Stella Starts Her Day Earlier Than Normal

While I was taking this second photo from the corner of the house like I do every morning, Stella was already starting her walk without me. Not only was she starting on her own but today she was sitting at the entry to the computer room, wagging her tail and whining to go on her walk ... an hour early. It was barely past 8am and my second cup of coffee wasn't halfway finished. I set the camera to 'auto flash' and I think that may have made a difference today in this morning's photos.

The way she was taking off I thought she might really be on a scent and I would spend most of my walk running to catch her. I hadn't seen this quick action with her nose to the ground. I think she is changing her personality on these walks. I do know she is starting to tell me more often what she wants during the day. Whereas before, Sadie basically decided the 'what, when and where'.

I guess without wind, the 33° temperature hasn't bothered me yet on these walks. I keep looking at the iPhone Weather 10-day forecast and I don't see any high temperatures for each day over 58°. That is way below the normal average for this time of year. I told my friend in Phoenix yesterday that the hounds and I were thinking about a winter road trip this year to warmer temps.

Here is where it got a little interesting. Bloodhounds and Basset Hounds are NOT problem solvers like some dogs are. Their pain threshold is high so they don't feel sharp thorns when they get trapped in wild vines. They just keep charging ahead through them if they get hung up in the vines. One year Sadie did that as a puppy and a thorn cut the inside of her ear lengthwise like a razor blade. Off to the vet we went. That did not happen to Stella today ... but she wasn't happy about being tied up in vines.

It was disappointing to see the camera did not catch here raising her head through the vines and hopping upward slightly to get untangled. A step after this photo she was tangled up.

This is after she hopped out of the wild growing vines with sharp thorns ... like nothing happened.

That is facing north to northeast with the sun just barely above the horizon.

No verbal commands for her today ... she was on her own.

I've always like looking at the cloud patterns while on this walk.

As you can see with me 50mm away ... she is in a world of her own.

Amazing to see just how different the morning is outside an hour earlier than our normal time for walking but the same time we use to walk this past summer.

Ed told me in past years why the leaves were more colorful than other years, or lack thereof. I'll have to get on the internet and find out why because I cannot remember the reason he told me. I'll also look at last years fall photos to see when the leaves really started to look colorful. I might be mistaken that I should be seeing some leaves changing by now.

Just like all the other times on this walk, about the time I almost catch up to her while she is eating deer scat, she will trot away from me like nothing is going on. Notice her right ear is flipped up as she trots away.

I couldn't make up my mind where to put the focus, either the frosted stems or the bud ... consequently I ended up taking a poor photo.

Not only did she slow down in front of me but she stopped almost immediately in front of me. I couldn't resist taking an overhead photo of her.

Once she figured out that I was standing right there she took off trotting again ... but with a different way than her normal return home.

She veered left parallel to the older path we use to always take. I could tell by the frozen grass there had been some fresh 'traffic' overnight or early this morning and she was walking right in the middle of those.

She might look like she is wrapping up her morning walk ... but there is always something to distract her.

Heidi was where she normally is this time of day and in this kind of weather. She was very energetic thought when she woke up a little before 7am in the dark ... wanting breakfast.

I thought I might get something done this afternoon but all I did was finish reading Fear by Bob Woodward. I led the hounds outside after their lunch with with cool temps and a cold breeze. They were not much more interested than I was about staying outside to take some photos.

Stella didn't move from that spot until I headed toward the door right after that photo. Heidi was going to do her lap around the house but I was too cold without a jacket to follow her ... "too cold" and it's only October 19th.

It felt like snow was on the way instead of the rain we are suppose to get tonight. All of those bright skies this morning were gone for good, maybe for the weekend too.

With the cold weather and a poor start to blooming, I am surprised the red mums bloomed out to this.

I'm not sure but the hounds and I may take a short break from blogging for a few days or maybe change from a daily blog to 3-4 days per week. Or just photos and only a paragraph of content. I am finding it hard again to blog with a lot of photos and still get things done inside the house that I want to get finished. Throw in 2-3 hound walks during the day, a meal or two and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day unless I hit the projects running by 9am.

We will see what happens but that is the way I am leaning this afternoon.

60° inside the house today. Colder outside, makes me wonder if I will seek warmer weather this winter with just two hounds to ride along with. Although the day I took both of them to the vet a few weeks ago and got them out of the car each on separate 6' leashes ... Stella wrapped her leash around my legs right below the knee and Heidi circled around to put her leash above my ankles. I was trapped and laughing.

It reminded me of the time I was at the Rest Area on I-70 in the middle with the interstate on each side of us, west of St Louis in 2013. I was heading to Arkansas to pick up a Lil Snoozy Trailer, that I backed out of the deal 12 hours later ... I didn't have Stella then but Heidi went one way, Winston another and Sadie took off for the pet area .... I couldn't move and could see I had a full table of people laughing as I stood behind the H3 Hummer. I knew then traveling with three hounds was not going to happen.

A road trip is still on the table for analysis before winter arrives.

Stella slept through her 2pm walk. She might not want an afternoon walk today with the weather the way it is. Once Heidi had lunch all she wanted was a warm leather couch and a blanket over the top of her to stay warm while she slept. With strong winds predicted for tomorrow from the WNW ... I am feeling cooler temps than today. Inside watching college football all day and night Saturday will keep me from freezing.

There is never a bad day in retirement so all was good today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Likes The Colder Weather - Heidi Doesn't

I dressed the same this morning for cold weather. The carport thermometer said 40° but it felt colder as I stepped outside. When I left Heidi she was sound to sleep with no intentions of waking up or getting up until it was close to lunch time. Stella came into the computer room to whine again, letting me know it was time for the morning walk. I was still editing yesterday's post and the more time I took the more she whined. We started the walk only about 10 minutes later than we did yesterday.

While I was standing at the corner of the house taking my daily second photo, I could HEAR the leaves crunching as Stella walked on them. That told me it was much colder than 40°. The photo below shows that it frosted last night and where the field was shaded, the frost was still there.

Stella was energized. As I turned to see where she was, she was flying toward me and moved right past me without slowing down.

That is until she was in front of me, where she turned that fast run in to a slow walk. Just slow enough where I am walking a little slower than a normal walking pace.

I am still not seeing the leaves change color, to the point of seeing bright yellows and reds. Last year it was so obvious from week to week that I took photos of the tree lines every Friday so I could look at all the photos at once and see the gradual change.

Stella was trotting everywhere this morning. I ended up taking very few photos from the front of her and barely had any from her side. She made sure she stayed in front of me this morning.

I really miss Sadie on these morning walks. She loved tracking scent in the field. Looking at Stella on this walk sometimes reminds me, of course, of Sadie.

As I continued to walk the path, Stella headed to the left. I let her go to see how far she would go plus I wanted to see if she would meet me anywhere on the path without calling her name.

I took this just to show what the shaded field looked like. That is looking toward the 'far right corner' of the field, the gully is just to the right of the photo.

I was still walking and not saying anything but I kept an eye on Stella to see where she was going.

She came back on the path without a word from me. That is always a good thing to see.

By the time we made the last turn toward home I knew it was a lot colder than yesterday. My face was freezing. Luckily with a wool ski cap, gloves and a down vest under a Carhartt jacket I was warm enough. The Carhartt jacket was given to me by a friend but is just a little too big for me if I don't wear another vest or light jacket under it.

She was getting some additional protein in her diet. I hate that she does that but what do you do to prevent it?

About the time I started to say something to her, she raised up and took off trotting as if nothing was going on ... she was innocent.

Yes, you guessed it ....

She always has a choice in the walk to make a left turn on that path, the original return path, or straight ahead to the corner of the north yard. 95% of the time she will continue straight ahead.

Frosted flowers. How many months until Spring ??

I initiated it but Stella played a little after our walk. I couldn't take the photos of her chasing me or turning to bump into my legs. Then she stopped and headed toward the house.

Just because we woke Heidi up when we walked inside the house did not mean she was getting out of her bed. I got as low on the floor as possible to take this eye level shot.

Heidi stepped outside after lunch and once she felt that 55° weather she did not stay out long. Stella could not decide what she wanted to do so she spent the few minutes we were outside just sniffing different spots in the yard. Maybe she was smelling signs of moles in the yard again.

I spent some time reading my latest book from the library. It's Bob Woodward's new book called Fear. After reading over half the book last night I think the title of the book is deceiving. It does talk of the turmoil in the current administration but it isn't anything different than I read in his other four books about presidents. Nobody will agree on every issue. I'll finish the rest of the book tonight. I thought I'd read more but Stella started her whining and then nudging my arm with her nose. She wanted her afternoon walk.

She takes the afternoon walks at a slower pace as if she is enjoying the fresh air and sunshine more than tracking scent and finding deer scat. She does what I would call a leisurely stroll.

Nothing like hanging bloodhound drool and flopping ears to show the speed of a running bloodhound.

Right before we left I received an email from Garmin Support. I sent them an email yesterday telling them it was not a complaint but some feedback about the replacement VivoSmart3 watch they sent me a few weeks ago. I have reset it three different times in a little over two weeks and it is still not working correctly after a day or two after those resets.

They offered to send me an upgraded model, their VivoSport as a replacement for the trouble I have gone through. I replied with what the activity monitor had done since the last reset yesterday and I would be more than happy to accept their offer of a free upgrade.

It might look a lot warmer with the sunshine but it didn't feel warmer, even at 55°. I told the cashier at the hardware store this morning that I wanted my summer back and so did she.

Yet, there is no rain, no flooding anywhere, no snow or ice ... it's just a beautiful clear day.

Stella never stopped walking. I had to run a little to catch up and move around in front of her. About that time she decided she would hang back since she couldn't set the pace.

Maybe veer toward the neighbors just to check to see if I am watching her.

She did realize that I had chosen to take the old way home.

There is always time for her to drift away. Like any bloodhound or basset hound, their nose always comes up with something for them to check out. Time isn't important to them until it is time to eat.

Another half mile in the books. I predicted and was right ... she was inside and asleep before I took off my jacket, load the memory card of photos into the iMac and download them. To her that is a perfect afternoon ... lunch, a short nap, a walk, a long nap.

I looked at my to do list and see I am getting things marked off. I am down to cleaning the walls as I am always shocked with the amount of micro dust I collect off the walls after each summer. Then I'll prep the bedroom and computer room for painting, including the closets in each room. If I like the slight change in color from white walls to a light tan ... I'll paint the kitchen, living room and bathroom. After that I will have one item on the list that I keep putting off but it will finally get done this fall.

Once Heidi went back to sleep after her short time outside, she slept most of the afternoon. If she is doing that it must be close to winter.

Another fine day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.