Heidi Enjoying The Sunshine

The last few days Heidi has been going to the door to be let outside between 2pm and 3pm. She will not go far. She finds a good spot to feel the warm sunshine. The first three photos I took yesterday through the screen window from inside.

The Hounds Thought I Was Late Serving Lunch

It wasn't the time of day that threw the hounds off their inner clocks, it was an activity. They thought I was too late in feeding them lunch kibble. That usually happens between 11:30am to noon. Today they were not wanting to be fed because they were hungry nor because it was 11:30am. I had the yard mowed by 10:30am, an activity that usually happens either lunch time or late afternoon. Once that mower shut off ... they thought it was time to eat. While Heidi barked non-stop ....

Stella howled.

There are only two times during the day or night that Stella howls at the top of her lungs ... after she steps inside for breakfast and at lunch if I am late serving it. They go outside first thing in the morning and while they are outside I'll pour kibble and make my coffee.

This morning Stella was running more than I had seen in a while. The high temperatures were suppose to be 65° by 4pm and I had big plans just as soon as the morning walk was over.

My lightweight battery powered leaf blower is great to use to blow leaves out of the gutter. It took me longer to back the car out of the carport so I could open the side shed door to pull out the ladder then get up on the roof ... than it did to clean the front and back gutter.

I came up with a leaf plan while I was on the roof walking along the edge blowing leaves out of the gutter. I decided for the first time in the 21 years I've lived here, to mow all the leaves and yard in just one direction ... with the leaves and grass all blowing toward the field. My mower would only mow on one side of the yard, back and forth ... I walked the mower backwards each time I was at the end. It worked fantastic and may be my process this year instead of raking and burning leaves. Here is what the backyard looked like after I was finished.

Normally if I would have mowed pushing all the leaves to the center of the yard it would have never been as clean as it is now.

The burn pile will be burned sometime in November. Leaves and weeds are running late this year.

The front yard I did NOT get the same process because there wasn't that many leaves after the high winds on Saturday night.

So by 10:47am the gutters were cleaned, the yard mowed and the leaves mulched. I was still wearing clothes to do a morning walk in at 44° and with all the activity I was burning up. While the hounds ate their lunch ... I changed into cargo shorts.  Yes, that's right. With the temps going to be 65° I had to celebrate the heatwave we were going to have today.

The plan was to put polyurethane on the inside of my front door and on all the windows that I had sanded, cleaned with a few repairs a few weeks ago. Rain and cold temperatures prevented me from putting on polyurethane any sooner than today.

Stella is starting to enjoy these walks like Sadie use to ... instead of just walking along the path.

I went back into my photo library and pulled out some comparisons, showing the differences in the leaves changing color for the last three years on this day in October.

This was taken today, looking toward the house and almost all green leaves.

Here are the same trees one year ago on October 22, 2017

This was taken 2015 October 22nd.

Winston enjoying a field that was cut twice that year and if you notice to the left of him it shows the overgrowth of what I call the north yard. I had not cleared all that brush out yet and planted grass seed.

Here is the same tree line this morning take out in the field instead of my backyard.

This was 2016 October 22nd ... today those same trees have all green leaves, no signs of Fall. I did notice it was normal for the soybeans not being harvested this late in October.

I finished my polyurethane project by 3:20pm. Every window in the house was open not because of strong polyurethane fumes, just because it was a nice day and it would help in the drying process.

Stella started whining for a walk about 3pm so she was more than anxious to get outside twenty minutes later. Heidi went outside but didn't walk with us. It was warm enough for cargo shorts and cool enough for a sweatshirt.

As you can see Stella's energy level on the afternoon walks is quite different than in the morning. She looks like she can barely make it back to the house most afternoons.

While Stella and I walked the field ... Heidi decided it was perfect time to soak up some sunshine.

It's hard to believe that she came to me through a rescue service with the reputation being a 'runner'. A handwritten note on the adoption paperwork in June 2011 stated "must be leashed at all times."

Normally whenever a Jif Peanut Butter jar is empty, all the hounds share what is left. That was the highlight of Sunday afternoon watching this. Heidi decided on her own when she had enough and let the jar lay where it was. Stella had her eyes on it the whole time just waiting for her turn.

She wanted it in a different location so she picked it up with her mouth and walked toward the hallway or the main walkthru of the house.

Based on how she was acting, her long tongue wasn't quite long enough to reach the bottom of the jar. When she started chewing the hard plastic to make it a shorter jar so she could reach it that is when I called the game over.

After getting the things finished today as planned. I am moving the the wall cleaning project tomorrow as temps drop back down to the highs being the mid 50's. My cargo shorts will be put back in the dresser and the jeans will be back in action.

Thanks for all the feedback about my comments about blogging. I might have put out the wrong impression when I talked about my extremes in a lot of things I do. Some readers must have thought I was thinking of stopping blogging completely when I said something "blog all the time or not at all". I didn't mean for that to sound like I was going to quit blogging ... just that I was going to blog less frequently.

Blogging every 3 to 4 days seemed to be a popular answer and it might lead to that ... otherwise I will blog when I get the urge and try not to go longer than 4 days without posting at least a few photos. There might be some daily blogging based on what I am doing.

A very productive day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Some Sunday Morning Rambling

I am writing this post this morning from the comfort of the laptop sitting at the kitchen table. This is where I have the best view outside with the large picture window looking out across the highway to the two fields. That Southwest direction also gives me a good idea what the weather will be like for the day and shows me storms before they arrive. This morning it was 27° as Stella and I stepped outside. High winds last night from the West-Northwest just as forecasted. Stella was positive there was some kind of visitor last night around that area ... she wouldn't leave.

I changed my coat for the walk from a Carhartt I had to my Mountain Hard Wear parka. I was surprised that the freezing temps really didn't bother me, with a cold breeze coming out of the north. Those days of upper 80's wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts are a distant memory. I can't even remember what that feels like.

So yes, late Friday afternoon well into late Friday night I re-opened my old files, jumped on Realtor dot com and looked at houses for sale in Arizona and New Mexico. That always seems to happen with the temps dip below 32°. I find the same results every year. Decent houses cost more than I want to pay and those that need fixing up are overpriced. I know my view is skewed because I have had no mortgage for a lot of years.

Add to that, I can never make up my mind where I would want to move to. Everywhere, even here, has it plus and minuses. So I'll leave it as something I like doing on a cold day or night. Yet ... you never know.

Again as I start writing this, there is no order of my thoughts. Some things I was going to write about I have already forgotten. I hate that. I did find out Saturday just how nice it was not to blog. I once again liked walking with Stella without the camera and no photos were taken yesterday until late last night with my iPhone. You'll see those few photos at the bottom of this post. A friend that blogs told me once, "The best pictures are the ones you don't take."

Don't take offense to my thoughts of not taking photos of the hounds or not blogging. It's not personal and they are the same thoughts I have have had since my first blog post in October 2011. In a way blogging is a trap. Where do you draw the line? Whether I want to or not I find myself always going back and forth between what is too much blogging and what isn't enough. Do other bloggers feel the same way?

Those leaves are dead leaves on the trees, not full of color. Is that a sample of things to come?

Since I am "stationary" and don't travel, my daily routine doesn't change much. Just the way I like it. So to blog daily is hard at times for the same reasons I have written about in the past. Things like the same photos on the same walk and the hounds doing the same thing ... day after day. Other times there is not enough hours in the day to do what I want to do ... then there are times I just don't feel like blogging period.

So I will do what other readers have told me to do in the past ... blog when you feel like it. That is why I am blogging this morning, I felt like it.

In a selfish way, it was good to read that I am not the only one that feels it hard to blog when you are not traveling. Where your routines are pretty close to the same every day and there just isn't that much to write about or take photos of ... RVsue and Al at TheBayfieldBunch have found it harder to blog recently since they are only traveling part time now. Both of them use to blog daily but they were also traveling full-time. The times Al wasn't he, Kelly and Pheebs would be out in their jeep traveling locally in the Southwest, capturing fantastic photos of the area.

I wonder if they have that feeling sometimes "my readers deserve a daily post" and fight that inner battle whether to blog when you don't really feel like it. That might just be the particles called brain cells that make me feel that way. I've never been normal. Ha!

Yes I could take less time to blog but it's just my makeup ... I like editing photos a little, I like deciding which ones to use and I always seem to post more than I plan on or what readers may want to see. Plus as many of you have figured out .. I like to talk ... sometimes too much. That leads to me rambling and typing a longer post than I planned. OR ... my train of thought will move to something entirely different so I write about that.

There is no middle ground for me in most things that I do. It's one extreme or another, like don't blog at all or blog multiple times per day. You have seen both of those take place on this blog. Just like I cannot mow just part of the yard, it's either all or nothing even if part of the yard does not need mowing. Or .. I can't wash just one car, I have to do both at the same time. Just like this interior painting I am thinking about doing.

Could I just paint a room or two???? No way!!! If I do one closet then I have to do a room. If I do one room I have to do the whole house.

So I have a lot of inner battles I have never escaped from. LOL

Here I go right now .... "what was it I was going to talk about???"

I will say it is really nice to have all of those paper files out of my life, recycled or burned and file cabinet drawers empty. I opened the drawer in the bathroom sink cabinet and it was almost empty with only things that I use. All of my closets have been cleaned out, only stuff that is used is still there. Even my 'to do' list is down to cleaning walls and painting inside.

I will go up on the roof on Monday when it's 61° and blow the leaves out of the gutter with my leaf blower. It will take longer to take the ladder out of my shed and expand it from a fold up to one that gets me on the roof than cleaning the gutters. As far as raking the yard ... those high winds yesterday afternoon and last night took care of them. I have only one line of leaves along the back of my house that are left and they will be blown over the side bank on Monday when it's warmer and sunny.

I'm at one of those times of trying to remember what else I wanted to say.

Blogger was having issues with my photos today ... another time consuming thing for blogging.

Speaking of Blogger, owned by Google ... this blog is the only reason I kept my three gmail accounts. One each to log into my three blogs, where two of them are private. For the past 4-5 months I have gotten rid of Facebook, stopped using Google Chrome as a browser, stopped using Google for searches. I have nothing to hide on the internet. It's just the principal of what those two companies do with my data without my permission. I read yesterday that Facebook is right back to doing what they got in trouble for last Spring, by using "Shadow Accounts".

Stella decided to take her own way home this morning. She may have led me to the original return path but it wasn't long she decided she would finish in the northern part of the backyard. That's fine as long as I could see her and that she didn't turn around and head toward the neighbor's yard or woods.

Every morning she looks in the direction of the highway and every morning there is nothing there to see.

There is that daily stare she gives me before she heads to the house.

Yes ... that is ICE you see on my hiking boots. It was 87° in Phoenix late yesterday afternoon.

My old friend that lives in Phoenix and loves all the hot weather he can get, was about to take his Mastiff out for a pre-dawn walk that they do every morning but he heard something outside and it was loud. He thought someone might be getting ready to break into his house but saw it was 10 javelinas with 2 babies. He and his dog decided to delay there walk until this group left their neighborhood. He lives in a residential neighborhood.

My iPhone 8 Plus takes the best photos inside and in low light than any camera I have or have had. None of these next few photos were edited, all straight from the iPhone.

Stella's normal position every night on the couch while I watch a movie or ball games.

Last night between 7pm and 8pm I had more games on that I wanted to watch live, not tape. So one of the reasons I bought the larger tv last summer was to do this. Those are large screens where I can sit 8' away and don't have to squint to read the scores or banners at the bottom of each channel.

While I watched the games ... the hounds slept soundly. You can tell the temps are dropping as they turn their noses into the warm leather couch.

I admit that I eat most of my afternoon or dinner meals on the coffee table while watching a game. Heidi will stand to the right of me and gives me that look that she would love some of my chicken, salmon or steak. What about that crust from the pizza ??? Could you refuse a face like that ??

Stella has adopted those Bloodhound Rules and thinks everything is hers ... including my food. When she doesn't get any or maybe not as fast as she would like ... she pouts. That is her pouting face and she will not move from that pose until I say "here" and hand her something to eat.

As a warning ... everything I said here could be BS as far as plans or blogging thoughts. I live in small windows because I can. Things, plans or ideas can change at a moments notice with me. I am more of an impulse person than a planner. I would be more likely to load the car up with camping stuff and two hounds on spur of the moment to see my friend in Phoenix this winter ... than pull out the maps and make a PLAN to get there.

Just like I might plan a drive to Bloomington 25 miles away but within an hour, 30 minutes or even less ... I could ditch that idea and end up doing something entirely different.

Living in 15 minute windows fits my DNA and my Retirement Policy. At least I am always on time if not early for meeting friends or having an appointment.

It's just above 32° right now but it's sunny, NFL games on later today and Heidi is barking for lunch while Stella joins her request by howling ... I gotta go.

2 hours 1 minute

No Fall this year in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.