, she barks and plays plus she has been going outside more just to enjoy the day. Nothing seemed wrong on the trip to Utah. All her activities were normal while traveling.

So my vet did some pretty hard squeezing of her stomach and intestinal area. He found nothing nor did Heidi yelp in any pain while he did that. She did start wagging her tail when he finished.

Now you have to remember this vet I use is not one to take off on a lot of medications or testing that drain your pocketbook. In fact he is just the opposite and will always suggest the cheaper option. In this case he told me to go to the local drug store (CVS) and by the generic brand of Peptin AC ... indigestion???  For a hound that now weighs 36 lbs he told me to give her 20mg twice per day.

He thought about adding pumpkin to her diet but wanted to hold off until I saw that this did or did not work. If the Peptin AC doesn't firm her stools up, then we move to the canned pumpkin option. He said blood tests would be a last option if I was still having problems.

Now the last time he saw Heidi was in March while she was still fighting the battle of the major skin rash. In March she looked sore, probably was and all of her paws and hind legs were raw when he prescribed different meds.

She has been off meds now since April. He and I thought her rebuilt skin was looking very good and in fact has hair growing back where he said it might not return. So that was a good thing to hear since she has had a rough 9 months with skin allergies.

Sadie was the only one that wanted to come outside for the photo op tonight. Of course she likes to go outside anytime I say the word .. in any kind of weather. Still she will whine, not bark, to get back inside because she is a true house dog at heart.

I'm guessing the hay field behind my house will be cut any day now. I was going to take some photos of the flowers in bloom this morning but it seemed to late in the day and was too bright. Of course tonight they had closed up.

In this picture there is one color that stands out ... see if you can find it. You might have to click on the photo to make it bigger to find it.

That stake is what keeps a 100# bloodhound in the field and it doesn't matter how hard she is running. Most of the time though she has her nose to the ground, trotting. Still a great invention for keeping animals in the area.

After burning everything on the driveway bank this April and cutting small trees down to ground level, I have Sassafras trees growing back like weeds. All of the junk plants, horse grass and weeds have not grown back, so the burning did what I wanted it to do.

I'm going to let the bank grow back like it was for years when I first moved here. That was before the straight line winds took out trees 60 ft along the bank. What the storm didn't take in 2008, the local electric company in 2012 cut every tree underneath their power lines that go into my house and any tree that might grow under their power lines.

Well all I need is enough space along that fence line for my DirecTv and Exede Satellite dishes for television and internet service. It will be interesting to see how the Sassafras trees root each other out for space.

I am happy with my backyard project where I also burnt and cleared out in April. It's not all grass but a lot of it is and will get better in the future. I have about three stumps that I did not cut down to ground level and their roots were too strong to pull out ... so I have decided to let them grow into whatever. I can see to mow around them instead of weed wacking them every week and then I can't see where the stumps are to avoid them with my lawn mower.

The urge to travel is still strong as ever. That short trip to Colorado and Utah this month made the desire to travel even stronger. In my mind I need to get these "to do" list things completed for the house before I hit the road again. That list isn't anything major, just a lot of odds and ends to complete. It lingered in the back of my mind while we traveled a few weeks ago.

I like my new MacBook Air. I cannot believe how much faster it is than my iMac that is approaching 5 years this October. Of course with a faster processor, and not much data on the hard drive, it's expected to be a lot faster.

It's good to have options so I guess I'll keep all the Apple "toys" I've bought over the years.

Now if I can just get my camera to work on a consistent basis, I'll be a happy camper.

Life is good right now in "the tropics".

It Was Hound Bath Day In The Tropics

As usual when I plan to do just one thing, I end up doing things unexpected. The plan was a bath for only Heidi. She was due after laying in the dirt when camping plus it was also time to wash some of that dead skin from her healing process from the skin allergies she has had over the winter. She doesn't mind baths. Her ears stay clean which is strange for a hound with long overlapping ears. She didn't mind getting her nails cut .. but a 'dog bone' bribe had to be part of the process to get that done.

This photo was taken right after her bath and towel dry. For those that have been following long enough, I think you can see improvement in her skin condition all without any medications in the pat 2-1/2 months.

Before Her Manicure

Sadie on the other had sprints away as far as possible when she hears me say the word bath to either Heidi or Winston. Since the house is small she cannot sprint to far away but she does make sure she is not the one standing in the tub about to be sprayed. This consists of her hiding under the coffee table, the kitchen table or between the bed and bedroom wall. Anything to keep from getting a bath.

On a rare note, after some coaxing, some 'dog bone" bribery, with some slow motion with the nail clippers. She stood while I took one paw at a time and cut her nails. She never flinched and seemed to prefer having them done standing up, while the other two hounds like lying down when getting theirs cut.

Sadie also helped supervising Winston how to dry off in the grass and also coached him into following her instructions. Still at the end of the day, she was pretty proud that all she had was her nails cut and her ears cleaned.

"Now rollover multiple times to dry yourself off"

"Shake your head as hard as you can ... that will get the ears dry"

She was pretty proud of herself getting out of a bath again

When I asked Winston if he wanted a bath ... Mr. Laidback Nothing Bothers Me Winston ... wagged his tail and walked from the kitchen into the bathroom to stand next to the tub. Unlike Heidi who likes to stand, he wanted to lay down in the water. It's hard enough to wash a hound with a low stomach but when laying down and not moving ... it's next to impossible.

Needless to say ... there were no photos of the bathing process, only after shots.

A towel, then a dog chamois towel dry didn't do much for him. The water just seemed to stick to his hair. Since it was 84° and had a heat index of 90° I decided that if he went outside and ran a few laps around the yard and and used the grass, he could naturally dry off like 90% of the dogs do in the USA.

I can't say he ran many laps around the yard, if any at all, but he did trot out to the yard to start his drying process. Here are some photos of Winston getting the job done.

A short rest after trotting out to the yard

Starting to roll over after the first full body shake

Looking for somewhere softer

This could be the spot

Having Sadie check out the place to dry off

Well??

It's too hot to be doing this

Well back to the list of things to do. I can still get some things done tonight but the week ahead is booked solid with stuff to do and places to go. Besides that sunshine of today is gone and it's back to raining again. I just received a tornado warning text for my county from the nearest tv station.

It's Sadie's 7th Birthday Today

When Sadie was born I had no idea she would be my next bloodhound. I didn't even know of her even though her litter was just a few miles outside of town.

It wasn't until she was 8 weeks old I was ready for a new bloodhound. I didn't decide until she was 10 weeks old that I wanted another bloodhound.

At the time it was just Winston and I but he had lost his best friend Bertha (a bloodhound) almost two months before. He stopped eating for a while soon after she passed. It was bad enough that I had to take him to the vet to see what was going on. Many people say dogs cannot nor will they show any emotions when another hound dies. I have to disagree with that.

Anyway Sadie was not the first choice when I first saw the litter. Her dad was a big loud tan bloodhound while her mom was a mellow black and tan. I was more interested in the tans which would eventually turn red. A few weeks later I took Winston with me to see what he thought of the 8 bloodhound puppies. Well out of eight of them Sadie was the only pup that followed Winston where ever he walked. She would snip at his heels, trying to get him to play. She barked and howled at him.

I thought that was a good sign, so I told the breeder that I had changed my mind and I would take Sadie instead of my first choice, which was a mellow female. Simply because Sadie showed an interest in Winston and he played with her. Little did I know that Sadie would act like her big loud bloodhound dad.

Sorry that I have no photos of that time period. Due to an interruption while backing up my files during that time on my PC I had a lapse of memory. A few weeks later assuming I had backed up those photos and other files onto my external drive ... I reformatted my hard drive to clear out all of the malware I was getting on my Windows PC. Only afterward, when I tried restoring those photos from my backed up external hard drive ... nothing was there.

So all the photos I took of Sadie for her first year as a pup were lost.  There were some great puppy shots.

Her first two years she was nothing but skin, bones, legs and ears. But she was a hand full. She ate every amount of food I put down for her but never gained weight. She was very particular that her water and food dish were not moved from the first spot they were in. I tried to raise both dishes to an elevated stand as recommended for large breeds .. to prevent possible bloating.

She went on a hunger strike until both bowls were put back on the floor where they were before. Even now if I move the bowl she will not eat. She was the most obnoxious puppy I had in 30 years of having bassets or bloodhounds. Destruction was her middle name. While I was at work I'd have to kennel her inside. I had the biggest black dog kennel money would buy that was made for indoors.

I came home one day and she must have been jumping inside the kennel moving it to where she wanted because it was 3' from where it was sitting when I left that morning. She gave me that bloodhound stare as if nothing had gone on all day.

Another time she had tried chewing her way out of a heavy duty kennel. Someway she had fit her lower and upper jaws around two of the very thick and hard metal wires of the kennel and bent them. Squeezed them together.

What was amazing about that, I could not bend them back with pliers nor could I replicate what she had done with pliers. Her jaws were that strong. If there was an accident waiting to happen, she was there when it did. From flipping full 5 qt water bowls full of water into the air while running to her food bowl, or knocking the closet doors off the tracks once she shut herself inside the closet and the time hitting me full speed from behind at the knee knocking me down ... that was Sadie. She was funny, playful and clumsy as a puppy.

She gradually grew out of all of that or should I say most of that. The kennel was sold, she became a true house dog while getting into things only on occasions when I was out of the house. While mowing the yard or getting ready for work in the mornings, she would try to get into the container of dry kibble and help herself to a free meal.

She would succeed at times but would be back on her dog bed before I could catch her, acting as if she had never moved. Even today, 7 years later I have to close the bedroom door so she doesn't roam the house while I am mowing the yard. Plus I have to set up a baby gate to block her way of getting into the closets.

The new dry food container I bought right before our trip has stopped her from getting into the dog food. With a hard plastic case and a lid that screws on, there is nothing she can do. IF... she can get into that container, then she deserves to eat all the dog food she wants.

Her favorite thing USE TO BE, chewing the plastic tip off of only one shoestring per shoe but multiple shoes. Now those expensive Nikes, Adidas or  New Balance are stored on the top shelf in the closet instead of the floor .. just in case she gets by the baby gate someway and can open the doors.

As far as bones that she doesn't destroy ... this is just one of them. Well worth the money spent to keep her occupied during the day or night.

She Was Only 2-1/2 Years Old In This Picture

Was Found Hid Under the Dog Bed During The Utah Trip

I found out years later from a bloodhound breeder that ended up with Sadie's father, that after 5 questions where I answered 4 of them in a way that led the breeder to tell me if she had Sadie as a puppy she would be given Sadie to police departments, or rescue's because of her strong nose and tracking abilities. Those 4 answers I gave showed that Sadie was a tracker ... not a couch potato.

That breeder would have given me a different puppy. One sign that she was a tracker, was the day she followed Winston around the yard as a 10 week old pup. What I thought was a good sign turned out to be the wrong kind of read.

We have worked everything out though. She has turned into a great house dog. Smarter than a whip, a very funny personality and a big lovable bloodhound. Her separation anxiety seems to have stopped as well as destroying things.

So 7 years and still a mischievous bloodhound. Here are some of the better photos of her since year two.

The 3 Amigos

She Loves To Have an Occasional Stick

She Loves The Snow

Not Sure What Bit Her or Stung Her But Was Gone 30 Minutes After Benadryl

Nothing But Skin And Bones

If There Is Space Any Size On The Couch She Will Make Herself Fit

Camping In Utah

A True Test for Tent Wall Strength

Cooler Temps & Higher Humidity in The Tropics

Heidi June 2012

I am writing this blog post a lot earlier than I normally do. It's only 12:30pm, I just finished a second cup of coffee. That would normally occur in the 8am range but not the past few days. I'm not sure if it's the humidity, the weird dreams at night or me missing that hard ground to sleep on in the tent.

Whatever the reason the routine these past few days is up at 7:30 by Winston's request to go outside. Back to bed until 10:30am or so. I know ... a real waste of time because that means I am sleeping through the coolest part of the day.

With it raining all night the temps so far today have reached 74° but Southern Indiana humidity is already hitting 91%. That means a weather "tease" is in effect. Cool temps with a nice cool breeze makes you want the windows open. That 91% humidity is screaming for you to close the windows and turn the A/C back on just for a little bit. Yes, I found the problem with the A/C when I got back was a 20amp fuse that had popped to the off position.

It doesn't matter to Heidi, she sleeps ... sleeps and sleeps. She is on her own schedule and will get up to eat and will go out at her own time. Although she does eat the same time as the other two hounds. She has been a sleep monster since the day I picked her up from the Rescue Service. If she had not sprinted to the food dish, I would have guessed she was sick.

Heidi 2014

Some may be wondering if my traveling days are over, after such a short trip last week. Am I planning to travel again and if so when? What changes will I make based on what I learned on my trip to Utah, through Colorado? Why am I not traveling now to escape the heat and humidity from the "tropics" of Southern Indiana?

Lets answer the first question first. NO, my traveling is not over just because I came home early. In fact there are plans for a lot more traveling. I needed to make some adjustments to my tent camping attempt with three hounds. They loved the tent and were fantastic travelers, besides Sadie freaking out around 2am during high winds ... or was it possible those Antelope I saw in the morning near us were checking us out in the middle of the night?

Some of my ideas did work and some need some slight tweaking. I cannot forget the feeling I had when I pulled onto Floy Wash Road, it was fantastic.

I am planning to travel again, no later than September, when I will return to Utah when the weather is nicer and as suggested by a friend that travels there quite often. She told me specifically not to travel where I did, when I did due to the heat. If I didn't make it to the Moab area by May then don't go until the fall. Although the windstorm I experienced was not the norm, it's been hotter than hot since I left the area. We would have had to move to get away from the high 90's.

Still, a case of an "impulse roadtrip" hit me big time and any advice from those in the know was ignored. After a short amount of time, with just a little planning, I had bought everything I needed to tent camp and gave the hounds enough water at all times for their survival. The food and water supply was never a problem for the 3 amigos. Off we went.

When I got back, I made a list of things that needed to be changed before I hit the road again. Those can be made with no problem and some of them already have been made. When I am finished I'll go through what I have changed and why.

Although I have a few people that email me, not begging so much, but "suggesting" it would really be nice to go here or here while the summer is here .... I'd love to go there and go there right now for the cooler temps, the smells of pine and no humidity. I'm sure Sadie would pant less, and drool less. Winston and Heidi would enjoy sleeping in cooler temps ... but I have that noose tied around my neck called ... a house.

Yes, while sitting in Rifle Gap SP that Monday afternoon ... my thoughts did turn to all I needed to do on my "to do" list about the house. I had started off very good and fast in April with burning the brush on the bank and in back where I wanted to make an area part of my lawn. It could also be a nice place to sit in the shade as well as test camp with the hounds, under the multiple mahogany trees that make it look like one tree from a distance.

So April was good, I got a lot done. Then I started to slack off in May. I started falling back into the routine of more internet time than time outside/inside getting things checked off my list of things to do ... like simple routine house maintenance after a Midwestern winter. It may have been a mild winter where I live, still those fluctuating temps does some kind of damage every year.

If you miss one summer of doing the repairs, as most home owners know, it's like compound interest and it will only be worse the the next summer when you try again.

Was that my reason for feeling restless or bored while camped for only two nights? ... knowing I had projects back home that were shoved to the side until further notice?

These are NOT major projects. It's things that can be completed in very short time, maybe even in a matter of a couple of weeks. Still I don't feel I can do any kind of traveling at this point until the house projects are completed. I have an option or two still being worked and those include completing the "to do" list before I can do anything else.

So yes I would like to travel again this summer. I'd like to get out to Flathead Lake in Montana. I already have the route planned, the scheduled stops to camp and prevent me from driving the 1,800 miles non-stop. It would not only get us out of the hot and humid summer still around the corner in July and August, but also present us with some great great scenery to visit.

With June only half over, I have plenty of time to finish my "to do" list. I have some other options brewing and being worked on but I'm not going to post anything here until they are completed.

To keep me motivated I am tormented daily, not by the humidity, but by the amount traffic of RVs, 5th wheels and travel trailers that drive by my house on US Highway 231. It's a major north/south highway and is always busy with RV traffic in the summer. So while I am out mowing that yard I've blogged about in the past, there goes an RV towing their car, flying by me as I am sweating my ass off and mumbling to myself.

Which brings me back to what type of RV I need. I've done the full swing on this blog, four years old this October. I researched, test drove different RVs and even bought a Class C ... but I know that what I have is the right vehicle for me. Now I just have to find the right trailer combo.

The optimum vehicle would be a Class A for the hounds. My Toyota FJ cannot be towed wheels down. I also would not be able to afford any major repairs that might happen owning a vehicle like that .. even a fairly new one. I am keeping the FJ. That's a rare situation with me as I have traded cars over the past five years like changing clothes. I love what the FJ can do off road, plus the way it drives long distance.

Plus a Class A cannot go where I want to go to boondock. I know that it would not have made it where I did out on Floy Wash Road. It would have been stuck driving through those three different spots of standing water on the "non" maintained road.

The Class C would not be able to tow well in the Rockies. I know people do tow with their Class C but what I witnessed in the Rockies with My V-6 FJ gasping for air as it climbed over 10,000' there was no way a Class C was going to be towing anything comfortably for the engine. I saw my speed drop when climbing through that beautiful country of the Colorado Mts or hearing it drop into high engine revs to maintain my speed.

Besides, that Class C would have also been stuck going where I camped last week. Heck, the Class C I owned in 2014 got stuck in my backyard and that was just because the winter snow had melted combined with a week of early spring rains. Here are some photos to remind you of that humorous "Murphy's Law" time. This happened after the new owners had looked but not test drove the Coachman. I was moving it out of the yard for them to pick up the next day.

December 2013

April 2014

April 2014

April 2014

April 2014

April 2014

I know the hounds need more room while traveling in the FJ. A Yakima or Thule roof top carrier will be bought. I'll be able to move everything that was in Sadie and Winston's way from the back to the carrier. Heidi curls up like she did in the passenger seat whether she is on the floor, bed or large chair. So the passenger seat is good for her. The driver just needs to and will make more stops at Rest Areas on the way west.

Deciding whether to buy a trailer in the Midwest and then tow for 1,500 miles or not buy a trailer until I get back west is still under consideration. One option considered requires me to use a trailer from here to there (wherever that might be). The other option doesn't require me to buy any trailer until I am on the Western Slope of Colorado.

A lot of things are "in work". Many of those things can be completed fairly soon. Some of those things being completed will be determined if I win my personal war against procrastination. It's always been a problem for me, from the time I had to study for that first elementary grade test, through college and even in the off time at home. Procrastination was never around in my jobs, I never had any problems getting started and getting things done on time while working.

Just during my personal free time.

Since it's midday and the hounds have been sleeping most of the day, new photos are not available. I'll go back into the photo archives to see if I can come up with some hound photos to add to this blog.

Sadie December 2010

Winston May 2004

Oh, the MacBook Air is a fast fast computer. It was a great purchase, although while traveling the iPhone was the most valuable asset for information. Since I chose not buy a data program for a short trip that was planned for two weeks, I was happy with the Verizon receptions I got to use the iPhone while on the road.  It has taken me a little while to get use to clicking the trackpad, before dragging to move things or highlight words ... but minor.

I am use to the 13.3" monitor, something I didn't know if I could do after staring at a 27" monitor for the past five years. I can see it's not a problem. It does like synchronizing with my other Apple devices whether I want it to or not.

So with a cool 74° breeze blowing through my opened kitchen door while I sit at the kitchen table writing this post ... another RV just drove by heading south with their car in tow.