March 21, 2016

A Cooler Monday

We started our walk this morning a couple of hours later than normal. Two reasons ... it was cold and there were heavy amounts of dew on the ground.

Cold was the main reason.

There is nothing different in the daily routine. Mundane and boring to most readers I'm sure but it is what it is when you are retired and happy to do nothing most of the time ... plus living with three different hounds that want different things ... all at different times.

The first trip this morning was nothing more than this. They didn't go into the field, they stood there and let me know they wanted to go for a walk then, not later. They didn't get their request so they came back inside.


Like I said, around 8:30am it was too cold and too wet to be walking through the field ... so we started after 11:30. Glancing up at the thermometer in the carport it showed less than 50° as we started our walk. I've always thought it was 5° warmer on that thermometer so it was colder than I expected.

Yet, stepping into the backyard with the sunshine out, it felt warmer than 50°. For the first time that I can ever remember, Stella didn't bolt out in front of us but stayed behind, almost like she didn't want to walk. Was she starting to do what Winston use to do? He would sit there when the field grass was too high or I had not connected his leash even if he did not need to be leashed. Sometimes Winston would not walk at all .. just sit and howl at us.

So I told Stella to "come on" ... and she went running out to the front and everything was okay.



It's the same spot every morning where she stops, buries her nose in the thick grass and doesn't come up for air. She might lift her head a few times to see where we are but she will not move until she wants to. Today Sadie and I were almost to the corner where we veer right on the walk when Stella decided she had better run to catch up to us.







She joined Sadie just past the corner and of course both the them had to check out the spot where I believe that deer spend a lot of time. I know nothing about deer or their activities so that is just a wild guess.




Stella went from making sure everything was okay in that spot to sprinting along the edge of the field/gully where she is not allowed to go into. She turned right like always but didn't stay long. She was on a scent that led back up to Sadie and I ... so Stella was in non-stop action.








Stella is still curious about her "no fly zone" and would love nothing more than to be able to run over in that direction and spend time there. When I see her in that position I call her name and I no longer leave until she is next to me. She ran right past me today and joined Sadie to lead the way home.



After Sadie's run chasing the squirrel into the wooded area by the neighbors house, I pay attention to her when she is looking that direction. I keep her moving in my direction. In 8 years she has never ran to the neighbors when she sees someone outside but there is a first time for everything.

Today the neighbors were not outside but the cloths they had hung out to dry were the point of interest today for Sadie. I wonder what she is thinking?



I wasn't able to take more photos, as both of them stayed near me all the way home. They have become addicted to the walk in the morning and will almost bother me as much as they do when they want lunch. Yet, once that walk is completed they are sound asleep within minutes of returning inside.

I tried something different today when I wrote this post. I loaded all of my photos first, then commented and enlarged them as I went. Probably not any quicker than writing first and adding photos last, but there seemed to be less requirement to make sure the paragraphs were spaced correctly between photos. It seemed like it was easier to write after the photos were added.

Oh ... the temperature was an official 45° when we stepped back inside. Wunderground shows it's not going to make the predicted high of 54° today but that's fine. It's still sunny and no snow .. so you can't complain about that.

I thought of getting some rest before the next round of the NCAA basketball games that start again on Thursday but not until around 7pm local time. Then I remembered I could fill in Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night by watching the NIT basketball tournament. I will not be camped on the couch but will probably have those games on in the background and then sit and watch parts of them depending on what is going on. It sure beats the crap on tv news about politics.

All is good this morning here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.


March 20, 2016

Sadie & Stella Get a Morning Run

Well it's the last day of 11 hours straight of tv viewing March Madness for the hounds and myself.

A year older I find myself out of a little shape watching that much basketball but I can still do it.

Our mornings have been starting a little later than normal ... yet the hounds still get their morning walks in. Today on two separate occasions they got some good jogging in.


Their first time outside today


Starting a very active walk - too many new scents



Yes, that's Stella lagging behind








Stella heading back to her favorite area - the far right corner of the field.


She came running when called.



But today neither of them wanted to come back inside - they had found something.


A great day in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... always great when IU beats Kentucky in basketball.


March 17, 2016

Hounds Get Ready For College Basketball

Another great morning here in 'the tropics'. Temps are cool with high 50's but the sunshine is out and the skies are bluer than blue.

In little over an hour, the lives of the hounds and I will stop and college basketball will be all that will happen between noon until late tonight.

The 4 different channels that will be carrying all the games are loaded into my Directv "sports menu" so I can click from channel to channel. The hounds will take their normal spots in the living room and do what they normally do during the day and night ... sleep.

Once the weekend starts and less teams are left, games will start later in the day so the networks can get all the advertising they were paid for, in prime time viewing. I hate to think how long these games will take with all the tv commercials.

So it was a little after 10 am this morning when Sadie came to my computer desk telling me it was time for the morning walk. I wasn't 20' into the field when I glanced down and saw that the Nike's I was wearing were already soaked from heavy morning dew.


Like I have mentioned before, these walks are on the same path but each is different. Today it seemed pretty slow and neither hound spent much time along the bush line ... they both put their noses to the ground on the path we walk and took off.




Not a lot of exploring because for some reason, they were both on a mission this morning. Even Sadie followed Stella to the right corner of the field. Their noses must have picked up their treasure of the day a long way off because once they found it ... they refused to move.






Even after I had turned the corner to head home ... they were still out there.




About the time that Sadie decided I was going to leave her, she started running to catch up with me ... Stella?? ... she took off in the opposite direction and I could barely see her without looking through the 200m zoom lens. It was her day be stubborn.

 


She didn't come when called. That is never a good thing. I started having visions of that 25' retractable dog leash that she use to wear. We might be going back to that.

On her own time she decided to take the short cut to meet me and Sadie on the path. It wasn't long before she was off to a different direction ignoring all calls telling her to come here.




The image of that 25' retractable dog leash just got a lot clearer in my mind.

We made it home safely though and within minutes inside the house, Sadie headed for her dog bed as usual to sleep until lunch. Stella always curls up behind my chair at the computer desk and sleeps while Heidi has been stretched out in the sunshine that comes through the window.




I had my first sign of mole traffic in the yard. I do have a bag of grub worm killer to apply to the yard but I thought I'd hold off and apply it right before the rain. I have a couple of old guillotine mole traps I could try again. Years ago when I tried them, the moles saw them and crawled right around them.


So before I leave here ... college basketball from noon until 10 pm?? on Thursday and Friday then the 32 teams left will play on Saturday and Sunday but start later in the day. I love March Madness.

My food supply was replenished last night ... I love the government telling me there is no inflation, as usual they are wrong again. It's ridiculous how much certain foods have increased in price just the past 6 months.

If I didn't know better, I swear my photos on the blog look clearer and sharper on Google Chrome than what they do on Firefox and Safari. Is that possible? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me again.

I know it will take time to have the google bots pickup my change to the blogspot domain, where people can continue to find my blog in the search engines ... but not many like the change. Obviously all of the people that found my blog by searching "lil snoozy trailer" ... my all time #1 visited post, those people will no longer find me since it is tied to the .com domain I just deleted.

Plus Blogger didn't like the change for a few days ... wouldn't recognize their own domain. I like it though, it's free and I know I will not be moving the blog again as it has found its final residence.

Another beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.