A Boring Rainy Day Turned Exciting

The predicted rain started last night and I could hear it throughout the night with the windows open. It did not even stop long enough for the hounds to take their morning trip outside while I poured out their morning kibble. Sadie made it out the yard but Stella nor Heidi were going to out in the rain to pee ... so they stood in the carport waiting until I was finished, normal routine.

Consequently it had been a pretty slow day being cooped up inside. Once the temperatures dropped to 51° I walked around and changed the storm windows from screens on the lower half to winter windows. Nothing in the 10-day forecast shows we will return to temps warm enough to open the windows. After checking the weather radar all day, trying to find an opening in the rain ... we found a gap so that we could take our first and probably only hound walk at 2:30pm.

I had already changed to jeans, a sweatshirt and a rain jacket over that for the walk. It was going to be close if we could do a complete walk and get back to the house before it started raining again. Both hounds were happy to get outside but Heidi saw that afternoon temperature and once again said 'no way'. I look for her to go out tonight at the same time she always goes out after dark.

It wasn't cold, I didn't smell any smoke in the air like the last few days. Plus the rain had not really been that heavy but it had been a light steady non-stop rain. I am wondering how late into the fall will I mow the lawn for the last time.

Stella was showing more energy than normal with a bounce to her step from the time she left the house. While I was catching up on my taped tv shows last night, she snuck away into the kitchen. Standing on her rear feet and looking over the kitchen island, she was able to pluck out my last mango out of the fruit bowl and ate everything except the large seed ... skin and all.

How did I know?

As she came back into the living room like nothing happened, thinking she would climb up on the couch on the other side of Heidi while I was watching tv ... I noticed some mango residue hanging from her jowls. A dead giveaway ... she was caught just after the act again. That is what I get for letting the mango sit for a few more days to ripen I guess.

So today we played around the computer for most of the day. My iPhone told me I needed to update my iTunes but my App Store on my iMac showed I had already did the update and the download. With my iPhone using my wifi connection to save some Verizon data I couldn't find out how large the file was ... so it started downloading and installing. You never want to stop those until they are finished ... but my Activity Monitor was clicking off data faster than I could even imagine.

iTunes update finally stopped at 2.3Gb but so far my HughesNet is not showing that much data being used. I have come to the conclusion there are very few ways a person can control their data usage anymore. All  companies that provide internet service know we are addicted and knew we will pay for more data if needed. I still think that HughesNet uses more date per day than the Exede service I was using the previous two years. By my calculations while I do basically the same type of internet surfing, HughesNet has me using about 300Mb more per day than I did with Exede.

What was a slow dragging day turned into some fast excitement while I was editing photos for this blog. The hounds didn't bark but did get up from their naps. I thought I heard knocking at the front door. That's a sign that a lost stranger is at the door because all people that know me always come to the door in the carport since that is the door we use the most.

Once I confirmed a stranger (door to door salesman) was on the front porch with the 'getaway' van parked in the driveway running ... my adrenaline increased as I move into 'game mode' ... have I ever told you how much I hate unsolicited salesmen?

As I walked through the carport around the Z4 to see who was at the door, the 'getaway' driver waved at me with his window rolled down. My pulse rate increased even more ... LOL ... I was going to have some fun as I usually do.

He had the same sales approach as the Satellite TV/Internet rep did a couple of years ago ... but he was talking so fast I really couldn't understand him ... so I let him ramble until he had to stop to breath ... then I CALMLY asked him "what the (*&#!*&&*$#@ do you want?

He made the first mistake for a sales rep, man or woman, ... he didn't listen, didn't answer my rude foul question ... he proceeded to talk just as fast as he was before following his well practiced script. At the same time he was handing me a large container of Comet. Did he think that would confuse me with a free can, worth about $2.49 at Walmart along with his fast talking.

Well ... it did !!!! I mean how many times to you get handed a large can of Comet? I can't even remember the last time I ever used it, in fact I don't think I have at least in 20 years !!!

I still have no idea what he was trying to sell me or what he wanted. He did ask me what I would use the Comet for ... my honest answer was "not a damn thing" !!!!

That answer did not even phase him. As he continued to mumble into the next phase of his sales pitch, one that he had practiced so many times before 'hitting the streets' ... I could tell he was on a mission to make this sale, after all I had a pulse, I had answered his question ... there was hope for success. For some reason he started trotting sideways down the lawn toward the back of his van as I stood there with my free (I thought) can of Comet, a $2.49 value at Walmart.

I still has ZERO IDEA what he had said or was trying to sell me !!!!

He was still mumbling something I couldn't understand as he approached the van parked half way down the driveway about 50' away from me. I yelled that I had things to do and started walking back to the door to go inside. I THINK he was yelling for me to give him MY FREE can of Comet back ... at least I thought that is what I heard .... so .... I tossed it to him from my front carport door step .... flying end over low enough to clear the roof overhang .... but I knew it was going to fall short and not reach him.

I didn't want to hurt him with a 95mph football pass so I tossed it underhand ... the last thing I saw as I opened the door was that free can of Comet hitting the wet grass, kicking up a divot from my yard, and a small chunk of yard attached to the can of Comet.

Some may think that is not nice of me ... but all is fair in war and door to door salesmen that don't listen to their potential customer.  LOL

How did he or they decide to pick my house? All of my 3 neighbors are home with trucks in their driveway ... yet as I glanced out of my large kitchen window I saw 'that van' heading south bypassing my next-door neighbor that happened to be standing by his mailbox rescuing his mail before the next rain. The van didn't even honk as they flew by him.

So any guesses what they were trying to sell me? A free container of Comet was mine to keep if I would have just signed some paperwork. I let him approach the carport from the front door because I thought he was going to try to sell me whatever satellite tv service that I did not have, which in my case they would give me the best deal on earth to switch to DishNetwork. It wasn't that.

Looking back on the experience I probably should have let the bloodhounds have all the fun. They wanted out the door bad when I opened it to walk outside. With any bloodhound, excitement brings drool, excitement of seeing people brings them close so they can figure out who they are. How would he have felt seeing two large dogs running at him with 'Gorilla Glue' type drool flying from each of their jowls with each jogging step? It's probably best that I kept them inside to prevent any chances of being sued by a scared sales rep.

As you can see in the last 24 hours the trees continued to change colors.

I guess I will have to 'google' and find out what is being sold by door to door sales reps offering free cans of Comet.

The hounds are snoring. No baseball games tonight. There is a NFL game where I have little interest in either team playing. Sounds like a good night to watch a movie or two and hope we don't have to turn on the heat.

Never a dull moment in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Hounds Started Late Today

The thing about being single and retired, you can pretty much do what you want when you want. All three hounds are very adaptable so they slide with any schedule changes without howling or barking. Then never miss their two meals per day nor there 2 walks per day at a minimum ... unless it's a downpour of rain. We always take walks in snow or ice. Yet today was much different.

Normally this would have been a type of schedule where I would binge watch my two favorite tv shows that are no longer active. In this case it was college football, not having enough tv's, and a Directv DVR that will only record two programs at a time. Those two recordings lock me into those two channels and I can't have that while trying to watch multiple football games and a MLB Playoff game. So I recorded only one game that was later shoved to the side by my recording manager priority list to record the show Dr. Jeff - The Rocky Mountain Vet.

By the time I finished watching the last 'live' college football game out in rainy Pullman WA it was somewhere in the 2am range. I was wide awake. At that time some of the sports networks were already showing replays of earlier games that I couldn't tape or missed while watching another. As you can tell time kept on moving and before I knew it ... daybreak was showing itself outside my windows.

So the hounds were fed their breakfast about 30 minutes earlier than normal since I was still up. Yet, their lunch was a couple of hours past their normal time. We didn't take our first walk of the day until after 4pm but that didn't matter to them. They had been fed twice, had their normal daytime naps and still had plenty of time for a 2nd walk before sunset and after this post.

Sadie and Stella headed opposite directions. Sadie took her normal path doing what she does best .. tracking scent. Stella slowly moved from spot to spot in what I call the 'lower field' closer to home. Either I was still to tired after watching college football games until 7am, a total of 19 straight hours ... or it just seemed right to let Stella do whatever she wanted today.

Sadie and I were walking along the back edge of the field before we knew it. It was nice to be walking on dry land without wearing the North Face snow boots to keep my feet dry from heavy morning dew. As I glanced around the horizon it looked like a strong effort by the trees to show some color changes that were brighter than just 24 hours prior.

The yellows seemed to be trying to show their color in the north.

While the oranges were in the Southwest.

While looking at the trees and trying to decide what to take a photo of I did not see Stella anywhere in the field. With the color of her coat she blends in well with the dead dried out taller hay. Without saying a word, Sadie decided it was time to find Stella on her own and took off in a direction she thought Stella would be.

I backed out the lens for a larger area and didn't see Stella anywhere. Had she disappeared on me again?

I zoomed my lens to the 200mm setting and started scanning the field from left to right ... there she was heading north but not far from the area we left her. She had barely moved during the time that Sadie and I made most of the walk.

As I kept yelling the word "hey" ... she finally looked up trying to figure out where that sound was coming from.

Once she recognized the voice she turned and headed our way back to the alternate path we were taking.

There was nothing exciting the rest of the walk. Both hounds were cooperative and seem to want to get back to the house as fast as I did ... they were both asleep next to each other beside my computer desk within minutes of walking inside.

I wouldn't call them high winds but it's been windier than normal today blowing the leaves off the tress and even out of the yard at the same time. It's most likely our last warm day at least the next ten days at 77°. I suspect that might be it for this summer. So we move into the fall with the 50s and 60's as temperature highs, every day or night has a lingering smell of fire smoke from brush burning or people having a fire at night. That still beats the oil drilling smell I had a few years ago.

Here are the first three tree limbs to start the 2018 Burn Pile.

With an overdose of college football yesterday, plus a final Game 7 in Houston I had to watch last night, this sports addict was not in the mood for the NFL. In fact the tv has not been turned on and it's already after 5pm as I write this. It seems to me over the past few years my interest in the NFL during it's season has decreased. I suspect there are various reasons and I can't put my finger on any specific one. It's not just this year but has happened the past 3-4 years.

With college basketball starting in 3 weeks and college football playing 5 more weeks before they start December with a month or more of Bowl games and then the 4-team playoffs ... the NFL may get slid further back on the shelf until their playoffs and Super Bowl.

Besides, that show Dr. Jeff - The Rocky Mountain Vet has a higher priority in the recording manager feature ... and it's a great show.

Not much more to report on here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

The Hounds Were Active This Morning

Weather Underground is telling me we have only two more days of highs in the 70's. By Tuesday we will be back in the 50's and 60's and the toughest decisions of the day will be whether to keep wearing shorts or change to jeans. As you can see, we have some new truck tire prints on the path this morning ... visitors last night were all over the field in a pickup truck and a speeding ATV.

It looked like someone was either getting driving lessons in the truck or the chance to drive without a license ... which is normal around here in a farming community. With that traffic stirring up all kinds of scents ... Sadie and Stella had a "field day" this morning.

All that beautiful sunshine yesterday was hiding behind some clouds this morning. It felt like rain could be on the way, but that is not scheduled until Sunday night. This year has not been a good year in my location at least, for weather forecast accuracy. We will see what happens with clear gutters and a lawn that is mowed.

The air had a slight touch of smoke this morning. I am not the only one burning stuff around here and the campfire last night, next door, lasted well past midnight so that fall smell of smoke is a common occurrence. With Stella showing some energy early this morning and Sadie doing her normal darting from one scent to another I could tell they were going to be pretty busy on the walk. I kept my eye out for deer just in case.

When they suddenly stopped their jog at the first time, almost in unison, I knew something was up ... they were serious this morning and were definitely going to catch anything they could find that had been trespassing. They 'think' they own this field just like the Bloodhound Laws state at the top of this blog. Yet it is owned by a neighbor that doesn't care what we do in the field except catching it on fire like he did years ago.

The hounds went from noses to the ground to an all out sprint to the middle of the field, including Stella. I saw no signs of deer anywhere but I thought they both were headed for the woods to the north and had 'seen' something I had not. I wasn't running yet and hoped I didn't have to. After my productive day yesterday there are a few unknown muscles feeling it today ... like soreness.

Could it be that one of the new truck tire tracks is what stopped them? That doesn't seem right by the way the took off sprinting. They are not really rabbit hunters like Heidi is so that couldn't have been the reason. Whatever it was they both stopped as fast as they started their sprint. My 200mm lens could barely pick them up ... being a long way off I was happy to see them stop when they did

I yelled loudly "hey, over here" ... Sadie came sprinting to me as always ... Stella need more time to identify what they had found.

She decided she had enough and wanted to get back to Sadie and I ... without calling her ... here she came, running faster than she had in many months.

They both didn't hesitate in getting back on the task at hand ... search, and identify.

Am I correct thinking that these are a small saplings of some kind? All future trees in the field and so close together. This patch was right behind the hounds in the picture above.

Sadie led the way ... Stella followed.

This is one of her favorite spots to stop and scratch ... if the rolls of hay were there, she would be just in front of them or up by our final turn home.

Since the back part of the field had been checked out, they both ran in the direction of the house again leaving me way behind. It's good that they can run off leash, something that many bloodhound owners have told me they would never do, no matter how big a field was.

Luckily the alternate path home puts me pretty close to Stella on the right side of the picture.

What I wouldn't give to find out what these two are thinking when they stop like this.

The bright colored leaves are few this year but right next to the yard.

In early September my burn pile looked like this. A lot of those green weeds had died this past month. The taller ragweed on the left side out of the view of the photo has really died off. Ill not burn them but will do what I did last year ... cut them down with the mower. Jim was happy to have it cut but it gives Sadie a clear path into the woods. She liked doing that last winter.

While taking the hounds out for their last trip of the night last night around 10:30pm I noticed one small ember in the pile of ashes. I walked over to check to see if anything else could spread while I slept.

So yesterday with some matches and help from a rake, that burn pile went from the picture above to the one below. Over the winter a new pile will start with fallen tree limbs from the high winds and the winter storms we get. There have been some years the burn pile has grown big enough by March or April that I have to burn again.

I doubt that I will have another blog post tonight. I start my weekly football marathon at noon and will finally turn off the tv and the lights around 2:30am, after the last west coast game is finished. The hounds will still get their 2 meals, 2-3 walks, same amounts of sleep in their normal places while I watch the games.

I am glad that Tom recommended the GarminVivoSmart watch last May. It is accurate and provides a lot of information ... at times too much info. It vibrates telling me to "move" if I have been at the computer too long or on the couch watching games. It can sort out my deep sleep from light sleep plus show me the times I get up during the night if I do. It will even tell me who is calling or sending me a text ... by name. If I forget to stop the timer after our walks, it will stop it for me later, then I can go into their app and edit the time and distance for that walk.

I bought it mostly for tracking my resting and active heart rate.

Not much else is going on this morning. It's cool with the windows open. Stella has spent the last hour licking her paws and legs dry ... she cannot stand leaving them wet after we do our morning walk. Sadie always lays by her water bowl protecting it as she sleeps until lunch is served. Heidi has not moved since breakfast, as usual.

Oh, I almost forgot ... I've added a few new blogs to the blog sidebar on the right. One has a basset hound where the title of her latest post was "Basset Hibernation" so Heidi is not the only basset that knows what time of year it was. I am slowly getting back to the 50 or more blogs I listed over the years here. It is the easiest way to see new posts by bloggers I follow but also gives blog readers a chance to read other blogs. I like the side bar more than I like them listed in my Feedly account.

The "labels" were changes yesterday to around 90 topics now in a list format instead of a cloud format. The times I have tested the search box in the upper right doesn't give me the accurate results as the Labels list does. Right after I post this I am changing the title from 'labels' to 'topics'.

I admit after almost two weeks (tomorrow) of blogging again, it's nice to be back blogging and taking photos.

It sure sounds quiet today, almost too quiet for a Saturday here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.