Hounds Enjoy Sunny And Freezing

While standing outside last night staring at the Big Dipper while the bloodhounds did their last trip of the day ... it was freezing. It was much colder than earlier and I could tell this morning was going to be colder than they had predicted.

When the hounds and I stepped outside for the first pictures of the day it was 24°, making it hard to believe just two mornings ago it was already above 60° at the same time of day.

It did not matter to the hounds though. I can't remember where freezing weather or snow has ever bothered Sadie but I can tell that Stella is not a fan of the freezing temps. Heidi ... was deep inside the blankets and sleeping bag until tomorrow when it's warmer.

I took a couple of hours not only to drink my two cups of coffee but reading a lot on the internet. Plus I wanted it to get a little warmer before our first walk of the day.

It was nice, no wind today so that made a huge difference. Everyday is different with Stella though and this morning I had to pull out the 6' standard dog leash much earlier because her stubbornness had gone off the charts within minutes of starting the walk.

She was in the total ignoring mode, even after I walked over to her and tugged at her collar to get her to walk. She did not move and refused to come with Sadie and I. So I found it quite easy to reach into my pocket and pull out the leash.

I find it to have a motivating effect on her if she wears it while walking. I don't even have to hold it and she will stay with us and still have the ability to drift off when she has the urge to.

So what was the problem??  Temps below freezing seems to make things more tempting to eat. So her urge to eat 'stuff' takes over the desire to walk and run in the field. Luckily she has never gotten sick but there are some days I don't feel like putting up with it .... so depending on her level of stubbornness determines if the leash is used.

With the temperatures so low I found it surprising to hear so many birds chirping as we walked. I couldn't see them to take pictures of them but I could hear them. They were having quite a conversation.

Here Stella takes off to the middle of the field, dragging the leash along. What is interesting is when I called her to "come on", she didn't hesitate in joining me and Sadie on the path back home.

Hopefully she will be showing signs of weight gain in the next month. I am feeding her kibble with more protein and higher fat, plus an added cup of kibble. I found that SPORTMix dog food is manufactured and owned by the same family that owns Earthborn dog food.

Three years ago this grass area was full of wild bushes and small saplings. Some of the overgrowth was taller than 6' high. I cut it down, then raked it and pulled all the vines and roots out of the ground, as much as possible before planting grass seed. I hope to have the same result I did here over on the bank area left of the trees and old fence post.

I guess I will find out if the landscaping business owner is right about freezing temps for a couple of days and grass seed. He thought it would be okay to plant some on Friday.

Just as she started the walk, Stella did not want to follow me. Only this time I didn't say a word to either one of them. I kept walking to the house after snapping the pictures. I knew eventually they would be at the door wanting inside.

It didn't take long for Sadie to come sprinting to the house. I had not even taken my coat of yet when I heard her at the door wanting in. She doesn't bark but will use her paw on the aluminum screen door to let me know she is there.

Stella stayed out longer. As I looked at her from inside, she glanced up looking confused since Sadie and I were nowhere in sight. She glanced different directions but couldn't see or pick up our scents. With leash and all she came sprinting to the backyard, stopped and looked different directions and then came running for the door. Since she is use to escaping by moving a lever door handle with her nose to open the door ... she will try that on all of my round door handles without success.

I heard her at the door trying to open the door with her nose.

By the time we took our afternoon walk a little after 2pm, the temps were close to 50 and felt much better even with more wind. I decided this afternoon's walk would be one of freedom ... the hounds could do whatever they wanted.

At first I thought Stella would be hanging back, I kept walking but was somewhat surprised when she came trotting towards me. Did the time on the leash this morning have anything to do with it?

Of course that was all over after both her and Sadie was chowing done. I didn't want to look and kept walk, enjoying the afternoon weather.

Bye Stella, we will see you on the way back.

Sadie didn't let me get as far as the corner before she sprinted by me. She always does that. She is the perfect hound for this type of walk with a large field of grass and scents.

She wanted to make one final check to see if Stella was coming or not. We didn't see any sign of Stella so we took off.

Sadie had the whole field to herself.

I barely caught a glimpse of Stella as I checked the area along the 'side' of the wooded area ... she wasn't there but if you look closer she is over to the right and almost outside of the boundary I will allow in that part of the field.

Once Sadie picked up her scent she took off to tap noses and let her know it was time to go.

Stella took a few steps and then back to eating. By the time I was almost to her, she came walking my direction.

She wasn't thrilled but she headed back to the path with Sadie and I. It was great feeling the increase in heat. This week will be nice to be back in the upper 50s and low 60s.

If you take a look at the left side bar under the blogs I follow, I have added some new ones along with some I use to list a long time ago. After I do a little more reading on the list of new blogs I have, I might add a few more to the long list of blogs.

Usually with freezing weather my mind starts to wander. I start thinking of options, looking at trailers or RVs ... yet neither of them are the focus. The past few months when I think of traveling in a few years it's either in a Chevy Express van or a VW Westfalia Vanagon. I still favor tent camping.

I stopped reading books the past couple of weeks about as fast as I started last month. I went from reading books nonstop to none at all. It might not return to reading books until next winter during the times I don't spend a lot of time outside. Last week's warm weather showed me I'll be outside a lot this spring and summer.

Some random thoughts ... have I ever mentioned how much I hate flies? They're back.

Do the pictures look clearer the past 2-3 posts or is it just my own eyes and imagination?

A quiet Sunday here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana today.

Howling Winds And 31°

What a rude awakening !!!!

Yesterday I was wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts for the 3rd day in a row and this morning I walk outside and notice some very very light snow flurries.

It was near 70° by lunchtime yesterday, hot enough for the infamous hermit ... Heidi ... to escape from her hibernating cave built with my Marmot sleeping bag. She didn't join us for the walk yesterday afternoon but she did explore the front, side and back yards while we were gone.

We took off for our 2nd of 3 walks of the day. I could tell that Stella was back to her old habit of laying back ... Sadie and I kept walking. I wanted to see what Stella would do if I left her alone and in the end I was right.

Sadie really enjoyed the warm weather, almost if not 70°. You could even feel the heat from the sun as we walked. It was hard to believe that by Saturday morning I would be back in wool socks, hiking boots, jeans and a down parka doing the walk.

As I glanced back I saw no sign of Stella as I expected. Sadie and I were walking along the back edge of the field. Just as I was about to turn my head and face the direction I was I was walking ... I noticed that Stella was already over by the woods behind the neighbor's house.

That was what I expected her to do but I did not think it would happen that soon. As long as she stayed in my viewing area I was fine with it.

Sadie hadn't noticed her ... she kept exploring the center of the field while I continued to walk.

Whatever Stella had found it must have been good, she didn't even lift her head as I approached her.

Once Sadie saw Stella, she took off sprinting to see what she had found. Once I got over to that spot and looked at the ground ... you wouldn't believe ... I found nothing there. Nothing but bare ground and wet grass.

When Stella refused to even lift her head and come when I called her, I pulled out the only decision maker I had ... the standard 6' dog leash. Even after I connected it to her collar, she pulled away to move her head back to the spot she was really interested in.

I dropped the leash to the ground and she followed me as we walked directly to the house instead of moving back to the worn path.

I knew it would be cold this morning when we got up but when I stepped out to take the first picture of the day, a freezing wind hit my face and it felt much much colder than 31°. Luckily it's going to change by Monday and get back up into the 50s and 60s.

I guess one advantage of having a black car is that it doesn't matter how light the snow flurries are, you can tell it's been trying to snow. Nothing of any substance is expected in 'the tropics' today.

We did the normal wait before taking the first walk of the day ... coffee, internet reading. The winds had picked up even more speed, it was freezing my face and small crystals of snow was barely visible. My iPhone weather app said it was 31°, winds out of the west at 18mph and a 'feels like' 18°.

At least there was a lot of blue sky and you could see the sunshine so all is not lost.

Both hounds were energetic and didn't take long to move out in front of me quite a ways.

You can barely see the direction of the winds blowing the hay that was missed during last fall's mowing. While I was looking at Sadie, Stella sprinted around both of us and headed to the far right corner.

It was good to see her running again. I was beginning to wonder if she was feeling okay since it had been a while since she had been sprinting at full speed in the field.

Sadie then passed me sprinting but she was heading in a different direction than Stella ... both interested in different areas.

Sadie went one direction and Stella headed the other direction ... both very focused on the scents they had found.

I was surprised to see Stella sprint toward me when I called her name ... that was a sure sign just how cold it must have been. She was way out in front of me before I could focus the camera. She did some good running today.

I knew when I saw them like this ... something was up and I wondered if I was going to have to chase them to the woods north of us and farther than I wanted to walk or run in today's weather.

Luckily when they took of running they did a large looping circle instead of heading toward the woods in the 'no fly zone'.

There were either sounds or scents that really had their interest today.

Stella is too skinny. I've been feeding her larger portions of food but that doesn't put the weight back on her. It looks like she needs more fat and protein in her food.

Sadie still battles a heavy waistline but some of that should come off this summer.

For once I didn't have to call either of them to 'come on' as we neared the house. Both of them wanted back inside where it was 30° warmer.

It was a good test for my camera today. The other day when I mentioned too many of my early morning pictures seemed to be blurry lately, I had a reader comment:

"The camera may develop moisture trouble inside the lens with the change in temp from inside to outside for the short term."

I thought that might be a possibility but then I started thinking why did it take so long to do that? It was only recently I started noticing a change in my picture quality. So today's change in temps was a good test to see if what I thought might be the problem.

User error ....

I think today's pictures I took on this mornings walk proves that I had become lazy when taking pictures. I might have been breathing while I took the picture, thus a slight movement of the camera. I definitely found out my arms were out of position because I had become lazy.

These past two days I have made sure my left hand is directly under the lens, that both my arms and elbows are tucked in close to my chest to prevent any movement of the camera. Forming a human tripod for the camera. Then right before taking the picture I either take a deep breath or hold my breath.

It might be my eyes but the pictures from this morning's walk look much sharper to me so that proves to me it was user error ... me ... that caused the pictures being not quite as sharp as I use to take.

Not much planned today except for some book reading, watch a couple of college basketball games and stay warm here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.