I always say "it will never happen again" ... but it does. The other day after mowing the yard and trimming along the small brick edging, I sat my lithium battery for the weed eater on my FJ bumper ... again. I do that when I am putting each item back into the small shed that stores my lawn mower. But a few days had passed before I realized that expensive battery had made another 25 mile trip and was waiting for me on the FJ bumper as I returned with a shopping cart full of groceries. Right where I left it on Sunday.
Using that same word "again" I decided this morning I'd let Stella follow her nose on the morning walk. After all it's the middle of the week that some employees call "hump day" and are overjoyed their work week is half over. In retirement it feels the same as any other day and our only interest seems to be in the weather changes. It will change today from great weather to thunderstorms.
Stella didn't disappoint me as she took off in the opposite direction from Sadie and I. She has been good lately by not wandering off except that one time last week or two. She might require some of my verbal herding but for some strange reason she has been responding and obeying to certain words. No, not those words.
So while Sadie and I followed our normal path I kept glancing over at Stella to see if she was heading our direction or was taking off for the neighbors backyard, where there is a scent of a cat that keeps her interested. It was good to see Stella might meet Sadie and I by the time we were at the first turn.
Sadie was going to make sure Stella would follow us and made such a fast run over to her to lead the way, it caught me and my camera off guard and we missed the command that Sadie was giving her, but Stella got the message loud and clear.
Without cutting the field a second time last fall, there is a lot of grass replacing the wild weeds we saw last year. Last summer was so dry and hot that the field really didn't need cut a second time but if that Farmer's Almanac is right this year, with "a wetter than normal summer" ... they might be baling the field twice. The ticks are not as bad as a few springs ago when I kept a counter in the upper left corner of the blog, updated after each walk. Yet I am finding a few of them on me after our recent walks this week.
I know there are heavy chemicals in Nexguard for killing ticks, fleas and mosquitoes but in this area of the USA it's needed. In the past two summers only one dose has done the job for the rest of the summer. Yes, I have tried the different natural remedies and I have not found them to work in this area.
I've gone back to Facebook but still using my own previous policy of having no Facebook friends listed. No offense to them and there were only a few of them I listed, but I use Facebook only to read updated information about the groups I follow. I capture a lot of good information about the Toyota FJ, updated sports teams news, and even tornado tracking. I do not follow any groups about bloodhounds or basset hounds.
I have also made some changes to my internet browser and search engine. It probably doesn't mean anything but I guess it's best to take advantages of different browser and search engine options. I went from Google Search to DuckDuckGo for more privacy. I also went from Google Chrome back to Safari, which runs faster and smooth on my iMac and MacBook Air.
With their latest updates they automatically block 3rd party tracking and that results in having a lot less if any advertising showing up in my inbox or on the websites that I visit. The new Firefox Quantum browser is nice but is just too much of a data hog and my budget allows me only 20Gb per month, so that is not an option for me.
Motivation has been at a low point at times, in attacking that 'to do' list. I have spent more time just sitting outside enjoying the hot weather, reading a book or watching the hounds as they roam the field. Plus we are taking 3 walks per day, except Heidi. She prefers to wander the front yard, the top of the driveway and lay in the sun in the backyard while the bloodhounds and I take our walks.
Monday was hound toenail cutting day. Sadie was good once again and will let me cut hers as long as she can stand up. Stella will always lay down if I show her and let her sniff the clippers. Heidi was more than ready to get her long nails cut and laid down in the grass as soon as she saw (smelled) the clippers. I cut hers back the shortest I can remember they have ever been ... without cutting the quick. I could tell she felt a lot better after her manicure.
Stella jumped out ahead of Sadie and I this morning. I was positive she was heading for the 'far right corner' of the field. Yet, lately she has responded when I tell her "over here" ... she then turns and walks toward our direction. What has gotten into her obeying verbal commands?
Sadie is just Sadie ... every walk, morning, noon or late afternoon she follows the same directions with her nose to the ground most of the way. That's her tracking personality coming out.
Stella was pretty sure that recently deer had gone straight into that brush and up over the small wire fence. After spending a few minutes staring in that direction, she finally gave up and slowly started following Sadie and I along the back edge of the field.
With rain in the forecast this afternoon, tonight and the next three days, this farmer got his planting finished yesterday just in time. Based on how the field looks, in my NON expert opinion, I am guessing he planted soybeans this year instead of corn.
Stella checked to see if she could get away and head to the north woods before I would notice her. She stood there watching me as I walked 30 yards away from her and past her, as Sadie and I headed home.
Sadie never barks but lets her know it would be best if she started following me and her toward home.
At no time during these last photos were any verbal herding involved. They slowly wandered back to the house.
I think in the last part of the walk, they are following a scent of the field cat that I have only seen a couple of times. At least the cat is good at keeping the mice traffic to a minimum around the house. I can't remember the last time I've even seen a mouse in the house.
After 14 months the change in dog food to Sportmix, manufactured by the same company that makes Earthborn Holistic Pet Food, continues to work well for all three hounds. It solved Heidi's skin problems from a few years ago, put weight back on Stella and keeps Sadie lean and mean.
Due to increased soil erosion after I cut the taller grass around the old fence post and bank, I am letting that corner grow back to the height and thickness it was. The water has decided to follow that slightly indent in the yard, making a right turn and goes down the bank toward my house. I have changed that direction of water by a little digging out and modifying that corner close to the house at the bottom of the bank. Feel free to make any suggestions that might help.
I barely caught him flying by the house as the hounds and I were just finishing our walk. It looks like a shipment of brand new John Deere mowers heading to a dealership somewhere south of us.
I am more in the mode of being outside now, reading a book rather than working on that 'to do' list. How long will I wait to get started?
It's been a week of very enjoyable weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
