Some Sunday Rambling

{Warning: Long and lots of photos}

Every day starts the same. The hounds are fed their breakfast somewhere between 7:30 - 8:30am. At times we may start our day then or later, depending on what I do.

Today ... it started really late. I guess that is what happens when you are watching college football at 2am eastern time. Both were great games and hard to turn off ... so I watched them to their finish. That added up to around 14 straight hours of college football ... flipping to check on other games when a commercial came on during the 'main' game.

During those 14 hours of college football viewing, the daily routine of the hounds does not change. They get their two meals per day, their two walks per day, their normal siestas in their different spots throughout the house.

All three of them go outside the very first thing in the morning. While they are outside I pour out their breakfast kibble. They never leave the yard when they know they are about to be fed food. Then while they are eating I am making my coffee.

After they finish eating, and as the coffee drips ... we head out for my first photos of the day. Some times they will wander the field but recently they don't do much but check out the area I cut just last week, explore the yard and then return to the house for a morning nap.

We took our first walk of the day after their lunch. Even with overcast skies, it felt warm ... like t-shirt warm. Checking when I got back, it was 75°. It is preparing us for three straight days in the 80's starting tomorrow, before the steep drop to 66° on Thursday.

Speaking of the warm fall weather, Ed answered my post about leaf color and why some years they are bright and other years they are dull. It explains what I was wondering about.

His info:

This may be what you are looking for: "A warm period during fall will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors."

While on the walk this morning I thought about not his answer but why does he have the inclination to look up something like that on the internet and I don't. He also answered my question a few weeks ago when I wondered why don't farmers here cut their corn shorter than they normally do, compared to other areas of the USA or Canada.

As long as I can remember, which is back to when I was approximately 5 years old ... rocks, leaves, bugs, exploring, etc ... didn't interest me. Sports did. I remember drawing up football and basketball plays on a piece of paper. I had a scrapbook of baseball and football cards ... but I never had a bug collection or leaf collection.

It's too bad I glued those baseball cards to scrapbook paper because some of those cards were worth thousands of dollars, if they didn't have that spot of 50 year old dried glue on the back of them.

Of coarse back in the 60's growing up, sports were not on tv 24/7 but you had the "game of the week" during baseball which was the New York Yankees every Saturday afternoon on CBS. While living in the Indianapolis television area, the weather man for the CBS channel in Indianapolis was someone by the name of Dave Letterman. Funny stuff, even if you didn't care about the weather.

As far as football games on Saturday, I can't remember seeing any more than one game per Saturday and Sunday's had one NFL game on each channel ... CBS and NBC. For me that included the Chicago Bears most of the time on CBS and the Cincinnati Bengals on NBC.

Later when something called the AFL started, some of those games could be watched on Saturday nights.

I guess I am getting off track here but what I am trying to say ... growing up, sports were what I was most interested in. Sixty years later it's still the same thing. I will go on Google to search for sports statistics or sports information but rarely will I go on Google to search for a name of a flower, a bird, or anything I don't have the answer for dealing in the subject of nature.

As far as driving, I've always enjoy 'road trips' but have never been able to stop and enjoy the scenery ... everything seemed to be drive straight through. Those 'road trips' included more than a few trips from San Diego to Indiana and some from Seattle to Indiana. Or the time I took "The Loneliest Highway in the USA" ... US Hwy 50 ... from Sacramento to Indiana. I still drove that non-stop ... stopping for only gas or a gas station to open so I could get gas ... drive thru's for food ... a couple of short 1 hour naps.

I commented at the time on this blog, I thought that might be the reason I enjoyed the driving as much if not more during our one week trip to Utah in June 2015.

I have a pretty long list of blogs I follow over on the left side of this blog. Some of those blogs moved back and forth, off and on that list ... so if there is a blog you use to read that is no longer listed and would like to see it again ... let me know the the name or what it was about and I'll add it back to the list.

As I read those blogs there are fantastic photos of places they are traveling ... I have found I have been to a lot of those places, although not RVing and in some cases I lived in places they blog about. I admit I have lived in some pretty amazing places and some of those are blogged about by other bloggers ... it's quit different compared to the lifestyle here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana with the hounds.

Iv'e looked back through this post and see that I have only talked about one thing I was planning to write about when I started to "ramble" ... and now can't remember what I was planning to write about ... lol ... typical for getting older.

I'll let this post sit here and simmer a little to see if my brain cells can go out and gather up what I was going to write about. I had other things I wanted to ramble about that would not include religion or politics.

Photos info ... all the photos up to this point were taken by my Nikon D3200 camera with the Tamron 18-200mm lens and none of them were edited, just straight photos with any flaws they may have.

Photos from this point forward were taken by my iPhone 6S. Their new photo program will let me edit them just like I do on my computer but I will keep the original photo format just to so we can compare.

Their football positions.

Hang on ... may memory is coming back!

Why do I have an interest in trading my FJ for another FJ, same year, maybe different options, just to change color to silver to match my silver Z4 ??? Crazy isn't it?

     Or it might be that sound I hear while driving that I cannot determine if it is a maintenance problem, tire noise or just my imagination.

If all my research on dog food over the years, visits to four different vets in 15 months for Heidi's skin issues and discussions with all of those vets about allergies that hounds have ... show there is only a 3% chance those allergies are caused by dog food instead of the environment ....

     Why don't I move to a different location instead of changing dog food to eliminate allergies Heidi has, Sadie licking her leg or Stella scratching where no fleas are present?

Will there ever be a way to get away from Directv or Dish Network's high prices and still see the same number of ballgames that I watch ... without "streaming" those games to my tv? Streaming movies or games is something I cannot do because of my monthly data limit on my home internet service.

     I'm sure there will be. I am getting teasers to try Sling TV to watch certain games but not all games. Apple TV keeps making improvements, does that use internet data? I'll have to check.

Will my location always keep me from the latest in technology ... or does that even matter?

     If there isn't a game on I want to watch or an occasional movie I want to see ... my tv is not turned on. Still, will I be 'squeezed' out by new television technology getting television signals in the future due to what services are available in my area?

Why do I have a 'check engine' light on my FJ dashboard and some other lights here in Indiana but those same lights disappeared while traveling in through Kansas, Colorado and Utah in June 2015?

     I've check that issue with Google searches, FJ forums and tried all of their suggestions to fix the issue. I even talked to the service manager at the Toyota dealership about it. The other day I saw something new .... the gasoline I am using may have too much ethanol in it. Once this tank of gas is used I am changing to a 'top tier' gas station and go back to 91-93 octane instead of 89 octane I've been using.

Deer Highway - Major Traffic

I still wonder at times what keeps Purina dog food in business after 85 years if their dog food is as bad as it is rated? Are all of those positive reviews online just fake?

     Is everything just over analyzed now days ... and I mean everything.

While holding the iPhone camera horizontal I found out if you press the volume adjustment button, the camera will take the photo.

Even with a different camera, Stella still likes to hang back and take the walk on her own pace.

She also still likes to try to sneak off in the neighbor's direction if I am not looking.

She also is not happy when I catch her trying to sneak off and decides it's best to follow Sadie and I home.

Interesting results using the iPhone on the 5pm walk. Depending on the light, the iPhone takes great photos, but I didn't see anything here that would make me want to replace my Nikon D3200 as my main camera.

The iPhone camera is a good camera to substitute for a smaller camera and taking photos inside.

One a final note ... as of today there are only 9 of 32 NFL teams with a winning record.

It's been a great weekend here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana (except for that Hoosiers loss against Nebraska)

It Was A Good Saturday

Started the day early with a little fog. About an hour later the sun was trying it's best to fight through to make it another great day.

Sadie stood out in the field ready for the first walk of the day. That is her pose for the 'stare down' telling me it's time for a walk. She has the same pose inside or outside and will not move unless she knows the walk is going to start. There was a problem though ....

I had not had my first cup of coffee yet and we never start the day until I have a couple of cups in my bloodstream to get the brain cells activated. She and Stella came running for the door while I yelled "coffee" ... that is their new command to get them to come inside after their short 2nd trip outside just after their breakfast.

After a breakfast and some online reading, plus printing out my tv schedule for the college football schedule today ... the bloodhounds and I headed out for the first to two walks today.

The leaves are dying before they can really change their color ... it's different every year. I am not sure why but I am sure there is a reader out there that has a simple answer.

When the hounds are together and have their noses to the ground, most of the time that grass is worn down like our path but it's not my path ... it's the path the deer take.

Stella got in some good sprinting and an 'ear workout'. You would think that would air her ears out a little.

That deer path I mentioned is pictured right here. You'll notice the grass is mashed down along the edge between the cut grass and the overgrown brush.

That is one reason both hounds love to spend time eating deer scat buried deep in that brush, that is never cut by the farmer that bales hay.

I decided today that I would follow the field instead of my path and that put us up in the far right corner of the field and a different view when taking a photo. Those trees are what I see from the house that border the field. It's a deep gully to the left of those trees, 50 to 60 feet deep.

They both enjoyed I deviated from my normal path, so they could cruise the edge of the field along the back side all the way to the point in the walk where we turn and head back to the house.

Stella started heading the direction of the neighbor's house until I called her. Then she came trotting toward me knowing she had given it a good attempt before being caught.

While I followed the path home, they both took what I call the 'long way' .. always in view but they walk through the field over to the north corner of my yard and then walk toward the house.

By the time we got inside it was time for college football, plus a bowl of those beans that had been cooking in the crockpot all night.

I will say the Google Photos is working out well. I have over 27,000 photos loaded. The website is free and I can access every photo I own from my iPhone or iPad Mini without using any of their hard drive memory. It doesn't take that much longer to upload the pictures I take every day into Flickr, which does not compress the size of the file and a much better photo.

Well it's 12:33am local time and I am watching the 2nd half of two football games ... UCLA at Washington State and the Boise State game on a different channel. Being up this late watching the games out west is the normal Saturday routine. I did catch the Cubs grand slam home run in the 8th inning during a commercial of the Ohio State game I was watching at the time.

I almost forgot, after the Indiana loss to Nebraska (made me sick), the hounds and I went out for their 2nd walk of the day before we started the 8pm games. Due to the time of day (possible deer), I put the 25' retractable leash on Stella .. she didn't mind. I didn't have an extra hand to take photos of the 2nd walk.

As far as my searching or just looking at different tv, internet options ... it always ends the same due to my location. Not all services they advertise are available so what I have works very well and I don't mind that I don't have to change services ... I'd just like to pay them less money.

I will say it's great to be back in the smartphone and iPad mini life ... both are used a lot and are very handy for supplementing my older memory.

Another great day here in 'the topics' of southern Indiana.

Surprise Visitor Thursday Night

With it being such a busy day I am late posting today on the blog. I am sitting down to do this one at 11:30pm.

I'm up late every night so that isn't an issue. It was a busy day, and I did a couple of things I had not planned on which took most of the afternoon. Then it was football and a baseball game on different channels that took up most of the evening.

Stella decided this morning there wasn't much to check out, she walked to the edge of the yard, looked at Sadie, then turned to come inside. When the weather was hot a few weeks ago she would head out to the middle of the field and wouldn't leave during that early morning trip.

Thursday night, close to 7pm, as I walked into my "computer room", something was out in the field. I couldn't tell if it was an animal or a possible sack of some kind that had blown into the field. I tried to check it out with my zoom lens on the camera and snapped this very poor photo through the mini blinds while standing inside. I didn't know how long that foreign unidentified object would stay there.

After a few minutes and four more poor quality photos, I decided to try to keep the bloodhounds inside and very quietly walk outside to try to get a photo of it before it ran/flew away. Not only was I able to stand there taking photos of it, it was in no rush. Strange how the hounds like deer scat and the broad wing hawk likes dog poop.

I could tell from where it was, that was most likely what it was eating. During the walk this morning I checked that area right on our path and all the dog poop was gone. I guess all forms of recycling are good.

I had to make a noise for it to fly away. The hounds were still inside standing at the door but were making no noises to come outside. Evidently they didn't smell the hawk. For some reason Stella decided months ago that she would stop opening the door on her own to go outside, so they were both looking out the screen door when went back to get them.

You can barely see it in the trees, in the center of the photo.

I went back inside to let Sadie and Stella outside. They came outside and had no idea who or what had been close to their yard. They didn't show any signs of running into the field to track it. They just needed to pee before the baseball game started and headed back inside.

Today was another nice day and even though we all were late risers, we were able to get two different walks in today plus some of the typical domestic stuff around the house. Heidi ??  She slept most of the day wrapped up in her sleeping bag with the windows open.

Stella decided on both walks today that she would cooperate and walk near Sadie and I. I didn't say a word the whole way and let the hounds go where their noses led them.

With Sadie not wearing a collar the past few months, it's easier to tell them apart. At times Stella looks like she has gotten bigger this past year but from a different angle, she looks the same.

On the way back on the first walk, they both took off as if they had found gold somewhere, or some food, but it turned out to be nothing.

Shortly after washing my dishes, for some strange reason I had this sudden urge to bring out the Rug Doctor Pro carpet cleaner that I have and clean the carpets. I normally do it in the spring and fall anyway but I usually plan in advance to do the job. That task has never been an impulsive act.

It didn't take long while the hounds were barricaded in the bedroom with the baby gate blocking the doorway. With one hound walk already taken, all of them slept through the noise of the carpet cleaner.

After all the equipment was cleaned up and put away, the fans turned on to help dry the carpet ... it was nice enough for the 2nd walk of the day. I may have said summer is over in my opinion but the forecast shows three days next week in the high 80's ... I'll not be complaining.

Before I could even get my first photos of the 2nd walk taken, Sadie and Stella were sprinting for the first corner in the field. I was sure they had smelled deer in the area but when I looked at the horizon ready to take photos ... I didn't see any deer activity. Maybe they were just happy to be let out of 'jail'.

They gave me a chance to catch them ... then they moved to their normal spots. I could tell some of the leaves had changed color even since this morning.

Most of the way home both Stella and Sadie were walking right next to me or right behind me. They were too close to take photos even with the 18mm setting.  About the time we were close to the yard, I could see Heidi over by the trees in the backyard. She has been spending more and more time outside alone just roaming the yard and laying in the sunshine. It's good to see her spending more time outside.

As always, Sadie had to run over to her, touch noses and see if she was okay.

I plan to plant new grass seed where that area of dirt is. It goes down a small bank and then over toward the fence. That has had the same wild brush growing there for years that was on the right side of the trees until April 2015.

Over by the fence the English Ivy has taken over. I had hoped it would have taken over the wild brush over the years but it didn't happen ... so I have a few more roots to dig out and will plant grass next spring, maybe some rye this fall to keep the weeds out and have some ground cover.

She is still not gaining weight .. stuck at 36 pounds and has been that weight since June 2015.

We have a full day of football Saturday and Sunday with the MLB Playoff games mixed in during them. That means a lot of work with the remote changing channels during commercials of different games.

I made vegan chili and it's in the crock pot to cook on low all night so by the first game at noon Saturday it should be a good meal while watching football.

I had a really bad fight tonight with myself, resisting the urge to buy some Haagen Das ice cream just down the highway. Drinking water wasn't working and I finally had to think about something else to get ice cream out of my thoughts.

So I looked at my friend's car lot online, it's where I buy most of my cars. They had a 2007 Toyota FJ, silver, basic model for sale. Just looking through the 21 photos of that FJ erased the urge for ice cream.

It will be sunny and 70's tomorrow in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana on Saturday.