Heidi Joins Us On The Walk

The day was really nice besides the weather. That was fantastic and still is the sunshine has not dropped behind the fields and trees yet. I'll get to the local drive photos but I wanted to talk about Heidi joining our daily walk today for the first time since October 7th, 2015.

This is her last October on that same day. ... skin looking the same.

Sorry that I don't have any photos of today's walk .. I used a retractable leash for her for only one reason. It was the only way I could get her off the couch and no longer not wanting to go.

NO force was used.

In fact as I slipped her collar on, and connected the leash right there where she was sitting on the couch, she stood up, wagged her tail, jumped off and trotted to the door like she wanted to go.

She made it the whole walk ... we went at her speed. Sadie and Stella did their own thing but then Sadie would come back at different times and touch noses .. where Heidi would take off trotting. The time walking, her tail was up and curled like a hound on a scent ... instead of lowered like many of her photos show.

So there is a new plan that hopefully get her back to her old self ... doing what I she use to like to do. She showed no signs of discomfort nor any weakness while walking.

Earlier this afternoon when I asked if she wanted to go in the car .. she walked over to the drivers door for me to lift her inside, while the bloodhounds stood in the back waiting for me to open 'their' door.

We took off on a road I have always wanted to take just to see what was out there. I use to see cars coming out or turning off the highway to take this road as I went to and from work. We stayed on paved roads all afternoon, when there were plenty of gravel roads branching off this road to take.

Al over at TheBayfieldBunch has motivated me to the point of taking these local trips. He doesn't know that. My photos are not as good as his, but it was really my first time where the plan was to take all the photos on the move. I followed his process by taking the 18-55mm, setting it at 18mm and shooting out the windows while driving.

Excuse the dirty windshield.

We covered about a 45 mile loop. We started in land of small hills, some steep hills, to land that was extremely flat and where the farms were bigger. I came back with 126 photos. Many were bad ones but I grabbed a few good ones. I think with more practice, the photos will improve.

(I just pulled off a tick crawling on me from our early evening walk. That is tick #17 for me since March 15.)

In the immediate vicinity of my house the majority of farms are small, old and fields are where ever you can fit a tractor, planter and combine, no matter how hilly the land might be.

Heidi spends most of the drive in the sitting position with just enough room to see out the window. She is collecting a lot of different scents.

All of these photos were taken while driving .. like Al, just holding the camera up in the general direction and editing the photos later, while keeping my eyes on the road. There is not one photo where I stopped and stood outside to take the photo.

This is the same power line that the hounds and I walk under but probably around 15 miles away from our house.

If you notice we have gone from hills to flat land. Of course the fields are bigger and those power lines keep going the further we drive.

This field will be corn or soybeans by this summer.

I did not notice the owner of this property mowing his yard until I was editing the photo. It took a lot of chopping to delete my side mirror, window frame ... I wonder what he thought of a weird looking foreign SUV, driving by with a camera pointed in his direction. They only drive Fords and Chevy's out here.

Heidi still enjoying the drive.

I wanted to get more photos of this property. This was the last one in a long line of 20 or more tractors and pieces of farm equipment, this age. I would have stopped but the family was having a large mid-day picnic with a great fire going, enjoying the outdoors on a 76° Saturday.

This land goes for a long way to the left. It is nothing but fenced in grass for cows to graze before being loaded and shipped to market. It was like a temporary holding area before the semi's would show up at night and take them away. I'd see a field full of cows when I came home from work and by the next morning, they were gone. There use to be a really nice tiny home to the left of the barn. The property is for sale thus less cows and a barn empty of large rolls of hay.

The hounds were happy with their trip and happy to get home, as always. All three of them like riding and Heidi did not look like she was car sick today. She looked out the window the whole way, enjoying the drive.

I read after we returned from the drive about dogs that are depressed. That article gave me the idea to "help" Heidi to do the things she use to enjoy ... thus, sliding the collar on her, attaching the leash and taking her on our walk. She may not have wanted to when I asked her but by the time she walked out the door heading to the field on her own ... I could tell she wanted to go on the walk ... for the 1st time since last fall on October 7th.

A fine day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Loves Saturday Morning

There is something about a sunny Saturday morning even if all my days are "a Saturday". It's quieter than a normal work week. With the bright sunshine it almost makes it perfect.

There was a lot of heavy dew this morning so our walk didn't take place until after 10am. It was still wet. There are not the normal number of photos this morning and I tell the reason for that below.

As we went out a couple of hours later to see if it was dry enough to take the morning walk ... Stella decided the fresh cut grass and sunshine was too much and decided to sit for some early morning sunbathing.

Sadie is checking out the part of the backyard where the parked RV in 2014 killed the grass. It is slowly growing back with throwing grass seed down annually.

Stella is not moving ... no matter what.

As I read through my updated blogs this morning, I was over at Al's TheBayfieldBunch, where he was talking about how he takes all of those great photos of farm houses and barns. It was good to know exactly what lens he uses, his process and a before and after photo.

I decided I would try the same process on our morning walk this morning. There was one problem though ... a dying camera battery. Yep, a flashing icon for battery level showed up the first photo I tried to take on the walk.

So with having no plans today on this beautiful day, I think we'll head out to the country roads around here and try out Al's process of taking photos 'on the run'. I should have a lot of photos in tonight's blog post after I see if I can do the same great job that Al does taking photos.

After mowing the lawn yesterday I had my first full blown sinus attack that lasted through the night and early this morning. My right eye looked and felt like I had a head cold, sinuses switched back and forth between being plugged and constantly running ... I was breaking records for the number of consecutive sneezes.

I am pretty sure whatever is in the air is affecting me that much ... it has to be affecting Heidi's allergies to as she has spent most of the morning constantly chewing her paws and legs.

Heading out to enjoy the great weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Friday?? Really??

First of all if you glance left, you will see that I have decided to track the number of ticks I pull of me and the hounds. I won last years contest by a landslide and am off to a fast start in 2016.

Having the house and yard so close to the field, it doesn't matter if I spray the backyard. Plus I don't follow all of the tick laws. I don't tuck my jeans in my socks ... how would that help my waistline or neck? I do wear a hat though and as the temps get higher I also wear cargo shorts as we take our walks through the field and I know that is against the rules. So anyway, out of curiosity I am counting ticks this year, all the way to December 31, 2106.

I really didn't have any idea it was Friday when I started my day. That is a common theme while retired, losing track of days. In the fall it is easier to keep track of the days due to my addiction for college and pro football ... even though anymore you can see a football game almost any day/night of the week.

Warning - It's Friday and that means a LOT of photos and a LOT of rambling. Click any photo for a better/bigger view, scroll through them to the bottom, or grab something to drink as you read along.

Early on it looked like rain but nothing was planned on the two weather stations I follow online. Sadie and Stella didn't stay out long on their first trip. Heidi has gone outside every time the bloodhounds have gone ... that's a nice change.

A little after 10am, she made her next trip outside. Where I had clouds to the west but blue skies to the NE, I decided it was time for a walk. My long sleeves were off and it was t-shirt weather even at 60°.

Just past that edge where you see green under the fallen tree ... goes straight down.

Looking left I caught something in a tree, not sure what it was since I was not wearing my glasses. You can see the zoomed photos here. I wasn't sure what it was, nor did I know it had "landed" until Stella took off in a very fast sprint. By the time Sadie arrived I saw the hawk (?) taking off from the ground, kind of running into the woods.

When I got back to the house, I checked google images to see what it might be. I am not a 'birder' so if any one knows please comment below and let me and the other readers what kind of bird that was. The best I could come up with was some kind of hawk.

In the past I have seen them fly up out of the ground, hawks do that. I have also see skeletons of them in the field. So I think it is safe to add the hawk scent to many spots in the field that the bloodhounds are too interested in, besides just the deer.

Both, Sadie and Stella, were not into the running mood this morning, the were mostly slow paced besides the sprint to the hawk. Sadie spent most of her time walking next to me on the way back to the house.

A different type of photo than I normally take, but thought the leaf was an interesting shot for this time of year. Not a lot of weeds growing in the field this spring like I remembered last year, so they should get some pretty good hay in July.

I guess since it's Friday, Stella deserves to be a little low key after another fast paced week as a bloodhound.

Heidi stayed near the house outside as the bloodhounds and I walked this morning. Once inside she was wagging her trail and trotting under and around the bloodhounds to growl to herself and scratch each side of her mouth. She seems more active today, so the Epsom Salt soak must have helped. I'll give her another one this weekend instead of waiting for her skin to become irritated.

The biggest decision of the day was trying to decide how high to grow the lawn. In the past out west where I never saw a yard mole, I could cut the grass down to the ground and have it look like a fairway at Augusta. Here due to the bumpy surface, small dirt piles or rises from mole traffic plus hotter summers, I've had to cut the lawn taller.

I think I have it about the right length for this area but I haven't really measured it ... some say to let it grow to 3". If so, I need to raise my mower blade another notch higher. I may try that just for a change of pace ... kinda like driving the Mini Cooper instead of the FJ or using Firefox instead of Google Chrome.

Or like today I decided to list ALL the labels I have used the past 5+ years instead of just the 200 or so of the ones I edited. I had plenty of room to run over 500 of them down the right side ... does anyone click them to go to a specific topic?  I have no idea.

At least we don't have to schedule a meeting to decide those things ... that is all I remember about my working career ... meetings and power point presentations. Did I ever tell you how much I hate Microsoft Office Power Point?  LOL

It wasn't too long after their lunch, the three hounds decided I needed to mow the yard today. Before that, we hopped in to the FJ and took a trip downtown to the local feed store. An establishment that opened in 1938 and is still owned by the same family. The times I've gone in to buy dog food, I noticed they had bully sticks.

It's either cash or check there, so I robbed my trash fund and left $2 for my next trash run. The balance of $6 was going to the hound's bully sticks. I bought 3 of them at a $1.86 each ... $6 with tax. They were long and cost less than the once I bought yesterday but didn't last as long.

Not to worry, I have used only half of 1 stick, while I was out mowing the yard. Once again Heidi, grabbed her portion and with her tail wagging, trotted off for the far corner of the living room which is another favorite stop of hers.

I'm really out of shape but know my wind will improve the more I work outside. Today instead of mowing back and forth across the hill in the front yard I wanted to mow a different direction ... that meant pushing the mower up my hill every other turn. It was too soon in the "mowing season" to be doing something as strenuous as that.

Each time I mow, the hounds like to come outside and inspect my work. The inspection didn't even get started today ... Stella found a nice spot to take a nap ... she seemed to have lost interest as an inspector.

You can tell by her mouth that she was getting warm in the sun. Her jowls were wet and she was panting. Sadie looked over and knew she was staying near the shade where I was.

It wasn't long before Stella woke up and moved to the shade but the spot wasn't as comfortable as the one she had. She didn't lay there long either.

In fact she decided the best option was going back inside the house with a cool breeze coming through the open windows and taking a siesta.

That is what all three hounds have been doing since I came back inside. Since mowing the yard, my sinuses have been going crazy. I think that might be the cause of some of Heidi's skin allergies becoming active that would lead to more chewing and itching.

I have already had my Dairy Queen Blizzard for the day, so it looks like the rest of the night is water and some baseball on tv.

I still cannot believe it's Friday night, here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.