The Hounds Are Loving This Weather

Today was my first day of reading my monthly data limit of 15Gb with Exede internet service. They slow the speeds way down ... even slower than 'dial up' based on what www.speedtest.net tells me.

They claim they slow downloads down to 5Mbps but I don't even get that during my free data after midnight. I stopped calling about it because nothing every got fixed.

It doesn't take much go go over 15Gb of data in one month. Once that data is used by you or running in the background, it's gone and you never get it back unless you want to pay. This month I found out the hard way by working with Google Photos before midnight. I also updated and added apps to the nee iPad Mini I bought a few weeks ago. I DO track my daily usage on an excel spreadsheet and could see weeks ago I was going to run short ... even if I reduced my daily usage. So I can buy more at $10 for 1Gb. Or I could change my plan to 18Gb per month for $10 more per month ... but ... I'd lose my free data period between midnight and 5am every day.

All of this doesn't effect the hounds though ... their daily routines stay in place ... food, sleep, walks, fetch, conversations.

There was really heavy dew today and Sadie snuck out the north side of the yard. That pole shows the property line between the field and my yard. Jim's recent survey is not even close to my survey I have from when I bought the house in 1997. He isn't concerned and neither am I. He lives a couple of houses down from me.

When I told Stella to "go out there", she went straight out from the house into the field and then came running back when she was finished. There were still more spots to investigate in the yard before I had to make the "coffee" call ... where they both come running to the house. Strange how keywords can get them to do things ... like "football" they lay down and sleep, "eat" they sprint to the house from anywhere, etc.

We took our first walk of the day around noon and you can see how wet the field is in the shade. The sun was hot though so the AC is running today for the first time in a while.

There seemed to be more things to stop and smell for them today. They both like eating the fresh dirt pushed up by moles or whatever. They both took their time on this walk ... it was slow and a little long to complete.

Here is one of the last ones left in the field, whereas a few weeks ago my side of the field was full of the purple mist.

Sadie makes the first turn on her own but it didn't take long to have Stella sprinting toward us to catch up.

I like the different colors in the field ... some won't last long and it will turn tan and brown, in exchange for the leaves on the trees turning different colors. From the early starts it looks like it could be a quite colorful fall season this year.

I can tell and alway have, Stella really enjoys this field. She would probably stay out here all day if I would let her.

Sadie is just as interested as Stella is when she finds different scents. She really is more of a tracker than Stella is. She is more focused, somewhat serious where Stella likes to play around on her trips out in the field.

No matter what ... Stella is always on her own time ... and that's perfect, the way it should be.

I call these things "little green sticky things". They are better than velcro. They will stick to skin, hair, clothing, shoes, show laces and I have no idea what their official name is but I don't care for them. They are everywhere after we finish our walks.

I was going to mention it before but now I remember to ... this summer had very few lightning bugs, not many gnats, mosquitoes, or tics. The ticks basically disappeared after April, the mosquitoes never showed up and the gnats were not that bad either. It was very enjoyable to sit outside most of the summer when we were not in "the heat dome".

With those slow speeds I spoke of, it takes forever to upload photos into the blog. It takes forever to download a news or sports website with photos and videos. I guess I will need to quit being cheap and pay $10 for another gig of normal speed of 13Mbps - 19Mbps.

After lunch we decided we'd go out to check the weather ... it looked beautiful during our walk earlier. As you can tell, the energy levels were up and you could see by the look on Heidi's face along with the tongues of Sadie and Stella ... the AC had to be turned back on.

While they stayed home to monitor the AC, I put the top down on the Z4 and head out for a quick drive to the store with a nice 25 mile drive. I replenished my supply of fruits and veggies for the week. The change of diet a week and a half ago has brought on a few urges to fall off the wagon but I have been able to fight through them each time.

I didn't notice at first what was going on when we went out after 6pm. The is a reason we were so late and still need to get a walk in. The smell of wild onions was strong but as I glanced up I could see the field was being cut just like I had hoped it would. It also looks like I was not awake enough from my siesta to hold the camera steady.

I'll get better photos tomorrow when they come back to roll it, but you'll notice they have a brand new tractor. I looked at photos from last June to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was.

I guess the old saying "beggars can't be choosy" is true ... I would have liked to have that field cut a little lower than they are cutting (that new tractor had a new mower, cut nice and low) it plus that corner of giant ragweed growing out of control would be nice to get out of the way. Looks like I am going to have to get that Echo SRM-225U fixed to get the job done.

It might be just my eyes or the time of day but the past few days it sure does look like the old Nikon lens shows with more color than the new Tamron lens. Can you tell which photos were shot with each lens?

It might be slow uploading photos to the blog due to my speed restrictions for hitting my monthly data limit but that is not the reason for the late posting ... our afternoon siesta ran a little longer than planned ... but it worked out great because it gave them time to start cutting the field.

'The tropics' of Southern Indiana are really nice right now.

Late Entry

Right after the post we took off for walk before it got dark. I could resist and the hounds LOVED that 'their' field had been cut. With that new tractor, came a new mower and a sharp blade ... the field has never been cut as good as it is right now.

They don't cut the field twice in a summer/fall too often so this was a very nice surprise.

Sadie was almost 'beside herself' with excitement. The photos did not catch that but she was going back and forth, looking back at me to start the walk.

Not only did I find the field cut short, but it was not beat down with a high speed dull mower blade but a nice cut that left the ground soft instead of having to step on small spears.

Some way this guy missed all the action and survived.

Of coarse Stella was oblivious to anything around her, including my voice repeating "come one".

That sunshine didn't last long, it was gone for the day.

The home of those "little green sticky things" I spoke of earlier.

Heading back home. They will probably rake the field early Saturday morning and then bale it into rolls in the afternoon or will come back on Sunday. I'll try to get photos of their new tractor around my college football games. I am going to have to look because I am pretty sure I took a photo of their new blue tractor last summer.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Hounds Take a Short Ride

 Day started with the normal routine after staying up again until 4am to download and install Apple's OS Sierra onto my iMac. When it was slowing down I then realized what was late to me was the perfect time for those on the west coast.

For readers that use Macs, I have to say I like the new OS, the new features and I have not come close to seeing everything it is doing. That will take some reading and then digging into my computer to see how things work.

When I loaded the camera card this morning for the first time, it repaired my Photo Library. I have some photos I will check to see if their status changed or not after uploading them from iPhoto in the spring of 2015. So far I have no problems with the OS upgrades on all my devices ... things work as they should. A lot of people on the Mac forums feel different than I do. Yet, in the 6 years I've used a Mac, many hours every day, I've had only one problem that was "user error" (me) trying to use File Vault on an older machine.

It didn't bother the hounds either way. Their routines rarely change and they know their 'slave' keeps weird hours late at night ... all they want is sleep, food and walks ... with an occasional ride in the FJ.

Stella started her morning with some fresh wet tall grass. I think she just likes it because she has had no digestive issues, stomach is not growling ... she just likes grass.

Sadie was positive there had been moles in the yard this morning. She might have been right. I've heard the best time to catch them is 7am and 7pm ... it's why I never fish, hunt or look for moles ... I never catch, kill or see anything.

I stood from the chair to watch Sadie since she had gone to the north part of the field. She made sure to look back at me just to see if I was watching her. I was ... it's the new "adult supervision".

When she was finished, she came running back to the house without me having to call her.

When I told them it was "time for coffee" they both headed for the house ... a daily routine.

A little before lunch I decided that after the hounds were fed, we all would get in the FJ for a short drive through the country to visit an old friend and ex co-worker, that retired this past July. To make this trip to their house you need 4-wheel drive and in the winters you will need to drop down into LOW 4-wheel drive. Can you picture driving this road just to get to the highway on the way to work every day in the middle of the midwestern winters??

This next shot is me coming down the last part of their driveway. There are 2 very sharp 90° turns on a narrow one lane of gravel with very steep banks on each side.

The one time I go out for a surprise visit after being invited many times this summer, they weren't home. LOL  It didn't matter, as the hounds and I enjoyed the ride out through the local country side. We had the best of both worlds with the windows down so they could see out and get some fresh air ... with the AC turned on to keep the cabin cool in 87° temps.

By the time we got home ... it was time for a walk. I could tell right from the start both of them were going to be stubborn today. So I let them do what they wanted while I walked the path slowly.

Sadie is making sure her ears are still flexible.

Stella has always had a 'happy go lucky' personality ... here she is running while looking at the sky ... lol

With the temps high today we probably will not take the next walk until 7pm. We found out last night that time of day was perfect for a walk close to sundown. If you click my Wordpress blog on the left sidebar called "Life of Hounds", the photos of last night's walk are there.

I finished Chinle's Rattlesnake Cafe ebook last night and hear she is going to release another new book around Christmas time. I'll save my pennies between now and then so I can pick that up. She has a great style of writing and all of her books have a little twist at the end, even after the murder has been solved. She mentioned the hounds in one of her books last year. They were fed another "barkie bone" for that.

Another thing I have been doing these past couple of days after more reading about password managers. I am moving slowly from LastPass to Apple's Keychain. Of coarse Keychain is used only with Safari browser, while LastPass will work with all top three browsers. One difference I like, with Keychain I have that free for all of my devices. With LastPass I would have to pay to use it on my phone and tablet.

I figured if the FBI was begging, forcing, threatening Apple to open the iPhone of the San Bernardino attacker ... then security must have been pretty good.

It's NFL night tonight, to start the weekend of football.

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

A New Book & A New Mac OS

I was up until 4am last night but it was all for good reasons. Sadie was sleeping in her "big chair" in the living room, Heidi was on the right side of the couch while Stella had her back up against the side of the kitchen island on the carpet side of the room.

As you remember I get free data after midnight so that is when I do any downloads and especially downloads that are large, like a new Operating System for Macs. It was over 4GB's and was noted it would take about 1 hour.

I knew from previous OS changes it was going to be at least 3 hours and probably 4 hours by the time it was installed and running. Toward the end you have to be around to log in, using a password, hit a few 'continue' buttons ... so going to bed while it downloaded and installed was not an option. I had other things to do during those 4 hours though. Nightly after midnight I will uploaded all the photos I take that day very easily from my computer hard drive to Google Photos AND Flickr. I can organize them into their specific alums on both programs ... everything done within 20 minutes.

So what about the other 3 hours ???  How about a new book from Chinle over at The Spotted Dog Ranch. This was #7 in the Bud Shumway series and although I have just started I can see it's another great mystery. I was hesitant in buying it in the middle of the night (2:30am)  because in the past I will read them nonstop not caring what the time of day or night it was. But ... I bit the bullet, bought it on Amazon and had it in my Kindle reader and on all my devices after a short synch.

By the time I hit the bed at 4am, the new Mac OS system was working great with some fantastic new features and Chinle's book was hard to turn off. I'll finish it sometime today or tonight. The hounds still had their breakfast kibble served at 8am ... although they will not whine for it. They sleep as long as I do.

By 1pm we were ready for the mid-day walk ... another beautiful day here in 'the tropics'.

Sadie and Stella might start the walk out together, but it will not be long before they follow their own noses and head different directions. Today I decided I'd be a friend and let them roam on their own.

It didn't take long for each hound to take advantage. By the time I got to the first turn, NEITHER hound was close to me.

Sadie never likes to be left behind, so she sprinted to catch up to me.

When I asked her "where's Stella" ... she looked around in all directions, but Stella was nowhere to be seen.

The field continues to change each day as we move close to October already ... hard to believe how fast September is moving.

Sadie and I were walking along the back edge of the field heading north, not quit at the 'halfway' point ... looking back into the field ... no sign of Stella.

Every corn field I look at in a 40 mile radius shows the corn may be picked a little earlier this year. I'll be taking some photos of the fields at least across the highway ... some farmers have bought some new equipment.

As Sadie and I turn the last time to head home I didn't see Stella anywhere. I started calling her name and guess what ???  Off to the left was Stella slowly strolling through the high grass and flowers. I expected to see her walking up the path towards us but was happy to see that she was just to the left of us.

As usual, she took her time.

They both eventually move forward and when it gets hotter, they will take the lead and head to the house.

These were in the middle of the path but we always walk around and not on flowers ... hounds included.

Although they are on the way home, there isn't a scent they will not pass if that radar nose of theirs picks up a new target.

Heidi in the meantime hung out at the house and explored the yard. This is around 48 hours after her epsom salt soak and it's about the best her skin will look. It looks bad when compared to years ago when there was nothing going on but for the past 18 months, this skin is about the best it gets.

That is after 4 different vet opinions, various medications, various grain free food, food with rice, etc.

It never fails that when Sadie returns she always goes over to Heidi to see if she is okay, even at night when Heidi comes back inside the house after her last trip outside for the night.

Once again she did not want to go on the walk after I carried her to the field. She turned and headed back to the house.

The rest of the day was spent learning the new Mac OS named Sierra, testing it and also trying some of the new features it has. I also found out from some geek sites that Safari had been update to the point of getting good reviews in tests ... so I tried it, liked it and then made it my default browser again over Google Chrome.

It was very sad to read the news about Bridget over at RVSue's blog. It's never easy losing an old friend.

If you don't hear from me ... I'll be out in Utah with Bud Shumway helping him investigate another mystery.

The weather is great again here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.