The Hounds Enjoy Another Beautiful Day

This had to be one of the coldest days in recent weeks. It said it was 31° but felt closer to being in the teens. By the time we finished the morning walk I had frozen fingers under my gloves.

Sadie and Stella didn't seem to notice and were probably wanting to stay out longer than we did.

Last night as I approached the top of my driveway and was making the turn into the carport ... my headlights caught a golden-red cat sitting just at the edge of the yard in the center of this next picture. By the time I got out of the car and walked out to see if it was interested in food in the freezing night, the cat had already disappeared.

That explains a lot about the reason Sadie has been so interested in that area and down into that ditch these past few weeks.

With Sadie bothering me lately earlier and earlier for her first walk of the day, I put on all my cold weather gear and we headed out a little after 9:30 this morning. It instantly felt colder than 31°. There were some winds from the NW that made a difference in the wind chill factor.

Yet, it was clear skies and sunshine so I can't really complain just because the temps were borderline frigid. After all we are not walking through deep snow or on ice.

Stella ended up staying so far back that at one time I couldn't see her through the zoomed lens. I thought she might have moved into the wooded area but about that time I saw her rise up from the ground on the horizon. I didn't realize there was that much of an incline.

Sadie and I had already turned the corner, and once we made that turn ... it got a lot colder with a stronger wind. Once that wind hit me in the face I couldn't wait for the walk to be over.

I had no idea that Stella was coming up behind me, so when I took this picture I was focusing on only Sadie ... when Stella ran into the view finder about the time I took the picture. Her speed was much faster than what the picture shows.

They explored ... I continued to walk.

As we made the final turn home, they both walked so close to me that even the 18mm setting could not fit them into a picture. It wasn't long before they took off jogging in hopes of getting a little more exploring done before I got there.

Stella has set another new record of letting me leave the house without her showing any signs of separation anxiety. That is always a good thing but even after 16 months I still wonder when the next episode will be. There has always been a 'next episode'.

After some late morning errands, they had their lunch when I got back and Sadie was 'demanding' another walk ... it had only been a couple of hours since her last walk. Once they get that after lunch walk in, they normally will sleep the rest of the afternoon in different spots inside the house.

That is a very deep gully just a few feet into the woods. Luckily none of the hounds venture into that area because it is nothing but mud on the gully floor.

Stella took the lead for the afternoon walk. She was almost making the turn to the far right corner when I yelled the word "hey", she stopped and started heading my direction.

Then she and Sadie was off to the back edge of the field.

They both had a lot of 'nose activity' today.

Two things that Sadie has always chased are birds on the ground and flying leaves. Today she was not only chasing the leaves that were bobbing around the field from the wind but she was also approaching those that landed, with caution. You never know when those leaves might attack.

While I was watching Sadie and her leaves, Stella had almost snuck off to the 'no-fly zone' behind me. I had to go to the 200mm zoom because she was that far away from us. Something had her interest and she surprised me when she stopped and came when I called her. I thought for sure she had smelled something and was going to take off after it.

She is never happy after being caught trying to escape.

As we get closer to January 1, the college football bowl games have better matchups. I'll be watching college football for the rest of the afternoon and tonight it looks like. A crockpot of vegetable soup will be finished about supper time. Football and hot soup on a freezing day sounds good to me.

It would be a beautiful day to fly today ... not a cloud in the sky.

January 1st is right around the corner here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Lost Track Of Days

Every since I retired in April 2014 I find it normal that I lose track of days. With our fast paced lifestyle her in 'the tropics' it's really not a big deal when that happens.

Whether it is Wednesday or a Saturday the hounds have the same routine, even on declared holidays.

So as we were out this morning, me with a cup of coffee in hand while Sadie and Stella walked around the field, I realized I had no idea what day of the week it was. Luckily the print out I have for the college football bowl games on tv reminds me not only who is scheduled to play that day or night ... but shows me the day of the week. How convenient is that?

Even with my cup of coffee in my hand and no camera, Sadie still gave me that stare she has when she wants to walk.

When I told her "not yet" ... she went back to what she was doing.

It wasn't long though ... just one more cup of coffee ... then we headed out to enjoy a beautiful sunny morning, no wind and a crisp feeling to the air.

The hounds were more than happy to get started ... meanwhile back inside the house, Heidi was in full winter mode and had not come up for air while sleeping under a sleeping back, every since she had finished her breakfast kibble. That routine in the winter cold temps is nothing new for her ... she has done this every winter since I brought her home in 2011.

The hounds were on their own as I walked. I could tell early in this walk that Stella had different things to check out and most likely would not be walking with Sadie and I. She was good though, getting back to us without being called.

When I zoomed in for this picture I knew Stella had no intentions of following our pace.

That never bothers Sadie as she sprinted past me on the path and headed for the back of the field. Even at 34°, it felt warmer than the pictures show.

Has Stella even moved since we left that spot? Even lifted her head from the ground?

Then out of nowhere, she decided she had better catch up with us.

Just as she glanced to her right up to the far corner of the field, while Sadie and I were heading home ... she made a quick left turn only to be interrupted by something her nose found.

Not to be fooled into who was really in control of this walk ... she took off trotting to a corner that is about as far away as she could get. Sadie and I continued our path home ... I was really curious what Stella would end up doing. I wondered if it was going to be one of those days where Stella lags so far behind that she is out of sight as I would make my last turn home.

But just like before she started trotting our way. With her nose to the ground she followed our steps along the edge of the field and evidently smelled Sadie and changed direction to come right at us.

Maybe she was getting cold and wanted to get home, I'm not sure. She let Sadie know she was headed home.

By the time I am almost at the edge of the backyard, Sadie gave me that stare again ... only this time she wanted to stay outside.

Stella was in no hurry to come inside either so I let them roam while I picked up more twigs around the yard on the north side of the house. When I made it back up the hill after a quick trip to the mailbox, both of them were waiting for me at the door, thinking I had left them and had gone inside.

Stella had to come to remind me it was time to feed them lunch. A quick nudge by her nose gives me the first warning shot, after that she will move to the howling stage which gets Heidi out of her deep sleep into a barking mode. I find out within 30 minutes if I am really behind in the feeding schedule.

I tried getting a picture of Heidi today to let everyone know that she really does have a pulse and actually gets outside her (mine) sleeping bag. She was so quick I barely caught her as she was moving under the yews and out to the front yard.

Stella debated whether to head out to the field or back inside. She is also not a fan of cold weather and since this morning, winds had picked up and was blowing freezing air from 15-20mph. She turned and went back to the house with Heidi and I.

Sadie never cares how cold, how much rain or snow ... she just loves being outside. I let her hangout in the field for almost an hour, then I hooked Stella up to the retractable leash and went for a 'supervise' afternoon walk. The winds were stronger and the air was colder coming from the west. Sadie was happy with a 2nd walk and was quiet the rest of the afternoon.

While they spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping, I spent time setting up all of my new spreadsheets for 2017. Seems like it was a pretty fast year and some of the spreadsheets were showing some interesting results over the past year.

It is another night of no interest in watching the 3 college football bowl games being televised so it might be back to book reading or watching a movie.

I almost forgot ... Heidi had a 20 minute soak in warm water and Epsom Salts. She likes that enough that she almost lays down in the water but that would put her head barely above water. Her skin looks good but compared to past Decembers, it's about the normal condition for this month. I've thought for the longest time this year her skin problems are airborne allergies.

As long as the sunshine is out, we are happy here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

It Fits

It was the first test for the Mini Cooper Countryman this morning. It passed with flying colors and it was good to see that my measurements in the cargo area were accurate.

While spending some time outdoors enjoying the afternoon sunshine yesterday, Sadie spent most of her time in her newly discovered favorite spot. With the summer brush cut back and that corner of the hay field cut, she likes to check out the small area behind the burn pile. There is a eroded out area that looks like a small waterway may go through there but I've never seen any water traveling that path in the 19 years that I have lived here.

While she stayed in that area, with Stella out in the field, I walked the front and back yards picking up small limbs from the storm the other night. The 2017 burn pile is slowly increasing but not at a fast pace. That usually doesn't happen until after the winter and a few more times where the winds will be above 30mph.

This morning was a different story though. The sunshine was back and will be for a few days before it starts raining by the end of the week. The temperature this morning had dropped into the 20's. With no walks planned until later in the morning I had time to take my one and only container of recyclable paper, cardboard and plastic. Just recently they started requiring glass to be sorted separately.

As I took off the piece that covers the cargo area between the back seats and the back door, I wasn't sure the 32gl container was going to fit although I had measured it before trading for the car. It slid into it's space with no problem.

You may see some "paw prints" on that black carpet and you would be right. About the time I opened the rear hatch door to put the container in, Stella jumped in the back and sat there ready to go for a ride. As she jumped back outside I slide the container in with room to spare.

I would get my first chance to drive the Mini off the main highway onto an old country narrow road, which would turn into a long gravel drive toward our local recycling center. I was happy the way it handled both roads and can tell a difference between an AWD and a FWD vehicle of this size.

It wasn't long after I returned where the temps had increased to 34° and Sadie had won with her pre-walk stare down ... that we took our first walk of the day. Heavy frost covered the field of grass except where the sunshine had shown through the trees.

I didn't say a word and let the hounds move at their own pace.

You can barely see here just how far back they were as I approached the first turn. You can also see how the sun shining through the trees have melted some of the frost in certain areas.

Sadie came sprinting around the first turn toward me into the deer area, like a horse rounding the final turn at the Kentucky Derby. She was flying then stopped immediately and turned back to the wooded area. I am not sure if she heard something or was checking to see if Stella was with her.

She didn't stay in the mashed down grass long. I suspect by the way it looks I have always thought the deer spend time there.

Then she took off on her next assignment.

I scanned along the tree line but didn't see Stella at the time. Once I downloaded the photograph to the computer photos program I could barely see Stella sitting on the far right side of the photograph. That also explains how she got so far so fast later on ... heading for that wooded area north of us.

While Sadie and I moved along the back of the field, there was no sign of Stella but I was looking along the tree line that moves into the far right corner. It was the wrong direct since she was running across the field to the opposite side.

I was surprised as I made the final turn to head back home that Stella was running and was 3/4 of the way to the woods on the north side. I didn't see her during any of her run. She did stop though when I called her name and acknowledged that she 'had been caught' and slowly headed back toward me and Sadie.

It was a good attempt to get away and she is never too happy when she gets caught.

Sadie sprinted to her and touched noses, just to let her know she needed to head home. It's funny to see that on a consistent basis, whenever Sadie touches noses like that, Stella will always turn and follow Sadie or will run to the door at home if she is in the yard.

Neither of them waited for me to catch up to them. They trotted away from me and got in one last exploration before I got even with them.

Not sure what will take place today. With it being cold outside it seems like a pretty good day to stay inside and read books. Sadie will bother me a couple of more times wanting to walk but the first of many football games today and tonight, start at 2pm.

I've decided to scan only the old hound photos that I want to post on the blog and keep the rest of them in the albums of packages. They don't take up that much room, it's just that I don't look at them much since they are out of view, yet I do look at a lot of my pictures that are downloaded in the computer.

Another sunny but cold day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.