Stella's Birthday Was Yesterday

Even with a calendar reminder, plus the App "Reminders", someway I forgot to notice Stella's 8th birthday was last Wednesday. We made up for that yesterday with a hand full of treats and a manicure for her. She seemed pretty content as she, Sadie and I stood under the Mahogany trees in the backyard late Saturday afternoon enjoying the shade.

The pace here in 'the tropics' has almost come to a complete stop. I am working with what I have in the flowerbeds. I am waiting for mums to bloom at the local landscape biz and enjoy not having the Yews in front of the house. Since it was so nice outside yesterday I turned Sadie and Stella loose in the field and let them wander as they pleased.

They didn't go far, didn't run off and was more than happy to run back to the house when I called them. They were outside for almost an hour. They were both asleep within minutes after drinking water.

To break up the pace I thought I'd trying something different today on the blog. I only pulled a few photos from this morning's walk instead of the usual 25-30. I thought I'd include some photos from the afternoon or early evening if I took any ... then get back to posting at the end of the afternoon sometime after 5pm or 6pm.

That way I am not including yesterday photos with today's post.

While I walked this morning, Sadie did nothing but thoroughly explore the field and the far right corner. She was changing directions in an instant it was as if she was looking for something but not finding it. She covered a lot of ground by running and trotting until she closed in on a scent.

Stella was on her own exploration and spent more time trotting or at a very fast paced walk. Most of the time she was not around Sadie nor I and only within view with a 200mm lens.

I think that's a sign she is feeling better and getting back to her old self. She made a quick left turn about the time I took this photo. She was trotting to the 'no-fly zone' and I wasn't even close enough to start running after her.

By the time I reached the rolls of hay I could barely see her as she went down over the small hill toward the woods. She was on deer scent and headed to the woods ... until I yelled her name. She did an abrupt turn and started walking toward me ... she had been caught.

Sadie continued her field exploration and was totally unaware that Stella was heading to the woods without her.

I finally got them headed in the direction of home. They headed for the north part of the yard while I walked through the wet weeds, flowers and grass along the path. While they slept until lunch, I took off in the Z4 for a Sunday morning drive before it got too hot. It was only 70° when I left and the cool air felt great with the top down.

The hounds are taking these fantastic days for granted. They forget what it's like to have temps in the 20's and a strong wind blowing colder air on their walks. It will not bother them but I dread just the thought of that type of weather. All three hounds slept through the afternoon. I sat outside and read for a while with them inside.

Afternoon walks are much slower paced than the morning walks. That doesn't mean their noses take a break. They were very slow on the afternoon walk today at least during the first part of the field.

There were a few butterflies out but not nearly the number of them a few afternoons ago. Sadie was not into chasing them and at times would almost touch them as she walked by them with her nose to the ground.

It would be history in the making if both hounds walked slowly together following the path to the back of the field but that has never happened in the two years I've had two bloodhounds at the same time.

I'm calling this my favorite butterfly due to the color. I don't see a lot of them.

I continued my walk. Sadie headed off for the far right corner of the field and Stella found a spot and didn't move.

I have no idea what the name of this tree is but it looks like it should be in southern Florida not in the Midwest. I like the deep colors it produces.

At first I thought Sadie was joining me but she ran past me headed toward the 'no-fly' zone.

I had to zoom in with all my lens had to offer (200mm) to see that Stella thought she had time to check out the far right corner of the field. She had time, I didn't. That 80° temperature was starting to feel too hot to me.

When I yelled her name and she stopped, I knew I had her attention. Now, what would she do? She slowly turned and started walking toward me.

To the right of me, Sadie came running over the top of the hill and acted like I couldn't see her ...

Sadie moved past me and then away from me again. I wonder what she was smelling to make her go as fast as she was?

Again, I don't know the name of the tree but this one always starts changing color this time of year. That is at the first corner on the walk as I take the return path home.

I thought Heidi was going to join us this afternoon. Maybe she thought I was taking my camera, when I asked if she wanted to go. She turned from me, ran and jumped up on the couch. I took that as a 'no'.

The past two afternoon walks without the camera she has come out with us but decided to search the very first part of the field while the bloodhounds and I did the complete walk.

I gauge how rested I am by the times I take to complete Mahjong games. Being tired equals higher times, well rested equals lower times and a lot of them. Such was the case yesterday and today as I did most of my games in 3:10 or less. I find that game easier to play on my laptop using the touchpad mouse to eliminate the matching tiles.

Not sure what's on the agenda tonight. Still not in the mood to watch players trying to make their NFL teams and my interest in MLB will start again the closer they get to their playoffs. Even that is months away.

With stuff done around the house, the lawn cut on Friday, laundry finished yesterday ... it's time to start a new book from my bookshelves. It's just hard to believe how nice the weather has been in August. Will we have a hot September as payback for these below average temps?

It was a quiet Sunday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana today.

Stella Had 8th Birthday Last Wednesday

I took this picture today of Stella and it turned out to be my all-time favorite picture of her. This look on her face is an accurate picture of her, fits her personality. I missed her 8th birthday last Wednesday and did not blog about it. She is only a couple of weeks away from celebrating her 2nd year living here.



I guess it comes with the breed, but she too destroyed a lot of my stuff when she had separation anxiety. She has not tore anything up since December 2016 during the times I go to the store or to Bloomington.

She has been kinda sick the past 6 months but has started to regain her lost weight. Plus her coat is getting soft again. She just ran this week for the first time since January. She use to run full speed all over the field. I mean a fast run. But no more.

When she could not jump into the back of the FJ a couple of weeks ago, I knew that my suspicion was correct ... her hips are sore and/or weak. She is a great bloodhound and just needed someone to put up with her destruction while she got better.

Her original owner finally told me what happened to Stella to cause her fear. I wrote about that here on the blog.

So she was 8 years old on August 9th.

She is a great great bloodhound.

The Hounds Start Another Weekend

It's like all other weekends, even most week days ... the hounds started another weekend like they do any other day. The deer scent was extremely strong this morning. With a strong breeze from the NW and the temps not even touching 70°, we took off into a wet field looking for deer.

It's pretty amazing that weed grows wild, taking over anything in its path and one seed can grow 500 others. At least that is what the article I linked last week told me. Maybe I should plant as many as possible in my small north side yard and see who wins between this and ivy.

It's hard to see in this picture, but Stella made a left turn as soon as her paws felt that wet grass. She had free rein today and I was almost positive she was heading to those small woods straight ahead behind my neighbor's house. She surprised me.

It wasn't fast but she made her gradual exploration for deer scat back towards our path.

Another thing this shows is just how close to the house the deer get while all of us are in a deep sleep in the predawn hours.

Sadie's search was so intense that you could hear her jowls move with each inhale. I had a dog sitter tell me years ago after taking my bloodhound Bertha out for a walk in this same field, she had never heard a dog make that kind of noise while walking.

I was happy to see Stella slowly change her direction towards us as Sadie and I walked on. The wet field was taller than my boots, so my bare legs were getting wet with each step. That breeze from the NW felt good this morning, a sweatshirt was not needed, the t-shirt I wore was just find.

Once Stella walked on the path she started running toward me, not trotting. She has done that every day this week so improvement with her hips continues.

It might look like the 'normal' stopping point in the walk for Stella but today was different. The scat or scent was so strong that at one time Sadie's head and shoulders moved under Stella's stomach and almost lifted her off the ground as Sadie stood up under Stella. My camera was not fast enough to catch that comical act.

As Stella ran up behind me and the past me, joining Sadie ... I knew this morning I would be joining them in the far corner of the field. That is the main lounging area for the deer and based on what I had seen so far on the walk I knew the hounds would have to check that area out.

When they did not stop to eat but continuously followed the scent, they acted as if the deer were within minutes of them. I knew the deer were long gone and were missed by hours.

Stella had found a deer bed, with the brushed mashed down.

Sadie was not in the lead this morning ... Stella was taking charge of 'the hunt'.

That deer scat is buried deep in that brush, level with the ground.

They followed the edge of the field just like the deer would be doing as they walked or trotted to the woods to the north or the soybean field to the right, just past the rolls of hay.

Sadie was positive the deer had jumped the short fence hidden by overgrowth.

As I made the final turn toward home on the path, I told both of them to "come on" and they sprinted past me and didn't stop. I could only catch them in these next two pictures with a 200mm zoom.

The whole time walking I never felt a mosquito after a night of rain. I also didn't see one butterfly the whole walk, unlike yesterday's late morning walk around 11am. We were back to normal time this morning as you can tell by the amount of shade covering the field.

Stella headed to the north part of the yard ... with many stops in between.

Sadie never let up in her efforts of finding 'stuff' to eat.

You can barely see that old rusted pole marking the edge of my property and the neighbor's surveyed field. Our survey's don't match but I'll take the extra 100' of  land that his survey gave me. Who knows what the real property lines are around here.

Sadie finally ran to get home. Stella and I were already back at the house. As she slowed down trotting across the cut lawn ... you might be wondering why did she run from the middle of the field without being called???

She doesn't want Heidi or Stella touching or drinking water out of 'her' bowl. The Bloodhound Property Laws are on a page at the top of the blog.

With the hounds sleeping, the temps cool and the sunshine back out, it was the perfect time to take the Z4 out for a Saturday morning drive. Traffic is light, so it will be a very nice drive through the hills and curves on the two lane state highways.

The rain was light and didn't amount to much. I'ts sunny again here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.