Fall Is In The Air

I guess it's expected when you stay up until 3:30am or a little after and then get up to let the hounds outside for their first trip in the morning at 7:30am ...  things could be a little foggy until that first cup of coffee hits the bloodstream. Why not go back to bed? Tried that but couldn't get back to sleep, so the hounds and I were up for the day.

I forgot to mention last night while I was working replacing the photos, around 1am the wind became so strong and loud, it made me get up and go outside just to see what was taking place. With leaves blowing across the drive from the NW, I was hoping I would wake up today with a yard "cleaned" of leaves. Not quite.

They blew off the large sycamore tree. They blew off the small saplings along the end of the drive. But there were plenty of them blown up along the house that will expect me to come outside a rake them for a final time. Of course Winston had to walk through the stack just to check how deep they were. Just like that, after a day of rain and wind what little color was there ... was gone.

Even though it was 46° by the time we hit the streets, Heidi decided to make her appearance to check out and see for herself if it was as cold as rumored. It might be hard to tell from the photos but Heidi is starting to gain weight. From the "feel" I think it's enough to stop by the vet to use their scales just to check how many pounds she has gained recently.

Stella and Sadie started a little search on their field but Sadie was more interested in some playing. With Stella out in the field, Sadie's nose picked up her location. Stella didn't know that as she ran back into the yard Sadie had a running head start toward her and was planning to meet her head on to start the wrestling session.

After some good kibble for lunch, some napping, they came out for a late afternoon break. Even with the damp ground and cool winds, it didn't take long for Stella to find her spot for the day and lay down to enjoy the breeze from the SW.

Life is good in the land of hounds.

All The Photos Have Been Fixed

I didn't plan to do it all tonight but it's like anything else I start ... I get started and can't stop. The closer I get to finishing "pulls" me onward. So 5-1/2 hours later, it was finished. Actually it was good to do. I was able to resize all the new photos to the XL size I have been making most of my photos the past few months of the hounds.

It also had some good and bad parts in the process. I was able to see just how healthy Heidi looked only a year ago before she became so thin. I was also able to see how much weight Sadie has put on these past two years. Winston got grayer but still in great shape. Although recently I can tell his hearing is decreasing ... faster than I would hope.

I decided not to re-activate the old email only to have over 20,000 emails loading back into the account ... just to see if those photos on the blog would show up automatically. So on my 2nd monitor, I opened a different browser and went to my blog. I used that screen to scan through the blog looking for posts where the photos were missing.

Then I would write down the photo file name, which is what that paper is at the top of this blog post, export them from my Apple Photos program into my computer "pictures" file so Blogger can upload them. I used the 2nd monitor to put the photos in order plus added the original captions, if the photo had one.

It was funny ... as I uploaded all the photos of the Coachmen RV I bought in September 2013, I thought to myself I probably should have kept that RV and I would be on the road as I type this. Sure I could not have gotten off road like we did last summer but that was a nice RV and the inside was immaculate.

As I was uploading the photos of the major repair job for me, not being a mechanic ... I started thinking how happy I was that I sold it when I did. Add in the time where the rear inside tire went flat during the winter while sitting in the backyard ... I was certainly happy that I sold it.

I was also able to see how I drove some readers simply insane with my decisions changing at times within DAYS!!, going back and forth on what to do. I'm sure many of them have left this blog and no longer read it.

After glancing through all those older posts while posting the photos I did not feel the obsession to travel that I had back in 2011-2013. Even in the spring of 2014 I was raring to go with the Chevy 2500 HD 4x4 pickup ... only to trade it for the Toyota FJ a little over a month after I bought it. When I was loading those Chevy photos back into the blog I realized just how nice that pickup truck was. It's no wonder the car dealer that took the trade, sold that truck within 3 days.

I am happy though with what I have, the FJ. I am also content with where I am right now but I do know that traveling is in my future.

I have to log off and get some sleep before the hounds wake me up this morning to go outside. It feels like a Friday night but it isn't. It is 3:32am though ... so I am out of here.

A late night in "the tropics" but at least all the photos are back on the blog.

Where Did All My Photos Go???

Well at least as I write this post I now know where all the missing photos went and possibly how I can get them back. About an hour ago I had no idea where the photos went that were posted on posts from July 2014 all the way back to the start of my blog in October 2011.

I remember last August I ran into a similar problem of photos disappearing but found the reason was deleting my Google + account, one that I had for a short time. Well I have a LOT of work to do IF my idea does not work.

A few weeks ago due to finally getting tired of all the spam, I deleted my home Gmail account. I had used that account for many years. I just remembered as I started this post, I used that home email account to start this blog and as my profile in October 201. I later changed my blogger profile to the one I have now with the "houndsnrvs" email account.

So ... when I deleted that account, I did not know I was also deleting all the photos that I have posted for the first 3 years of the blog.

With the recent Google changes on recovery of old email addresses, all I need to do is log into the old account. After a period of time that account will be updated.

Will that also update those photos back into my blog?  I don't know that it will.

The 2nd option is a slow process and that is going back to all of those posts and if I right click my mouse on that missing photo and do a "save as" on that photo it will show the file name of that photo so I know which photo to reload using my current profile. A profile that I have had for a few years.

It will take a long time to reload all of those photos, looking up the file name one at a time. Then going to my hard drive to find that photo, and export it to the file. Before doing that I will check the Picasa Photo file that blogger uses for all the photos posted and see if those missing photos are still in the Picasa program.

I really wasn't looking for this type of work to do. Yet, I wanted to keep this blog as a journal, as a reference for me and other readers ... so it will have to be something I will have to do, rebuild the missing photos.

I will start rebuilding the most popular blog posts that are listed on the right side of the blog. A reader emailed me telling me all of the photos of the Lil Snoozy Trailer were missing. That is how I found out I had the problem and then looking back through older posts showed me I had a major problem.

It wasn't until I downloaded my camera tonight that I found I only had one photo of the hounds today. One of Stella with a look on her face that really shows what she and the other hounds felt about the weather today. It was rain, wind and them more rain and wind. Consequently they only went outside to dump their tanks and then sprinted back to the house.

The time the hounds went outside today it was pouring rain, so I didn't take the camera outside when they were trying to stay dry.

Well the World Series is on the tv in the background. I can see the large tv screen if I roll my desk chair back a little and look through a couple of rooms. I need to get started on the photo rebuild.

What is today? Tuesday? Wednesday? ... life is tough at times being retired, especially in the "rainy tropics" of southern Indiana.

A Day Of Coffee & Books

It was bound to happen. All of that great sunny weather finally disappeared and today was a dark overcast day with light rain most of the morning and afternoon. It felt like a fall day back on Whidbey Island, that also use to turn into a day of coffee and reading books.

The hounds were only outside each time to dump their tanks. Heidi ran outside and back inside so fast the Nikon D3200 didn't have time to even auto focus for her photo.

The weather today should be the same tomorrow if all the weather experts have read the radar correctly. It was one reason I raked leaves yesterday. Both Sadie and Stella stopped at the edge of the carport once they realized it was raining, hesitating whether to go in the yard. They went but not for long before heading back to the house.

It wasn't must different for the hounds in the afternoon. Winston decided to show up but he missed the morning trip due to being in a deep sleep. He is getting ready for winter.

I took a short trip to the town library to pick up a book I had ordered from a different library in their state library system online. It was here in the morning of the 2nd work day, ready for me to pick up. Driving the FJ to town in the light rain washed off the dirt/dust that gathers from being parked in the carport, surrounded by fields.

Back to my book reading, a fresh cup of coffee until the first game of the World Series comes on tonight.

A wet day in "the tropics".

Herding Leaves Today

The hounds and I survived another fast paced weekend doing the norm. We went out different times during Sunday but there wasn't a lot of energy around so they didn't do much more than the photos show. Heidi remained inside most of the time and refused all requests to come outside to hang out or at least go for a walk.

Of course as the pattern is, after the 1st cup of coffee Sadie is at my desk wanting to go outside every morning. I'll find out if its the coffee or the actual time that makes her do that, once we change time this weekend. After not showing a lot of energy lately Sadie and Stella were wrestling as soon as they went outside today but their play session didn't last long.

Winston got as far as the blocks and then decided he didn't know what he was going to do to start this week, so he turned and headed back to the house. THAT is very strange behavior by him.

With the sun out, the temperature 57° with a slight breeze coming out of the north for once, I decided it was the day to "herd" some leaves. I wanted to do the backyard and for the first time the side yard on the north side of the house.  The front yard could be raked but this year there seems to be enough wind to blow them out of the yard, so I will wait a little longer before raking them.

After a short team meeting, the hounds decided I did not have to rake every leaf and it was okay if some were left behind in the raking process. With the breeze coming out of the north that meant the leaves were headed in the right direction for burning.

We also tried a different burn method. All of those leaves along the fence line were burned right where they lay. My hose was near by where I could put out any fire on the fence line and also stop the fire if it were to migrate down the bank and connect to the leaves in the neighbor's yard. The piles in the driveway were raked into one pile and lit.

I found a more efficient way to collect the leaves instead of loading them with two hands into my two large trash cans. I laid the cans on their sides, moving into the pile of leaves and my other hand pushing leaves into the trash can. Compressed them, the filled to the top to be carried away to the burn pile. That seem to work well in speeding up the process of collecting leaves.

With the cool temps I pulled out a lightweight coat. The great surprise was after putting it on and zipping it up I could tell I had lost inches around my stomach and waist. Last year I could barely zip the coat and at times would have to inhale to get the zipper to go all the way up. This year after it was zipped I had extra room left. I'm glad I didn't sell it on eBay last year.

It might look warm but in cold weather the jacket is actually pretty worthless. It doesn't cut the wind, but for temps down to 50°it's a pretty nice jacket. Still, for winter wear ... worthless.








While I was herding the leaves, which took 1-1/2 hours to complete the backyard area, the hounds laid in the yard and watched. Sadie spent a lot of time snooping in the field. Stella once again laid in the sun and slept and would refuse to move when I was raking ... so I raked around her. She didn't even lift her head as my plastic rake touched one of her paws. Winston disappeared on me once. I found him sunbathing in the front yard that faces west ... taking an early nap.

I knew they would stay around because they had not been fed yet. They were wanting food more than companionship or helping with the leaves. So once the yard was raked, it was hound dinner time. After they ate all of them wanted to go out and inspect my job. Heidi continue to chase invisible flies around her and Stella was giving me the "thumbs up" signal for the clean yard.

Later in the afternoon Stella and Sadie came to me to take them outside. The daily walk was done earlier. Yet, once they got outside they didn't do anything. Must of just needed some fresh air.  As far as using my leaf blower this year, I raked this year .. it's quieter. Plus my body is telling me right now that I got a lot of exercise in that 2 hours of raking. That's a good thing. I probably will only have to rake one more time based on the amount of leaves left on the trees. I'm hoping for some 15-20 mph winds.

I would love to know what Stella was thinking in those pictures of her. Winston didn't want to join us, he was in a deep sleep on the couch, along with Heidi.

I enjoy the fast pace of retirement living here in "the tropics".