A Slow Cold Morning

The 2" of snow predicted never showed up. Most of the snow was north of I-70 as usual. Still the house was cold when we got up this morning. The temps outside were not that bad, especially since we know that warm days (60's) are just a couple of days away.

This photo of the field that I usually post as a starter photo is facing west and yes, I take a photo of that every morning. It's interesting to see the changes of weather when all of those photos of the past year are lined up in sequence. The photo toward the tall power tower in back of the field faces NE ... those look like snow clouds this morning and luckily moving in the opposite direction from my house.

The hounds have been low energy so far this morning. They slept late, were excited for breakfast of course but after that not much ... even when they were outside. They have not even 'requested' going outside like they normally do.

The Nikon D3200 has worked perfect today, both lenses ... so the mystery continues. I can tell there isn't going to be much going on here today. The field is too wet from the rain yesterday to the hound walk. I have lost interest in the Area 51 book and haven't read it for days if not a week. I am basically hiding out on the internet reading ... or playing Mahjong, the best 99 cent app I've ever bought. I rarely buy apps.

Although my LG flip phone is working out well and saving me about $37 per month, I still at times think about going back to an iPhone. I miss the camera and the note program. I have tried a smaller camera as the replacement but I am not sure if the 10 year old (already) Nikon 3100 QuickPics takes photos as good as the iPhone 5s that I had. I still use the note program on my iMac and it of course synchronizes with my MacBook Air laptop ... then I print the specific note to take with me if I am shopping.

I guess we are talking 'convenience' with the iPhone ... I had always used it more for the other features besides just a phone. June is my upgrade month so I have plenty of time to decide.

Even with freezing temps, I guess the warmer temps last week made these start to bloom. It will be interesting to see if they survive the freezing temps last night and today.

My 'burn pile' was nothing after burning last spring. This pile of sticks and a long tree limb have all come from the yard this winter. I may need to let them dry out over the summer and burn next fall. Now there's a major retirement decision. I still have to pinch myself at times when I realize again just how nice this retirement stuff is.

Hounds were fed a late lunch. All three were out and back inside in a matter of minutes today.

It's a quiet day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

It's Cold & Rainy

After the great weekend of weather, the hounds and I have been on a gentle slope toward snow tomorrow. It's been a slow process, first the temps dropped, a day later the sun disappeared, last night it started raining and today it's been 'freezing' around 40° and a constant rain.

It's reminded me of my time in the PNW, experiencing the winters on Whidbey Island for ten years ... cold, dark and rainy. Therefore, I've had more than my normal two cups of coffee today. I have read all kinds of new blogs on new topics. I've looked at houses on Zillow, checked a few old neighborhoods on Google Satellite Maps ... basically have just hung out inside.

The hounds haven't done much at all and certainly nothing to blog about. Heidi will only go out twice on a day like this. Remember she has a threshold of 70° for a lot of outdoor activity. She is older and she knows when to let me know when she needs to go outside. Otherwise I can find her hidden in blankets in her spot on the bed.

Stella and Sadie went outside numerous times but never stayed long even when I was willing to let them roam. They did what they had to do and came running back to the house. They napped most of the day. Those times they wrestled inside my favorite camera ... the Nikon D3200 ... failed to work again to get the photo of them.

I am not sure if it is the lens or the camera but I do know that I am tired of trying to figure it out. NO, I will not send it back in to the repair center. They had their chance, it worked for a short time. Plus I read on the Nikon D3200 forums that I am not the only operator that has this problem. Not sure what my next camera will be nor when I'll buy it ... I might go an entirely different direction this time in choosing one.

Heidi's skin has improved today, after I wrote about how red it was yesterday. It's a very light pink and I am not sure if that is even an accurate description. Let's say it's close to a normal skin color with just a little tint of faded red. My attempt to capture that photo to show the color was a failed attempt with the Nikon 18mm-55mm lens.

So by the time I grabbed a different lens, lock and loaded the camera ... Stella and Sadie were willing to pose for a photo.

The other day while finding new blogs or articles to read I came across a different way of budgeting. Currently I have the 8-9 different categories that Dave Ramsey recommends, filled out on my spreadsheet where I have been tracking my expenditures since 1999. The different kind of budgeting recommended only 3 categories and percentages 50/20/30 of your take home pay.

I follow a pretty tight budget because basically I am probably what some have called me ... cheap. At least I know where it went and I always have some money left over every month ... so it's good. These new categories gave me some breathing room. In areas I thought I was spending max amounts under Dave Ramsey's ideas, I was well within range of the 50/20/30 percentages. It didn't matter if I was eating out or buying groceries, it was just food.

If you have read this far and someone interested in budgets ... Let me explain more in detail.

Do not include or count any of your income that goes to investments, 401Ks or IRAs that are taken out of your pay check before taxes. Do not count anything that is withdrawn from your gross income, such as medical, taxes or social security. Just take your net income and work with that amount. The 50/20/30 are max spending limits.

50% is for "Fixed Spending" -- these are monthly payments that will not change until they are paid.

• Mortgage, Auto Loans, Insurance, Utilities, Water, Phone, Internet Provider, Trash Pickup, HOA Fees, Rent

20% is for "Financial Goals" -- only 3 categories here, pay off credit card debt, saving for emergency fund or retirement

30% is for "Flexible Spending" -- Other stuff you buy during the month where spending amounts are different.

• Groceries, Dining Out, Gas, Hobbies, Shopping, Other Fun Stuff

I found that once I sat up a spreadsheet and plugged in that information, I found out that I was better off than I had been thinking I was. It gave me a little more flexibility financially ... some breathing room. I guess I can go back to the Casino and put my money played on the craps table in the "Other Fun Stuff" category and still be under my 30% limit.  :)

Also a little side note. For those that have this site bookmarked with the .net domain ... stop, don't do it anymore. Due to the large amount of uncontrollable hacking attempts on that domain, I have changed the settings of that .net domain to "park"... it will not bring you to this site anymore in the next few hours once the servers are reset.

On Wordpress I was getting a large amount of spam hits on the domain even after being online just a day. In that case I was able to install a WordPress plug-in to block them and their comments. On blogger I have yet to find a way to block ALL spam attempts. My Blogger traffic reports show the .net is the source of a huge amount of hits, outside the normal numbers. Based on the countries those hits are coming from, I know they are spam attacks.

So ... you can bookmark or add to your blog side bar the .com domain but delete the .net domain. I have no plans to renew either domain this year so this blog will eventually go back to www.bhounds.blogspot.com. If you want to just bookmark that url, that will work also.

So ... really not much went out today in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi Was More Active Today

Less than 24 hours after Heidi had her 20 minute soak in warm water and Epsom Salts, she seems more active. I have not done this on a regular basis because each time the skin on her legs and paws look irritated with redness. A lot more redness than what was there (none) before the soak. I don't think I will give her those soaks with Epsom Salts again.

Yet, she has been a lot more active inside and outside since her bath and nail trim. She's back to doing her sprinting around the inside of the house and spent more time being social with the bloodhounds. After lunch today she went outside and toward the backyard on her own, she usually heads to the front yard. I thought there was a chance she was going to spend an hour or so in the sun, but she turned right around and headed for the warm concrete floor in the carport.

Stella in the meantime had been pushing her nose on the door knob inside to let me know she wanted out. It didn't take more than a step into the yard when she decided it was the perfect time for a short pre-walk nap.

Sadie convinced her they needed to walk. I decided I would only take photos of "highlights" during the walk today ... as you can see there were no highlights.

Approaching the house I thought I might see Heidi laying in the backyard. When she wasn't on the carport where we left her, I thought she had moved to the door while waiting for us to return. She wasn't there either. I glanced out front and didn't see her ... but she never runs away. As I walked out to the front yard, I see her on the other side soaking up some sun.

I wonder what happened to her reputation she came with from the rescue service ... "must be leashed at all times" or "she is a runner" ... but that was more than 4 years ago. I guess that shows she likes living here. She has never stepped a foot in the direction of the highway ... still, I don't leave her out there alone like this, at least in the front yard.

As you can tell from the sunshine, it was another great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Love Their Daily Walks

I don't think there is a day that goes by, unless it's pouring rain, that my 7-1/2 year old Sadie doesn't jump up and down and try to grab my hand to start the walk. Instead of just taking off to start her smelling expedition, she will at times succeed in grabbing my hand with her mouth, drool and all, to help me get started on the daily walk(s).

Stella on the other hand is in one of two positions. She is either way out in front along the line of bushes or she is walking behind me in slow-motion. You have to realize that if Stella is not in the field working her nose ... she does everything in slow motion, even to the point of dragging her paws when she walks.

So yesterday afternoon was no different for them. It was a little for me because I fell in love with those 70° temps on Saturday and never wanted them to leave. Still, yesterday wasn't that bad ... in the 50's.

Stella was more attentive on this walk. She came to me or at least headed in the right direction when I called her name. The leash was NOT taken even though I had told her it was a possibility the day before. The ground became more saturated the higher we walked. There is a slight incline to the back of the field. As I have said before, a lot of that field angles down and towards my backyard.

As you can see from the photos, they are not much different than others you have seen. We take the exact same path every day and have for the 19 years I have lived here ... just different hounds. The path is worn, mashed down hay, or weeds but never to the point of making the path bare dirt. I can actually see the path from the Google Satellite maps.

Although they work their noses in that field for 20-30 minutes, there are always those scents to check on at the end of the walk before they decide to stroll back into the house.

As soon as we got back from the early afternoon walk ... it was time for hound maintenance. Heidi had her 20 minute Epsom Salt soak, shampoo, toenails trimmed and ears cleaned. It's nice that she likes all of that so there is not wrestling or chasing her involved ... like with Sadie. Stella doesn't mind the ears and nail trim and I have no doubt that she would climb into the tub for a bath if I wanted her to. Sadie will hide anytime there is water or nail clippers involved.

Heidi stretches in the sunshine after getting towel  dried after her bath. She helped the drying process by doing a few sprints throughout the house before coming outside.

Taking care of Heidi and Stella didn't take long, besides the 20 minutes for Heidi to soak. I walked toward Sadie who was in the "big" chair in the living room. Before she could jump over the side of the chair to escape, I lifted her front paw with hopes of getting at least one paw done and the others when I could. She sat there and let me cut all four paws.

Bloodhound toenails have to be the closest thing to bear claws that there is. Even with the largest size clippers, it's hard cutting through them.

With a few other domestic efforts completed that concluded a great day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

What A Great Weekend

When I first saw the weather forecast a week in advance, it's hard to picture temperatures in the 60's just 5 days away as you sit inside your house freezing. I was suspicious on Friday when the temps rose to 58° but not the predicted 60's. Yet when letting the hounds outside first thing Saturday morning ... some warm air hit me, even early in the morning. The wind had been howling most of the night bringing warmer air from the Southwest.


By 9am ... ALL of us were outside, including Heidi. Yes, she did her normal refusal of going outside on her own when I asked her. Like a week ago when the weather was nice, I picked up her and carried her outside. Once her feet hit the yard, her tail started wagging and her nose went to the ground ... she spent a lot of time sniffing around and she looked happy.

 

While I was in the front yard picking up all the fallen tree branches, Stella had decided it was time to stretch her boundaries in the field in back. When she didn't come when I called her, I decided it was time to bring out the tether again ... so she could roam the field without wondering off and I could get my yard work finished. She is looking back at me to see if I am watching her before she makes her escape into new territory. Way out of bounds for her.

She didn't leave though when I was in the backyard picking up branches to add to my new burn pile in April. Once I started washing the vehicles, I attached the tether because she was wondering off. While I was getting my first yard work completed in 2016 ... the hounds did nothing but lay and watch.

In this photo she is on "semi-probation". She didn't go in the field though ... she laid in the backyard trying to show me she didn't need tethered.

By the time I finished picking up tree branches, it was warm enough to peel off the sweatshirt. While mixing the soap and water to wash the Mini Cooper S, it was getting hot outside. I went from jeans to shorts as the temps had moved from 62° to 71°. The hounds never moved while I washed not only the Mini Cooper S but also the FJ. Sadie was the only one to get out of the sun later on. She was thirsty enough to try drinking the water from the leak of my water hose. Could it really be 73° in late February? I was more than happy to enjoy the spring like weather. All the windows in the house were opened to bring in some fresh air.

The hounds stayed outside from 9am - 1:30pm. Once Heidi found her spot in the sun, she never moved.

I needed coffee and could go either direction 12 miles to the store. I chose to load up all the hounds into the FJ as a test for them (mostly Stella) and a way to dry off the FJ since I was going to let it air dry anyway. All of them love to ride, all of them jump into their locations without any help. The test for Stella was going to be what takes place as I leave her to go inside the store for some quick shopping. Although Heidi got a little car sick on the way, about the 10 mile mark. She didn't look good.

From Stella's howls as I walked away ... she wasn't happy as I went towards the store.

My shopping was fast ... coffee, pizza and yogurt. As I walked to the FJ Stella had moved from the back to the drivers seat to keep an eye out for me. I could tell she had tried looking out the front window since the rear view mirror was turned at a weird angle. Plus there were hound tongue prints on the different windows. I could tell by things on the console she had been climbing everywhere. I would have loved to had a camera hooked up to see what she did. No damage but I could tell she didn't just sit there waiting for me to come back. Yet, she didn't hesitate to move to the back as I opened the door to get in.

We headed back to enjoy an afternoon of sunshine and 73° weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

At times I think of selling my 2006 Mini Cooper S. In fact I had a couple test drive it last summer and was sure they were going to buy it by the way they talked. She contacted me the next morning to let me know they were buying a newer one and a different model. I don't drive it much anymore but after washing it I find it always hard to think about selling it.

The temps are cooler this morning but it's still sunny and a jacket is not needed. It is suppose to snow this Thursday, so as you can tell Indiana weather is always changing and at times from one end of the spectrum to the other end. Within 6 days it will have gone from 73° to low 30's and snow.

No complaints though, it's been a really mild winter this year in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.