Stella Expands Her Boundary

Stella's new adventure started as soon as the walk did. As usual she headed away from Sadie and I. By the time I looked back to see where she was, she was already past the north edge of the yard, heading next door. I yelled her name and for some strange reason she reacted immediately with an 'about face' and trotted toward our path.

It was much cooler this morning so I thought I might see some running from her but that 50' trot was about all the energy she had. At least while she was within my view.

She continued to walk as if she was exhausted, could barely catch Sadie and I ... she never did because she stayed behind supplementing her diet.

So Sadie and I quickened our pace and took off for the morning walk.

It was still very wet from the heavy dew this morning. I am going to have to go back into my library of photos for this time last year and see if I was having the same problems on the first walk of the day. That shows right there that my memory is suspect yet something 40 years ago I can remember in detail.

It was good to see some flowers return since they baled the field. These were just off the edge of the field in the fast growing brush at the top of the gully. It's the spot that Sadie would like to jump into instead of walking into.

As I walked back looking through my 200mm zoomed lens, looking for Stella. I did not see her in the middle of the field, nor the area where we left her. I didn't see her anywhere near the wooded area behind my neighbors house or near their drainage ditch ... in fact ... I didn't see Stella anywhere.

Then as I glanced along the horizon without the camera, I spotted her ... in an area she had never been except for the few times she was chasing deer and a strange dog visiting the neighbors during Christmas last winter.

She was further north than she had ever been, between my two neighbors to the north. For her to go that far from the area I left her, in the amount of time it took me to walk ... Stella would have had to trot at a fairly fast pace to get to the area where I found her.

Was her slow walk an act to fake me out?  It has happened before ... LOL

Sadie didn't care though. She ran a lot in her walk this morning and finished it with a sprint to the house. She was fast enough that I almost didn't catch her with the camera.

Around noon when all of us went outside after our lunch, it felt like rain, looked like rain but no signs of anything on the weather radar in our area ... all to the north of us.

Stella was more interested in going back inside to start her afternoon siesta rather than taking a walk. She did not move from this spot until I started walking to the door.

Heidi got this far, not even into the yard when she turned around and headed back to the door to be let inside so she could sleep on the couch.

Sadie just looked confused. She didn't even do her normal begging to walk and fell asleep within minutes of going back inside. It was like all three hounds had been zapped with low energy ... strange because it was a good ten degrees cooler than these past few days.

By noon I had very few pictures, not enough activity to blog about and had no plans to fill the afternoon with anything outside the normal day. I did help the economy this morning by spending money on groceries if if my shopping cart looked right ... I took home less food than I normally do. It's amazing how fast money goes when you are buying nothing but basic food.

It wasn't soon after we were back inside, that it was I not Sadie, that needed to get out of the house and head out for a walk. After looking at Stella during that walk I am not sure she was keen on the idea.

With the grocery shopping being the 'hit' of the day, things were almost too quiet. Once again I started a book, only to put it back on shelf after reading a couple of pages. I looked through the alphabetized DVD's and scanned sports talk shows on tv ... nothing there. What to do?

A siesta ... the hounds thought that was a perfect idea and were glad to see their training is paying off in these early years of retirement ... my daily schedule is becoming a lot like their routine.

For the first time in a long time there was no dreaming. That seems to be a big problem lately in my nightly sleeps ... strange confusing dreams.

By the time we woke up this afternoon, both water bowls (3qt & 1qt) for the hounds had been emptied. Heidi was trotting to the door to let me know she had to use the bathroom facilities outside. Stella was still in a semi-state of sleep and didn't know if it was really time to get up or not. Of course Sadie was bouncing up and down on her front legs with excitement ... thinking we were headed for a walk.

We almost were until I stepped outside with Heidi and saw the thermometer I hung on the wall the other day had it's needle above the 90° mark, enough to prevent any confusion if it was really that hot or not.

It was back to having all outside activity suspended until 8pm tonight. A much better time to take that last walk of the day, which would make the 3rd one today.

We will be back to watching Reds baseball tonight, reminding myself that its a rebuilding process  that was decided by the team owner and GM. That means 2017 is not the season where wins are important but getting young players experience playing baseball everyday at the major league level.

I think it is more like "lets cut salaries by the millions of dollars, have fireworks every Friday night after the games to draw a sell out crowd and increase our profits". But that is just thoughts from a lifelong fan that hates losing at any kind of game.

With that last thought, I'm headed to the kitchen for one of many tall glasses of ice tea tonight and get prepared for that 8pm walk with Sadie and Stella.

It's hot and too quiet here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana

The Hounds Survive Another Hot Day

The temperature looked pretty cool just after noon on Monday when the hounds were fed. As I opened the door to let the hounds outside for their afternoon lunch break, the heat from the outdoor oven hit me square in the face. The heat index said 102° and I was pretty certain that was accurate by the way it felt. All three hounds came outside but didn't stay out long and didn't move much further than a few steps.

We decided to camp inside enjoying the 75° temps, when Sadie and Stella alerted me that someone was at the door. The doorbell always drives them crazy with excitement. The same man from the electrical company was back to tell me I would start Tuesday morning without any power as they finished their new installation of power lines a few hundred feet away.

I am not sure what is in this spot Stella is checking out but all three hounds at one time or another the past two days has pressed their noses into the hard gravel. They don't lick or eat anything but something attracts their noses. I'm guessing that black cat I've only seen once, has passed through here.

With the power out for a short time this morning, it was cooler outside than inside the house ... it was a perfect time to get the first walk of the day completed. They are running parallel lines from a power station behind the gully we walk by on our walks ... to across the highway ... down the closed road to the steel bridge and then across the creek to the next road over. It looks like the two lines that go to my house have been installed in the new pole.

It amazes me how those men work with power lines, knowing mistakes cannot be made and just how much power is zipping through those lines when they are set to be used. It looked like they had done a lot of work prior to 8am this morning.

This new pole is across the highway. I am not sure when they stopped traffic to run the power lines across the highway. Anytime earlier than 7:30am is 'rush hour' traffic in this area. From about 5:30am - 7:30am people are either heading to the interstate or going to work locally.

None of that work or sounds of people being near us disturbed Sadie or Stella for their morning walk. Same routine as always, for all of us. The cool air felt nice at 8am in the morning. It wouldn't last long as the muggy feeling had started by the time we returned from our walk.

I let Stella do her own thing again this morning. Why fight gravity? ... more or less, the same situation with her. Up ahead I could see how the heavy dew was making it's own design in the field this morning. I'll have a close up view of it a few pictures down.

Bye Stella ... we will see you on the way  back.

For those into plants, any ideas what this is?

While I walked at a steady pace, Sadie checked out the far right corner of the field. Before I could get any pictures of her, she had already sprinted behind my back and caught me. I felt her wet nose hit the back of my knee as she slowed down next to my side.

As I made the final turn home, Sadie walked right next to me for some reason and too close for any photos. Up ahead I could barely make out that foreign color against all of the green ... Stella had migrated over to the neighbor's woods during our walk.

She had found a lot of 'protein supplements' to enjoy this morning. I wonder sometimes why I bother buying dog food ... LOL

It only took me a few steps in her direction while calling her name, where she looked up and headed our direction. No trotting this week, just the slow pace walk where you can almost hear her feet dragging with each step.

It looks like the power lines are installed for use. I saw a couple of trucks with lifts heading toward the old abandon steel bridge, hidden by the corn in the fields. Oh, that rain they predicted for yesterday afternoon, never happened.

Another morning walk in the books for Stella. It was time for her daily morning nap behind my computer chair until lunch is served. It's a rough life being a bloodhound.

Even before lunch it was too hot to be outside long. Therefore the hounds didn't spend much time outside after their noon kibble. Heidi took one look at the drive, felt the heat and moved over to the shaded front yard to relieve herself ... then ran to the door.

With it feeling like an oven that was turned on outside, Sadie still wanted a walk ... she would have to wait another 6 hours before that would happen.

She thought if she stood in the shade and begged for a walk that might change my mind ... she still had to wait another 6 hours for our walk.

It never stops amazing me what Stella can do when the word food is involved. She was ignoring me out in the field, wouldn't move, would look up at me and hear me call her name ... not until I yelled "do you want a bone" did she start sprinting toward the house.

She had just eaten lunch but needed desert.

I wanted to check out a couple of small business in this small town that I knew sold Carhartt Jackets, work boots and clothing ... I thought the might have some rubber rain boots, low cut like a shoe. Not only did they not have any rain boots ... they were no longer in business. Another empty building in this small town.

I'm beginning to get a little cabin fever I believe. Once again I cannot find a book that interest me enough to read it. I'm tired of watching baseball and it's too hot to do much outside between 10am - 8pm.

Nothing new here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

Where's Heidi??

Recently the photos on the blog all seem to be of Stella and Sadie. I might catch Heidi sometimes in the afternoon right after lunch but it's rare for any other times. Because of that, a few readers have asked if Heidi is okay, where is she?, does she go on our walks anymore? Well .... for any chances of a Heidi photo shoot or her walking, the temps have to be between 70°-75° and NOTHING before noon ... unless lunch is being served.

As we start every day, a morning walk through field covered with heavy dew. I decided it might not be a good idea to continue getting my hiking boots wet every day, so I switched back to my North Face snow boots. They are designed for wet fields or heavy snow. I might need to but some smaller shoes/boots to wear in the rain/wet grass.

Stella immediately took off to the north while Sadie and I were heading northeast. Is she just testing me to see what I will do? Probably not. She just likes wandering on her own pace and wants to have her way in deciding where to go. She's independent I guess.

Not more than 20' into the walk my boots are soaked but my feet/socks are dry.

Stella once again started her slow circular path gradually back to Sadie. I was at the first turn waiting to see what she would do. Once she took the time to look up from what she was eating and noticed Sadie had found something ... she came trotting in our direction. She wouldn't want Sadie to enjoy something without her.

Sadie was already reacting from the start of the walk as if the field had been cleared of all previous scents and this morning's canvas was full of new deer scent all over the field ... specifically along the edge between the field and woods.

I could tell by now that Stella would not be joining Sadie and I this morning. I was willing to let her do whatever she wanted now that she had changed her location more toward the woods instead of toward the neighbors.

As Sadie made that sound with her jowls as she inhaled all the field offered ...

Stella never moved.

It's right in there where the deer walk in and out of the gully, while some have sleeping spots in that heavy brush. At times Sadie gets so excited she will hop, wanting to jump into the middle of all that brush.

By the time I am almost to the back edge of the field, the smell of wet hay fills the air. That's a small amount of hay they cut this summer. Basically they only had about half the number or rolls they normally get in a cut. I am pretty sure they will be back in September or October to bale whatever they can so they will have enough to feed their cows in the winter.

As expected I didn't see any signs of Stella as Sadie and I walked the back edge of the field. I assume she was over the small incline and out of sight over by the woods behind the neighbors house. That is where the extremely large field cat lives.

I was almost shocked when I saw Stella walking out from the area I had left her. She had not moved and was tracing my steps long my path when I called her name.

Once she heard her name called she started walking our direction slowly.

Nothing like getting a look as if to say "what's the hurry" from her ... she is hilarious at times with her facial expressions.

To let me know they are both still in charge around here, not me, they walked their own path home at their own speed ... cutting the field in half and walked diagonal towards the north end of the yard.

After so much strenuous exercise this morning Stella will sleep next to the the floor register that pumps out air conditioned air until she is ready to eat her lunch around noon. She will howl when it's time for me to serve lunch.

Soon after we arrived home, it felt like rain in the air and the skies clouded over. Wunderground is telling me thunderstorms are possible by 4:15pm. I've heard that before with nothing happening. Since getting all my normal tasks done this weekend my daily activity this week could range between nothing ... and nothing.

Life is fast paced here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.