Stella Regains Total Freedom This Morning

It really wasn't planned until soon after the walk started this morning. We started our morning a few hours later today because I was up last night until the wee hours of the morning looking through Pinterest. It was the first time I had ever really looked at all the info that was on that website. Stella didn't mind the late start ... she could tell she was going to have a good day today.

Sadie likes to start her day by searching for that black cat that I saw weeks ago but she has never seen. She knows it has been through 'her' yard and she wants to make sure the cats and the moles are not out and about when she is in the yard. At least she does not dig for moles ... but she can smell them.

Once again Stella trotted past me as I stepped into the field, to catch up to Sadie. It wasn't a run but fast enough that I could not catch her on camera. That is good to see. It leans her situation to the more positive side when wondering if/what is wrong with her.

Sadie was so anxious to get started on the walk that she stopped and looked at Stella and I wondering what the hold up was. She had places to go and scents to check out and after all we were a couple of hours late this morning.

I could tell as soon as Stella stopped and very early in the walk that she wasn't going to move. With the high temps of 86° yesterday, it was already hot and muggy as I waited for her. It was at that time I thought to myself "why not" ???  Let's end the 'adult supervision' on her walk and let her do what she wants at her own pace.

Since she was not running these past few months it would be doubtful she would take off chasing deer if she saw them. Her walking pace has slowed down from 'slow' to 'slower', so I was pretty sure that she wouldn't get too far once me and Sadie were on our way back home.

While Sadie and I approached the first turn I looked back to see if there were any signs of Stella running toward us. As you can see, she may have been heading our direction but the tall grass made it hard to find her. I figured there would be two spots I'd find her on the way back and I was willing to let her roam on her own today ... for the first time in a couple of months.

Sadie charged on not even waiting for me to catch up. I had to zoom the camera lens to even get this close to her.

She also did a final check to see if her 'partner in crime' was coming. She could do what I couldn't to get her answer ... smell and listen for Stella.

Just as she got very interested in the spot where she was standing I heard what I assumed was a rabbit making it's escape with the sounds coming from the wooded area. It was loud with something running away, so maybe it was something besides a rabbit.

As Sadie and I neared the back edge of the field, I turned to check on Stella. I did not expect to see any signs of her and I could tell from this angle it would be hard to see her once we started our return home. Although the center of the lower part of the field isn't nearly as tall as it is near the backyard or this photo angle.

As Sadie walked along side of me along the back ... I could tell the heat was getting to her. It was in the high 70's but felt muggy.

As we turned for home I told Sadie "go find Stella" ... she took off and then stopped to smell the air, hoping to pick up Stella's scent.

I had expected to find Stella in the center of the field or over by the neighbor's woods. Lately with the field so wet in the shaded area, we have been cutting down the center of the field in the sunshine toward the north edge of my yard, where the tall grass is a little dryer. From that path I would be able to see Stella.

What a shock it was to glance left of me along the path we take 'out' to the field when I saw 'moving red' ... it was Stella. She had moved no farther than from the edge of the tree line on the right side of the picture to where she is seen now.

She was as surprised to see me as I was her ... she started a slow trot my direction. I don't think Sadie saw her because she was heading up the return path toward home.

Since bloodhounds feel that the earth spins on their time and everybody should adjust their own schedules to theirs, it was no surprise to see her trot right past me and head up the return path as if we were going to start the walk over, so she could finish the 1/2 mile trek.

She even veered in the direction of the neighbors house but followed along the side of me once I called her name.

Since Sadie and I were back on Stella's pace it took probably as much time to walk from here to the house as it did for Sadie and I to do the majority of the walk. There is always enough new scents to check out even in the end.

Sadie was in a hurry to get back inside where it was cooler, while Stella never sped up. That's fine with me ... I was happy to see her active and enjoying herself.

It's too bad that the floods occurred a few weeks ago, where they had to plow under the damage and replant corn in the brown area. Turning right behind the trees is where the majority of this field lies. It goes for almost a half mile and all of that was replanted.

This field is to the left across the one lane gravel road. It was the 'field of yellow' ... wild mustard flowers. Once the floods overtook the field, this is what is left. I can't tell if they went in and cut some of it down while we were taking a siesta here at the house ... but I wonder if they plan on planting anything. Shows you how much I know about farming (nada .. zip) when I ask a question like that.

I also have the same question about the field behind the one we walk in. What are they waiting on or are they going to give the land a year off from producing crops?

Everybody is in the mowing mood today. While writing this post I heard tractors so I grabbed the camera in just enough time to catch the 2nd one doing what the state highway department will do months from now ... mowing the grass between his field and the highway.

The other person that was mowing yesterday and today, is my new neighbor. He moved in the past few days and comes with an interesting story. Before I relay that info, he has mowed the large yard back as low as the ground, looking like a brown fairway on a Midwestern golf course in August. I like it lower but it will need some rain to look good again.

When I saw the U-Haul truck on Thursday I stopped by on my way back from the early morning trip to the hardware store, to introduce myself and see if he needed any help. I'll not go into detail of our conversation but hit the main points that you might find interesting ... and gives me reason to believe maybe I am living in a pretty nice place that I have taken for granted after all these years.

He is from Louisiana and works in the oil fields in Texas. In the past he had worked at the large government base nearby and loved this area. So he decided to move back 'up here' and 'work down there'. That's quite a commute from 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana to the oil fields in Texas.

From his new Ford F-150 to all the toys he brought with him ... it looks like oil jobs are still paying good income.  LOL

So far the hounds have stood and looked in that direction since they are seeing activity next door for the first time in 3 years. I'll have to keep an close eye on Stella because she looks as if she could take off running after that ATV, as if she and an ATV has some sort of past.

You'll notice some new blogs added to the sidebar later. They are the blogs and websites I found late last night that led me to Pinterest and signing up for a account. I'll use that site for collecting info but I have no plans of posting photos of my hounds there.

With the thermometer heading for 88° again today, the AC will kick on automatically. It was turned on for the first time of the year yesterday. Whenever I notice the hounds panting inside with the windows open that's a sign it's time to batten down the hatches on turn on the AC full-time.

Heidi is going to get a bath today and will enjoy the cool water rinse after that warm warm washes the shampoo off.

I cannot get over this fantastic weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Heidi's Friday Afternoon

Most activity around here usually picks it's pace up right after the hounds have their lunch. Even I become more motivated to get things done inside and outside of the house that are on my 'to do' list. With the temperature well into the 80's by noon on Friday ... Heidi headed to the backyard with the Sadie and Stella instead of her normal path to the front yard. That's a good sign for her.

After dumping her tanks just a few steps into the field, she scampered back to a certain spot and laid down in the grass that I just mowed on Thursday afternoon. As I sat in a chair taking these pictures I could feel just how hot the sun was ... my kind of weather.

Stella seems to like the heated stone just a much as she like the heated grass ... either one is perfect for napping.

Heidi thought so too.

It's not often that Sadie will sit or lay in one place when she is outside since she is always on the move. Friday afternoon's hot temps may have placed a factor.

Stella had already decided she was going to sleep while Sadie, Heidi and I took pictures.

Sadie is giving me the look, telling me it's too hot and she wants to go back inside.

Once Sadie started walking toward the door, Stella woke up and Heidi jumped up to follow us to the house. I had already loaded up my one container of recyclable ... paper, cardboard, plastic ... so it was time to make a trip to the recycling center. Heidi decided to come along for the ride as long as I kept the windows down.

It's the first time she has ridden in the Mini Countryman and the first time the car will get some hound dog initiation with some left over drool. She found that door handle to be the perfect place to lay her head and her nose on the edge of the window as we drove down the highway.

It was easy to wipe off and in the future I will not wait for drool to dry before cleaning it up. By the time we were back inside and I let the bloodhounds into the rest of the house ... all three hounds took their afternoon siestas. I went back to playing that addicting 2048 Tiles app game.

It's was good taking off a day from house maintenance tasks.

Sadie Sprints With Eyes Skyward

It was the normal calm daily morning walk with the bloodhounds, starting with wet grass while in the shade and not quite as wet out in the sunshine. In the past it has been deer that lead the hounds to an immediate sprint and a chase ... but today there were 4-5 small birds flying just above Sadie like a WWII fighter planes in a dogfight that drove her to edge of insanity.

We started the walk with Stella leading the way on the left side. That has been her recent path and then close to the first turn she will veer right to join Sadie and I. Since we only took two walks yesterday instead of three, she may have had a little extra energy today.

Sadie did her normal investigation along the edge of the field and woods. With the hay and other stuff growing taller you can see a distinct path of where the deer travel through the night or early morning hours.

Stella is no longer interested in chasing deer (missed last chase), nor chasing birds ... it seems she only walks in the field to find and eat deer scat. In spots like this she will ignore everything I say and will not budge even when I say 'let's go' or tug at her collar.

One the way back home, she did get a little trotting in but no high speed runs like she used to. That was until today, although it was a short burst of speed.

They were both walk along 5' feet to my right side, when Sadie does an unusual bark and takes off sprinting full speed. I saw no deer anywhere in sight and whatever she was chasing was at ground level. Before I could barely get the camera up and focused, Stella sprinted after Sadie but slowed down soon after reaching her.

During this time as I was trying to catch Sadie's chase on camera, I did not see anything that she was chasing ... to the point I was a little confused.

Here Sadie as sprinted from the middle of the field back close to the far right corner where we past during our walks. By this time Stella was totally out of the chase, slowly walking back to that place she never moves. She stayed there all through Sadie's chase and until I walked over to get her to move.

Picture 4-5 small birds flying and darting all over the sky just above Sadie's head as she sprinted after them all over the field. Sadie never stopped one time after the chase started, until the end.

Those pictures don't capture how fast Sadie was running.

Then the birds were gone ... Sadie watched as they flew NE over the next field behind us.

She still made sure not a bird was left before she ran back to me.

While walking from where I was directly to Stella I ran onto a spot toward the back/middle of the field where it looks like a possible deer bed.

With the shaded area on our return path still very wet, these past few days the hounds and I have been staying in the sunshine, walking in the directly to the north side of the yard. Stella likes the new path in that part of the field and in the meantime I found a few new flowers to photograph.

I finished my trim painting early yesterday afternoon. I ended up doing more than I planned on by trying to use up that last 3/8 can of paint. I was at the local hardware store just as they opened up at 8am. I needed to buy some more of that 4-star dog food they sell and I wanted to buy some calk/silicone along with my first purchase ever .. Gorilla glue.

You can see the red foundation paint I pictured the other day is covered up again. It's pretty amazing when I power wash the house next spring that some new spots might blow off where the green paint has bubbled up but that red paint will always be there. It does not move even with a direct hit of the power wash water.

I missed this spot in August 2010 and again yesterday. I will have to lie down a little lower to see and paint over that small spot of gray just left of center and below the door trim.

It wasn't until this morning as I was taking pictures of what I had completed as a reference for future years to see if I am having damage in the same spots every couple of years ... when I noticed I missed another spot on the green paint. I am not sure how I did that. With my new plan for green paint, it will not be a problem to paint over that spot at the same time I paint under the door.

When I was about to finish yesterday I had between a 1/4 and 1/2 gallon of green paint left. It had been opened and closed a few times over the past 7 years for touch up work. The paint can lid was to the point it was not sealing all the way after I would tamper it down with a hammer so I decide I'd paint on the back side of the house until the paint was gone.

I still have one never opened gallon of paint on the shelf left from the house painting job in 2010. So it wasn't a big deal about getting rid of what I had left in the can I was using. It shocked me I was able to paint the exterior side of the carport and still having just a little paint left in the can.

From the way the attic looks they built the carport the same time they built the house, yet the exterior back side of the carport has wood siding instead of the aluminum siding the rest of the house has. I cannot say I have ever been a fan of the lattice design here on the front between the living room windows but I've never figured out what else to do with it.

I am up for suggestions for that area.

By the time I put the ladder away, cleaned the paint brush and my hands, I couldn't remember what day of the week it was ... Thursday or Friday were my guesses. I had also lost track of time. There was still plenty of daylight to mow the yard and the sun was much higher in the sky than I would have guessed. I found out it was only 5pm and my paint project had been put up and away.

Then ... I saw again ... I had forgot to paint the trim inside the carport, very similar to me forgetting to high pressure wash the fence until I was about to put that equipment away. No big deal, because my new plan with the one gallon of paint that has been sitting on my shelf since 2010 is to paint the carport, the front of the house and whatever I have left in the can.

With my lawn of green grass, clover and weeds I thought it was looking pretty good since March when it looked the worst ever from the mild winter and high mole activity. This morning it was sad to see that the moles have returned. I've tried everything over the 19 summers that I have been here, to kill the grub worms thus keep the moles out of the yard. Probably impossible to do living next to a field.

Due to the hounds paws, I am not a fan of spraying chemicals of any kind on the yard or driveway so the weeds grow wild and the moles tear up my yard. What's the solution?

I was so tired and sore last night that I told myself I'd take the day off today. I have so far and it's already 11:30am. I usually get a burst of motivation right after the hounds have their lunch kibble and I must admit I have a "slight urge" to paint the trim of the carport today. With no rain in the forecast until Sunday night I would also have Saturday to do the same thing and still recoup for a day.

Weather so far this spring and summer has been unbelievable good in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.