The High Temps Hit The Hounds

Heidi snuck off to one of her favorite places after lunch. She turned down an offer to go on the walk and did not move an inch during the 30 minutes we were gone.

Things went as planned this morning after I posted the morning post. The load of laundry went smooth and for the 2nd time in a row after not cooperating the time before that, the old wash machine went through the spin cycle without a hitch. Maybe that belt realigned itself.

The hounds were almost to the point of revolt when they did not get fed lunch when they wanted but I'm not going to feed them lunch at 10:30am. Don't you think that is a little early for lunch??

So by noon they were more than happy to run to their bowls of kibble. As always, all of us headed outside ... Stella found her a spot while Sadie needed to scratch her back by rolling on the hot grass. You can barely see her legs in the air on the right side of the picture.

But they wanted more, not food ... they wanted to go on their walk right now, and not wait for a few hours. Stella looked at Sadie for the call.

Sadie was already giving me her stare down but I knew they didn't realize just how hot it was. I could really feel the heat for the first time this spring. I found out later it was 85°.

I checked with Heidi to make sure she didn't want to go. Walking was not an option with her today. She had moved into one of her favorite spots out front and was going to enjoy the quiet sunshine for as long as she could.

Needless to day, Sadie was more than thrilled when she saw I was walking toward the field with my camera in hand. She went from jumping up in excitement to hitting me in my left knee in a full speed sprint.

Stella did follow us this afternoon. I didn't think there was a chance of that when I saw her through the camera view finder. The hotter it is the slower she moves.

Sadie was sure she must have missed something in her investigation in this same area this morning. She ran directly to that spot and started her search all over again. She was going in figure 8's all over those bushes to the right of her.

She glanced over at Stella for a little help, but Stella was heading off into the opposite direction, her nose to the ground.

Since I couldn't be in two different directions at once, I chose to go with Sadie and let Stella go where she wanted. Sadie had stopped and glanced in the direction of the gully so I needed to make sure that was not going to happen.

Stella didn't get far. It is another one of the stops she does not miss. The times I have walked over to see what is so good to her, I don't see anything but some mashed wet grass ... maybe the deer scat is gone by the time I check.

By this point on the walk I thought the hounds would probably sleep the rest of the afternoon. It was hot and both of them were dragging now on the walk. Sadie was already panting before we got back and Stella put it in first gear to finish the walk. I was beginning to think she might not make it back to the house until after dark.

No matter what ... Stella will always go at her speed.

After being on the walk for almost 30 minutes, I stepped out front to see if Heidi was there. The only thing she had moved were her eyelids, which were almost closed when I snapped the shutter.

The bloodhounds and I went back inside. They wanted water and I wanted some ice tea. Heidi stayed out front in that one spot for almost an hour. By the time I finished folding clothes, she had moved to the backyard and sat in the sun for another 30 minutes.

With everything finished inside it was time to go outside and enjoy the hot sunshine. Sadie was back to investigating the whole backyard inch by inch while Stella headed way out into the field.

Sadie rarely lays down in the backyard and won't just sit in one place. With her DNA, she cannot sit still outside and is almost in constant motion. She was only walked less than an hour before this but ran to go back outside.

I put the book I was reading in my chair and walked out into the field to bring Stella back. If she was going to roam I needed to put her on the tether today. It wasn't a minute after I returned to my chair that she walked into the yard, found her sleeping spot and took a short nap, tether and all.

The thing is ... If I were to take the tether off of her while she slept, she would wake up and then wander out to the field again.

It wasn't 15 minutes later that Stella decided it was too hot to sleep outside. I could see her panting and I knew a long string of drool would not be far behind. I also decided the gnats had won another war but Sadie wasn't concerned about the heat nor the gnats.

The urge hit for a Z4 drive. The hounds must have heard the keys when I walked in because Heidi ran for the couch and both bloodhounds headed for the dog bed in the corner of the bedroom ... they were more than anxious to sleep in cooler conditions.

After my 42 mile loop where I didn't go faster than 60mph longer than a minute, the sky was filling up with gray clouds from the west. Just like they said it would happen last night on the local tv weather. I did not have all the yard to mow but half of the backyard was tall enough to mow and if I waited the next three days for the rain to stop I would not be mowing the yard but baling the yard like hay.

So, a pretty productive day today considering it's been a week or more of procrastination. Next on the hit list will be giving Heidi a bath and trimming nails of all the hounds. That might take place in the morning but I'm pretty flexible when it comes to changing plans.

Looking at the weather radar it looks like the storms will be here later tonight.

I can't believe the week is half over here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Sadie Tracks & Stella Wanders

With overcast skies, a strong breeze whipping through the house from the southwest, it was time for the first walk of the day. Sadie locked into a scent and took off, while Stella wandered on her own.

I am going to attempt to write content under the picture instead of above the picture like I have the past year or so. It's interesting to see just how hard it is to adjust on something so simple.

I wish I would have had my camera ready to take the quick movement of Sadie hopping out of those bushes into a full out sprint.

By the time I was able to focus and click the shutter she was halfway down the path. ALL of these pictures of her took less than one minute of time.

I think the scent she locked into was from the large birds (hawks) that I see sometime taking off from a sitting position, hidden in the tall grass as Sadie approaches. I did not see any birds go airborne but it seems more like a bird scent rather than a deer scent.

I decided from the start of the walk I'd let Stella do anything she wanted today, even if I had to get her out of the neighbors yard on the way back. I did not have to do that but she was in that area and a little too close to the road for my comfort.

I barely saw her as I glanced in this area to see if she might be there. I immediately zoomed in for a better view and that is the first picture of her above this one.

She was wagging her tail a little with her head to the ground and moved quickly in each direction. I was happy to see her in this location rather than the neighbor's yard or small wooded area.

She obviously had found something and not too close to the highway. It's hard to tell but she is farther back from the road than my backyard.

It was at this point in time I sent Sadie out on a "Search and Rescue" (SAR) mission.

Sadie and I walked over to her and told her "let's go home" and she followed with Sadie behind me, too close for any pictures. She seems to be much better today than she was on Friday and over the weekend.

Now that the sunshine is out at this point of the post, I'll be outside this morning reading while I do a small load of laundry ... as long as the gnats stay away. Otherwise, I'll do my waiting for laundry to finish reading inside.

The little voice in my head is screaming "dust the house today" ... I still have not found the house 'to do' list ... maybe l like doing those kind of things in 80°- 90° weather where it is much more uncomfortable and miserable, rather than finish the list of tasks while the temps are bearable.

Too much procrastination going on right now.

I hear the birds, see the sunshine, and hear Sadie snoring, so all is good this morning here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana

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.