Stella Jumps At Dirt

Up too late makes a late start to the following morning. It didn't matter though because we couldn't see that well until a few hours passed. At first Stella would not even go out and turned around inside the house. Later she decided it was time to head out for her morning walk. Since it had been raining last night, she took 'her wet field route' and didn't wait for me.

Due to the misty air I wore a light rain jacket but that didn't keep my cargo shorts from getting drenched with the tall wet grass. Stella's face and ears were soaked within ten feet inside the field.

Sometimes though you just have to sit and think for a while. I didn't say a word to her today and let her dictate the pace and direction of the walk.

No sounds, no sightings of dogs, cats, deer, or people yet she had to study what she was smelling off in the distance next door

At first I thought I might be tracking through the wet field after her but she suddenly turned and headed back on the path. I could tell she was pretty relaxed this morning. That is saying something since she is always in a relaxed state of mind until any kind of food is involved.

Since she started by walking on the return path, she likes to cut over to the regular outgoing path right at the corner of the woods. Smart bloodhound.

The path was sloppy with all the rain yesterday and Wednesday, I could hear my boots splashing water sometimes but Stella kept a pretty even pace on this walk. All the deer scat must have been washed away.  :)\

No signs of that AT&T tower this morning.

More nose/scent exploration.

Then suddenly turns and heads for home.

Anytime I walked in front of her to get some photos from the other end of her, she would walk back in front of me and then slow down, way down. I think that is her favorite thing to do on these walks.

Does she hear someone? Smell something? I could see nothing in the direction she is looking.

Another walk is complete. We are suppose to have a day of sunshine tomorrow and that will be a nice change of pace.

Here she is dodging a small patch of mud. She jumped at it right before this pictures but the camera or user was not quite fast enough to catch her with her front paws in the air.  She was just getting ready to take a bite out of that fresh new dirt that had turned to mud. If she likes something she will eat it as long as it is not a dead animal. We don't run into those.

This walking as close to the house as possible morning routine has lasted longer than I expected. Looks like that landscaper I hired needs to show up and pull some weeds.

I can't remember if I mentioned the other day when I didi my monthly measurements and had not logged in my food intake for weeks ... I ended up losing a couple of pounds, the fat calipers showed an additional 2mm but my stomach was the same. Strange movement I'd say and a little surprising of eating what I want when I want for the past few weeks. I can't remember now when I stopped logging my food intake.

It was cool weather this morning with all the windows open. Heidi slept through most of the morning and moved from the dog bed in the bedroom to her chair in the living room, then on to the couch. I guess she was restless this morning.

Not a damn thing went on today. Even Heidi didn't want her photo taken and acted like she was sleeping with her head up.

Looking for action in 'the tropics of Southern Indiana ... it's the weekend !!!

The Hounds Battled Rain Today

With the light inside the house turning dark with the sound of loud thunder we knew the storms had arrived. Stella didn't get her morning walk, Heidi continued her daily morning nap. You would think by now I'd be use to this kind of spring weather but it sure seems like the amount of rain increases each year. The hounds and I did our best to move through the day though.

Heidi didn't wait until lunch to get up. She showed up unexpectedly next to my desk chair and that is a sign she needs her professional doorman to let her outside. Light rain but when you have to pee you have to pee. She wasn't out long. She was awake a few hours earlier then her normal time.

One is trying it's best to bloom ... the other, no signs of stems with bright yellow on the end

Once Stella saw that Heidi was brave enough to test the very light rain, she had the same plan as the other day ... curl tightly around the corner of the house, stay close to the house on the dry river rock and she'd be safe.

As the afternoon progressed it rained longer and harder while I watched the Reds on TV playing in sunny New York. When it rains as much as it has lately, that gives me a lot of time to think about all the movement in the air and passing through my brain cells. I have a feeling it's going to be an exciting summer.

By late afternoon, the rains stopped, the skies brightened up a little and it seemed like we could get a walk in just as soon as I put on my rain boots. Heidi din't have interest in walking in the wet field .. but Stella did.

Some ATV tracks, probably from the owner of the field that lives in that house you see at the top of the photo.

He did follow our path a little and then turned to the far right hand corner before turning around and heading for home.

Stella seemed to be in deep thought today while she walked. I wonder if she was mulling over all the questions I have been asking her these past few days.

One step at a time, slow enough that each step with a curled paw is caught by the camera like stop action. You cannot walk much slower than that.

By the time Stella and I stepped into the yard I could see Heidi at the far edge of the yard over by the bank eating tall wet grass. I am beginning to wonder of my 4-star rated dog food is missing some minerals or other nutrients, since both hounds have been eating more grass than normal in the past few weeks.

It's cool and nice enough weather to sit outside and sort out all of the thoughts lingering in my head. There's a lot going on and the hounds can sense something they just cannot figure out what it is. Really, nothing to announce.

I am back to needing to get to the store but I have enough food to keep me home. Am I really that lazy? Whatever happened to that news of Amazon drones delivering packages to the house. I figured when they bought Whole Foods and their new drone delivery plans that my shopping days were over. They could drop their pallets of food out here in the back.

It's May already in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, hard to believe. It wasn't 30 minutes after I posted this, it started to rain again. It's a good thing that Stella walked when she did, in between rains.

Busy Day Beats The Rain

It was a day of beating the rain. Stella got her morning walk in before the rains that didn't show up this morning. She had a second walk where zero photos were taken and Heidi got a little sunbathing in but was back at the door before I could grab the camera. I needed to mow the yard if it was going to rain for the next three days. I just mowed it TWO DAYS ago. Yet I finished in time since the rain showed up an hour after I put the mower away.

It was another successful day in retirement here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.