Where Did Heidi Go ??

With temperatures close to or a little above 90° after their lunch at 11:30am, none of the hounds stayed outside more than few minutes. 30 minutes after coming inside Heidi was standing at the door wanting to go back outside. I figured it would be a quick trip and she would be back at the door wanting in where the rooms were filled with air-conditioned air. When I looked outside 30 minutes later she was not in her normal spots she likes to lay in the sunshine. So I grabbed the camera not knowing she would be somewhere for the first time ever, in her 7th year living here. You will notice as time passed she would move to keep in the shade ... these photos covered almost a 3 hour time period.

Summer's Officially Here

The air conditioning was turned on last yesterday afternoon as all three hounds started panting with their tongues hanging out of their mouths ... inside the house. That's the official look to turn on the AC for another summer of high temps and high humidity. Who's complaining? Not I, I love hot muggy weather and will take this over those 7° days just a few months ago.

Again the field looked like it had grown another 6" overnight, but this portion of the field is always the tallest of all 7 acres. All the underground water flows this direction and it has a lot of afternoon sunshine. At least we could still see which way to go.

While Sadie charged out in front, I was reminded that yesterday Stella tried her best to take off to the north woods. It got to the point of no return as I watched her and listened to her ignore my calls. I had to take off sprinting to catch her. She wasn't running but had her head down and was walking at a fast pace, almost past the 2nd house north of us.

So today the focus was to keep her walking with Sadie and I ... but it was hotter than normal this morning. She slowed to her afternoon pace which is almost like me walking in slow motion, yet I wasn't going to let her fake me out today with that ... then attempting to escape.

Do you notice anything different in the picture below?

I did not see any beaten down grass, nor any kind of path but something just barely inside the brush had Sadie and Stella's attention. A lot of verbal commands were needed to get them to move. It was hot, muggy, not even 9am and the gnats were out in force.

Not even halfway through the walk my hiking boots are completely saturated.

I was curious enough to check last year's blog posts to see when we turned on the air conditioning. That is one thing that is good about a blog, it makes it easy to find answers for questions concerning the house, the hounds, the vehicles, weather or myself. It wasn't until the 2nd of June that the AC was turned on and a week later where it seemed to be running full time.

Why does Stella cry like she is in pain ... when I sneeze ??

By the time I turned around Sadie was headed into the brush and Stella was about to follow her. What was leading them out of bounds??

Calling their names and telling them no got both of them back on the walk with each hound going their own separate ways.

After yesterday's escape by Stella, Sadie was going to keep a close eye on her. She did this various times throughout the walk this morning, just to make sure that Stella was still in view.

"After further review" as they like to say in NFL games ... I have decided this morning they planted corn in the back field and not soybeans like I guessed last week.

Can you feel the 'mugginess' in those photos?

What a difference a few months makes in the weather here and the color of the fields.

At this point in time I wasn't sure if Stella was going to make it back to the yard before noon. Each step was deliberate, no signs of being in a rush and no signs of veering off course. Would she make it home by noon?

She made it to the yard about 5 minutes later but still at the same pace. She can tell it's hot and in that case she does nothing fast or normal ... everything is slower for her.

While my mind was daydreaming yesterday I thought that I might start blogging again at the end of the day instead of this time of morning. I know that will not change your reading habits nor is it an attempt to. It's just a warning that new posts may not happened until late afternoons or early evenings. That way I can decrease some of the morning photos, add some afternoon shots that would include Heidi and include a whole day not just the morning walk.

Just because the temperatures are above Heidi's threshold for activity does not mean she wakes up any earlier. She isn't real active and photogenic until after her lunch.

If anyone would like to live in 'the tropics' the house next door is going to be for rent. My neighbor of one year, that works in the Texas oil fields and stays up here a week per month, moved out last week. I knew something was going one when the satellite installers were taking his satellite dish down without replacing it. I also saw some loaded pickup trucks pulling away from the house.

Not sure when it will rain again after a forecast of a 'wetter than normal' summer ... and I don't know if my last place Reds will ever lose again since they are on a 6 game winning streak. (Have I jinxed them?) Besides, I'm back on Facebook and even signed up for an Instagram account last night so I could find some old bloggers that moved to Instagram. I can also follow that 'vanlife' group.

Does it really matter if you try to hide from Google if you have used Blogger for years and have gmail as your email service, both owned by Google ... the lightbulb finally came on inside my head and I realized they already had info on me that would never disappear so back to Google Chrome I came. It uses less data than Apple's Safari does.

I may have finally found an 'in home' pet sitter ...  waiting for a reply from her.

That's about it for this morning from 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana ... air conditioning was a great invention.

Heidi Takes A Wednesday Afternoon Stroll

Wednesday afternoon I heard Heidi jump off the couch, run toward the kitchen barking. Very unlike her normal activity. I had no idea what was happening. I found out as we went outside that she wanted to go for a walk. How did I know that?

By the time the bloodhounds and I were in the yard, Heidi was already heading down the path out into the field. How strange was that? I didn't have to time to go back and get the camera to record that historic and strange event. She walked the half mile, leading some of the walk. After we returned home she slept the rest of the afternoon and evening.

So Thursday I was curious what she would do after lunch. As you will see, she and the bloodhounds did nothing because it was TOO HOT !!!

She stood and thought about her next move for a while, as did Stella ... but Stella already knows what she is going to do when it's above 80°. Plus with it being so soon after eating she knows there is only one thing to do ... take a nap. She dropped to the ground right where she stood.

So far this summer Heidi has decided her spot will be right next to 'Winston's Patio' just on the edge of the grass.

Meanwhile Sadie did what Sadie does ... she roams the field with no time to lay down and relax, no matter how hot it is.

It wasn't long until I felt a little too hot as I deepened my tan ... or burn that is. As soon as all three hounds saw me putting the chair back into the corner and I was going back inside, they came running to the door ... I guess it was too hot for them also.

By late afternoon and after all three had a solid 2-3 hour nap I thought they might want to take a walk. I knew that Sadie and Stella would but what about Heidi? When I asked if she wanted to go, she hopped off the couch and with her tail wagging she headed to the door ... I grabbed the camera.

By the time she got to the yard she wasn't in the mood to take a walk and why would she? She went yesterday and besides I had my camera.

So the bloodhounds and I took off for a quick walk ... glancing back at her, she had already gotten up and was heading toward the bank. That seems to be her normal area while we walk when she is outside.

Stella immediately shifted down into her normal afternoon walking pace ... a little slower than slow.

As we walked into the yard from the north, I could see Heidi almost at the path in the field at the edge of the yard. I thought she might go walking on her own ... but Sadie had other ideas.

Once she saw Heidi was running toward us, Sadie started sprinting toward her to do her famous 'nose tap' that she does anytime that Heidi comes back inside the house ... I am guessing it is some sort of a greeting.

Within the second it took me to click the shutter again, Sadie had moved out of the picture and Heidi was regaining her balance from the 'nose tap'. You can tell by her stretched rear leg and flapping jowls she is not quite straightened out yet.

The temperature will continue to climb to the high 80's today and this weekend. With all of this warm weather Heidi's deposition has turned a 360 and is much more active than she was when it was colder than 50°. 

By the time I return from visiting an old friend in Bloomington, it will be time to mow the yard again. 

Hot weather is back and all of us are having fun in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Enjoys The Warm Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon after Heidi jumped from the couch and started barking, little did I know that not only did she want to go outside but she wanted to take our half mile walk through the field. I did not have time to grab the camera for that historic event. Today right after lunch we headed outside as usual, then a few hours later I thought she was going to take another walk, so I brought the camera. All she wanted was to go outside. LOL