Hounds Have A 'Tornado Watch' Issued

I have to admit it's pretty nice to have the windows back open with the sound of birds singing outside. I wasn't sure how much we would do today since rain was all over the radar.

Once again we woke up before daylight but I was able to convince Sadie that we were still retired and nothing takes place until after daybreak. With Stella snoring away, there wasn't much to discuss. We still got outside early though and the rain was so light you can barely hear it. Sadie and Stella stopped in their tracks to decide what their next move would be.

After a couple of cups of coffee, the reading of all of my sports sites, it was time for our first walk of the day. I was hopeful to get it completed before the rains came. Intellicast radar was showing rain about 6 miles to the west of us. Yet, when we took off there were blue skies and sunshine to the east.

I guess I didn't need the 25' retractable leash after all and could have brought the camera on the morning walk.

Right after lunch we tried again to do something outside. I needed to pick up some sticks in the yard and thought about moving the Z4 out of the way so I could pull my ladder out of the shed and get up on the roof. With rain in the forecast I decided the roof could wait another few days for me.

We have 7 acres behind our yard and neither hound wanted to go any further away than the chair I was sitting in. I found out soon after why ... it started raining again.

Yesterday afternoon, for the first mow of the year, I fired up the lawn mower without any problems and cut just part of the lawn ... the area where the grass was taller than anywhere else. It looks like crap now after the winter and mole damage but it will fill back in and look good after the spring rains. I am thinking about installing some kind of edging between the yard and driveway this spring/summer.

You cannot tell but I did a couple of laps down the edge of the yard and the driveway, then a small triangular section to cut the high grass. Heidi seems to produce some pretty strong fertilizer over the winter.

Speaking of Heidi ... I think her coat and skin look the best it has since September 2014. That next month in 2014 is when her skin issues went ballistic and out of control with loss of hair, all paws and legs were bare and at times sore and raw. She has been on nothing but straight kibble this past year, no meds or supplements.

It has been 32 days since I switched her to SPORTMiX manufactured by Earthborn Holistic Pet Foods. It is strange because the first ingredient is lamb "meal", no lamb. That is followed by brown rice, peas etc ... she has gained her weight back and hasn't looked this good in a long time. All of this improvement has happened in the past month.

Besides her picture, I took these next pictures with my iPhone 6s yesterday. I forget sometimes that it does have a good camera and in some cases, I think it takes a sharper picture than my Nikon D3200 does. These next 3 pictures were posted without any editing. You can see how tall the grass was in that section before I mowed yesterday afternoon.

Stella looked down about the time I pushed the button to take the picture. It's hard to tell but she does have both of her eyes open.

I am still undecided what to do about the weeds growing in the driveway. It seems like they have actually multiplied in number since I was on my hands and knees for four days in August 2015 pulling out weeds one at a time.

I am thinking of spraying a mixture of water and vinegar this year as my weed killer on the driveway and the river rock in back. Anyone have something that works to kill weeds from non chemical homemade brew?

Can you see any difference in the sharpness of the iPhone pictures compared to my edited Nikon D3200 pictures?

After all the hounds and I came back inside due to the rain by 1pm it was sunny and blue skies outside. It was hard to believe we were to get severe thunderstorms with possible tornado activity later tonight. During the light rain I played around a little on the blog and changed the page fonts, the post title fonts to PT Sans.

Since we could not tell if it was going to rain or not because the weather 'up there' was moving at a fast pace and different directions ... we decided to take our 2nd walk of the day.

This first picture is taken toward the SW.

I could tell that Stella was going to lag behind and I was going to let her do whatever she wanted. I had the 6' leash for her in my back pocket just in case it started to pour rain and we needed to get back to the house fast.

This was taken toward the north. The camera doesn't pick up the fast movement of the clouds going in a left to right direction.

Shocked to see Stella was headed our way. What concerns me a little is last year she would have been running full speed to catch up and the past few months she hardly runs at all.

It was only 3 minutes after that first sky picture that I aimed the camera in the same southwest direction to see sunshine and blue skies ... 3 minutes!!

Sadie was oblivious to strong winds from the southwest, indicated by the blowing hay. It takes a strong wind to blow her tail from the upright position she normally carries it. All she knew was she was on 'her' walk and that is all that mattered.

Stella stayed fairly close and didn't veer off too many times.

7 minutes later I pointed the camera once again toward the southwest. The wind was now strong enough I had a hard time keeping the camera steady.

Stella walked slowly all the way back to the house. She was sound to sleep minutes after going back inside the house after the walk. That seems to be the norm for both bloodhounds.

We were not finished with the walk yet, but this was the sky in the west, 11 minutes after the first sky picture in this post was taken.

At 3:07 pm they issued a Tornado "Watch" until 10pm tonight. The new stats show there is a 50% chance for two of them and 20% chance of 1 strong one. All through central Indiana, but my county is colored in to be included. Possible lime size hail with wind gusts up to 70mph.

A month ago or so, it was a 5% chance one night and we had two funnel clouds touch down 70 miles away. Never lost satellite internet connection that night and was able to track live radar to tell if the hounds and I needed to head for the center of the house since we do not have a basement.

So in preparation the iPad and iPhone are being charged to 100%. I've never had damage with these warnings but have had some close calls. It's always best to have a plan and be prepared just in case.

I imagine the old storm windows will be rattling and making a little noise tonight while all three hounds sleep in their normal spots in the living room. Sadie will be in her large leather chair while Stella and Heidi will share the couch. A seat for me is always optional.

The windows are open today here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana .. it smells like Spring.

Hounds Up Early Today

It was still dark outside, I could hear traffic and Sadie was standing next to the bed eye level ... already giving me the look that she wanted to go out. How long had she been standing there?

I tried not to subtract one hour from the actual time to make me feel even worse, with the recent time change. Since retired I never get up when it's dark in the morning ... never.

Today was different. After I became a little more conscious I realized I was just as awake as Sadie. Stella and Heidi were still in a deep sleep. As you can see, Stella wasn't even that thrilled being up and outside by 8:15am when there was some daylight. Sadie is wagging her tail ready to go within seconds of opening her eyes every morning or after a nap in the afternoon.

Stella liked that it wasn't raining this morning. It will tomorrow but this morning she was trying to sneak away from the start of the morning walk. Does she think I will not see her while I stand 20' away? That drainage ditch she visited a couple of weeks ago is in that direction.

After yelling her name a couple of times, she turned and headed back to us. Sadie was already off headed to the first turn and was quite active this morning.

Sadie was going in so many different directions, some of the pictures of her may be blurred due to her movements. Let's just say that she was getting a lot of good nose exercise in this morning.

I was surprised that Stella was on the path with us, walking without any commands or instruction from me. I was curious if she would lead me to the far right corner. There seemed to be a lot of recent deer traffic based on the actions of Sadie.

Once Sadie checked out what Stella had found, she was back to running from the left side of the path and then all the way back over to the corner. Nose to the ground, paws in the air.

There were so many different scents in the area she couldn't make up her mind which direction to go. She was everywhere, while Stella meandered slowly along the path that I take.

Sadie was back again on the far right corner and started running along the edge of the field. That is the path the deer take before they turn right, jump over the short worn fence and sprint through the corn field. I've seen them do that but not today.

Sadie was so focused during all of this she heard nothing that I said, nor paid any attention to what Stella was doing. She was 100% serious today.

Once they joined forces they had that look they were both headed to the 'no fly zone'. I was preparing myself mentally that I'd be sprinting after them, while hoping it would be a false alarm.

Yes, the deer move right along here ....

And jump into the field behind this one about right here ...

Before I sprint anywhere I always call their names. I am not running, let along sprinting anywhere if I don't have to. I was pretty happy that both of them turned and headed my direction from the 'no fly zone' then headed home back on the path.

Stella looks and feels like she is staring to gain her weight back. Those larger portions of kibble two times per day must be helping. The hound that eats the less weighs more, and the hound that is always hungry, eats as long as there is food ... is the skinny one.

She may have looked like she was heading home with Sadie and I, but she had to take one more look at the neighbor's house just in case there is something to chase or wander off to check out. When they look this way I always forget that they can hear 4x further than we can.

Without any bribes of food or treats, no threats of putting the 6' leash on her ... she turned and came our way.

Sadie had sprinted all the way back to the house by the time Stella and I walked into the driveway. She was making one last check there were no birds to chase before we came back inside. Bird chasing has been her favorite hobby this week ... Spring is here.

It's been a little over 24 hours since Apple updated their OS. I guess all of those times the past few months that I would click the buttons to send them a report when my iMac would reboot itself while in the sleep mode ... worked. So far in almost 36 hours, that error has not repeated itself.

I leave my computer in sleep mode anytime that I am away from it besides just a quick trip to the fridge or bathroom. Each time since the update it has NOT rebooted itself. When I click any key on my keyboard the computer wakes up without delay. I also have noticed it boots up faster than it did after the last update.

I did something different grocery shopping yesterday and it paid off quite well. I live near a government commissary store, same distance just the opposite direction from the grocery store I normally shop at. Evidently with a new fiscal year, new funding or something ... their small store was stocked with more choices than I had seen in the 20 years living here. All the brand names that I buy were there, including some new ones.

I'll not go into detail but to give you an idea on the difference in prices across the board, these items show the type of savings I was getting on the same foods I buy on a regular basis.

1. Greek Gods Greek Yogurt is $4.95 at the store, I paid $3.15 yesterday
2. Tyson skinless chicken breasts are $4.50+, I paid $3.88
3. Seattle's Best Coffee is $5.50+ where I bought it before, $4.59 yesterday
         -- I bought the cheapest bag on the shelf with over 8 popular brands
              to choose from.
4. Veggies and Fruits were 50% less than I normally pay.
5. Two New York Strip Steaks in the past were $10-$12, yesterday $2.96

I walked out with $50 worth of food that is normally $80-$100.

It was hard to do at the start but cutting out fruits that have too much acid, plus all fruit juices has eliminated indigestion. I love oranges and orange juice so that was hard not to buy them. As I compare how I have been eating lately to the spreadsheet of foods I pulled from the book about eating foods based on your blood type ... their lists of foods on what to eat and what to avoid has proven to be very accurate in my case.

Not much else planned today. Skies are overcast but rain is not predicted until tomorrow. I think I'll take the Z4 out for a spin. Later this afternoon after the grass is dryer I'll mow the small areas of the yard that has tall, thick green grass.

The hounds will get another walk or two this afternoon. Heidi will pass those walks up also since it is below her 70° threshold and nowhere near her 65° minimum option.

Final 4 Championship game on Monday with MLB starting their season the day before on Sunday. Life is good as I move my sports addiction into the spring and summer months. Cargo shorts instead of jeans are about to begin.

April 11 will be my 3rd year anniversary of retirement here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana. It's all good.

Hounds Have Cabin Fever

We knew it was going to happen but that didn't mean that Sadie and Stella had to like it. In exchange for warmer temps and the official declaration it was now Spring here in 'the tropics' ... the rains came. Sometimes it's been heavy but most of the time it's been light ... a drizzle.

That drizzle will cancel most if not all hound walks. Walking through mud is one thing but coming back home with two wet/soaked hounds is never fun. With Heidi being the smartest, she stays inside without complaint when it rains. She will dip under and behind the Yews next to the house to keep her dry while she dumps her tanks.

After only a few hours this morning Sadie is going nuts inside. Unlike last year, the bloodhounds are not wrestling with each other inside. Sadie instead tries different balls, or bones to start a game of fetch with me. If I don't pick one up after she tosses it at my feet here at my desk ... she will go get something else for me to try.

Sorry this next picture is blurred but I thought I had caught her just in time ... she was running faster than I could react.

Stella was somewhat confused what to do this morning after she stepped out into the yard earlier and felt wet grass and rain hitting her in the nose. So this next trip outside she got no further than the carport.

It's good to see her ribs are disappearing and she is gaining some of her weight back.

Honestly ... she really does have her eyes open.

{editor's note:  by adding the photos AFTER I wrote the paragraphs, there is an extra space below the photos above, where I have to delete a blank row between the last pictures and the sentence below them.}

Me ... I'm waiting for my Apple Photo's program to reload my photo library of 50,000 + photographs. That is just one thing that happens have you do an update to your operating system. I like to do the OS updates as soon as they are released for security reasons and am hopeful of one bug fix. With my free data between midnight and 5am I did the download and installation after midnight.

Those little notices telling me a phase would take 20 minutes turned into 45. Overall, the total process took almost 2 hours from start to finish. What that means today is, as I open programs up to work with I might have to retype my password or in this case wait for the photos library to update so it can then download my new pictures on this blog into my iMac for editing and storage.

With that wait I am writing this blog post the 'old way'. Writing first and installing pictures afterwards. Let's see how that photos library update is doing .... it's finished. I remembered yesterday as I looked at those rich green clumps of grass in only certain parts of the yard ... is where all the hounds dump there tanks over the winter.

With this rain my new grass seed is growing fast. This is the bank right behind the corner of my house and right below that old 75 year old fence post I spoke of last summer, with pictures.

I only did 13 pictures this morning. There is not a lot of enthusiasm when it rains, either from me or the hounds. We did do a couple of walks yesterday but one with the 25' leash for Stella. She does well on that leash, she will trot and check her her normal spots but is always within 25' of me. Some days that just feels better.

There was excitement on the afternoon walk yesterday ... Sadie did something very unusual and almost got in trouble. About the time that Stella (on a leash) and I walked into the field, Sadie took off sprinting toward the wooded area. I did not see any birds, cats or deer but she was GONE !!!!

She charged into the wooded area at full speed and DISAPPEARED OVER THE BANK !!! I went running and yelling her name expecting to drop the leash for Stella and charging over the bank, in the mud to chase Sadie.

Luckily as I got closer to the wooded area ... Sadie popped back up over the edge of the bank and came running toward me.

I have no idea what she was after but she disappeared over that edge you see just to the right of her hip. It's really steep and I would have had a very hard time walking back up the side of it if I had to go that far.

A couple of the blogs I read when they update on my sidebar, mentioned yesterday they were wondering what their future was in blogging after so many years. They had noticed a large decrease in blog visits recently, a lack of comments or reader interaction on their blogs and were wondering if blogging might be 'a dying breed'.

More people are on Instagram, where you can just post pictures and a few sentences. That and Pinterest seems to be even more popular than Facebook now days. I like to blog though because I like to write, even without proper English. It also serves as a great journal that can be looked at and read years from now ... I am assuming my memory may fade just a little over time, so a journal will come in handy.

I received my 2017 Indiana vehicle registration paperwork in the mail yesterday. I can do everything online and have my 2017 tags mailed to me. Instead of changing plates on the Mini Cooper Countryman to one of the ugliest license plate designs in state history ... just voted on by the people last fall ... I will keep the plain white plate with black letters for trucks 7,000 pounds and under. How can I do a truck plate on the Mini Cooper ??? The Countryman model is classified as a 'wagon', or SUV, so I can legally transfer the plate from the FJ to the Mini.

It matches the black color of the Mini also ... I like color coordination.

I like the temp increase but not real thrilled with rain. I have things I need to do outside and one of those is go into my crawl space (big moon crater) under the house and close the vents. After reading more and more about how crawl spaces should be set up, the experts NOW say that they were designed wrong 40 years ago and that the vents and crawl space door should be closed at all times.

I also like to inspect under the house every spring to see what's going on. When I thought of going crawling in the small window built into the foundation in front of the house, is when I thought again of removing the Yews. Were they blocking any potential air flow into the crawl space vents?

From my Google research on Monday I found the news about the vents but more importantly I found out that my Yews were one of the recommended plants that would NOT destroy water pipes. With that info I am assuming they will NOT destroy a concrete septic tank ... so the Japanese Plum Yews are staying where they are until further notice ...

Well it's a little after 11am. I'm sure if you are to this point of the post you are tired of reading my rambling, plus both hounds are sitting next to my computer desk chair letting me know it is time to eat lunch. I think later I'll head out to grocery shop and prepare for the Final 4 basketball games this weekend and the championship on Monday night. I run out of food but am never out of coffee and dog food ... go figure.

What then?  Well as of today Major League Baseball's regular season starts in 6 days ... just in time to keep my sports addiction going.

Directv will try to bribe me into buying their expensive MLB package by giving me a week of free access to 10-15 out of market ballgames a night. I'll take advantage of that and get to bed late every night for a week. Those games on the west coast don't start until after 10pm local time ... so you are talking between 1am-2am before they are over.

All is good today here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana ... because it's warm !!!!