Rambling On A Monday

Things changed last night about 5 seconds after I posted my blog post. Because of that the hounds were able to fit in a walk after all a little past 8pm.

Since I was wanting to watch a movie at 8:30 I was not going to have time to let Stella 'wander', so I attached the 25' retractable leash and left the camera at home. She doesn't mind the leash and still gets in some running. Plus I can make sure I make it back in a reasonable time.

Probably not a lot of football fans that read the blog so I will not go into detail about the cancellation ... except those painted logos you see on football fields of grass or artificial turf caught up with them last night. That large Hall of Fame log in the center of the field became hard as limestone and slick as ice. When they tried to apply some heat to it, that started melting the tiny black rubber balls that are below the surface.

Since that field is not under NFL control, they found out that independent ground crews, caused them a 5 billion dollar business embarrassment. Could it cost the Hall of Fame their annual game? The owners will decide at their next NFL owners meeting.

This morning started like all the other mornings, even the temperatures felt the same and will be the same for the next few days before it rains again. That will give me time to mow the yard again before it rains. The hounds though only stayed out long enough to do what they needed to do.

It was funny to see Sadie trotting her normal path back to the house along the north edge but while doing that she didn't see Stella had run back to the house and was at the door waiting for us.

She stopped and looked to see if Stella was getting some free 'field time' that she wasn't. Once I told her Stella was 'in here' and pointing toward the door ... Sadie came running.

The morning was spent drinking coffee, and reading article after article on the internet. I should never turn my computer on first thing in the morning. This is part of my rambling that I'll get to later.

After lunch we always go outside. That is usually Heidi's 2nd trip outside for the day. Stella likes the sun and the tall grass since I am cutting it higher this summer.

She decided that combo was perfect for another nap.

Heidi moved to the backyard without me asking her to. That's a good sign. I hope she will eventually start taking the walks with us again. Maybe I should carry her to the field like I did in April.

Computers, computers, computers .... I'm addicted. I could say it's an internet addiction but there are a lot of things I do on the computer without being on the internet. I have a lot of Excel spreadsheets I keep and update. I have the Mahjong game that I play 99% on my laptop.

The thing is, I spend more time than I want and more time than I need to on the computer. There are many nights I tell myself that I will NOT turn it on first thing in the morning ... or even take a complete day off from any computer activity.

Never to rarely happens.

Before I reach down to pick up Sadie's food bowl next to my desk, I reach under the iMac and push the button on the back to turn it on. I then pick up the food bowls of Stella and Heidi ... pour their kibble ... while they eat I make coffee and then take the first photo on every one of my blog posts from the step inside my carport.

After the hounds come back inside, I start my 1st of 2 cups of coffee and start reading on the internet. I've noticed I can go through Facebook, Twitter and even at times my Feedly feed, plus check email all within an hour and less than 50Mb of data being used.

That is when I should get up and get on with my day. I use to do that but the past month or so that doesn't happen. Twitter is probably the main cause as that starts feeding me updated articles as they happen. Mostly sports, a couple of political opinions or news ... but that program is also a huge data grabber. While paying $80 for 15Gb per month on my satellite internet service I have to watch my data usage fairly close.

I've used a computer since they came out in the early 90's. I cannot remember getting my first home computer until 1995 or so. I remember I started with WebTv by Microsoft. That was actually a pretty cool computer with a wireless keyboard and the tv as the monitor. It was only for the internet though, because it could not save or download files.

Even then I remember that I could turn that off and enjoy my day of 'normal' activities. Those activities were things outside in good weather and reading books inside during the snow or rain days. I only had two basset hounds then, Harry and Maggie.

I believe my problem this summer has been a lack of things on my 'to do' list. Last year I had 15-16 things to get done before the end of August when football season would start. This year I haven't had anything that needs to be done. The few things for maintaining a house have not taken long and there have been only a couple of things that needed to be done.

Lately on our local drives, all three hounds no longer sit up and look out the window, they all lay down and sleep. Even the short trip to town and back, within 2-3 miles total, they will lay down. Are they bored with going for rides?

I've always wondered what I would do if I were RVing full time. I've asked that question a couple of times on this blog and the answers are always the same. "You will do what you do at home, what you enjoy". Well that might happen but if I were in spots like I was last June 2015, some of those places did not have an internet connection for me to use.

I had NO problem without that connection and even liked being away and enjoying what was outside. I still became bored though and actually liked the driving part of the trip just as much if not more than the camping part of the trip.

I'm told that Stella "will always come back" if I leave her off leash. The field in back would be so much different than out in the wild in the west. I still cannot come to terms that the hound breed is safe when camping and spending time off leash like some do with their dogs.

I do know in bad weather where I could not use the tent, there is not enough room for me and two bloodhounds in the back of my FJ, while we wait the storms out. Those storms would or will happen. That was my 'Plan B' last year when tent camping, but I only had one bloodhound then.

I know things may have been dragging a little this summer but in a little over 3 weeks college football starts their 2016 season. THAT is my #1 addiction ... college football. So I will be spending less time in my desk chair, less time on the computer and actually have a required time limit to get things done if they need to be ... because I know that every Saturday at noon time stops in my world until about 2am that night when the last west coast game is over.

I guess with 5 days during the week and only a game or two on at night, it's perfect to be retired to get those unexpected things done during the day. Now I don't have a schedule, no kind of time limit ... that turns me into being lazy and unmotivated. I can remember even as a child I would always wait until the last possible minute before I would get my school homework done. That followed me up through college.

It looks like I'm back to blogging since this will be the 3rd day in a row. It seems to me that what I blog about here would be pretty boring, routine to most people ... so I end up stopping. Then I come back when I realize there are those readers that look forward of seeing the photos of the hounds every day ... even if they are in the same area.

I even had a couple of readers tell me that they enjoy seeing the fields around my house in different times of the year. Some say they like reading what it's like living in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana. It's one of those cases where you take a lot of sights for granted where you live.

So it looks like the hounds and I will make it to blog through year 5 this coming October. Looking back through some past posts searching for that stromboli photo the other day, I didn't realize how many times I blogged in the past without any photos. When I started adding photos of the hounds I didn't resize them to x-large but kept them small. They do expand if you click on them.

Stats show that very few readers read the older posts. Most of the older posts are read by spammers, luckily I control their comments before they are published. I get a lot of spam comments and then they attack my email address. I also get an email notification when I receive a comment from you or those from spammers.

I noticed Al over at The Bayfield Bunch was talking about selling his motorcycle since he does not ride it as often as he use to. I wondered if I should do that with my recently purchased Z4. I only put 32 miles on it in July. Yet, as soon as I get it out on the road, there is no way I could sell that car ... so it will be here when I need it. The FJ, I'll never get rid of. It will most likely outlast me.

I was going to add more photos to this post and post it later tonight but I have rambled too much and have made this post too long ... so I am posting it now. I'll post a shorter one tonight after the hounds and I do a walk or take a drive with the camera today. Still time to get something done, since it's only 2:30pm.

I still love retirement life just as much as my first day in April 2014. Life is good here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Relax On Sunday

The "cold front" that moved through on Friday night has made a world of difference this weekend. With temps in the mid to high 80's and the heat index not much higher ... outside is once again tolerable.

Not much was planned for the day. The hounds would sleep, a drive through the country for me with the top down, and possibly some ice cream later in the afternoon. The mood to drag out lawn care tools wasn't there ... the trimming of the yews sounded like a good idea for Monday.

Once again earlier in the morning, Sadie and Stella went into the field long enough to dump their tanks and didn't have much interest to roam or explore. Both of them came back running to the house shortly after they were finished. I am beginning to think they like the air conditioning as much as I do.

Since they had breakfast around 9:30am, their lunch was not served until almost 1:30pm. It didn't matter to them. Anytime kibble is in front of them, or baked chicken breasts, they are always interested in eating.

Heidi decided to take a trip to the backyard for the first time in weeks. She didn't move more than a foot into the yard where she found her spot to lie down and soak up some sunshine.

I think you might notice that a lot of hair has grown back on her legs and paws. It's not the normal thickness but does cover them. Also no redness like she has had in the past a lot of times.

Sadie of course cannot find it relaxing just to lie down like Stella and Heidi, she is always on the hunt for something.

Whether it be on grass, hay or gravel, Stella always enjoys taking a nap in the sunshine. She was so sound asleep that she did not hear my camera beep when the autofocus locked in. Normally that beep would have woke her up.

The day progressed kinda slow the rest of the day. I watched a little Reds baseball, surfed the internet, read my book and by late afternoon we decided it was time for the trip to Dairy Queen to pick up one of those large blizzards that had our name on it.

With the first NLF pre-season game tonight at 8pm local time, I decided it was time to fit in the pregame walk ... but they were not interested!!!!

Stella only wanted to chew grass. Sadie wanted to track the mole traffic. I took all of these photos with the 55mm-200mm zoom lens.

Sadie found out that sometimes that dirt from the mole tracks doesn't taste as good as it looks.

Stella is more than happy to eat grass rather than walking today.

I always like it when I catch Sadie staring off into space. I wonder what she is thinking about?

I stood up right after I snapped this photo sitting down. I thought they might beg to go for their walk but both of them sprinted to the house, came inside and were asleep within minutes in the cold air.

Ed had a comment on my post yesterday, a little confused on what a "strom" was, thinking it was some kind of local language. I looked through my blog via the search box and for some odd reason nothing showed up after using 3 or 4 different search terms. I could have swore I posted a photo of a strom in the past. The word strom is a shorten version of the word stromboli. Although they are made different, depending on where you order them. Here is a photo of one that I took last fall, another one of my addictions.

Inside that italian bread is pizza sauce, a lot of cheese, Italian sausage, mushrooms, some chopped tomato and toasted in the oven. I'm told by the bartender I am one of the few he has seen that can finish the 12" strom. Usually by the time I drive the 25 or so miles home, a siesta takes place soon after my arrival. For years I have always finished the whole sandwich.

Life is good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... the Colts first NFL preseason game is on tonight.

The Temps Drop a Little

I would like to say my blogging absence has been because of laziness but it's a combination of things. Sure the heat index has been a factor but it's really more than that.

Most everyone knows what it's called. It's when the motivation is not there to do anything. Some of my warning signs were things like , the sports car doesn't get out from under the car cover on sunny days, taking photos decreases from close to a hundred per day to five to six. Some days even a daily hound walk doesn't happen with all kinds of different justification.

You would think that eating habits would change and take over but that's hard to do when you are not hungry for anything, no interest for a strom at your favorite place in Bloomington, no urges to do anything besides hanging inside, keeping cool and really no thoughts about anything. Hibernate.

For me those times are nothing new ... it's been a life long issue. Today though I can feel some things changing for the better ... maybe it really was just the weather ... or maybe not. Anyway it's nice to get back to normal, so to speak.

The yews that were planted just a few years ago, in hard clay type of dirt have grown beyond my expectations and those of the owner of the landscape business just down the road. He didn't think they would last due to the soil.

The front of them will be trimmed back even with the landscape edging. This group will be shortened to remain the same height as the ones across the porch and just below the living room windows. It will happen either today or tomorrow.

When we took our first trip outside this morning it felt 15° cooler, a lot less humidity, yet still an August summer morning. You can never escape the mugginess in 'the tropics'. Seeing the heat index was only 91° at 11am, I decided it was time for a long overdue morning hound walk. You can see from the field overgrowth you can't see our path anymore, but it's there.

Where did all that nice tall grass go?

I think you can probably tell its more weeds than before when they cut the hay in June. I can't remember it being this bad in past years but I'll have to take a look back in the blog to confirm that. I doubt that they will, but I'd love to have them cut this field again this fall for a 2nd time. They have before but didn't last year.

The hounds were ready to go for their first morning walk in weeks if not a month. We have been taking them in the early evening but even at 8pm the index was still around 100° most of the time. This past week or so they have not gone more than a few feet into the field to dump their tanks and then headed back to the house to enjoy the AC where lately, never stops running.

I've gone back to reading book that I have read a few times. It reminds me what these hounds are really doing and not what I think they are doing. My nose and their noses are not nearly the same nor do they have the same purpose.

I've mentioned the book before, it's called Inside of A Dog, by Alexandra Horowitz ... "what dogs see, smell and know". It explains a lot about what these two and even Heidi does during just a routine hound walk.

It also gives a different perspective on why they eat what they do ... even when you don't want them to.

Making the infamous 1st turn. Not a lot of stopping so far today, it's almost like they are on some sort of mission with predetermine spots to sniff.

Stella tried to veer to the left a few times but always came back in our direction when called.

A lot of different things growing in the field right now, since they baled it in June.

Stella is back in her favorite corner and having her favorite natural food supplement.

Sadie and I kept on walking, knowing Stella would eventually catch up to us.

From the way the fields of corn and soy beans look, the farmers should have a 'bumper crop' this year and that will be good for their accounting bottom line.

Stella is doing one last check of the edge of the field before she starts running back toward us.

She started following the path that Sadie and I had been walking. She was running so fast that the camera could not catch all of her run.

With the high temperatures she has not been running at all on the evening walks. By the halfway point lately her and Sadie were dragging their feet behind me to finish the walks. It was too hot.

That pile of hay the farmer left in June is always a stopping point for both hounds.

I am not sure what that green plant is in the bottom half of the photo but it is all over the field right now.

Both hounds at a good pace in this morning's walk. Neither one is showing signs of being tired. That 10° drop in the index is huge for them.

I think I count 4 butterflies on the orange flowers. Can someone tell me what those are called?

This photo was taken right at the edge of the field and my backyard. Those leaves have taken over most of the field behind the house.

You can see my weed pulling by hand project last summer in the driveway, just made them grow back twice as much this year. I think most of that is crabgrass.

I mentioned some low points at the start of this post ... mental low points. I forgot to add all the things Stella has been up to. While mowing the yard the other day I thought I had "baby proofed" the house pretty good for them to stay inside to enjoy the AC temps while I battled potential heat stroke outside.

To my dismay I came inside to find my ankle brace laying between Stella's paws while she chewed away. The interesting thing is, with the 'new' hole she put in the brace, it fits better and does not cut into the back of my ankle. I may not have to replace it.

That is not all she has been doing. One of her old issues must be coming to the top since she is getting more and more comfortable with her home of 1 year on August 30th.

She is showing me that she is a great "counter surfer" ... in the past few weeks her collection has been: my sandwich, from the fruit bowl - mangos, pears, apples, THE WHOLE BUNDLE OF BANANAS .. there was one left by the time I caught her. All the fruit eaten was done while I sat at my desk on the computer ... so she doesn't even hide her addiction anymore.

Her separation anxiety has improved though.

How's Heidi ???  Like I have mentioned before in the winter months, her threshold seems to be 70° before she stays outside to wander and I think that also holds true in the hot summer months. She stays inside and sleeps most of the time ... in three different spots she likes.

I also have come to the conclusion that heat and humidity irritate her skin more than anything. So she has had the best summer I can remember as far as normal color skin. Hair continues to grow back on all her paws and legs. She had an epsom salt soak yesterday and her skin is nice and soft today ... supple. All of this while eating kibble with chicken and rice.

So that's our update. Sorry for the absence and hopefully we can get back to daily blogging, no matter how slow it might be here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

I think I'm going to head out for a drive in the Z4 with the top down.