This Weather Still Amazes Me

I hate talking about my local weather everyday but it's amazing and hard to believe for the month of February here in the Midwest.

It was cold today with winds changing from their normal SW direction and brought cold air from the NW/N around 15mph.

We still got our two walks in, bundled up in the down parka, ski cap and ski gloves. It was cold with that wind blowing but it was sunny and I could handle that. With the winds, most of our day stayed around 40° and the 'feels like" close to 33°. The hounds got their walks in and solid amount of sleep throughout the day.

Starting tomorrow that is a different story and what I find amazing. I am looking at a 10 day forecast of no days below 62° and even one day above 70°, which means Heidi may actually go outside and spend some time in the yard.

I decided this morning I wasn't going to say a word to Stella or Sadie on our morning walk ... they could roam where they wanted and eat what that wanted ... I was tired of saying 'come on' and 'stop eating crap'.

About the time I took this next picture of Stella I turned the opposite direction so I wouldn't see what it was she was eating.

Same with Sadie ... I turned after taking the picture and kept walking.

I figured I would have to pick Stella up on the way back and most likely over by the woods behind the neighbor's house but I was wrong ... as I turned to see what she was doing ... she was sprinting toward me.

I thought she was going to slow down next to me to get a pat on the back but she kept running to catch up with Sadie. Both of them stayed out in front of me for the first half of the walk.

Sadie got there first ... Stella decided to find her own.

By this time the wind had picked up speed and it's the coldest air I have felt in a couple of weeks. I kept thinking about tomorrow and how the high temperature would be close to 64°. Would it be too much to dream about a mild March and close out a mild 2017 winter?

As I walked along the back edge of the field, both hounds explored different areas of that part of the field. That was fine with me, they were out in the open doing what they wanted to do and were within walking distance if I had to go get Stella later.

Sadie saw I was getting too far ahead and came toward me in a full out sprint. I was lucky to catch her with ears flying and both front paws off the ground. This will rank as one of her top pictures out of the 8,000 I have taken of her. That number does not include the pictures I took her first two years and lost them when I reformatted my Windows PC, thinking I had backed up the week before.

Sadie decided she was going to stick right next to me for a while so I wouldn't get too far away. Stella was oblivious to any kind of life outside of the area her nose and mouth occupied.

This is a distance picture as we make the final turn and head for home. You cannot beat a day like today for the month of February.

For a split second I thought of walking and not saying a word, even back to the house without Stella, thinking I'd come back outside and hook her up to the leash over by the neighbor's woods. I didn't want to do that today so I called her name a few times and never got a response.

Sadie and I headed over to her and about 3' from her she lifted her head and started trotting in my direction ... right past me.

With both of them still pretty far ahead of me, Stella kept stopping and looking in the direction of the woods. Had the neighbors laid out some kind of food for the few animals that wander at night? Or did she smell that unidentified animal she chased a few weeks ago.

Whatever it was, she decide she needed to sit down and analyze the situation before I got up to her.

We moved on, but she was still curious as she faced that direction while she walked away from the woods.

All I needed to say was 'milk bone' and they took off sprinting for the house. I don't feed them that brand name of bone but one with no grain and made with peanut butter. They know what I am talking about when I say those two words. We don't have them every day but enough to where they never forget.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking a large pot of beans and then some cornbread which I baked inside a cast iron skillet. I have a couple of ballgames I'll be watching tonight. 

I did not take the camera with me on our afternoon walk. It was colder so I wanted to make it short as possible. We walked the full distance but I had Stella on the 25' retractible leash.

Are you a true fan of a team if you have been kinda hoping your team loses games this past month and for the rest of the season, so it increases the chances of the coach being fired after the season? That is where I and a lot of alumni are at right now this basketball season.

You may have noticed I have added a new blog on the sidebar, named Bedlam Farm. I have disagreed with Jon on some things over the years yet we have found common ground after exchanging a few emails. He has a lot of great photography and information on his blog. He will usually post 3-5 times per day, has readers from all over the world in the millions of viewers.

He is a professional writer with over 26 books on dogs, and a few about the farm animals he has on his farm in upper state New York. Like he says, he is not a farmer but a writer living on a farm. He blogs honestly, very open, at times direct, and at times he will cause controversy. His comment section is closed because he gets enough of those comments on his Facebook account.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in is blog and decided to add it to the sidebar today. 

I am still debating in my mind whether to put the link to the site I blogged about the other day, PuppySpot, up on my sidebar. I do have a basset rescue site I've used up on the left sidebar and this site would be similar except all of their puppies are for sale. 

I know that the link to the old VW buses site has nothing but VW buses that are for sale but I posted that link mostly for readers to be able to view them not really buy them.

I have always stayed away from posting links to different sites that dealt with hounds or cars. I have had a surprising number of people ask me in the past if I would link their site, where they are selling something. I haven't done that because I didn't want the blog to turn into a blog showing things for sell. That is not the reason for this blog. 

If I really wanted to do that, I'd monetize it by setting up a bunch of affiliate links and maybe even a 'donate button' for the hounds, collected by PayPal. Not interested.

I think I will just stick to writing about the hounds and a little about retirement life here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Can The Hounds Handle This Pace?

Just a couple of months short of 3 years, "we knew the job would be dangerous when we took it" ... retirement that is.

I knew I would be leaving days full of meetings, and deadlines to becoming a full-time 'doorman' for the hounds. Their day might change a little, while mine would be changing a lot. There was Winston at that time, no Stella. Only one bloodhound unlike now. Yet, Stella has adapted to the fast pace of retirement very well.

Long time blog readers know there isn't a lot of change from day to day here in 'the tropics'. This fast paced lifestyle even bores me at times and I find it hard to blog about it. Seeing all three hounds everyday is a motivating factor to keep blogging. Seasons determine how much gets done around here. One of four of them will determine if we are hibernating or doing new projects outside ... with some of those projects happening every spring. As long as the weather is good, we get two hound walks in per day.

Stella continues her new routine of walking with Sadie and I. She might lag back a little but now it's only for her to stop so she can scratch what is itching her. In between the walks all three of the hounds sleep most of the time, unless it's time for lunch. I read today the average amount of time a dog sleeps is 16 hours per day, that seems like a lot. They let me know when I have gone past meal time.

I'm not sure of the reason but it seems to me that both hounds have lost some of their energy lately. Is that because they feel it's still winter as they wait for the hot sunshine in the spring and summer to get them running more, playing more? We will see and it's something I have to keep an eye on I think. Otherwise they act normal for bloodhounds and bassets.

They didn't spend a lot of time in the far right corner this morning. Just a quick run through to check out some smells and they were back up with me. It was nice this morning, mid 40's, sun was out. There are many consecutive days in the 60's about 3 days away ... that should carry us through the month of February and very hard to believe after three months of winter.

It might be because they are female hounds but there has never been a fight between Sadie and Stella when they find the same thing in the field or eat the same kibble only a few feet apart. That's good because I am not sure I could break them up due to their size. Not only are they big but strong. Heidi holds her own when it comes to eating. Her bowl is a good 6' feet away from the larger hounds.

On the way back this morning I saw Stella behind us itching whatever is bothering her lately. Without calling her, she ran to catch up with Sadie and I. The leash has been in my pocket every walk but has not been used in a while. It would only take a deer chase to change this laidback pace.

I've had a slow leak in the rear tire of the Z4. I have been putting air into the tire on a more frequent basis, so I ran it over to the local tire shop today between hound walks to see what they could find. It was just a small bead leak and an easy fix.

Stella has been on a record pace lately as far as NOT causing damage while I am gone. It's been over two months now since her last separation anxiety attack. I hope she has realized that this is where she lives and that I will return after those times I leave the house. At 18 months living here, it is the longest she has lived anywhere in her 7 years.

To some it would be a pretty boring Tuesday but it's the norm around here. I have a lot of things I want to do this spring and summer around the house so it will be busier than last summer. With Stella's desire to 'drift away' while outside, I will have to put her on the 80' tether in the field while I work. She doesn't mind it.

This afternoon's walk was about as slow as you can imagine. Sadie walked close to me most of the the walk, not far enough away to take any pictures. Stella didn't run but walked most of the way a few paces behind us. I swear I can hear her dragging her feet when she walks that slow.

I've spent more time on the computer this week doing some reading and research, therefore my book reading has decreased a lot compared to the past two weeks. Maybe it's the subject matter that has slowed me down.

The reminder from the Cincinnati Reds page on Facebook tells me opening day is only 48 days away. Hard to believe they started spring training yesterday with pitchers and catchers, with the rest of the team starting in a few days ... with spring training games in a couple of weeks. It seems like MLB season gets longer each year.

The rest of our afternoon didn't change much. The hounds went back to sleep after their 2nd walk. I grabbed a salad and went back to reading on the internet while watching traffic on the highway outside the large window.

I was wondering if it will snow sometime in March? What did I tell you, it's a furious pace to try to keep up with.

One of the best winters ever here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

A Great Winter So Far

I know it's still early in the winter but I have to say that this winter has been mild here in 'the tropics'. We haven't had any snow to speak of. Ground cover does not count.

I look out ten days on the forecast and I am seeing 4 days this week in the high 60s. That gets us close to the end of February.

Now there is still a chance for all hell to break lose with snow blizzards but that did not happen last year either. We missed all the storms north of us. I do remember in the past wearing t-shirt and shorts on the 7th of March and I can remember the blizzard was so bad they declared a state of emergency the 23rd of March .... in different years, if not decades.

In the meantime the temps are swinging back and forth between the 20s and the 60s, with this morning starting at 28°. Over the weekend it was nice enough for the hounds and I to spend a lot of time outside. They explored while I picked up every stick or tree limb blown into the yard this winter.

Stella continues her new routine of following Sadie and I on our walks. Those times where she might decide to hang back, if I even mention the leash, she starts walking to me. In some cases she acts like I have attached a leash to her.

It was sunny and crisp on this morning's walk. Light frost covered the leaves and grass. It wasn't bad even though it was about 25° colder than yesterday during this time.

Both hounds were on their own but stayed pretty well in the vicinity of my path.

While I walked they both explored. When I called their names they came running.

Yet, there is always something on their way that causes them to stop and further investigate.

I was able to pick up every stick or twig that I could see on Saturday. There was not as many as last year and so far this burn pile has been the smallest I have seen since living here. Usually by the spring it's 3' to 4' high.

When I asked Heidi if she wanted to join us on our afternoon walk, she hopped off the bed and ran to the door. She didn't want to go on the walk though, she wanted to check out the front yard and the slowly walk up the driveway.

A little after noon I thought the hounds might want to walk. It was beautiful outside and in the mid 40s. I thought it was odd that as we walked outside Sadie was not doing her normal 'happy dance' and both hounds barely moved around the backyard.

Had I interrupted their siestas? Could it be possible the hounds were not that interested in taking a mid-day walk? We went about 50' and turned around. They came inside and went back to the spots I woke them up in and went back to sleep. Unbelievable.

The rest of the afternoon was just as quiet. We made a few short trips outside to enjoy the weather, check the mail and look at both engine compartments of each car. Last winter I found a mice nest in the engine compartment of the Mini Cooper S I had.

Sadie decided it was time for the 2nd walk of the day and off we went.

I think you can see Stella's walk was pretty exciting. It fits her personality.

Of course as they search the field, they are only looking for one thing.

It's been a pretty lazy Monday really. I had no plans with a couple of hopes of some house work and possibly a load of laundry ... neither got done. There is always tomorrow when you are retired, no deadlines, no meetings ... it's perfect.

It was a beautiful day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana today.