Stella's On Probation After Monday

After calling it a day pretty early Sunday night, that only meant the hounds and I would be up and out by 6am the next morning. Dark outside ... and cold.

My iPhone weather app was telling me it was 4° and wasn't going to get much higher than 19°. Little did we know on Monday just how accurate that would be. Consequently not much was done outside yesterday and we barely got in a late afternoon walk.

That didn't stop the tree cutting operation going on across the highway, clearing out some trees along that gravel road that leads to the old closed steel bridge. It is suppose to warm up this week, maybe into the 50's, so I'll grab the Nikon and go see what took place.

Our trips outside yesterday were not more than just a trip long enough for the hounds to dump their tanks. By 9am the temperature had risen only 1° to 5° ... so things were not looking real promising for a morning walk. At least the sunshine was out.

I wonder how many layers of clothing it takes to stay warm while working all day outside in single digit temps. Inside 60° was feeling too hot for me but that seems to be the happy medium to keep the air from drying out from the electric heat and my allergies under control.

Sometime after 2pm the temps had flew upwards to 21° and with no wind the "feels like" was the same. It was time to get the hounds some fresh air and some relief to their 'cabin fever'.

There was only one problem.

There isn't an answer anywhere on the internet, many have the same problem if you are a dog owner and the hounds are almost obsessed with it ... except Heidi, she would never lower her standards that low.

They are called "frozen poopsicles", they are gross and Stella NEVER left the yard. Well ... she was about 2ft into the field ... still not even interested in a walk. Every time I looked through the zoom lens she was chewing.

Sadie in the meantime had places to go and didn't care what Stella was doing ... she and I kept on walking. It was clear blue skies and not bad temperature wise. It was nice to get out. The frozen grass and and leaves had a crunching sound with each step.

As I turned to check on Stella I had hoped she had at least moved to her 1st stop of the walk, further into the field and show some motivation to get going ... but I was wrong. I could tell by now she was going to be a problem child today. Let's just stay politically correct and say my meter for patience with her has max'ed out the past week.

By the first turn of coarse there was no sign of Stella. I figured like the past couple of weeks we would meet her on the way back and continued walking the path as Sadie headed to the far right corner.

I keep looking for Stella to be running after us ... but not even a sign of her. By this time I am heading for the final turn home and Sadie is deep into the tall weeds toward the gully. Did I now have two problem hounds on this walk?

Way up ahead I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me. Stella had walked north, halfway between the neighbor's house and mine. She wasn't even close to meeting us on the way back. I quickened my pace, concerned she might follow the drainage ditch toward the highway. Obviously a scent had led her in that direction.

Once Sadie could tell that I was heading home a little faster than normal, she came running without me calling her. She sprinted all the way to me as I was in kind of a semi-run towards Stella. Her instincts were telling her something was up.

I don't think there is anything that makes me mad more than a hound that is already out of their allowed area, look up at you ... stand and stare at you ... then walk in the opposite direction. My low blood pressure increases to the level of aerobic exercise.

The tone of my voice evidently got her attention enough that she started in the direction of Sadie and I. Needless to say, this was the last photo of the walk ... we headed home as fast as possible.

Will it be back to the 25' retractable leash for Stella today??? Stay tuned.

35° is the predicted high today in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana and to me that will feel like a heat wave.

The Hounds Missed The Deer

I admit today's post title may be a little misleading. I'll get to the specifics after this short weather intro ... but it was a different kind of deer chase today.

The weather forecast did exactly what it said last night and this morning. From 46° yesterday in the late afternoon we were sitting below 15° around 7:30am and very little if any snow. Unlike 70 miles north of us, it's a different story.

Looking at Wunderground weather it wasn't going to get any warmer than 18° and it was already 'up' to that range by 9:30am, give or take a few minutes. With that in mind I decided we'd get our walk in and it would probably be the only walk of the day. These kind of temps always make me cautious, wondering if it's too cold when I consider some their paws coming down with frostbite.

What was the difference in this deer chase today compared to the other 5 or 6 we have had this summer and fall ?? Well the hounds were so busy with their normal exploring to start the walk ....

They didn't see the deer that jumped out of the woods at the first corner turn we make and in fact didn't even catch their scent until they got to that corner.

By the time the lens focused in this freezing weather, it did hesitate, this 2nd picture was the last I saw of the deer. They were so fast and quiet, neither Sadie nor Stella even raised their head and took off like they normally would have and have in the past.

They continued along the path not yet to that corner. I was prepping my camera in anticipation they would take off sprinting in the direction of the deer once that fresh scent of just a few minutes ago came up on their radar .... didn't happen.

It didn't happen even when they approached the corner well within the place the deer jumped out of the woods. Has 18° frozen the abilities of the bloodhound's accurate and powerful nose??

I'm shocked ... still no response !!!!

Then they take off sprinting !!! But wait ... the deer ran 90° left of where these two lost bloodhounds are running. What's up with that??

Flying down the backside of the field, not even close to the path of the most recent deer. There was probably a lot of deer activity earlier this morning along that path.

A look of confusion, after all they are not 'problem solvers'.

Yet they are sure they are just about ready to catch their deer so they continue to sprint in to the "No Fly Zone".

I don't have a problem with that. I change my direction off the path and start walking to my left so I can get on top of the small incline to have a better view of where they went and where they are.

But they stopped way before that and turned around just past the base of that large electrical tower.

Sadie looked as if she was still pretty proud of her chase, while Stella looked pretty disappointed. She is the one that normal is in full pursuit of the deer she chases.

They still took one last look for any possible new deer before heading back inside. With the unexpected run, we cut the walk short right after and headed home. It was too cold for them I guess as they both sprinted for the house.

Temperature started to drop soon after lunch. Heidi made an appearance long enough for me to take her picture as she trotted back to the house but she wasn't out very long when the windchill was 5°.

{Forgot to add the picture when I published the post}

We didn't do much after that. All of them slept, I watched NFL football games. Stella tried to get me to feed a third time around 5pm by howling like she does if I miss her lunch time. Only today, I did not miss their lunch time. I couldn't figure out any other reasons that would cause her to howl like that.

The weather experts were right when they predicted this would be a "colder than normal" winter. We are way below our averages but at the same time because he have not had any snow like other parts of the USA have had, nor any ice storms that can cause damage or take out power.

I noticed the dealership where I traded the FJ did not have it listed after adding some new cars to their inventory online. I guess they could have sold it in one day but more than likely they took it to the car auction to get rid of it. My old blue FJ is still for sale at the Indy Toyota dealership.

This new used Mini Cooper is working out great for me. There will enough room for anything I need in back, the ride is nice and the mpg is great.

We are staying warm her in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana, even in the low single digit windchill temps.

Sadie Demands Her Walk

Rarely do we walk if it is rainy or if it has rain throughout the night, like last night. Today was a little different. The temperatures in the morning were high 30's and supposedly heading to 48° by late afternoon.

While walking around the yard during their trip outside after their breakfast kibble, it had stopped raining but the ground was still frozen rock hard from the low temps this past week. No worries, it will be a high tomorrow of 17°. That is weather in Indiana.

Sadie gave me her normal 'stare down' when she wants a walk. She will stand and look at me without a move. If inside she will sit and give me that same look without a move ... most of the time, she gets her way.

The ground is rock hard but wet from the rain.

One disadvantage of winter, plus the fact I cleared out some brush in the fall where I normally don't ... the hounds have a new area to get into in a direction that I do not want them heading. It's that theory of 'give them an inch they will take a mile' ... still Stella has to check out that area and ignored me until I went over to get her. That is one stubborn bloodhound.

With the rains stopped, the ground frozen, I thought it might be okay to get a walk in this morning before the field became really mucky with melting ice while adding more rain. I doubt that we would get a walk in the afternoon if the weather held up to the forecast.

Sadie was happy and was off, she had things to do and smell.

Stella?  Not so much. I can't say that I like her new routine but I know in a week or so she will come up with something different and the routine should change based on her past history.

What was becoming interesting but is quite obvious to most geography experts ... the higher the land went, the wetter it got with the rain water. The first half of the walk was on frozen ground. It was much more soft toward the back of the field where it is the highest elevation.

Stella finally shows up as we are heading back to the house. Sadie is still behind me, deep in the brush that follows the fence line in back of the field. I don't even bother to call either one of them. I feel pretty confident they will both run to me when they are ready and on their own time.

No sign of the AT&T tower and no flashing warning lights that you can usually see even in fog. So hopefully there will be little to no small aircraft traffic in that area today.

Surprised but happy that Stella turned to head toward me instead of running in the opposite direction to the farthest right corner of the field. She is a good bloodhound when she wants to be.

She is running toward me with her eyes on Sadie.

Sadie met her on a full out run, Stella turned and they both headed home.

I think you can tell the depth of the wooded area, that there is a steep drop off not far in the wooded area. It drops off right past the bushes that are green ... very steep.

Stella seemed happy to get the unexpected walk in. She never begs for a walk ... only food.

It is a day to get caught up on domestic house stuff before basketball games in the afternoon. A little book reading and feeling much warmer inside without the freezing temperatures outside.

It is warm and wet today but will be freezing again tomorrow in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.