Stella Has A Bounce In Her Step

I already knew when I posted my last blog post only 12 hours before I wrote this one, that it was going to be a cold, wet and windy day. Rain was pounding against the bedroom windows as I opened my eyes ... only seeing Sadie standing looking straight into my face. Luckily no drool was involved.

When she gets on the bed and stands over you until you wake up, it's either really late or she really has to go outside. Since she and Stella made their last trip outside past midnight ... I knew it must be late.  (9:30am)

I still knew there might be a chance to get a walk in. If that were the case I would need to be wearing my waterproof hiking boots, along with jeans this morning. When Wunderground was telling me it was 45° and felt like 37° ... I wasn't sure a hound walk would take place.

Throw in some really wet ground and high cold winds from the NW, I was planning only a quick trip outside for Sadie and Stella. Yet, Sadie had other plans ... we were walking, get the camera.

When you are not more than 30' into the field and the ground looks like this, you know it's going to be soggier the further you get back into the field. Water came up over the edges of my soles and I could hear each step Sadie took.

With Stella's stomach growling this morning as I drank my two cups of coffee and read the internet, she started her walk by stopping at the edge of the yard to eat some nice green grass that is growing fast in the field.

I was almost shocked at what I was seeing ... but really really happy ... to see her running to catch up to us. I had just blogged yesterday I was getting worried because I couldn't remember the last time Stella ran in the field.

I wonder if she feels better now that I found her favorite bone to chew on ... the Nyla Bone ... found under Sadie's dog bed right smack in the center.

With strong winds always brings stronger scents. I couldn't see anything in the direction they were staring. It was cold enough with the winds from the NW that I wasn't thrilled about the possibility of sprinting after them as they chased whatever they saw. They then turned and headed in the right direction.

Stella was pretty sure the deer came from this direction. There are a lot of bushes with sharp thorns in that area. It never seems to bother the bloodhounds as they charge right through them.

As always, the further we walk into the field the wetter it got. Even with a slight increase in elevation, it is always wetter near the back of the field.

If you look closely you can see standing water inside that hole of mud. Is that made by a snake or something else?

With the winds getting stronger, Stella fought the headwind ... Sadie was already far in front of us.

More of that strong deer scent had Stella not moving. I am almost positive that she was wishing and hoping that she could take off into the 'no fly zone' and find out just where that strong scent was coming from.

I let her stand there for a while to satisfy her nose and curiosity, then called her name. She turned and headed my way in a slight trot.

Toward the last part of the walk, they both were veering toward the neighbor's house. That large blonde cat is probably spending the day in that wooded area and with the wind coming from that direction, the bloodhounds were more than curious.

This was the 2nd time today that Stella took off running while she followed Sadie. It's been a long time since she has done that.

I am not sure what caused the burst of energy for Sadie but there was something in the middle of the field they had to check out. Once that happened Sadie ran back to me while Stella decided to take her own way home by heading to the corner of the property.

She had just entered the yard when she when from exploring the ground to jumping away. I didn't hear anything loud to make her jump. No leaves are around to fall to spook her but something scared her enough to turn back and look.

When Sadie saw that she had no choice but to sprint over to Stella to check it out. There had to be something she was missing. Or at the same time she was just trying to get Stella back to the house and thought she needed an escort.

I can handle one cold day in the spring when I know starting tomorrow we are back into the 60's and 70's as far as the forecast goes ... what ten days?

In the meantime we will be staying inside today. My team the Cincinnati Reds are playing an early afternoon game, like right now, along with a few other teams. With the Directv bribing program I am getting a week of free MLB Extra Innings showing a lot of ballgames at the same time. They tell me I can buy that for small payments of $52 for the next 4 months.

Not going to happen.

I love baseball but I get enough games for free with the program package I have.

There is a pitcher today starting his first MLB game ever ... his first name is really "Rookie" and is from Holly Ridge, NC (1,268 pop and 1.4 square miles) ... sounds like an amazing storyline for him. With bad weather and a team with low expectations as they enter their 2nd year of rebuilding ... a small crowd is expected. I saw they were offering field level tickets for $9, which is amazing for a professional baseball game.

I had to pass since it is not only a 3 hour 15 minute drive one way but I've never a great fan of 45° baseball. The announcer just said it's in the 30's and he thinks he is seeing sleet. In 1977 on April 6th, it snowed 4" in Cincinnati. They cleared the field and played a team use to playing baseball in the snow ... the Padres of San Diego.

Seems strange to go from not blogging in one day to two blogs posts in one day.

Cold, windy and wet today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Get A 2nd Walk In On Wednesday

From the way it looked on the radar, it was going to be close but possible for a hound walk before the storms came. We figured if the local electric crew were out trimming tree limbs before the storm, then it was okay for us.

Stella was so excited about the possibilities that she hung one of her best drools ever. It wasn't as long as her best one but as far as thickness, and stability I think it ranked right up there with gorilla glue.

So why is this blog post showing up at an odd time of day?  It's 12:40am as I write this ... I'm wide awake, nothing to do and found some pictures I took this afternoon that I forgot to download into the computer.

By the time we left you could see that we were going to cut it pretty close before it would start raining.

The walk started pretty good, normal, that is until Stella heard all of the men cutting trees. Then she was curious enough to not only listen but took a couple of steps her their direction. When I called her name, she changed her mind and started heading our way.

Those storms west of us this morning did their normal split ... one headed along I-70 and the other followed the Ohio River. That happens the majority of the time, even during winter snow storms. So all of the weather was traveling in a northeast direction at a high rate of speed.

Weather, wind or possible rain didn't bother either hound. they were not going to change their pace and I think you can tell by the 2nd picture just how fast they were walking ... slow and slower.

When I made the turn home, Stella was following me 6'  behind me, so I forgot about checking her. The next time I looked she had gone way off the path and was interested in something else. To far away to look for the cat but something had her interest. My neighbor may have been baking pies.

Once she didn't respond to me calling her name, loud enough for her to turn and look at me ... I told Sadie "go get Stella" and she took off running.

She didn't touch noses this time but did an abrupt turn within a foot of Stella ... she slowly started walking our direction.

About the time they were almost to me, I was sure I felt a drop of rain. I was positive when I felt more than one drop of rain. So when Stella didn't move, I ran over to attach the 6' leash so we could run home before it started to pour.

I am not sure how to take it ... but she didn't run even with me setting the pace and Sadie running next to me. She was in a fast trot but would not run. I did not notice her limping, nor hear any king of yelp from her. Is she getting that lazy or is something wrong with her?

About the time we had a step on the carport floor, the rains came. I had made it just in time before my camera would have been soaked with rain. I spent the next few hours playing Mahjong while watching the hard rain out the window.

The great news wasn't that the rain stopped but a text I received from the local company that installed my Exede Satellite service in June 2014. As of April 1 my area had new options ... faster download speed, more data per month and lest money per month.

I called within a minute to set up an appoint for next week where they will come put and put on a new transponder on the dish, along with replacing the modem with the latest technology. The router is built into the modem, so I'll end up with one box instead of two.

Also my speeds will increase from 15Mbps to 40Mbps, from 15Gb of data per month to 20Gb of data per month. Instead of free data between midnight and 5am, I'll have 50Gb between 3am-6am. All for $16 less per month.

My current download speed is consistently between 12-15Mbps and the web pages load almost instantly. I don't watch ballgames or movies on my computer so I guess I'll not be able to take the real advantage of more speed but it will still be nice to have.

The 20Gigs of data per month will be more than enough for me. I have averaged a little more than 14Gb per month for the past 2 years and 10 months of service.

Well it sounds like the rain has stopped, the winds have died down and all of the hounds are passed out cold for the night. I am now tired enough to call it a night and get some sleep.

There was a LOT of rain tonight in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Hounds Took A Day Off

The words wouldn't come on Tuesday when it came time to write a blog post. I had a few pictures but not the normal large number of them to choose from. I thought I'd wait and see if anything came to me by late afternoon. By that time Sadie, Stella and Heidi declared Tuesday was a 'day off', so no blog post yesterday.

That didn't mean I got anything done. The hounds slept, ate twice, took two walks and then an early evening break outside just roam in the yard or field. I had a very good afternoon siesta.

This morning they started a new routine or a new direction. Like last summer Sadie and Stella took an immediate left walking through the yard to the north side of the field for their morning trip, instead of straight back behind the house.

We could feel the warmth a little this morning. The sky looked fantastic as we started the walk and it was hard to imagine that we were looking at a 75% of rain by 1pm. It was the same on Monday but that did not amount to anything more than a light rain. They didn't even have to stop the baseball game in Cincinnati when 'our' storm move into their area.

These past few weeks, maybe a month, I have had Stella smell the rolled up 6' leash I carry in my pocket. I don't have any idea of that makes a difference to her but I cannot remember the last time I had to use it. She has been coming when I call her. If she lags behind she will trot a little on the path to catch up.

Sadie is just Sadie ... same routine on the walk every day. She is serious and is only doing it for one reason ... to track scents.

The dark spot on her lower front leg is a place that she likes to lick. She has been doing it for years and it doesn't matter if the brand of dog food is changed nor if the seasons change. Her vet checkups have had perfect results, so maybe it's just a habit.

I have to admit I am a little concerned about Stella's lack of running. She use to love running in the field. I'd have to go back through past blog posts or past photos to find out exactly when she stopped her running at full speed in the field. She might trot a little when she needs to catch up but no full speed running. Also, she has not tried to get Sadie to wrestle with her nor playing like they did last summer.

Since her facial expression rarely changes, unless she is being fed kibble or there is food of mine that she thinks is hers. Therefore it's hard to tell if she is feeling good, normal or bad. I have felt around her hips, shoulders and stomach. I have not felt anything abnormal nor has she let out any sounds of pain or shown signs of discomfort.

I wonder if it is just being a year older and her joints are starting to bother her? I may start giving her a joint supplement and see if that makes a difference and/or have the vet give her a blood test to see if something is going on inside of her.

Sadie has never been bothered by those sharp thorns when it comes to walking through thick bushes. As a very young puppy she laid open the inside of her ear and it looked like she had been cut by a razor blade. That is how smooth the cut was. That required a few stitches and the scar looks very clean almost 9 years later.

She was focused on deer scent today. I wonder if Stella would run full speed if deer suddenly appeared?

I was letting Stella do anything she wanted on the walk today. She could go anywhere at her pace. Every time she would catch back up with Sadie and I, then would continue her slow walking.

While Sadie had moved up along the edge of the field in back, Stella was taking her time slowly walking toward me ... that is until she heard that gunshot from the farm behind those trees.

She has always been 'gun shy' when there have been gunshots in the area. She didn't sprint out of control and take off but before I could get my camera up and focused she was walking right beside me. For most of the walk from that point forward she didn't get more than 6" away from me.

Sadie??  Doesn't bother her.

As I stepped off the path to get a side view of Stella for a picture, there was another gunshot. You can see her reaction by the way her ears are folded. By this time she is in a slow trot along the path.

Before she finished her walk home, she needed to take one final look toward the neighbor's wooded area behind their house ... I had a feeling she was 'looking' for that big blonde cat we saw the other day.

Checking the Intellicast radar I see our first storm is over by Effingham, IL. The forecast says we should expect strong thunderstorms in the afternoon with high winds. That is typical Spring weather here in 'the topics'.

With the world of sports kind of calming down to just one sport to follow, there is now enough time to attack the 'to do' list. It seems like it's a feeling I get every April but not until college basketball's Final Four is over, where I am motivated enough to get started again on annual house maintenance that needs to get done.

I'll work around the weather in the spring and then around the hottest temps in the summer. I had a list of 15 things to do a few years ago but I don't have that many different jobs to do this year. There are a couple that will take a week or so to complete. The time I pulled every weed by hand that was in my driveway made it and the fence line look really good ... I'll have to be pretty bored to do that project again.

That blue sky with sunshine has turned to overcast skies and there is now a feel of rain ... the hounds are telling me it's time for their lunch here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.