What A Siesta That Was !!

It started like a normal afternoon, only to be swarmed over by a long three hour siesta.

I didn't plan on sleeping the afternoon away but I did. I still have time to enjoy a few hours of sunshine. Just a few because my nightly Reds baseball on tv starts at 7:40pm. There is something relaxing watching baseball or at least have in on in the background.

Right after the hounds had their lunch kibble we all went outside. They did their normal wandering, dumping their tanks if needed. I grabbed the weed eater and took off down the back side of the house and over to the 'new' bank where I am trying to grow grass.

Once the Black & Decker 20v Lithium battery went dead, it was time to come back inside grab my book for some reading and head back outside. Once the gnats won the war I went back inside and played a few games of Mahjong.

I can usually tell when I might be tired from my fast paced lifestyle. When I finish Mahjong games in 4 minutes or longer, instead of 3 minutes or less, that tells me I either didn't sleep well or my mind is a little slow today.  My goal is to get the games I have left over 3 minutes to under 3 minutes.

While reading my book I realized those two cups of coffee and two eggs had reached the end of their nutritious path through my system. I was hungry but didn't know what for. I've been eating really good food lately and not speeding off to the nearest fast food joint for my meals.

I pushed the hunger pains away and continued to read. Later, by the third game of Mahjong I figured why not? Why wait for dinner just to have a large plate of pasta? With my busy schedule I can still fit in a large meal in the early afternoon time period.

With that carbo load and no physical activity to follow, It wasn't long where I was staggering toward the bedroom, letting the hounds know I was headed for a siesta. Stella followed me, Heidi stayed in her prime spot on the couch and Sadie of course was sitting by the open screen door checking out all the birds that had landed on her fence.

I don't remember the exact time it started but I ended up becoming conscious again around three hours later. Sadie was hopping up and down, somewhere between barking and moaning ... telling me she either couldn't wait much longer to go outside or we had been robbed. I chose that she had to go outside.

Not only did she sprint for the field but she didn't stop there. She wanted a walk after spending all afternoon trying to break into the locked lid dog food container. While I was sleeping she had slid out four barbells weighing 15# and 25# each, only used now to block the dog food container in the closet floor instead of staying in shape.

I guess I could shut the closet door to prevent that access to all that kibble locked in it's safe zone but when you downsize and have no other place to store your carpet shampoo rug doctor machine, the high pressure hose machine and my camping equipment ... it's just a little crowed to close that door.

Stella hung around for most of our afternoon walk. When she did wander off on her own she was always within sight and trotted to catch up to Sadie. That is really a good sign.

With the outdoor temps at 78°, Sadie had not paced herself and the heat caught up with her by the end of the walk ... nothing like dragging your tongue back to the house, panting.

That was a sure sign that I needed to brew up a new batch of ice tea. As I glanced at the indoor room thermometer near my computer and saw 77°, I remembered those times this winter when that same thermometer would say 55° before turning the heat on. I laughed at the new temps and wondered how long it would be this summer before I would turn on the A/C.

Just as I stepped inside the carport with the hounds right on my heels, the sunshine caught the field just right where I could see the new growth, with bright green rows showing up in all that brown.

(there I go again, writing the content above the photo I am talking about)

While making the ice tea I thought about a Z4 drive. The perfect time for it in an hour or so when it was a little cooler. But I really wasn't in the mood to drive anywhere. I am pretty hooked on baseball right now, so I'll be on the couch next to a stretched out sleeping Stella and a curled up sleeping Heidi watching the game until it gets uninteresting.

Another good sign that Stella is feeling better ... she is chewing the heck out of her large NylaBone.

There is always tomorrow to get to work on that 'to do' list, I just have to find where I hid it.

I guess I should have taken a chance on Friday and joined the hounds in eating their attractive beef looking chews from NetGard. They have been tickless for days now after their walks and all those small creatures are finding me. At least they are smaller in size this spring but nothing like feeling that something is crawling on your before you realize what is on you.

It's time to grab a large glass of ice tea and head back outside so the hounds can roam the field while I watch and battle the gnats for an hour before the ballgame.

It's been another successful retirement day here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Stella Returning To Her Old Self

Two steps outside the door Sadie saw there were three birds near her burn pile and took off sprinting to chase them away. I didn't have my camera ready for something that fast but I did catch a glimpse of a robin's orange chest flying away.

I noticed yesterday that Stella was slowly returning to her old self. The side effects of her rabies shot were wearing off but at the same time she seemed better than last week when I took her into the vet on Friday.

This morning she trotted out to join Sadie on our first walk of the day (3 yesterday) and spent most of the walk with her tail upright and curled.

I double checked the date when I made the latest change to dog off and it was in the middle of February. To wait 16 weeks giving the food a change to make some changes or improvements that puts the wait out to the middle of June. I will take her into the vet a few times before that to use the vet scales to weigh her, while monitoring her health.

Other ways I can tell Stella is feeling better is the old bloodhound stubbornness is coming back, as evidenced in the picture blow. She is also nudging my hand more when she wants something, goes to the door and nudges the round door knob trying to open it to be let outside. Plus I've caught her a couple of times in the kitchen walking around with her nose in the air, checking to see if there is any of my fruit to steal from the bowl.

I knew at this time when she wouldn't move, that I was going to have to double back to get her. I'd left her there and continued to walk but up ahead I wasn't so sure that she wouldn't take off into the 'no-fly zone'. The last walk of the afternoon yesterday I had to call her to keep her from going that direction.

It was a slow pace back to the house but she stayed with Sadie and didn't veer off the general direction we were taking. They were not ready to come inside though when I got back to the house.

Sadie gave me the look that she wanted to stay outside, Stella never moved. I went inside to change from wet hiking boots to dry running shoes, came back outside to check on them and they were still in the same place.

It such a nice day today I can tell we will be spending a lot of time outdoors today. I can see some weed cutting on the driveway plus reading my book outdoors while the hounds roam the field. Heidi has decided her favorite place during all this good weather is INSIDE on the couch sleeping while she enjoys the breeze coming through the large living room window on the north side of the house.

Have you noticed in this post I am trying to write the content that goes with the picture below instead of on top of it? It's funny just how hard that is to change.

Counting the picture above here are some highlights from yesterday's 1pm walk. After this walk we stayed outside. While they slowly inspected all of the field and part of the north backyard, I continued to read an old paperback book off my self "Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance".

I started reading that book weeks ago but it's a slow read so I go back and forth to it from other books I am reading. I saw where the author of that book died yesterday.

The Single Point AF would not focus on the contrails but when I changed the setting to Auto Area AF it did.

By yesterday afternoon the sun was hot enough that you could feel some heat instead of just enjoying it's brightness. It just reminds me how much I like hot weather compared to freezing temps.

Stella always thinks it is time to slow her pace when it's that hot outside.

Back in 2011 I had a friend bring his bush hog over to cut down all the overgrown wild bushes on the north side of the yard. It had been that way even before I moved here. Somewhere buried inside that growth is the old fence post from the 1940's.

For the next few years after he cut it, I would keep it trimmed down with my then working Echo weed eater with the steel blade. You might notice there are a few small saplings that grew quite tall amongst all of that.

It wasn't until April 2015, almost 4 years later, that I became motivated enough to start clearing all of that out. You can read about it here.

It wasn't so much about my motivation but two things happened since 2011. (1) When my neighbor bought the field in back they had it surveyed for property lines. That pole on the left side is what they came up with. Telling me that my property line was out to the pole.

Of course that survey does not match the property line survey I have with my original paperwork when I bought the house in 1998. My survey shifts all of it toward the camera (south) to where this property line pictured is no further than 25' from the edge of my house. That is even before the fence you see at times on this side of the yard.

The (2) that happened, that once they told me this is the property line I had a clear plan on what I wanted to do with this area, so I cleared it out. I still need to put some chairs out there, with a small table to hold beverages. AT one time I was going to install a firepit and may still do that. I thought it would be a nice spot to tent camp.

This picture was taken in 2011 right before my friend started his bush hog and went to work.

This is that same area last Friday, starting it's 3rd year of grass growth. 

In 2015 when I cleared out right of the trees is when I found the old fence post and fence line. There is a 2nd post behind those trees right next to the corner post of the wood fence.

This year I decided I wanted to clear out the left side of the trees and plant grass seed, while leaving those concrete blocks where they are for erosion control. I wish I would have kept those other 51 or 52 blocks I took out of the yard when I bought the house in 1997. Little did I know the house builder in 1975 put those blocks in the ground for a reason, all I knew was they were in the way of my lawn mower.

Today will not be much different than yesterday. I might fit in a Z4 drive after the hounds have their lunch. You cannot beat this weather in the Midwest this time of year ... although ... late yesterday afternoon the 2017 squadron of gnats flew in and continued to bother me this morning during our walk.

Yes, I did almost forget to edit my pictures before publishing this post. Do you like the difference in picture quality or can you tell a difference?

Beautiful weather here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Blog Pictures Are Finally Fixed

It has been months of frustration for me when I looked at the quality of the pictures after posted on the blog. I have mentioned it three or four different times, wondering if I was going blind or possibly insane.

It all started by an email I received this morning from a fellow Blogger blog owner. They too, along with a small group of us, have been complaining for months now that our blog pictures were not as sharp as they use to be. For a long time we couldn't figure out why. Once we found out why, how do they get fixed.

He had the answer.

A few times when I talked about it on the blog some readers were wondering if we were just getting old, insane and losing our eyesight. Some of us considered moving to Wordpress and one almost stopped blogging because of poor picture quality.

So after I saw the difference in sharpness and how easy it was to fix, I edited my 8 most recent posts and saw a HUGE difference in picture quality. I decided I had time to go through my 'pages' that are tabbed across the top of the blog and see what kind of damage I could do there.

It is amazing in the difference in sharpness of the pictures. It will take a little longer to put a post together but well worth that extra time for better pictures.

About the time I finished with editing over 200 pictures, Sadie was standing right at my elbow giving me the silent treatment to let me know it was time to eat. As I glanced over at Stella, not saying a word, she started howling ... that led Heidi barking in the next room.

So lunch was served, with a little more added to Stella's stainless steel bowl. After they are finished Sadie will inspect each of their bowls to make sure that every last kibble of food is gone. She will lick all the dog food bowls clean after every meal.

So we took the normal trip outside just after the meal and found a warm day fighting against cooler winds from the north.

With the fix to the pictures, from now on you should see them with a much better sharpness, a better quality picture. The last 8 blog posts also include the corrected images, as well as the pictures in my pages across the top of the blog.

It is so nice outside that we are heading out for some book reading while the hounds either sleep in the sun or watch Sadie roam the yard and field. That 'to do' list is sitting on the desk gathering a little dust. Maybe all of the effort to clear the driveway bank a few weeks ago was too much too soon.

I might be a slacker now but it's a good Monday so far here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Stella Starts Her New Diet Of More Food

After seeing Stella's side effects over the weekend from a rabies shot on Friday night, her running to start Monday morning's walk was a welcomed sight.

I could tell from the first minute she was up that she was feeling the best she had felt all weekend. She trotted through the house to the door to be let out, then howled for breakfast and was energized for her first walk of the day.

She had not looked this alert all weekend. I implemented my 'no shots' policy immediately for all the hounds after seeing Stella on Friday night and Saturday morning. I haven't given the hounds any kind of shots for years, annual checkup ... yes, but no shots.

I was up feeding the hounds and brewing coffee by 7:10am. That's really early most of the time but it was beautiful outside in the cool mid 40's. Sadie stepped into the computer room to let me know it was time for the first walk of the day a little after 8:30am ... so off we went.

With poor lighting for taking pictures and a field overflowing with very wet grass ... both of the bloodhounds took off fast and moved out in front early. Heidi stayed back inside, sleeping on her Marmot sleeping bag as the sunshine hit her shining through the window.

The new plan is for Stella to be fed a larger quantity of kibble twice per day, plus I am adding boiled chicken and rice as in between snacks for her. That means Heidi and Sadie will get very small portions of that same food ... you cannot feed one hound and leave out the other two.

As I was looking at Stella I hear tree limbs breaking and thick bushes making a crackling sound, only to see Sadie charging through the brush with her head down and not caring what was in front of her. A couple of times she stopped and stared down into the gully, knowing that is where the deer went.

I wasn't even halfway into the walk when I see my hiking boots are soaked more than normal. Thankfully the waterproof design kept my feet nice and dry.

Stella spent most of her walk with her tail up, which to me is a good sign that she is feeling better. Over the weekend after seeing a few pictures of her you would have thought she was taking her last steps. She did not look good most of the time, very lethargic.

Sadie had followed the edge of the field into the far right hand corner, then along the backside of the field. Pictures of that trip were too washed out, even with the lens hood, to be posted.

Stella did glance over at the 'no fly zone', probably remembering her trip fro yesterday morning, but once Sadie moved in my direction she followed her. I still find it interesting that Stella stopped in the same 3 places in the field to scratch herself. Why is that?

The owner of the field lives a couple of houses down from me. He is retired but does a little farming on the side. It looks like he made a trip early this morning around his field. Maybe the sound of his 4-wheeler is what woke me up although I didn't hear it. He turned before he got close to the house, but I could tell these were fresh tracks from this morning.

She doesn't look happy when I told her she could not head in the direction of the highway down over the hill. She wasn't really going to the highway but a spot out in the middle of the field, too far off the return path home. Her stare makes me laugh.

Mostly in the afternoons after school, I will hear a "large" bark from across the highway as the hounds start our walk. Only this morning I heard that same bark and looked over to see the large St. Bernard checking us out.

She is down over the hill and across the highway, all controlled by an invisible electronic fence for dogs. They are about the same distance from the highway as I am and I find it amazing the Saint has not ran anywhere close to the highway.

I almost bought this house ten years ago, but it doesn't have anywhere to walk in the back of it. The field across from my house curls to the right and goes right behind their property. Some find it strange I would turn down a better house because of a 7 acre field in back of mine for the hound walks.

I love these wild yellow flowers and that is why I keep taking pictures of them. They will not be there after 2-3 weeks. The temps are heading to the 70's today. I am going to try and get my act together and get at least one thing lined through as finished, on my 'to do' list. Then again, spending the afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine while reading a book might be a more enticing option.

We did a little of that yesterday. While Sadie roamed the yard and field, Stella slept in the sun and Heidi stretched out in the living room.

I know the urge to blog comes and goes sometimes but I've been having the urge to blog multiple times per day since changing the format on the front page to abbreviated posts and the 'read more' link to open it up for all the pictures and rambling.

I like talking and taking pictures. During a day I end up with more pictures than one post can handle. If I decide to do multiple posts per day instead of just one, some of them may be short with just a few pictures ... similar to the "routine' post I did yesterday afternoon.

I know it's my blog and I have been told before to do what you want but I also like to blog in a way the readers like. So send me some feedback on what you do or don't like about the blog. We will put all ideas/complaints in front of the three hound review board for discussion.

I am feeling much better about Stella's condition today than I was last night.

The weather in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana had been making me lazy.

Hounds Normal Routine After Lunch

These few pictures epitomize the daily routine the hounds have right after they finish their lunch kibble.

They are let outside to make any runs to the field, except Heidi, where they will dump their tanks. Heidi prefers the front yard to do that, under the Yews if it is raining. Sadie will wander in the field or backyard during rain, hail, sleet or snow and sunshine. If it's sunny, Stella will sleep either on the hot gravel in the driveway or in the grass. Heidi will cruise the front yard before coming around the house to the back.

Stella's thinking pose before every nap, inside or outside, then she flops to her side.

Unlike months ago, I can no long feel her ribs, hip bones nor shoulders. I still think she will be close to her original weight, 45 pounds, before the loss in June 2015. I did nothing more than feed her 3 cups of kibble per day but I saw the greatest improvement in her skin and coat after the last dog food change to Wholesomes SportMix manufactured by the same company that produces Earthborn Holistic Pet Foods.

The hounds are all asleep, time for my lunch and some Reds baseball here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.