Sunday, August 29, 2010

Summer play

Summer is winding down, which is actually nice as this means cooler temperatures. i am sure i will be cranky about the cold in no time, but the 100+ heat this summer really did me in.
It is Jason's birthday today! He has started making cheese. Here is his first attempt at mozzarella. he als0 must get props for being the manly hunter this week. Reptilian poo started appearing in the garage with great frequency. I came home to a glass jar containing the suspect. Of course, when I was told this little guy was eating the spiders that I actually detest MORE..and now that I know this guys has shoulders (this is an old country saying that my dad uses constantly.."no shoulders" ..think about it) he was allowed to continue his feast in the garage.
And another sign that summer is winding down, we have tons of boarders while everyone gets that last vacation in. I will miss the hummingbirds this winter, though!We had Scott, Iva and Bob over last weekend for an impromptu greyhound party. Of course, it was too hot for play.. but milling around in the yard would be Doc, Belle, Pepe, Beau, Macy, Henry, Katy, KC and Chilly (Cali, Dana, Lulu, Shiloh and Dante were elsewhere).But since I had Katy, KC and Chilly all week, every day was a party! Chilly and Henry really hit it off and played well. Granted..it doesn't look like they were playing well but I promise no greyhounds were injured in this photos.Then Katy and Dana join in the fun.We always laugh at how Henry runs in a funny way. He slams his front feet down together..finally got a photo of it (albeit a crappy one)Henry, Chilly, Katy and Cali pose for a rare group photo.
All that playing makes for very tired greyhounds...

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Birthdays and Bolsters

We have a lot of birthdays to celebrate this month.
Some time this month, Shiloh turns 13. Being that she is a mutt from the SPCA (nowadays she would be worth a lot of money and sold as a "Laussie or a Ausador"), I only know she was approximately 9 months old when I adopted her in May of 1998. So her birthday is sometime in August. Regardless of the day..she is an old lady. Of all my senior dogs, she shows her age the most. she is on permanent prescriptions and special diet..but she is my best friend and my heart dog. Happy 13th birthday, Shiloh!On August 13th, Dante turned 12. He will outlive us all and go out giving everyone the bird. He is still going strong and his only sign of age is the fact that he has turned into a 'dapple' dachshund instead of a black and tan. On August 18th, Henry will turn 11 years old. We have only had him one year, but it feels like he has been here forever. He is a great boy who has brought a lot to our household. We are very lucky to have been able to adopt him last year. Happy birthday, buddy!!
For their birthdays, I went to Three dog Bakery and bought everyone a special treat. i couldn't resist these! Don't worry, there are 6 of them so they don't have to share one!I have a new foster for a week or so. Her name is Still Jacey and she was returned for just not fitting in her previous household. She is really doing well and is VERY pretty!
we found a Bolster bed at Costco this time. Kristen has one and my dogs always love it, so we had to get one. Obviously we should have gotten more than one! Everyone had their turn in it this weekend!
Dana loves it most, which surprised the hell out of us!Of course, Cali had her time in it as well.Jacey definitely enjoyed it a lot.We watching Beau and Belle for the day..and they both managed to have a turn!
Jason's birthday is also this month. Not sure if we are doing anything 'blog worthy' but we shall see.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Grapehounds New York 2010

We finally made it to Grapehounds New York this year! We met up with the Parks and drove the 8 hours north to Ithaca, New York. It was a long drive, but well worth it. Due to the very active nature of this trip, we only took Cali. Dana and Henry are getting a little old to be jumping in and out of the car every 10 minutes.
the first night we went to Hazlitt for the welcome night event. A lot of greyhounds and their owners were there to kick off the event. then we headed to a restaurant in Ithaca for a great dinner in the perfect weather!We awake the next morning ready for a day of wine tasting and exploring. Of course, the very first morning on my way inside from the morning potty break with Cali, I pull a door open and right on to Cali's toe. I felt horrible! and of course, she milked it. But kristen and I always come prepared so we doctored it up and moved on.Cali enjoys her ride to Seneca lake, boo-boo toe and all.
I was taken aback by how beautiful it was, even the trip from our hotel in Ithaca to Seneca lake was great.We start at our favorite 'name' winery but not necessarily our favorite winery. But every one welcomed us.This was a perfect first winery b/c we were able to have a little fun before the wine tasting began.Then we moved on to other wineries. I didn't take photos of the next two but we found that Seneca lake does Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir pretty well. We worked our way around to Watkins Glen for a 're-hydration' lunch. We were always behind Gyeong and Kristen, so this was a common site. But we weren't in Italy..there was just an Italian festival going in in Watkins Glen.
We had met up with Doreen and Allen with their two greyhounds Sidney and Tempest. That afternoon we hit a few more wineries. Each with wonderful views of the lake.We end up at the host winery, Silver Springs. That is where all the vending was set up.We had intended to hang here for the evening and listen to music. But the winery was not as accommodating as we had hoped, so we enjoyed a bit of the music and headed back to Ithaca for dinner.After a good night's sleep, we were ready for round 2 of wine tasting. Cali enjoyed her ride to Seneca Lake but I think only b/c she could nap the whole way! There were 14 wineries participating in the event (Seneca Lake has a total of 40 wineries), so we had to hit them all! Kings Garden was a favorite of the day.
And you can bet we liked this one as well
Cali and Stanley were definitely done with the wine tasting situation.We take time to enjoy the surroundings.And get the only group photo of the trip! The girls-me, Kristen, Doreen with Cali, Jaimie, Stanley, Stella, Sidney and TempestThen we get the boys involved.and a rare photo of just meWe ended the afternoon at the final winery with a cheese/cracker picnic...well most of us did. Jason was 'wined-out' and held the dogs outside while we did the tasting. Normally, i would make fun of him for napping. But after a day of tasting, this winery had a LONG list of wines. What turned out to be a list that was TOO long. I do remember this photo..but only barely. That night we had a light dinner that consisted of lots of ginger ale for me! But we made it through and it was a really great time.
The next day we woke and Cali was done.
We literally carried her to the car and made the 8 hour trek home. We ended up with almost 2 cases of wine, lots of stories and a greater appreciation for the beauty of New York state.