It Took A Lot Of Hours But Finished

Sorry I don't have much to blog about today and only have 3 photos of the hounds. Those were taken today ... maybe I'll go back into the photo archives and post some past photos of the hounds down below.

Anyway I found out just how much work and how many hours it takes to update things when you make the decision to change your home email address ... an address that you have used for a lot of years. I almost changed it in April 2014 when I retired, kind of a 'fresh start' kind of thing. I then realized by looking at my list of passwords and all of the different emails I receive daily because they have that email address ... that in April 2014, I decided not to change it.

For some reason this year, that email address was sold obviously by some website(s) where I had used it. The amount of junk mail coming to that account was amazing and never stopped. I did all I could to block them. I had a pretty good idea of the cause just based on the increase in junk mail after I would list something to sell on Craig's List or the times I would sign up for a new newsletter from someone. I'm not positive it is the reason, but it was a fact that junk mail increased tenfold during the times I had things for sale on Craig's List..

The junk mail seemed to happen more and more, even with the business websites where I had used the address. So I decided last night I'd start the long process of changing everywhere that old email address had been used and then delete the account.

Honestly, it took me almost 7-8 hours of solid work to get those updates done, including rechecking those sites where changes were made to make sure I could enter them again with the new email address. I also wanted to make really sure that I received email notices from my banks, credit cards, internet company, cell phone company, and electric company if nothing else.

Who knows, just by doing that I may start receive a new batch of junk email ... hope not.

So I'll not keep boring you with the details ... but just to let you know, if you ever decide to or have to change your home email address it is very time consuming to update before you pull the plug on the old account.

The hounds did their normal daily stuff inside ... a lot of sleep, the bloodhounds played, shared bones, found a new bone that was hidden somewhere and all were very interested in the lunch I fixed ... even Heidi.

For the first time Stella "whined" to me about the time I normally put their food out. I guess she has decided to start acting more like a bloodhound and has adjusted to the move.

Here are some photos from today ... while I'm off to find some older photos to post that you haven't seen yet.

Early this morning Stella didn't even want to go out into the field to snoop around. She sat there and stared at me the whole time we were outside this morning.

 Winston did his normal early morning search for any yard moles that he never tries to catch but seems to smell a lot around the yard.

Sadie decided she was going to do her normal morning routine and it didn't matter if Stella came with her or not. She didn't go too far and was back in the yard looking bored. So we all went back inside and I went back to the computer.

 I lost the first two years of photos for Sadie due to my own mistake, thinking I had my hard drive backed up. I am not sure how old Sadie was in this first photo but she was letting me know that chair was hers.

She has always been able to sleep anywhere but usually preferred no blanket of any kind. She is about 3 years old in this photo.

This is Heidi after we had spent all day driving down to Arkansas to pick up the Lil Snoozy Trailer before I changed my mind in the middle of the night. She really liked that grass lot but it wasn't a few minutes later she snuck off out of sight and a feeling of panic made me forget about the 98° and humid evening.

When I brought Winston home at 8 weeks old in 2004, he wasn't much bigger than a bottle of Pepsi.

Stella's previous owner use to dress her in a polo shirt and take her to work on Fridays. I could tell by these photos she was a laidback bloodhound. That last photo is Stella's first night here, probably really confused and shy ... it didn't take her many days to move from that spot on the floor to the couch every night.

I have a college football game to watch tonight, with my Dawgs playing down in smoggy Los Angeles starting about an hour after the Indianapolis Colts kick off for their game in Houston. That means one game will be taped on the DVR but will be looked at during the commercials of the other game. Thankfully MLB has the night off. I always say I need a few more tv's mounted on the wall.

Overcast in 'the tropics' this morning but it never rained ... then the sun popped out for another great day of retirement.

Even The Hounds Have Low Energy

It must have been wishful thinking when I put that title on yesterday's blog post. I glanced through some photographs dated last October and things were not finished until the end of October. So I'll probably have one more cut on the yard before I put it away for the winter.

The hounds must be in a 'low energy' mode this week. They didn't do much as far as adding photos to this blog today. We took a walk earlier in the afternoon, with Heidi deciding to join us.

I didn't have the motivation to rake the yard. I almost started later in the afternoon but decided to prepare dinner early so that took me away from any yard work. Speaking of yard work, the weeds in the gravel driveway are coming back ... I'll not be on my hands and knees pulling them again.

Someone was saying today that the lack of color in the leaves this fall is from all the rain we received this spring and early summer. By this time last year there were a lot of bright colors along the driveway and the same trees that are in these photos. I don't see the bright colors happening this year.

Here is an updated photo of that buried animal holder for the tethered rope I have used for years. I mentioned before that the only way this comes out of the ground is with the help of a vehicle or a tractor pulling it up.

I'll leave some photos we took today but we did absolutely nothing again today. We will be watching the Cubs - Pirates baseball game tonight. I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan but will be watching Kyle Schwarber on the Cubs. He was playing at IU just two years ago. I am a baseball fan but don't watch every game due to the number of games in a season, but it is really enjoyable watching playoff baseball especially in a one game playoff ... you either win or go home until next season.

That's about all there was going on today in "the tropics" today. Retirement life is great!!

Was Today The Last Time I Mow In 2015?

Another beautiful cool day here in the tropics with blue skies and a bright sun.

With the temps feeling cool, even at 79°, I fired up the lawn mower, lowered the level one notch, put the hounds in the bedroom since Stella will open the door and come outside when I am mowing and took off mowing for an hour.

I wish I could mow the yard at this level all the time, but with a field next to me, moles that love my grub worms and plenty of strange seedlings in the air to infiltrate the grass ... I'll have to work with what I have. In the past I have used all kinds of lawn food, different grass seeds, grub worm killer and weed killer ... but it's a never ending battle, an expensive one.

With the grass cut one level lower and some leaves that were mulched along the way, I hope to get out in the morning and rake the whole yard, thinking the smaller mulched leaves will be easier than a lot of regular sized leaves. I have the electrical leaf blowers, but they are very loud and may actually take longer to move the same amount of leaves that are raked. Of course the leaf blower is easier on the muscles than the constant movement of raking.

I do plan to put on some Scott's Winter Fertilizer in November.

Some time before I finished my first cup of coffee this morning, Stella and Sadie were enjoying some mild wrestling inside the house. Every time I grabbed my camera, they would stop and stare at me. Consequently I have no photos of inside play nor the times they lay side by side chewing on the one nylabone. That was the time to go outside.

Tails Curled - Ready To Charge

Winter must be around the corner because Winston is going into hibernation mode and sleeping more than normal ... which is basically more than a lot. Stella continues to move when I do and follows me most everywhere I go. She is starting to feel at home though and will go outside and come back to the door to be let inside without me with her.

For the first time in over 20 years I have taken the tether up from the connection in the field ... stored for another time. It's the first time I've had all my hounds not needing to be tethered while outside roaming the field.

Heidi's skin is improving after the 2nd week giving her a different kind of probiotics. More hair continues to grow back on her paws and rear hocks ... still she is very skinny. The more I feed her the bigger the pile of poop is so I am not sure feeding her more is the correct answer for gaining weight. One vet in June was afraid it might be cancer but 4 months later she has more energy than ever, feels better, plays more ... but her weight is scary low.

The hounds didn't seem to be in the mood for anything when we went outside late in the afternoon. As you can see all afternoon bloodhound aerobics were canceled due to lack of interest. It was a good thing that I did go outside for a few more photos though ... look what I left on my bumper? At least I found the battery now instead of 25 miles down the road.

Stella Loves The Sun

Battery For The Weed Eater

Well, time for some Mahjong, then the daily hound walk, some salmon and veggies before a 1 game playoff in baseball tonight. Such is life in retirement.

The Greek God Yogurt

Some people may think "yogurt is yogurt" ... but in the 45 years I've been eating yogurt I've never thought that. Like all dairy products over the years the costs have climbed exponentially, even from last week ... yet when it comes to addictions, costs rarely matter. I had noticed this brand on the shelves many month's ago ... the price was much higher than I was going to pay for any kind of yogurt, so I would resist trying it.

I didn't have my current addiction at that time. So today after seeing a 40 cent increase over last week's price, I paid $4.98 for this container of yogurt you see between Sadie's paws. No, she doesn't get spoonfuls or even a spoonful but she does get to lick out what's left inside the container. She also likes to put her teeth marks on the container to let everyone know she's finished. There usually isn't much left but she will sit next to me drooling while she waits for me to finish the container. Maybe she is now addicted?

Ed Frey was mentioning this yogurt so many times on his blog that one day my curiosity got the best of me, so I sprang for the expensive yogurt and could not stop eating it. Months later I will not even consider any other kind of yogurt. I did a test with the yogurt I was eating before this, both are high in sugar content ... but my last yogurt does not taste nearly as good as it use to.

I am not even sure it's the taste that has hooked me. It does taste fantastic but it's also the texture that is nice. I am not sure I will take the next cost hike though, I have my limits. I cannot ever see myself paying over $5 for a container of yogurt. Even though, I do pay almost as much for a smaller container of Ben & Jerry's ice cream on occasion. Of course the yogurt and ice cream are NOT on my diet.

The hounds got some exercise in sprinting and playing before the college football games started at noon on Saturday.

Winston and Heidi were not interested nor are they ever been interested in any kind of aerobic exercise. Heidi was missing during this time and I found her in a new spot she is trying out which is way outside the allowed limits. She refused to move when called ... all I need is another stubborn hound.

The hounds and I survived another long weekend of watching college football for 14 hours straight on Saturday and 2-3 different NFL games on Sunday. We did the daily walks at halftimes of the afternoon games. So while I watched the games, the hounds got their sleeping in and exercise. It got exciting though when Stella found out early Saturday evening that Winston had taken her spot on the couch, plus while she was up drinking water ... Sadie moved into the last spot on the couch and Heidi came out from the dark bedroom to take the chair that Sadie was sitting in.

Stella came back into the living room without a spot to sit except on the floor.

Stella stared for a short time processing what took place. She saw a space on the couch next to Winston not much bigger than her paw. Bloodhounds seem to think the the space 1"x1" can be expanded to fit them stretched out as long as they have a desire. Right after Stella put her paw in the 1"x1" space and had the look in her eyes that she was going to climb on the couch and sit on top of Winston ... I yelled 'no' and she migrated to her spot on the floor.

Hours later during the final game of the night, I made the mistake of leaving my spot on the couch for some water ... only to come back to the living room finding I no longer had a seat anywhere. Luckily the ottoman is large enough that I moved that over to where I could sit and see the game.

Stella, Winston, Sadie

There wasn't a lot of photos taken this week. Saturday was cool, windy with a little rain ... Sunday was just lazy and today was shopping day for dog food and yogurt.

I was wrong in my writeup last Thursday or Friday when I stated the farmer got 4 trailers full of corn ... those same 4 trailers made numerous return trips to fill up and the number I saw were 16 trailers full as of this morning. I didn't see all of them. Not knowing anything about farming or crop production, that seems like a lot of corn produced for such a small field.

The hounds didn't do much today ... Stella and Sadie played again which is now their daily ritual ... while Winston found one of his favorite spots to lay in the sun and watch the traffic on the highway. He later laid down for a full nap but woke up when he heard me with my camera.

It has now been a few days using Apple's new OS El Capitan that I installed last week. I can tell the differences, even those behind the scenes and I like some of the new features. I am not one to jump on all the new features ... I still like backing up to my computer instead of 'the cloud' ... I like plugging my iPhone into my computer to download photos instead if using wifi for that same thing. There will be many features I will never use but they are there if I ever decide to. I'll have to give this OS update an above average rating ... it works well.

The major league baseball playoffs start tomorrow with their wild card game. Those games will carry me through he week nights and some week days between football games. There has always been something about baseball in the fall ... makes it seem like fall is here.

With the recent bag of dog food that Sadie, Stella and Winston eat ... they are consuming 1.833 pounds per day. I can see that Sadie is losing the weight she needed to lose. Winston is maintaining his slim waistline and Stella showed up in very good shape, not to heavy or lean .. just right. Yet all three hounds would eat non stop if I put the food out.

Heidi still eats her own Earthborn Holistic Grain Free food. Her 28# bag is lasting her 50 days. Even though she is communing .56 pounds of dry dog food per day ... she has not gain any of her weight back. In fact this morning and yesterday I could swear that she has lost weight. Yet she is happy, wags her tail, sprints through the house once per day ... and her skin rashes seem to be continuing to improve.

As usual things are pretty slow here in "the tropics" of southern Indiana if you are looking to read about exciting events.