My ROO spot

Winter...NOT

2012-01-29T09:50:00.002-05:00

Winter seems to have come and gone..I feel sure it will be back. But we are back in the 60s. NOT complaining..it is just odd.
But a quick health update..Shiloh's biopsy came back suggesting Sebaceous adenitis which is a fancy term for a genetic autoimmune disorder that causes the sebaceous glands to reject the hair..the good news is that the ONLY symptom/problem with this is hair loss. so it may look funny but it doesn't mean other things are wrong or there is something bigger going on. The treatment is oral fatty acids, vitamin A and daily baby oil massages..not kidding. So now i have a greasy dog.

at least she smells good!
And we are watching Beau and Belle for a bit. and I was a bad mommy and let them out for a potty and didn't consider they may start playing. Beau and Cali had a run in and again Cali got the bum end of the deal. It wasn't a big deal and luckily I have all the stuff to take care of minor cuts..so some time to shave, a few staples and some antibiotics..and we are good as new.

So she has to wear a coat until the staples come out b/c she will lick them out. So she gives us the sad face..

But crisis over and Beau muzzled, everyone played together well. Even though the weather is great, it gets dark early so the lighting is challenging. But I tried using my Nifty Fifty lens..which gave weird results b/c I am still learning the ropes on it..so these are great quality but interesting..

To the victor goes the spoils

One morning, we were all milling around in the yard and heard some red tail Hawks 'screaming' in the woods. I grabbed my telephoto and waited. Two came out and gave us a show!

Then I caught Cali and Henry smooching...

I tried to capture the moon and Venus the other night..no tripod

My sister came up to look at Phillip..the horse that she is thinking about buying. I did get to take more photos of the goats!

But my sister seemed to like him..so we shall see if he ends up in her barn.

Snug as a bug in a rug

2012-01-22T16:01:00.000-05:00

Winter has finally arrived in Richmond, VA..it was in the 60s for most of December. But now that the frigid temps and freezing rain has arrived, we have moved the party indoors.
Dante loves sunbeams and fireplaces.

Henry prefers being covered with a down blanket..

Kristen and Gyeong came down so we could celebrate Kristen's birthday. since they live over an hour away, we make it a slumber party. The next morning, Gyeong captures us in our 'normal pose'..on the computer in our pjs watching TV. Jaime, Parker, Shiloh and Dante complete the 'black dog club' around us.

Gyeong was snuggling with Cali for a bit and then they left..and Cali didn't move.

Sometimes we wonder about her..

She gives met the pout-y face

Squinty eye face

Cali is rotten..they all are..I know but this dog has that extra rotten-ness. She laid like this for over an hour. And I think would have still been there if we hadn't had to pull out the vacuum.

We bought some new furniture..hopefully it gets delivered soon. Especially, since I posted the old couch (pictured above) on Craigslist and sold it in an hour. so now Jason's office couch is 'pinch hitting' until the new sectional arrives. It should provide lots of lounging space for the dogs. And THAT is exactly why we bought it!

Old Bones

2012-01-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

A quick update on the pack's random health issues. "When we last left the Stumpf pack.."

Henry has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma..so occasionally he gets skin tumors that literally won't stop bleeding. Now some people think I mean a 'bleeding mole'..no..he has those. They clot eventually. The most recent ones he had were actually on the small side. They are about the size of a marble. The top one in this photo has 'popped' but I can put a pressure bandage on it to get it to clot temporarily. But once it is removed..it starts to bleed again...and it drips constantly.

Also..since most likely they are malignant..we really have no choice but to remove them. Now..the kicker is that last time we did that ..he almost died from the anesthesia (malignant hyperthermia)..SO...this time..we got smart. We had them removed without anesthesia. They used a local only..and he recovered SOOOO WELL!!!! Post surgery..he always bruises so badly (you can see bruising pre-surgery..).

But luckily..10 days later..sutures removed and he is doing great!!! He is going to soon look like Joan Rivers with all these 'tummy tucks' (4 total so far)

Now..Shiloh...Her hair started to fall out a few weeks ago and she stopped eating. So after blood work, xrays and finally an ultrasound...she ended up a little more bald then when we started!!! We also had a skin biopsy done ..so she had a boo boo foot too...

The ultrasound/xrays showed no tumors..which is good news. Didnt' explain her symptoms..however. We have to wait 14 days for the skin biopsy results. That should be this week. She has started to eat a little..but the list of what she will eat is very short. But her back legs are still loosing hair

And her ears/muzzle and front legs also have bald spots..(the blood work showed mild anemia, mild kidney failure..nothing to cause significant symptoms..she is over 14)

I don't know what is going one with her..but she is at least eating enough to keep us both sane.
But for now..we are all staying warm and enjoying life..

Our friend came over with her greyhounds and her Yorkie, Tank. He was pretty cute.

Now, my kids got wind of Gyeong's recent blog post concerning the marrow bones we received with the half-cow we shared with them. Since we only had our dogs this weekend..we thawed a few and let them have at it.
Cali knew just what to do...

Shiloh wasn't as good at it but she enjoyed it (with her bald spot between her eyes..)

Cali nibbles the good stuff

Dante has historically been EXTREMELY aggressive with 'good bones'..so we put him in a greyhound crate with a fluffy bed and he was able to enjoy his bone with no growling, biting, or fuss.

Henry tried..but he didn't get it. He prefers his steaks medium rare cut in to bite size cubes.

So eventually he gave up and to my surprise walked away..

Which inevitably led to this..hold one down while chewing on the other..

Group chew.

Synchronized chewing

And yes..I am a germ-a-phobe of sorts so I let the dogs enjoy their bloody, greasy bones until they were passed out from chewing exhaustion. then all beds were washed and the carpet steam-cleaned (and the 'bone day' was planned on a 'steam clean' day on purpose!) Henry hates steam clean day!

Now Shiloh found a more creative way to make steam clean days more comfortable. (and another prime photo of her bald hind legs...)

Dana and Cali just realized the beds in the kitchen were the best option on days like this..

It is a new year

2012-01-02T11:13:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!! We spent the New year's day weekend with greyhounds galore.
Henry and Cali did a little galloping prior to the Park's arrival.

As you can tell, Cali is still running fine. Her results came back not osteo! So she has Tendinopathy which is basically a calcification of the tendons in her shoulder, which is painful but not deadly. She will just be on pain meds for life, but she seems to flourish on them!!!
She decided to show how great she felt before dinner one night...while I wasn't watching she was being naughty.

The Parks arrived and we played in the yard a bit.

We went to dinner, came back and hung with the fur kids, played Rock Band, drank a lot of wine and Scotch and brought in the new year with good friends. Ok..so some of us brought in the new year..some were sleeping.

On New Year's Day, Gyeong and Kristen spend time with his family. So the Park fur kids get to spend some time with their cousins while Aunt Trina spends time on the couch. ;-)

But it was a beautiful day (60F in January??)so we spent some time outside.

Miss Roo Roo Pants enjoys the sunshine

Dana smells Jaime..Jaime seems perplexed

Jaime..so pretty!!

And Parker joins the crew

And we can't forget about Stella...

Then we assume the position on the couch.

Parker likes to roll around and look cute

Or viscous..or not..

And Stan...being Stan..

And update on all the health issues. Cali is doing great as I updated above.

Henry had his hemangiosarcoma removed a few months ago. Another one has popped up..due to his malignant hyperthermia we cannot surgically remove it. But it won't stop bleeding. i currently have a call in to the vet to see if we can remove it with a local..I will update when I know more. The cutaneous ones are 'better' than the internal ones..so I guess there is a silver lining. And belly bands have become a great pressure bandage..who knew!

Henry showing some love to his favorite bush..

Shiloh..who is 14 and 1/2..is definitely having some problems. She is losing hair, not eating, vomiting and anemic. She will be going back to the vet this week..last week her kidneys looked OK and she didn't have any 'skin mites' that would cause the hair loss. I am hopeful that it is something 'fixable' or fleeting.

But for now..I try to get her to eat anything and give her lots of love.

2012 will most likely have its ups and downs....

Holiday are for laying around...

2011-12-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

We normally spend the holidays traveling between both families, but this year Jason's family is moving to a smaller house..so we only visited my parents this year. This is the first year that I haven't had to travel on Christmas day..ever. So we took advantage!
Before Christmas Day..we did a lot of laying around...
Dana shows off her new toy..

Cali gets a little too comfortable

Dante wants everyone to know..this present should be his...

Shiloh just watches from afar..

I take the time to take a photo with Shiloh..she is my heart dog and doesn't always get the attention she deserves due to those skinny dogs.. ;-)

I gave Truflz his new toy early...I think he likes it...Ewok

My mom learns what it is like to live with Cali....Dante, Truflz and Cali share the one cushion

Then we went to my sister's house for an extended family party. My sister has angora goats..which basically look like goats with perms. They were kind of crazy looking..

And my nephew Boone has definitely grown this year! He was busy taking it all in!

On Christmas Eve, we had some family. We try to take family photos every year.

The whole Stumpf pack

Henry and Cali enjoy a little time in the mini horse paddock

Inside..we make Henry be the Santa..he says 'Ho, Ho, Ho' in a old man voice..

Lady..will you please take this stupid hat off my head???

Thank you..

On Christmas Day, my sister couldn't get there until dinner..so we had the day to 'stare at Christmas' and drink mulled wine!
Jason and my dad put a lot of Boone's gifts together..some required power tools!!

But once they arrived, the paper started to fly. Boone got a cardboard 'space ship' that Henry decided he would 'guard' for Boone.

I think Boone liked the wooden firehouse Jason and I got him this year...

AND Jason seems to enjoy the 17 year Balvenie my mom got him this year....

Cali isn't happy that this day seems to be about everything EXCEPT her.

After the mayhem, we relaxed a bit with a glass of wine. How many people/dogs can you fit on one couch.

Fear not..the day became about Cali quickly..

We had a great time but I am glad to have my fenced yard back..that makes a big difference with 3 leashed beasts. now to New Year's Eve!

Preparing for holiday cheer

2011-12-18T11:45:00.001-05:00

James River Greyhounds volunteers met at the Orvis store to wrap presents for donations on Saturday. I am not known to enjoy malls and have managed to do all of my holiday shopping without entering a store. But the Saturday before Christmas, Cali, Dana and I braved the traffic, crowds and bustle..for some donations. It was worth it!!!
We arrived to give Doc and Dinah a break. Doc was doing a great job at schmoozing the crowd.

But then my girls took over..they have their ways. Dana became a little 'eeyore-ish' a few times, but she gave a few kisses when needed. Some blamed her sullen ways on the hat..but we all know better

The roo pants..

Cali is a pro at schmoozing..all ages.

Cali took a break on Dana's back for a bit..

Dana needed a break for a bit..the old lady takes power naps.

One of the employees gave Cali a treat..she is a smart one and watched where the cookies came from..a jar near the register. It took a while before this stopped..and I won't deny that it got her a few more cookies.

After a while, Cali started looking for a lap. She slinked under the wrapping table to see if Suzanne would fall for her tricks. Suzanne was busy wrapping so was unable to comply..but Cali tried!

Hunter also stopped by with Linka. We watched Linka a few years ago. But Linka is going in for surgery on Monday to remove her front left leg due to osteo. It was good to give her some snuggles on Saturday. Good luck, Linka.

Jason and i decided to have our holiday meal this weekend..we will be heading to the 'country' on Thursday for the holidays. So we made butternut squash raviolis! From scratch..they were yummy.

And a parting shot of the true house matriarch snoozing.

Have a great holiday!

Friends and Family

2011-12-04T16:41:00.001-05:00

We spend a lot of time with the Parks, so when they adopted Beth less than a year ago..we had a new family member. And it made Henry seem like a spring chicken. But we were deeply saddened with her progressive decline and wept for the Park's last week when they had to let her go. Beth reminded us that greyhounds can live to a ripe old age. We will miss you Beth and we are so glad we were able to meet you and spend time with you. I snagged this photo from Gyeong as it was one of my favorites. My mom gives Beth some love while my old man lays nearby.

This time of year is for family and friends..remembering how luck.
We spent Thanksgiving at Jason's parents' house where he made a great dinner

Which of course, the fur kids had a taste of..just a little but they enjoyed it immensely.

I also had the pleasure of visiting a local farm to 'test drive' a horse for my sister. Most of you might not know I was a 'horse person' until I became a 'greyhound person'. Riding and judging at all levels. My mom and sister still have horses. I haven't ridden in years. I didn't actually ride during this visit either..just performed photography and size comparisons..since this is a smaller horse (technically a pony)..she needed to get perspective.

To be honest..I was easily distracted by the goats.

But she might visit (she lives 3 hours from me and the horse is about 30 minutes from me) to ride him herself. then maybe I will be able to take more photos of the goats!
After visiting the farm, I took Dana and Cali to a dog event at a local Home depot..we had tons of greyhounds show up!

And since i started this post with sadness...i wanted to end it with happiness. And what says happy more than a puppy..especially a fuzzy puppy that looks like a fox! Our friend, Rob, has a 6 month old Shiba Inu.
She started the afternoon trying to play with the greyhounds.. Cali had absolutely nothing to do with her..

But Dana and Henry obliged for a small time (ok..Dana hunted her..Henry played with her)

She definitely learned to play by herself while the greyhounds snoozed

She is really pretty

Once night fell, I had time to get some photos of everyone. I have always loves Dana's white eyelashes..

A rare moment with the pink poodle

and this gave me time to get some photos of Sakura while she tried to 'will' the greyhounds to play with her. Dante had already told her under NO circumstances did he want to play...

Fall back

2011-11-20T11:09:00.001-05:00

Fall is here. The morning view is beautiful even if this signifies cold and darkness for a few months.

We watched Beau and Belle for a little over a week. Beau surveys the land

In the evenings, Beau channels his inner Jaime and sleeps with one paw over his ear!

Belle has learned to keep a watchful eye on the kitchen..sometimes yummy items come her way from it!

The local Harley Davidson shop had a Hogs and Dogs event! It was their first annual event but all in all it was a neat one! We took the whole gang!

They had contests..Cali was entered in best eyes and she donated her Harley hat to Dante for the costume contest.

But you knew this would happen eventually...

Actually...this is more 'necessary' than before. I hope to be able to post more action photos of Cali

But she started limping a while ago and it has slowly gotten worse. We went in for X-rays and they did find a 'translucent' spot on her scapula/humerus region. Greyhound people know what that can mean..what I didn't realize is that there are other reasons. We are hoping she has tendinopathy, which would definitely inhibit her but not nearly as much as the alternative. She is on bed rest (or lap rest in her case) and Rimadyl for 3 weeks. We will re-Xray at that point. If it has spread/gotten worse..well.

We are hoping it shows some improvement or the inflammation lets them confirm the tendinopathy. Fingers crossed.

But for now..we wait and enjoy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble.

Purple haze

2011-10-29T12:04:00.003-04:00

First a special message to our friends Blueberry, Bunny and Morgan..we have never actually met you but we cried with you upon hearing about the passing of sweet Lilac. we all celebrated her sweet 16th birthday a short time ago and mentally crossed our fingers that we would all have a fur-kid to reach that great number. Her passing affected us all. A heartfelt hug from one of your many blogger families.

After a lot of traveling, we have settled a bit. We spent one weekend at Saude Creek Winery which has newly opened near New Kent Winery. it was pretty..the wine was mediocre.

the next weekend we went to Orange County airport to another wine festival with Kristen, Gyeong and Judy. They had skydivers constantly falling from the sky.

We have also been watching a ton of dogs..not sure what the 'reasons' are..but everyone seems to travel in October. Feeding time can be tricky..but we have mastered getting 10 or more dogs to eat at the same time without sharing or bickering!

Peppermint is such a cutie

Yuki enjoys a rare nap..

I like this photo of Shiloh..very typical

Cali enjoys her 'beehive'..it is 2nd favorite toy with the Pink Poodle trumping all of them.

Dana being super cute

And every year Jason loves to carve pumpkins. we went to Ashland Berry farm and got a bunch of pumpkins and then ended up getting two in our CSA box..so he hasn't carved them all but these are the first two. Hopefully, we will get them all done today or tomorrow..especially since Halloween is Monday and the neighbors start to talk if you have jack-o-lanterns out for Thanksgiving.

I might have some special visitors shortly...not 100% sure but more to follow.

San Diego Part Zoo

2011-10-13T19:27:00.001-04:00

So this is post 2 from San Diego..pretty much the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Safari Park (formerly known as the Wildlife Park). There are a lot of random animal photos, but I was dutifully testing out my new telephoto, so I hope I got some decent shots! Trust me ..the best will be at the end. And i did get carpel tunnel while working on these photos..so ignore the random lack of caps..the pinky finger is bound up in an ace bandage.

First..the San Diego Zoo. We spent about 8 hours here..walking! But it was worth the trip. What a fantastic zoo..and this is coming from a very picky zoo-goer!

We saw all creatures from the cute and fuzzy..

To the not so cute and fuzzy..

Super cute and fuzzy (I have determined there are VERY few things cuter than a Koala sleeping)

To the cute but not so fuzzy..

In the enclosure above this miniature hippo were the crazy monkeys..they flipped around and bounced off the hippo's backs!

They had a great elephant enclosure...but you will be INUNDATED with elephant photos in a bit after the Safari park..so all you get from the zoo is the fake on!

And bears...lots of bears. The panda

and the polar bear munching on a carrot..

When I Was a Young WART HOGGG.....(favorite movie reference)

After a long rest, we rented a car and head north to the Safari Park (about 40 minutes outside of San Diego). It was well worth the trip! The enclosures are massive and all the 'prey' are in this huge 'field' that you take a tram around. Everywhere you look..antelope of all different shapes and sizes!

It was neat that they still practiced 'normal' behaviors b/c the 'predators' were enclosed around this park area..(photos soon). So notice the 'prey circle' below..all of them are strategically facing another direction. We saw this throughout the park!

Even these little orange ones..AND you would think..hey dumbie..get off the green grass cuz the lion will eat you! Well, i learned that Big cats can't distinguish the difference between orange and green (they lack one cone)..so these little guys are perfectly camouflaged.

The giraffes were my favorite (another orange creature). they were everywhere.

This one reminded me of Henry..he was just rubbing his head on the tree..

We saw a few asses fighting..as they typically do. ;-)

Just a neat spot..

Once we were done with the tram, we were able to go to the Elephant enclosure.
Huge enclosure AND a baby had been born the week before! He was almost as cute as the sleeping Koalas! 230 pound one week old baby!

We watched the elephants for a LONG time..do you blame us?

Three generations..Momma, her calf (1 year old) and the newborn.

They were doing some enrichment so they had hidden treats everywhere. it was cool to watch them find everything..even without seeing..

At one point, the wobbly baby fell over. She wallowed there a bit trying to get up..

After a few minutes..momma reached over and gave her a boost. It was a definite 'aw' moment.

Magical location

So we then embarked to find the rest of the animals. there were far fewer animals here but they were a lot of fun to watch in more realistic habitats.
The gorillas were particularly interesting. This female lounged in the grass just like I do..except I typically do it clothed

But she had not a care in the world, b/c this guy was keeping a careful watch..never quite scanning his environment.

There were some great lookout areas.

Then the orangutangs. They were funny. The big male wanted this burlap sack..and he carried it all the way up to his perch.

And covered himself up with it..it was about to rain!

Then we found the lions...just lying around..on their favorite 4X4?

So cute and cuddly..just want to rub his nose...

We came across some baby spring bucks playing in a little yard. These little ones were have a great time!

The parents were in another enclosure..looking all lovey dovey

And finally..my favorite part of the whole trip..The cheetah run. At 3:30 every day they run a cheetah down a 100 m track after a lure. After watching many greyhounds do this, it was time to see the master.
my mom and I stationed ourselves along the rail..and casually noticed the VIP section..hmm..what is that? Well for a fee..you can sit closer AND meet the cheetah. SOLD!
So..this is our VIP cheetah experience.
So she starts down the path...wait. That isn't a cheetah! Nope..it is Yeti..her companion dog. Cheetahs are apparently incredibly skiddish and big ninnies. so they must have a friend do it first.. Yeti has grown up with her..so she trusts her. they go everywhere together..so Yeti runs it first.

Now it is the cheetah's turn. She actually runs the course twice with a long break in between.

It thought it was cute how they even walked together

And then she came to visit us in this small enclosure. There were only 5 people so we had some great one on one time with her. She enjoyed her blood popcicle while we learned about cheetahs.

Just how close were we? That toe is the lady sitting next to my mom.

Then we took photos..it wasn't easy to get this shot..

Everytime the cheetah looked any direction remotely close to my mom..she couldn't take her eyes off it it!

But it gave me some time to try out my new 50mm lens too. So beautiful!

So we left the Safari park and *surprise* i found a winery..Orfila winery..it was pretty good!

and finally we went to Coronada and had dinner looked at San Diego's skyline. Love the city..had a great time!

now back to greyhound adventures.

San Diego- post 1

2011-10-10T09:53:00.001-04:00

Most of you know that I love to travel..so much so that I 'travel myself out' after a while. this year was the year of the long flights. Of course, nothing will outdo the 13 hour return trip from Italy..at least I hope not!!
This is just post 1..the zoo and safari park will get their own post. Too many great photos!
Before I left, you'll remember the toilet was in Jason's office. After a leak was found, the hardwood had to be removed. we had the leak fixed and new flooring installed. So when I returned from San Diego..the toilet was out of the office and in its proper location!

Also, before I left..I broke down and bought yet another lens (thank you, Gyeong for this new obsession). The 50mm 1.4 (also known as the Nifty Fifty) takes great head shots.
And Henry didn't mind being a model..(he says thank you to all his friends for the well wishes after his latest bad diagnosis)

And I got a little creative..well as much as my science brain will allow!

We watched Expo for a few days. He is handsome

But not the brightest..he was determined to fit in to Dante's poof bed!

And well..it isn't a blog without Cali...

So after packing my lenses and official clothes (this WAS a work trip..so I DID have to actually work for some of it..boooooo!), I headed to San Diego, CA which has now become my new favorite city!
My mom flew out to meet me on Tuesday, but I arrived on Sunday. I 'conferenced' all day Monday and Tuesday. I did take some time on Monday to meander around the area. The bay is very beautiful. My hotel is the blue shiny one in the middle (both blue shiny ones actually).

Once Mom arrived, we attended a reception from one of my vendors. Got to love free alcohol! But then we went to Nobu, which is really quite a food 'mecca'.

Best sushi ever! The food overall in San Diego was top notch!

We also decided to visit the USS Midway, which is a large naval ship that is now a museum. I highly recommend. it was amazing!
We got to tour the entire ship..I would not be suited for ship living..i need my space!

I did believe this guy would use 'deadly force'!

They did everything on this ship!

We even visited the brig

Then we went 'top side' and viewed the flight deck. This was my favorite!

A view of where the planes took off and landed..

From the flight deck, you had another great view of the bay.

I do love helicopters....

Then we went to the 'island' which is where they 'steer' the ship and where the 'air traffic' control is housed.
you see this part in movies a lot!

another view of the flight deck and surrounding city

After that we headed back to rest up for the next day's zoo adventure! But we decided to take an unconventional form of transportation..which did allow me to get an overview shot of the USS Midway

Mom shows us her new friend! What you can't 'see' is that we rode the few miles back with Frank Sinatra blaring and the driver singing at the top of his lungs..it was awesome.

And I was able to let my Mom experience her first rickshaw ride!
next post..The San Diego Zoo and The San Diego Safari Park..

Beach Bound Hounds 2011

2011-09-28T17:18:00.002-04:00

Kristen and I loaded up the car and headed to Beach Bound Hounds again this year. We both love this event! We took Stanley, Jaime, Dana and Cali. We spent a lot of time walking on the beach

And running in the waves..

And of course lounging by the ocean..

We love this event b/c a lot of our friends join us on the beach..

Mitch and Michelle bask beside of us with Pippi, Maggie, Booyah and Cueball.

Dolly shows us how pretty she can be..

Dana catches some rays.

the weather was pretty good most of the time. The dogs could be with us on the beach in the morning but it would get hot by mid-day. Of course, every day around 3PM..it would storm. And not just a little..This one rolled through quite dramatically!

It slowly covered the beach/ocean..

Until the inevitable occurred..

But luckily, it only happened for a few hours and then the sun would come back out for our evening activities! And sometimes with a rainbow!

Of course, all this activities..wiped the dogs out!!!! We were dragging them by the last day!

Cali and Stanley snuggle while watching the waves off the balcony

Even Dana became a 'bed dog' here. Her old bones were definitely tired!

There is always a group 'roo' on Sunday morning. I took this after we had come upstairs so it wasn't the full group. We were told about 470 dogs were in attendance and 250 people. If you have never attended this event..we highly recommend!

And not to be still for too long...I leave for San Diego on Sunday. Zoo tickets in hand!
And hopefully.....the work on my downstairs bathroom will be complete..b/c this OCD person cannot handle the mess.
Can you see what does NOT belong in this photo?

More updates

2011-09-21T07:46:00.001-04:00

After all the natural disasters, we needed a little fun. Jason's sister got married in Cherry Grove Beach a few weekends ago. We weren't there long (I am heading back there today actually!) but we were able to play with our niece and nephew in the ocean for a bit.

Jason's dad shows Madison how to body surf

And William tries as well

but after all the fun games, we had to get dressed up and attend the nuptials. Madison and William as the flower girl and ring bearer

We clean up ok sometimes too...

The Stumpf boys- three generations

and finally the happy couple

After that event, we had a few greyhound fun events. We had a bunch of dogs arrive from florida and then our fall picnic.
Cali pretty much rests where ever she sees fit..Rusty obliges as usual.

Matrix meets her new family

Now this seems like an odd photo..but Pawnee (the white/brindle) was busy sniffing the ground and didn't notice she had meandered under her 'sister' Amirah. She lifted her head and they stood like this.until the owners had to literally walk them in separate ways. Greyhounds really do tolerate alot!

And finally..an update on the old man. Henry's biopsy came back malignant for hemangiosarcoma. it is a good thing we did the surgery as it would have spread rapidly for sure if we hadn't removed it. Has it already spread? We don't know. And for full disclosure..we aren't going to find out. We could do an ultrasound/Xray to determine if it has metastasized but we would be able to do very little. And if the ultrasound comes back negative..it doesn't mean it will be negative the next month. So for now, we love him, treat him the best we can and hope he is here for a lot longer. he did get to go to the picnic with me and the wonderful Elaine and Jim gladly sat with him so he could enjoy the picnic while resting comfortably

Kristen and I are leaving today with Cali, Dana, Stanley and Jaime for Beach Bound Hounds. You know a lot of photos will be coming!!!!

All natural

2011-09-05T12:49:00.004-04:00

Ok, there is a new blog format, so give me some time..let's see how this goes.

Nature has been odd lately. But before the mayhem, we were doing normal things.

We visited with a local Girl Scout troop for an event, my three pretty much slept the whole time. Occasionally Cali would get up for some loving.

But they slept more than most..

Henry was running around playing with his many girlfriends..this particular time it was Macy

This photo made me laugh..Petey was obviously enjoying the sunshine..

and I finally got a new lens that allowed me to capture some hummingbirds! I am very excited. It took me a while, but I got a few good ones! Amazing what a lens will do!

The male likes to chirp at me..I guess he thinks I am some weird human with a black projection sticking out of their head at all times.

then it was Jason's birthday so we decided to plan a day at the wineries with friends. That week we had the infamous 5.8 earthquake where the epicenter was about 30 miles from my house. it actually was right where we spend a lot of time cooper Vineyard.
We figured that was the end of the natural disasters and continued to plan our weekend. Needless to say, Hurricane Irene had different ideas. We decided to continue our trip west hoping we would get home after the main event or before it.
we hit Delfosse Vineyard

Lovingston and Flying Fox. I actually liked all three quite well. The weather wasn't too bad in charlottesville. We then hit dinner at Ten sushi (with Bob, Rob, Megan, Kristen and Gyeong). Great food!!!
Monkfish liver. ;-)

While eating, our neighbor, Scott, called ot let us know our power had gone out and he was unable to get in to the house (we use the garage as the main entrance) to feed/let the dogs out. We had been gone the majority of the day, so we knew it would be a mess when we got home. We didnt' factor in the lack of electricity.
We get home after driving through the hurricane to find quite a bit of destruction. it could have been worse, for sure. The dogs were OK, just hungry and had to pee. But it was pitch dark, windy and rainy! The next morning, we surveyed the damage.
the large tree in the back yard, that you see quite often in the background of the running photos had been split in the middle. Hopefully, it will survive after a little surgery.

But the worst was our main tree in the front yard. This didn't hit the house luckily but it was still sad that we lost this tree.

Of course, no one in the neighborhood had power..so a nice neighbor walked over to dismantle the trees.

We just cut the middle trunk so hopefully the rest will fill in.

After all the cutting, we had quite the mess to contend with in the front and back yard

But again, no one had power so suddenly many men appeared with gloves to help. I have a feeling the wives were starting the honey do list, so they escaped to 'be neighborly'.

Jason and Scott took off walking around the neighborhood to see if anyone else needed help. Without computers, neither of them knew what to do. I took the time to photo my hummingbirds who were happy to have their feeder back after the hurricane!

After the earthquake, hurricane, 48 hours without power..we were done with natural disasters. but of course, henry had other ideas. He has had surgery before to remove hemangiomas..basically blood tumors. He always wakes up poorly from anesthesia so we try hard not to put him through it. A few days after the hurricane, one of his hemangiomas started bleeding profusely and after 24 hours straight of soaking through everything I put on it, i went to the vet. They immediately put him in to surgery to prevent anemia. They went ahead and removed another one on his butt that was about to pop too. He woke up OK, but then went in to shock with a temperature of 106. We assume it was malignant hyperthermia, which is genetic and most likely has been what has happened to him every other time. the vet called us to come immediately. When we arrived, he was hooked up to an iced IV, and packed completely in ice. he was in complete shock. it was not a pretty sight. But after about 20 minutes, his temp came down. He still wasn't 'with it' but we were able to get him home. After about 24 hours, he had recovered completely. It was touch and go, but he seems to be better now. He is now left with a few more incisions. So far they are healing well.

But a good natural thing...we are a member of a local produce delivery program that brings local/organic produce to use every week. After a few weeks of getting a bunch of cucumbers..Jason decided to make pickles. They are great!!!!

So nature has definitely been crazy lately. i would like the earth to stop moving (multiple aftershocks have rocked us since the original one).

Oh Henry!

2011-08-18T17:05:00.002-04:00

It is Henry's 12th Birthday today!! for those of you who don't know how he came to us..you can read a little about it here, but we have been so happy he came to us. Even though we have had him only for 2 years, he has made a huge impact on us! So Happy Birthday, Henry!
he knows he is hot...Cali thinks birthdays are only for her and ignores the fanfare.Like Kristen and Gyeong, I made it a 'rule' to not take on new boarders. My schedule is full as it is...but we made an exception for Tinker. She is cute and reminds me of a foster I had a long time ago.And Jason got a meat grinder..so now we can make fresh ground pork and stuff!
All the better to make fresh bolognese sauce to go with the great wine we brought back from Tuscany!

Fun in the sun

2011-08-09T17:29:00.005-04:00

I am still working on the hummingbird shot..I think I am limited by my lens (and my scant abilities). But I will keep trying. This past weekend we loaded up the car and drove in to the country to visit my parents. But instead of taking the dogs, we took the Parks. A weekend with no cell phone reception, good food and a pool...pretty cool.
We did take Shiloh b/c she basically grew up there and knows the routine (read: doesn't need to be leash walked). She also celebrated her 14th birthday last week. Happy Birthday old lady!It was also Jason and my 6th wedding anniversary. My mom put together a center piece for the occasion. Our wedding announcement (since we married in Napa with a few people we had a party at her house a month later), our 'reception' cake topper, the bottle of wine we had specially made/engraved for all those who attended our Napa nuptials, a bottle of wine from Italy and the terra cotta bowl we bought my mom from Florence.Celebrations aside..what is there to do in the country?
Play with the minisCheck out my dad's newest project in the shopMake fun of Truflzbeing in a photo shoot is hard work..Torture him some more..Jason's idea of fun was to wage war on anyone in or around the pool. First it was my mom and nephew, Boone. They seek shelter since Jason has the advantage!Everything became a weapon...the sponge balls.Even the pool noodle!Boone had to seek shelter a lotIn the end everyone was drenched. We even disturbed the neighbors...I hope they don't report us to the HOA.The next day, there wasn't a 3 year old to wage war against, so Jason had to entertain himself. Ladies...he's taken.We did have a major war of the adults, but since that one led to water being splashed in every direction, the 7Ds were safely inside.
but it is obvious that Jason and I use the pool for vastly different purposes. ;-)
When it was dark, storming, or too early to drink at the pool..we did this...for hours...Words With Friends marathon.We had a great time with the family. We ate like pigs (eggs fried in bacon fat...how did I come out of that house a healthy weight?), swam and played.
Of course, on the way home..we couldn't just drive the whole way! We had to stop at a few wineries.
Lazy Days is a relatively new winery that needs some time. The wines were pretty good but have GREAT potential. a winery to watch.and right down the street is Rebec Winery. the wines were OK and the scenery was great.Overall, it was a great weekend.
and there are more celebrations slated for the month. today is Dante's 13th birthday. We bought him this bed at the Pet Expo years ago. He never gave it a glance b/c he couldn't fit. A few illnesses later and he has trimmed up a bit. so now he fits very nicely and loves this bed! the blanket is built in.

Hot spots

2011-07-24T11:28:00.003-04:00

The house has been a hot spot recently..100F+ temperatures. Sucks. But Shiloh has also been suffering from her own hot spot. The combination of old skin, aging joints, thick undercoat and hot temps..led to one nasty hot spot.
She is also very limber and can get around a Cone of shame easily and can get around the bite not collar..BUT she can't get around them both at one time. ;-) Of course, she was absolutely miserable while in this get up..but it healed.We have had a ton of dogs go through the house recently too. I don't have the cool overhead area to take photos, but this is the best I can do. Henry, Beau, Cali, Belle, Dana, Baxter and Pete lounge in the AC (missing is Yuki, Shiloh and Dante).Before the 100+ temps started, we played outside a bit. Yuki loves to run!
Baxter was occupied by a little orange butterfly. Look closely..NO butterflies were harmed in the making of these photosDana and Cali watch with boredom..The hummingbirds don't really care how many dogs we have in the yard. I am trying desperately to get 'that shot' but the heat has prevented me from trying a lot.Then the heat hit and we stayed inside a lot. the first group of boarders left and VEsta, Petey and Lulu came in. Petey loves this vantage point while Jason is cooking.Vesta chillsDana really wants the help of Nigel in this endeavor..We still have a few boarders, but the carpet showed the wear of the last few weeks. so a full steam clean day was in order. Dante thinks beds should be on recliners every day!
Hopefully, it will cool off at some point. Lots of birthdays and special days coming up next month!

Cruisin'

2011-07-14T16:52:00.005-04:00

I have always been lucky to have friends who enjoyed the same things I did. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed a simple question.."Do you have any leave?" My immediate response was..not really..I just got back from a 2 week vacation! But about 3 seconds later, my curiosity won and I replied with a 2nd email "why?"
AND..that is how we planned a quick cruise vacation for fun. i have never cruised before and i will be honest in that I am not sold on it at this point. But, nevertheless..we had fun. It was definitely a different vacation then I am used too!

We started in Miami. Our first 10 dollar fruity beverage in a 'collectible glass'.We say farewell to Miami, and i say farewell to sure footing. I am prone to motion sickness. The first night, was a bit rough and I became a bit green. BUT a few ginger pills and some 'sea band bruises' later..I was doing OK.Our first stop was Key West. I love Key West!We rent an electric car and visit all the cool sights.And pet the 6 toed cats at Hemingway's house.They were everywhere!Then we visited the Butterfly house which was absolutely magical! Highly recommend!!!!this guy was easily 6 inches across.We left Key West and headed for Cozumel which gave us some time to explore the boat. It wasn't a huge boat..but it was still sparkly. I don't really remember there being this many floors..I do remember this area well, b/c the casino was directly behind it. we spent every free moment there. The dealers were really nice and it was by far the best area of the boat (aka- no children, less crowded)Then we made it to Cozumel. I have been to Riviera maya before so I was prepared for how beautiful the water is..We started by doing a Sea Trek with the big helmet on full of oxygen. It was a neat experience even if the coral was non-existent. I enjoyed the experience.
Susan and IThe unaware hermit crab
The uncooperative rayAfter changing, we hit the area for shopping and good food (read: the boat food was sub par at best..inedible at times) And we found the best Guacamole! (sorry gyeong!!)Then we were at sea for a day. I will be honest..it was crowded, loud and crowded. I was happy to have the balcony to sit in quiet and read.The other problem is that nothing on a boat is free...from bottled water to drinks..you pay. Even when they say come do a martini tasting..you pay 17 bucks. But they were pretty..I had a great time with Susan, had a great time on shore and had a great time in the casino. BUT I do not anticipate going on a Carnival cruise again. But I cant' complain but so much..it was last minute, for the heck of it and a new experience! We have a few more vacations/trips left this year..but the next few weeks we are packed with greyhounds!

Energizer bunnies

2011-07-04T16:06:00.004-04:00

We spent a great weekend with lots of great photo opportunities..but I forgot my camera. So to see what we did, check out gyeong's blog.
BUT We are happy to report, that everyone seems to have recovered from their ailments/we have found the perfect concoction of medicine.
Henry is back to himself..eating. playing and just being a good boy!He and Dana enjoy some sunshine.We watched Katie (fawn) , Beau and Belle for a while. Everyone really played well and it was great to see Henry play again!
Belle used Dante as a pillow..smelly pillow.We have Petey and Lulu for a bit now. Petey wants Henry to play with him more..Nerice and Debbie came over with Dolly, Diego and Brady for some fun..which ended up being a bunch of greyhounds sleeping while we gabbed. But Petey made his rounds.
Happy Fourth of July! And I leave on a another quick vacation in 2 days, so prepare for photos of Key West, Cozumel and a big boat. ;-)

health updates

2011-06-15T17:27:00.000-04:00

It happens..we get old and start falling apart. I am running a senior dog community at this point, so it is going to happen more often.
Since returning from Italy, we have had a few 'health scares'.
I detailed all of Dante's illnesses prior to leaving. Kristen and Gyeong took excellent care of him and we are definitely showing improvement. He is now on pancreatic enzyme supplements which have drastically improved his bowel function and his Cushing's meds are regulated. So we have significant progress with him. He seems to be gaining weight, is feisty and stubborn again..so he must be feeling well.Right after we returned, Shiloh (who will be 14 in August), had a small seizure. It definitely took me longer to get over than it did her...but she checked out OK at the vet. She seems healthy and happy now. apparently..they just happen sometimes. I would prefer if it didn't happen again..i don't think my emotional well being will fair well.Oh Henry..
Henry, who will be 12 in August, stopped eating completely a few weeks ago. Nothing stirred his appetite..tuna, chicken, turkey, rice, yogurt, baby food, oatmeal..you name it..we tried it. he was sad, depressed. So we went the vet on day 3. Everything looked normal so we tried some anti-nausea meds. On day 6 of not eating, we went back. After numerous blood tests, fluids and Xrays, everything looked normal. So we went to an internal medicine specialist who did an ultrasound. his lymph nodes were enlarged. This is typically due to Inflammatory Bowel disease or Lymphoma. They did a needle aspirate of his spleen.
The aspirate showed some 'unhappy' cells meaning his immune system was out of whack for some reason. We started him on antibiotics and took him home. Either diagnosis would improve with antibiotics, for a short time.
He has improved. On day 10 of his fast, he started to eat small amounts. he is now eating regular meals (of chicken and rice only) and seems to be a bit perkier. We are just watching him for now..this may continue..it may not. We didn't want to put him under anesthesia to do a biopsy which would have given us a definitive diagnosis. It would be for our benefit, not his.So for now..we are keeping the old man happy and hoping he has time ahead of him.
So we are moving forward hoping everyone continues to improve.
We have been getting fresh local produce from Dominion Harvest delivered to us..this past week it had Hanover Honey..
I call this "heaven on a plastic cutting sheet" Local goat cheese and honey with an Italian white wine..And for the first time in a long time, we have a true foster. Dancer is 2 and kind feeling like the kid who gets dropped off at grandma's retirement home for the weekend. Shuffleboard and Bingo are not her bag.
I will have a photo filled post soon. We have a pretty cool weekend planned with the Park pack.

Back to what we do best..festivals!

2011-06-05T15:33:00.005-04:00

I hope you enjoyed my Italy journal (one, two, three, four and five ). Now we are back to our normal spring/summer ways!
after all that great Italian food, we needed a little change. So we met my childhood friend for sushi in charlottesville. It was really great..we may have to go back.Mandi and I..we were friends in kindergarten..who knew we would be meeting for sushi so many years later.We watched Petey for a bit..I didn't get many photos of him. But this one reminded me of E.T.My parents came to visit so we could go to the Cooper SPCA festival. Now, normally..I would not post of a photo of my mother like this..BUT it is a bit of revenge for what is to come.

We head to Cooper Vineyards for the annual SPCA festival with all the greyhounds. Kristen, Gyeong, Bob and my parents came along as well. We corralled the greyhounds on their new tasting deck. it made it really easy b/c we didn't have to hold leashes. The deck was enclosed so they weren't able to get anywhere.And then my mom takes my camera. She isn't accustomed to the shutter speed on the 7D and just did the paparazzi thing and fired at will. I decided since we had a million photos from her, I would post some of them no matter how degrading they may be for me.She liked to zoom in and just fire off..without really waiting for us to prepare...
After about 25 photos, I had to get stern..of course she kept snapping!I wasn't really mad..I couldn't that gig for long..But we had a nice picnic of cheese, meats, crackers and Cooper wine.The dogs watched people milling about down below. And the old ladies conversed.Of course, no real surprise as to where Cali ended up..Then my mom took the camera again..and I have a million of these..So Gyeong turned tried retaliationAnd this is what I call "And then the wheels fell off"

The next weekend, Richmond had its Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival..which is always a fun, if not unusual time. The crowd is definitely different from what we are used too at the wine festivals! Gyeong and Jason are the Bourbon drinkers..so we did a lot of watching.You never know what you will see if you are observant..And they brought 9 dogs with them and we had 7 already..so it made for a very doggie evening!
We have a few more fun things planned before it gets blistering hot...

Italy 2011- Final Days in Florence

2011-05-25T16:33:00.008-04:00

Our last days in Florence were spent more casually. Florence is very laid back and has a smaller town feel. Everything was much quieter, the people were less tolerant of tourists and it was much easier to navigate.
On Monday, we went to the Galileo Museum (no photographs allowed) which was very cool for the scientist in me. It was three floors of scientific instruments and discoveries. I quite enjoyed it. Then we made our way to the Mercato Centrale, or Central Market by way of San Lorenzo Market. San Lorenzo Market is the 'street market' for clothes and leather. Florence is known for its leather factory. Some of these stalls are attached to permanent stores and some are temporary and just sell standard tourist trinkets. We meander through...a coat catches my eye.
We make it to the Central Market which is more of a farmers market, filled with stalls of produce, oils, meats, etc for local shoppers.For those of you who follow me on Facebook, it was in this market where the mean Italian man yelled at me (not the one pictured). It was the only 'bad' thing to happen and it wasn't that bad..I am sensitive so it hurt my feelings but that is OK.
We made our way to Nerbone which is a VERY popular spot in the market (every guidebook and travel site mentions it) where Jason stood in line and pointed at what he wanted while I found a spot on the communal benches.And he returned with tripe, pasta and wine. Staples of Italian cuisine.After lunch, we meandered back through the San Lorenzo market and 'happened' back upon the aforementioned coat. To soothe my wounded feelings, I tried it on..and fell in love! Luckily, they haggle. Victory! The tag says it all. (Firenze=Florence)
That evening we had scheduled to participate in a cooking course at the local cooking academy. It was fun, but we had hoped to make pasta..but we did not. But we had a good time regardless. While walking there, I snapped a few photos of the Vecchio bridge The kitchen was professional!Jason tried not to 'do it all' but did get to show off a few skills.One of the finished products, Chicken something....On the way back to the hotel, I got some of my FAVORITE shots of the trip..the lighting was perfect and IMO they turned out well. The Tiber River and Florentine bridges.
The next day we did a bit more sightseeing. First, the Duomo Notice the little white part at the top of the big orange/copper dome...We walked up there..and they didn't exactly plan for elevators during the Renaissance period. So we walked up 463 steps...straight up. It wasn't easy at all. This is a shot of us going down so you get an idea of how small and steep they were.
but once there, we were rewarded with amazing views of Florence and the surrounding Tuscan countryside.The first photo of the Duomo from the ground shows this tower For the pain, he was rewarded with gelato
After this, we visited the Accademia, which houses the original David by Michealango. it was amazing..but of course..no photos allowed. The detail was breath taking..an item not to miss if visiting. Then we went through the Uffizi Gallery which houses the Birth of Venus painting among other great works. it too was great.
our last night was spent with the our friend at Pitti Gola e Cantina. he treated us so well and the food was so amazing, that we had to go back. he again showered us with good wine, great food and great company.This steak tartare had sooo much fresh black truffle grated on it..Overall, Italy was awesome. The food was fantastic, the people were inviting and the structures were amazing. it was a great trip. Thank you for reading my blog about it! The trip home was long and tortuous but it was worth it.
Ciao!

Italy 2011- Tuscany

2011-05-24T17:49:00.005-04:00

We took a day tour in to Tuscany. This was an awesome excursion.
The bus was driven by one of the Mafia's hit men..he was straight out of the Soprano's but in real life..it was accentuated by the fact that he was on the cell phone the ENTIRE trip. You know cell phone talking bus drivers wouldn't last a minute here..but his phone rang constantly and he was on it 95% of the time while driving along small back roads in a huge double door bus. He had skills and we weren't going to question his driving abilities for fear of sleeping with the fishes. I casually snapped a shot of the landscape and 'accidentally' got him in the rear view..oops. ;-)
But we did make it through the day and he smiled at us..even though he was missing many of his teeth.....
anyway..first stop Pisa!
Known for..well..the only thing there really..this is the entire town of PisaThis is surrounded by medieval walls (we have left the Renaissance of Florence and moved to Medieval areas)The Duomo is spectacular..every figure is different and this place was massive!And the main attractionAnd we ARE tourists..and EVERYONE else was doing it.............

So we leave Pisa and head to a winery and olive farm in San Gimignano which is a region of Tuscany near Chianti. the winery is called Sovestro in Poggio which means 'something' on the hill. it was very small and luckily so was our tour group. They gave us a great home cooked lunch and did a wine tasting and olive oil tasting. We did buy quite a bit of wine and olive oil from this farm.And it was gorgeous..Tuscany is the place I want to return to visit..and of course it was the ONE day it rained. But you get the idea nonetheless.

Then we went to the town of San Gimignano which was very small and medieval. The doors were huge and had massive iron gargoyle knockers. they had a great shop with a lady sewing leather products right there..bought a few items from her. There was also a great overlook of Tuscany.
the last stop of the day was Siena..I also would like to return to explore this little town. Of course, the sun comes out now..better late than never! there is large piazza where they actually still run horses races every year. And of course, the church..this one was probably the most extravagant and over the top of all the churches we saw.This inside was just as marvelous.
That was a big day. I had thought this might be my last blog post..but I think I will save my Florence photos for another post. I got some great night photos, I think. Thank you for sticking with me..I hope you are enjoying my vacation recap!
so again..and for the final time.. To be continued......

Italy 2011-Rome to Florence via Miglia 1000

2011-05-23T16:44:00.008-04:00

My third journal entry, if you have missed 1 and 2..scroll down and click on them from the history links to the right. We spent our final day in Rome conquering the bus system (OK so we rode ONE bus)..but it was a feat. We decided to go to the Priscilla Catacombs which lie outside of the city walls. No photos were allowed but there were a lot of ancient nuns and crypts. The paintings on the walls were great and the crypts were definitely chilling..not to mention the catacombs were 55 degrees since we were pretty far below the ground. Since we were in a very non-touristy area, we strolled around and found a local market. Then we found a pizzeria that had EXCELLENT pizza..didn't speak a stitch of English but we just pointed and handed him money. But again..he gave us change and we had no idea we were owed it...so very kind. We took our local eats to a nearby park to enjoy. We saw a bunch of dogs in Italy..as a whole it is a very dog friendly country (well, the parts we visited). It was 'of note' that all were unaltered and typically mixed breeds but we saw no strays. I did seethe as the strolled past me with their doo-dads..but oh well. ;-)
That night we had a reservation at La Pergola, our first three Michelin Star restaurant (Gordon Ramsey's London was "only" 2).
So we dolled up and posed in front of the Triton fountain in the Barberini Piazza that was outside of our hotel. A funny side note, Jason and i forgot to pack his jacket. The restaurant requires men to wear jackets. So we emailed them and they did have jackets for people to wear..problem is most Italians are not exactly Jason's size..so they didn't have one for him. so we had to go in to every menswear shop and ask fi they had a jacket to fit him..and it wasn't easy...but we finally found one and he is the owner of an Italian sports jacket. After a 15 minute cab ride out of of the city walls and up a mountain, we arrive. And what a view!!!! (the Vatican is to the right..nothing can be built higher than half its height)The Coliseum can be seen next to the large white "Wedding Cake" described in the earlier post.We pose And then sit down on their porch for pre-dinner snacks and drinks (the cheese sticks were awesome!)
Once seated, Jason tries to navigate the wine list..that entire book is just wine. 53,000 different types..we ended up just getting help. Then we did the 9 course meal..they gave us a great printout of our menu and wines before we left..so don't think this came from memory. And I didn't get photos of all of them..so this is just a 'few'
Steak tartare with basil foamScallop with tomato and basil vinaigretteTuna Tartare with green tea sorbetBlack cod with chili pepper sauceFagotelli..which was filled with the most amazing stuff..it was my favorite of the trip..amazing.Licorice flavored pig shoulder with olive sauceand along with a few other courses not photographed..they hit us with the Grand Dessert..which turned out to be a hundred items..along with all the items on the table (look around..they are everywhere) that little silver box on the right had chocolate truffles and candies in every drawer and it was four sided!Finally..a night cap to enjoy the gorgeous view..and a wheelbarrow to get our stuffed butts down the hill
So that ended our time in Rome, Italy..we traveled to Florence for our next stage. Rome was big and bustling..very much like NYC. Buses were everywhere and a 'quiet meal' was difficult..but it was still awesome and fantastic. and I think 4 days is a great amount of time..we saw everything we wanted too and more.
We arrived in Florence before our room was ready. Our hotel was perfectly located near the Uffizi Gallery and the Piazza signoria where the "Fake David" resides (formerly the location of the real David who now resides in the Accademia)So we get lunch and a gelato
And notice there were metal fences up through the middle of the piazza with a lot of people standing around in them. We asked around and found there was a race coming through Florence. After further questioning, it was a pretty big road race called the 1000 Miglia and was quite the event. Since Jason and I are very interested in cars, we found a spot on the rail and viewed in awe at the cars that passed.
There were over 1000 in the race and after 3 hours, we had to leave to make a dinner reservation.

I also managed to get a video..turn your speakers up and enjoy..they were going slowly through the piazza but would rev their engines for the crowd.

After that cool experience, we went to Pitti Gola E Cantina Wine Bar at the Pitti Palace which was across the famous Vecchio bridge (more photos of that in future posts). They had a wine and cheese tasting on Viator, so we did that. it was awesome. Our host was Zeno, the co-owner of the little store/shop/restaurant. He gathered information about our wines tastes and randomly opened bottles for our and his enjoyment. he gave us a great lesson Italian wines, focusing of course in the Chianti region.All of the cheeses were from a local sheep farm that delivered daily.We tasted a ton of wines over 3 hours..it was a great night.
Zeno!
We even had dinner there and after spending that much time with Zeno he made up a meal for us that was phenomenal. Fresh truffles, fresh pasta, and wine to match..we go back later in the week. ;-)
Next entry..our trip in to Tuscany- Pisa, Siena, San Gimignono, and a Tuscan vineyard.
to be continued......

Italy 2011- Rome-3rd day

2011-05-22T08:14:00.007-04:00

Welcome to the second installment of our Italy journal! ;-) If you missed the first one, scroll down or go to the right for the history links. The 3rd day gets a blog entry all to itself. Don't worry..I think I will only do two more entries after this one.
My overall comment for this entry is that 95% of Italians speak english. Which makes traveling easier for us uni-lingual travelers. And they don't think their "italian heritage' is marred by learning a new language to further their economy (unlike some other cultures I know)..most billboards and road signs were in both languages and I feel sure they have to press 1 for Italian. They understand the benefits. and those that didn't understand English were not put out by the fact I didn't know Italian, we simple used hand gestures and pointed to get what we wanted.

On Day 3 we did the morning walking tour of all the major sights. It was a great tour and I checked many things off my bucket list. We started in the Piazza Navona which has the Fountain of Four Rivers. Basically, every corner represents a river/culture; African, Asian, American and European. When they sculpted this, American was just discovered so they didn't know much about us..we were portrayed very basic with a stick. The others were much more elaborate and detailed.
This is the Piazza from afar..the main fountain is in the distance with the obelisk.Close up Then we walked to the Pantheon. Our tour guide was very good and informative..definitely worth the tour fees. The Pantheon was probably the biggest surprise for me. I knew the Coliseum would be a 'moment' but I wasn't prepared for the Pantheon. Something about it was just amazing.
The sheer size was impressive
But this was the moment I became covered in goose bumps..totally unexpected.
The Pantheon has a huge hole in the top of the roof. It has taken them centuries to figure out why..this is what the THINK is the purpose. The hole lets the sun shine through leaving a circle of light on the wall..And every Solstice and Equinox, it lands perfectly at the entrance/portico (see the circle 'indent' in the wall in this photo), which apparently was when the kings or someone would stand in the light. Pretty good for something built in the 2nd century, huh?From there we walked to the Roman Forums. But on the way, you have to walk past what the Romans loathe and dub "the Wedding Cake". The Victor Emmanuel Monument, but in 1870 (so not ancient) by Italy's first king. The 43 foot statute of the king on his horse is the largest in the world...it sits right beside the Forum and it is massive. Beautiful..but it definitely takes away from the 'feeling' of ancient Rome.
Once past this, we went to the Roman Forum..which takes a lot of imagination but to stand where Caesar stood was great. The guide had a book with overlays so we could see what they think stood where these ruins are..that helped complete the image.Then we passed by Palentine Hill and the Arch of Constantine..
To reach the ultimate destination...The Coliseum.It was awesome. If you listened closely you could hear the crowds and lions roar. There was a fire, so the only thing left is the stone. Behind is where the bleachers were.The wooden floor that the fights actually occurred on is gone, but you can see a 'replica' they have installed over a portion of the floor to give you the idea. Under this floor, was where they held the gladiators (who were slaves) and the exotic animals before fights. The floor actually had 'trap doors' so the fighters could be raised to the Coliseum to fight without have to go outside or 'meet accidentally'..remember they fought bears, lions, tigers, etc. It was everything I expected and more. This was my 'favorite day' if I had to chose. After meandering around the Coliseum, we were parched (sense the theme) and found a little cafe with a phenomenal view.After lunch, we decided to seek out Rome's number one restaurant according to Trip Advisor. We used Trip Advisor a lot and tried to visit the number 1 location for both cities. In Rome, it is La Gelateria Frigidarium...yep..a Gelato place! And it wasn't on the beaten path. BUT after searching for a bit..we were rewarded.
The next entry will complete our journey in Rome (with the greatest view of the city) and start our adventures in Florence (including a random encounter with a lot of Ferraris!). I might get it up tonight.
To be continued....

Italy 2011- Rome-First days

2011-05-21T06:47:00.007-04:00

I would like to document my Italy trip on my blog, but it will take multiple entries. This will serve as a 'permanent' journal for me. I don't know how many it will take..just a few. But this is the first 'installment'. First and foremost, I loved Italy. It was beautiful and focused on the things I enjoy most, food and wine.
We began in Rome at the Anglo Hotel near the Barberini Piazza. Since we arrived at 10AM Italy time (which is 4AM my time), we knew we had to stay awake and 'get with the program' so to speak. We had many organized tours planned throughout the trip and many free days. The Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain were within walking distance, so we headed in that direction. The first thing we noticed in Rome, is that it is a BIG city. Think NYC. The traffic is insane and everyone drives Smart cars or Scooters. There are no 'lanes' or road rules beyond if it fits..go for it. So crossing the street is difficult and driving is out of the question. This is the view from our hotel door, notice the cars are parked however they will fit and how you really can't tell what is parked and what isn't. This is a 'main' city road as well.We get to the Spanish steps and climb to the top which provided a great view of the city.
While there, we stopped for our first glass of wine and meal.
Caprese of course...I discovered that I like Italian tomatoes. I am not a tomato fan..and yes I have tried super fresh ones from my mother's garden. But something about the Italian ones..they were less acidic and less 'slimy'. I actually ate quite a few tomatoes while there. then we walked down to the bottom for a full view. This is a prime location for the famed pick pockets of Rome, so we didn't hang out long. We managed to never get accosted by them by avoiding the areas they love! but the Steps were beautiful!
Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain. it was a beautiful day (every day was in the mid-upper 70s) so the fountain was crowded. But I managed to squeeze in for a few photos.The details were amazing. And this is the final destination for water in the famed Rome aqueducts. There were many places we were not comfortable handing my camera to strangers to get a 'couple' shot. There are plenty..but not here. This is another hot spot so pretend we are standing together..
The first night we went to a small restaurant close to the hotel. It was run by an 'irritated' Italian man and it was tiny. But ranks as one of the best meals of the trip. Tagliatelle to die for...and they loved their wine!while we were waiting for our food, Jason took my camera and told me to 'scooch down a bit'. Only later did I realize the 'set up'The next day we did a half day tour of the Vatican. I do recommend doing these tours. Without someone explaining a lot of the artwork and sculptures, it would be easy to 'miss the point'. The amount of artwork just in the Vatican was astounding (and apparently there is an amazing wine cellar in there as well with wine just 'aging')The courtyardThen you walk through miles of halls with art everywhere. The ceilings/walls/floors are covered with something more beautiful. I am not an 'art person' but you couldn't help but become one while in Rome.I particularly liked this one hall where the ceilings were painting with this styleThat is a painting..not a marble sculpture..just amazing talent.
And the sculptures..everywhere. And leave it to us to find the greyhound statue (there were many 'greyhound like' dogs in the paintings as well)There are no photos allowed in the Sistine chapel..which is just as well. No photographer could do it justice. but I will say that after the miles of art, the Sistine chapel was amazing but just as amazing as everything had seen leading up to it. There is also no talking in the chapel (along with no shorts, no bare shoulders..they have a lot of rules). The little guards (I am sure they would love to be called that) would walk around "Silencio" "No Photos"..which they would have to repeat louder and louder as the murmurs grew. no one seemed to get those two basic points. But we had a great explanation by our guide prior to entering using these handy boards outside.Then we went to St. Peter's Basilica. It was a Wednesday morning, so the Pope was doing his public blessing. I am not catholic nor particularly religious but he could be considered a 'celebrity' of sorts so it was neat to be able to see him.
The courtyard itself was amazing..quite awe inspiring.the details were amazing and my blog would be much longer if I actually showed you all of them. But even with Gyeong's borrowed lens, I couldn't get a close up photo of the Pope..but this blurry one will have to suffice.And the downfall of my camera, is that not many people know how to use it. So after zooming for this shot, I found a nice couple in our tour to take our photo. Forgot to 'reel it back in' and obviously they were unaware. So here WE are with St. peter's barely visible in the back..oh well.
After the long tour, we were parched. There is a lot of walking involved with Rome..ALOT. So we found another trattoria and sat for an afternoon snack.We then had a night tour of Rome. this is one of the few tours, I would not recommend. It certainly sounds cooler than it actually ended up being. I think had we been in an open topped bus it would have been much better, but driving 'by' the beautiful sights at night..just wasn't great. And to be honest, as you will see in a future blog, Florence is much prettier at night.BUT we did stop at a few locations.
Trevi Fountain at nightI think the top doesn't get the attention it deserves. it is quite beautifulAnd St. Peter's at night.
To be continued. Next entry..The Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, more wine and gelato.

Parades and picnics and poo

2011-05-03T19:04:00.003-04:00

I realize that is an odd combination, but that IS in fact what we have been up too. We went to Easter on Parade on Easter. Everyone wore their fancy hats..
Dana made friendsAnd Cali..well..you guessed itThen James River Greyhounds had their spring picnic. Cali and Dana got new collars from Houndstown (I really like Henry's collar and couldn't find another that I liked more)We had a radar run, cali ran it but I didn't get any photos. I did think it was funny when Yuki (our fastest at 40mph and the white/brindle in the back) decided to break free and go for another passCali, Henry and Dana sacked out early..Our hummingbirds are back! and other weird night creatures..this one is pretty cool...The poo..well, Dante is still ailing. He has had significant diarrhea for 5 weeks now and has dropped 2 1/2 pounds, making him an cool 16.5 pounds. A year ago he was 26 and one month ago he was almost 20. We have tried a lot of things. There are still more things to try and specialists are being consulted. We are doing everything we can and so is our vet. we will be leaving him in Kristen and Gyeong's VERY capable hands while we go to Italy. The rest will stay at home and be watched by our wonderful house sitter. so the next post will hopefully be full of Roman architecture and the hills of Tuscany. And hopefully, Dante will start to improve so we can have a worry free trip.
Ciao!

Puppy Power

2011-04-20T16:51:00.004-04:00

We are watching Petey again..and his puppy energy and youthful antics has brought a little life in to the tired old pack.
CutenessPlease don't eat me, lady...He is as big as Cali's head...Henry is forever the epitome of perfect baby sitter and lopes around the yard letting the young whipper-snapper think he is fast..but alas..he gets farther and farther behind...Then everyone joins in and I have to become referee again..everyone is good with him but occasionally Dana needs a reminder.The Discover Wine Festival was this past weekend. it is one of our favorite wine festivals and this year we took dogs. We figured it would be an ideal 'tire the puppy' event, so Petey and Cali tagged along. On the way there, we stopped for gas and this trailer pulled up beside us...Look closely..those are Tiger teeth..a male Lion was in the back compartment. Scary and smelly!!!
But we made it to the festival and find a spot to sit and have some lunch. yes, Kristen..you are in the photo tooStella watches as her Daddy walks off to take some scenic photos
Please sir..can I have some more?Gyeong gets attackedEveryone finally settles back to enjoy the view and vino.

A little fun

2011-04-10T16:55:00.003-04:00

Update on the pack. Dana seems back to her old self 100%. She is eating again, no swelling and she is doing great.
Dante has a Candida (yeast) infection in his intestines. we are trying to treat that but there has to be an underlying cause for why the yeast overgrew. So we are running a bunch of tests to see if it is related to his Cushings or something new. Sleep is fitful and he has spent quite a few days at the vet, but he seems to be in good spirits.
The weather was great today so I went out with the camera to play with the dogs. These three watched from the sidelines.However, i encouraged them to stay on their feet. I snapped this shot of Shiloh laying in the sunshine and then looked up..I poked her and it flew away.
We had Jax and Chloe last weekend, and the last day they were here i got this shot (Jax has problems with marking which is why he is wearing a belly band)today I rousted everyone from the couchAnd out we go. Cali gets her toy thrown for herthen Henry tries to join in

Then Henry started doing his own thing which lead to a few 'close' calls between the game of fetch and the zoomie session
I got a few great shots of Henry.

Some great festivals are coming up and Italy in 4 weeks! Will update with Dante's progress.

Dana and Dante

2011-04-03T11:29:00.004-04:00

It has been a long week. Dana was in a lot of pain for quite a few days and didn't eat. I completely forgot about photographing her leg until mid-week. You can see some swelling in her right front leg compared to the left one in this photo..but this was 3 days after going to the emergency vet and getting antibiotics.Then we had the issue of her not eating. She has always been a picky dog who sometimes would go a meal or three without eating. But she at her last good meal on Thursday. By Monday we were trying everything. She would eat a little baby food but nothing else. We tried canned food, baby hot dogs, chicken broth, etc. Then Jason spent the day making a turkey burger/rice concoction. finally!! She liked it so much she ate two bowls that night and even stood up for the second one! (which is where you get another good look at her leg..that far leg is not bent..it is just swollen)She started to act more like herself every day. We are still having trouble getting her to eat, but I can usually get her to eat one small meal each day. So I think she has stopped losing weight. Once she is off all meds, she may pick back up. so what was it? Don't know. We are going to take her back in for more biopsies at some point..but for now the pain is controlled and she seems much better...AND we have bigger fish to fry.Dante's Cushing's Disease seems to be worsening. Something is causing massive GI distress. so we can't do the cortisol level test until we get him to stop having 'serious issues' every 4 hours. He is on prescription diet and meds, but isnt' making a dent. so he is going back to the vet tomorrow for more tests.
Once we get him feeling better, we will move back to Dana. maybe it was a weird infection of sorts..I don't know. I am just glad she is better. I will update about Dante when we know something. Old dogs.
But this next part of the blog, I like to call "crawling around on the floor annoying the dogs".
but without fail..doing this leads to a few of these on my camera. Someone has been extremely jealous of all the attention being paid to DanaShiloh scratches her back..
And Cali shows hers again..She just had to get to that bone at that moment...Eventually interest was lost and someone else took the bone. Napoleon complex?Everyone hates steam cleaning day..
So we play outside a bit. We are watching Chloe and Jax. Chloe is very pretty.Dana laughs in her general direction (notice the leg is back to normal..her elbow is still a little swollen but not much)And the handsome HenryThe beds were restored after the floor dried. now we set our sights to getting our pack healthy again..

The sun will come out..tomorrow

2011-03-27T15:13:00.003-04:00

This blog post was going to be about the fun we are having with the warmer weather..but things have a way of changing. The fun photos are coming..but today we spend 5 hours at the emergency veterinarian with Dana. She woke with a swollen leg and stopped eating. X-rays showed no bone involvement (whew) and blood work didn't hint at an infection. She had lost 3 pounds in 6 days. The vet said 'I dont' know what it is but I don't like it' ..neither do we. So now, we are treating her with antibiotics for 24-48 hours. If it isnt' better in that time, we will assume cancer and proceed from there. Fingers crossed tomorrow is a better day.

But yesterday..was a better day and I took a lot of photos with my new 7D. (and I sold my Rebel XTi..yeah for Craigslist). I am still getting used to the insane amount of buttons and learning how to change settings..so some photos need some work.

This was 5 days ago..obviously Dana's elbow was not a grapefruit then.
As she lays on her bed drooling and see pink butterflies (morphine)..I hope she is dreaming of playing again.
Cali had some 'fetch' time...Jason comes out the door and Cali knows what that means!he barricades the other staircase so she can't fetch once and inside. Notice Cali follows him in case he throws her toyGame on (toy is in upper right of photo)

Cali is photogenic..
I will update with Dana's progress.

Rolling on..

2011-03-20T10:45:00.003-04:00

It is no secret that I have been wanting a new camera. Sadly, I have priced myself out of Santa's budget and with our upcoming big vacation (ITALY IN 6 WEEKS!!!)..it was time. It was almost three years ago to the day that I started my journey with SLRs and I have really enjoyed being an amateur photographer. Now..it is time..for the ultimate upgrade..the pinnacle of what I will ever want...the Canon EOS 7D
I am very excited..it should be here soon. AND I am not the only person who has purchased this camera among our blogger friends
This also means that I can no longer blame poor photograph quality on my camera..the fault will fall on the user and her left brain bias.

We did go to a Roller Derby recently..it was fun and i can now mark it off my list of things I would like to do. It was entertaining.

I would try to explain the rules, but honestly i didn't get it until I saw it.
And finally, Cali turned 8 this past week!! She is our 'youngster' and a great addition to our pack. Happy Birthday, Cali!!!!! (some of my favorite photos of her )

Farewell, Canon Rebel XTi..you have served me well. hopefully I can find a new home to appreciate your abilities.

Spring has sprung

2011-03-13T14:34:00.004-04:00

Spring is coming!We are excited.We went to the Pet Expo and Cali was..well Cali.We watched Rainy while her family went on vacation. She is doing so well. We had Chloe as well and they got enjoyed the viewRainy decided the Pig must die.Now we just lay around a bit, enjoying the weather outsideEveryone knows this Dana "look"or inside
Henry has ETSWe always tell people that greyhounds have thin skin..just a reminder...We have a new foster, Snoop (TS Snoop Dog). He was returned to us yesterday and he 10 years old. he is very sweet and has a new home waiting for him. We will just hang on to him until the weekend. Henry and Snoop raced at the same track on the same day in 2003..the old boys converse a bit.He is handsome
Very excited about the warm weather!!!

Not a cloud in the sky

2011-02-16T16:46:00.002-05:00

The weather has improved AND Rainy found a forever home!!!!
She had been accepted by everyone and fit in well..but a great couple came long and she now has a new best friend, DixieGood luck, Rainy..I am very glad I was able to give you a Happy ever after!
And with the improving weather, we have been playing a lot outside. Cali changes the 'toy of choice' often.Henry joins in the fun
Then Daddy plays a bit of tease with her..but don't worry..he threw it plenty for her to fetch..
"do you want it?"But the tart did well recently. Two years ago, we pass the Delta Society's therapy dog evaluation test one point shy of perfect. The test involves 20+ 'tests' that she has to pass (missing more than 2 is overall failure), with a 1 (good) or 2 (perfect). We had to do the re-evaluation this month to certify again..and she passed with a perfect score. As Nerice said "Overachiever". I am proud of the little tart though..so we have a new ID badge photo
Come out to the Pet Expo if you are in the Richmond area this weekend! Lots of fun! James River Greyhounds and Houndstown will have a booth!

Rainy, like the weather

2011-01-30T10:47:00.003-05:00

I will admit that the our weather lately has been rainy, not to the extent of our friends down under but we have been on the southern edge of the recent mega snow storms giving us a cold rain. BUT, that is now what my title should suggest.
It is a long story..I will spare you the raw details. A week ago, James River Greyhounds was called by a lady wanting to surrender her greyhounds. When I asked about tattoos, they told me she had none. But she had raced and been bred. I was skeptical. For those of you not involved in non-profit work, we all have mission statements and charters that the IRS holds us too. Our particular one, states we can only adopt retired racing greyhounds or suffer the loss of our non-profit status. It keeps us all honest. Protocol says I am supposed to give her numbers to local all breed rescue groups who could help her with this 'non-retired racing greyhound'. But we werent' 100% sure she wasn't a greyhound from an 'oops' litter.
The conversation led me to believe this dog was in danger in her current home. So we sent a volunteer to pick her up. I decided to foster her..not really knowign what I was getting. Turns out, after some phone calls..there is a new trend in southwest Virginia (my people, yeah) to bred retired racing greyhounds (gotten straight from WV tracks unaltered) to hound dogs to produce a faster hunting dog. The world needs more hybrids, right?
So meet Rainy (they actually said "her name is Rainy, like the weather)She is a centaur like dog that shows true greyhound features and true hound features. Apparently, her most recent owners acquired her a month or two ago and truly believed they owned a retired racing greyhound. The prong collar she was returned with showed their immense lack of knowledge in the subject. Prior to them, she had been tied outside for 2 years. and prior to that, obviously we assume she was on a farm in southwest Virginia hunting and breeding.
Additionally, she is not spayed, not vaccinated, about 9 years old and heartworm positive.
*cue the happy 'turning point' music*
Now, she has been with us 7 days and has been vaccinated, started on heartworm treatment (there should be no problems associated with the infection, we caught it early and there appears to be no heart damage) and will be spayed next week.
Now..she needs a home. We are placing her as 'dog lovers' not as a greyhound group. She is a GREAT dog. Housebroken, great with my dogs, snuggly, happy, not scarred by her past experiences. (I am not sure how she is with cats indoors, but I would say no small fluffy dogs b/c outside she is a true hunting dog)If you know anyone who might be interested, please contact me (katrinastumpf@yahoo.com)
The local all breed rescue groups are so full they cannot take her. I have tried them all and had some eye opening experiences. I would like to thank and give props to Hickory Hill Canine and Richmond Animal League. they were by far the most helpful and were not rude or angry. No other group followed through. I know they are busy so I won't bad mouth them..but props will go to those who are due.
she is a good girl. I can't keep her. She needs a proper forever home who will love her, feed her well, take care of her and enjoy her. We will find it.
On a different and just as important note, Miss Dana Roo Roo Pantz turned 10 this past week. (we officially have 4 out of 5 dogs in double digits!). Happy Birthday to my special girl
Please spread the word about Rainy. She has the hound vigor so she is still 'young at heart' for sure.

Indoor activities

2011-01-17T11:37:00.003-05:00

It is cold outside and it is January, which means very few activities are planned. so we do a lot of indoor lounging. We have 3 boarders this weekend so there was a lot of lounging.
Sunbeams are appreciated
Even without the sunbeam the floor is littered with greyhounds (Jax, Chloe, Dana, Cali, Henry, Smokey)Jax is pretty cute and marked so similar to CaliThe old lady claims the couchAnd Dante enjoys the new down blanketDante had his third round of tests to determine if the dosage he is on currently is keeping his cortisol levels at normal values. They came back normal so we are on the right track. he feels SOOOOO much better and is really back to his old self. Now we just need to put a few pounds on him. We are very happy with his progress. He loves the 'canned food ball' every morning that disguises his pill. We also decided to upgrade our fish's digs. Sometimes they get a bum deal so we revamped their living quarters this weekend. New everything and even went a different 'style' direction and installed a new very powerful canister filter which will hopefully maintain their living conditions at optimum quality!
Before:
After:

Aussie Invasion

2011-01-08T12:38:00.002-05:00

New year's eve was pretty normal and low key. Friends, Greyhounds and Rock Band 3, go figure.But three days later was nothing ordinary. Many of you follow IHateToast on her Needle Noses blog. We have been following her blog for a long time and have used modern technology to forge a friendship even though she lives in Australia. We know her so well..but have never met. Until now! Katy, her husband (affectionately known as manboy on Facebook) Mark and her stepson Andrew stopped by on their 'tour of the US' for a night.
Henry thinks she smells like kangeroos and shrimpCali proves her 'tart-ness' and snuggles up instantly.Kristen and Gyeong also come down with their crew to meet her. Stanley shares the couch while Cali continues her snuggles.Hopefully gyeong got a better photo of them. But here is Katy, Kristen, Gyeong and Mark with Stanley, Stella, Jaime and Beth.
And then Katy, Mark and me with Cali, Dana (and Stanley and Beth in the background). Jason and Andrew were geeking out at the computer and missed the group photo.

We had a great dinner and introduced them to Gyeong's smoked pork butt and Jason's delicious sides. The next day they packed up and headed to their next destination. Oddly, two Bald Eagles stopped by my backyard to see the Aussie's off..

It was great to meet them! Hopefully one day we will get to Australia to snuggle with Omo and Fabian.

Holiday fun

2010-12-30T09:50:00.004-05:00

The holidays mean a lot of travel for us. We load up all 5 dogs and visit both families. This year we started in Southwest Virginia at my parents' house.
Boone gets introduced to the newest technology. I didn't have a problem taking my iPad home with me b/c we gave my mom one for christmas!Then Boone helps us watch the dogs as they play in the miniature horse paddock.Luckily the paddock is very secure b/c there are a lot of critters that draw the curious attention of Miss Calinot exactly sure what happened here, but Cali decided this was the best place to lay.On Christmas morning we awoke to a dusting of snow. It truly was a white christmas! Cali and Henry enjoy romping in the snow.They draw the attention of Sugar
Is it really considered stalking when the 'stalkee' is staring at you??

Of course, Dana wasn't involved in this playing but somehow she managed to slice her toe webbing. so after a quick trip to Walgreens, she spends Christmas day with a cleanly bandaged foot.Kids get the coolest toys..Jason has always liked Gyeong's Five Fingers shoes, so my mom got him a pair! Gorilla feet..Then we packed up everyone and headed south to Charlotte, NC to visit Jason's parents. Dante has an issue with the 'no dogs on the couch' rule at Jason's parents house, so he snuggles with everyone.I bet I will be able to hear the "awwww" with this next photo!The trip home included a slight hiccup..Henry had an upset tummy and we didn't stop quickly enough. yeah, it was a mess. But we tossed the dogs beds, gave everyone a bath when we got home and all was well (my car needs detailing still...)
All in all..everyone had a good time but was very happy to be home.
I hope everyone had a great holiday and a Happy New year!!!!!

When nature attacks

2010-12-19T13:48:00.004-05:00

We all remember Petey from the previous post..cute little Petey with the sweet little face...He isn't so cute any longer. ;-) Ok, maybe he is but temporarily his name was mud in my book. And then it snowed and he became cute again.
"I pooped in the snow!"
Then he decided to play with Henry..who loves the snow.
Henry taunts himAnd Petey starts the long run across the yard..takes him quite a bit longer than the greyhounds.Finally..
I will admit I stopped photographing at this point to be 'on guard' while Henry played with the 10 pound dog. But as usual, he was a gentle giant and played quite well with him.
Petey went home and it snowed again. We got about 2 1/2 inches which is less than last year's pre-Christmas snow but it was enough to play around in but not enough to have anyone snowed in. Cali loves the snow and was out by herself before it had even stopped snowing.Then it stopped and everyone joined in.Shiloh again feasted on the snow...I am not sure why she likes to eat snow so much, but she does. She really gets in to it as well..and the fact that she has the fur of a grizzly bear, the snow just laid on top and she stayed warm.

On a more somber note, sometimes nature can attack in a cruel and horrible way. A lot of my friends have lost their beloved greyhounds recently to cancer..a few were my fosters..Run The Table aka Dash a few weeks ago at 7, and Avery a few months ago at 4 1/2 and many were owned by friends, most recently fellow blogger's Macy at 6. Hopefully, nature will settle down and stop taking our fur kids too early. So this holiday season, hug your hounds and keep our friends in your thoughts.

Aye-Chihuahua

2010-12-12T11:02:00.003-05:00

Lulu's family adopted a new dog that doesn't quite fit in to our normal 'mold' of boarders. He is less than 10 pounds and to Dana resembled a tasty snack for a little while. Meet Petey-
Petey likes to be on a pillow or lap at all times..He can curl up in to the smallest little fur ball imaginable..
He thinks he is a big dog and plays with the big dogs toys..I call this "YIPPEEE...I pooped outside!"Then he tries to join the big dogs who are trying to chase the bulldozer away next door. Luckily, i snapped these shots and then grabbed the little guy before he got in the middle of a greyhound party.Mostly, we are spoiling him more rotten. He loves to play and since all of my dogs are old, he is forced to play with us. jason likes to wrap him up in a blanket...I don't think he minds.

There will be more photos of him I am sure. We have him for the week.

Senioritis

2010-12-04T13:45:00.003-05:00

It is no secret that our pack is aging. We are definitely running the Stumpf Elder Care. But one member seemed invincible. The tough little engine that could. So when Dante started becoming lethargic and drinking excessively, we were all a little shook up. We took him to the vet and after a few rounds of tests, it was determined that he has Cushing's Disease. It is treatable but not curable. He will be on medicine for the rest of his life and have to visit the vet every three months to make sure we have his cortisol in check.
We hope it makes him feel better. Having him be down throws everyone off kilter. But now he is on three prescriptions..so add that to Shiloh's prescriptions..our dogs' medicine cabinet is filling up.
But beyond spending a lot of time in the vet's office, we have been doing other things.
Washing dog beds..
Sleeping

Gazing at the beautiful Fall foilage

And this week we took the greyhounds to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens to see the holiday lights! Of course, it is hard to capture holiday light photos..unless of course (*blog fades out and "Dream Weaver" begins to play softly in the background*) you own a Canon D50 but (*blog snaps back in and "Back to Life, Back to Reality" blares*) I don't. So..this is all I have. ;-)
Jason and Cali walk down the sidewalkKristen looks out of the gazebo with Stanley, Stella and JaimeBob walks Dinah and Doc around a huge tree!And Cali enjoys the flowers in the heated greenhouse
We will keep everyone posted with Dante's progress. we go in a week to see how well this dosage of the meds are working.
Happy Holidays!

Pistachio power

2010-11-11T15:10:00.004-05:00

So we went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to have a long weekend with Jason's parents. (We get asked often what we do with our dogs when we can't take them with us, we have a pet sitter/house sitter who comes and stays at our house and takes very good care of them while we are away.)
November at the beach wasn't very 'beachy'. The ocean was very rough, the wind was high and the temperature was low. So we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves. We took some pistachios to the beach which drew quite the crowd..Which gave Jason and ideaAnd it worked (and I got some pretty cool photos!)Then we went to the Wright Brother's museum where the first flight occurred. It was pretty cool. The stones mark the landing spot for the first four flights (starting point is the large rock in the forefront)
Jason and his dad
The first manned glider flight occurred off this hillWhich of course we climbed too and took a photo from that column back to the location of the first four flights.
Back on the home front, it has gotten colder and we do a lot more indoor stuff. Cali snoozes in front of the well stocked toy basket.We are watching Daisy for a week, she is super cute and very sweet. She became embarrassed by the Stumpf household paparazzi.
And Cali wanted me to remind you of how cute she is and apologize for not featuring her in the past few blog entries.
Hard to believe the holidays are approaching..

Circle of Life

2010-10-31T10:51:00.003-04:00

**DISCLAIMER** The following post contains images that may be disturbing to sensitive readers. Ask your pet chickens to leave the room. If you are vegetarian or think your meat comes from the grocery store, please come back next week and skip this blog post. This is reality and I have tried to be sensitive with the photos I chose. I hope you come back next week. *** It isn't horribly graphic (I will not post those photos), but there is blood and dead chickens.

Interlude while you decide: Cali proves she is not picky.
when I was a teenager, I raised calves by bottle and then either sold them for meat or my family used them for meat. I have always understood the circle of life.I know my chicken/meat does not come from a cellophane wrapped styrofoam package. I am also a big fan of free range chickens (for animal welfare more than my health) and was happy to be introduced to a local small farmer who was raising/selling some free range chickens. He just asked that people come help on the 'package/process' day. So we agreed. It was a beautiful cold morning.The boys round up the chickens.
I will be sensitive enough to not show the photos I got of the next step. But I understand it had to happen and it was humane. Obviously, Jason had a 'hands-on' approach. (the next two photos I struggled with posting..but I think it is a neat process and hopefully will help show people what happens..without you seeing all the nitty gritty. I truly hope no one is offended.)They were scalded (post-mortem) to loosen the feathers and then put in a 'de-featherer' which worked really well.Then they were gutted and packaged.
I enjoyed the process as it gave me a new appreciation for my food. I will really enjoy these chickens and use every bit..after all that work we are not wasting anything. The farm had some other cuter residents.
I like to post about the new and unusual things we do and do not want to offend so I hope everyone who made it this far appreciated what we did. But it was educational, hard work and respectfully done.

Buckets

2010-10-25T09:59:00.016-04:00

Gyeong is one step closer to the proverbial bucket, so as his monumental 40th anniversary approaches we decided to move our party to the west coast and hit Las Vegas with a vengeance. Jason and I went out one day early to do a great trip to the Grand Canyon, which is on my bucket list. For those of you who have never been, I tried to show some perspective in a few photos. This is a photo intensive post, but I had so many great photos!
The first step was a 30 minute flight to the Canyon.Everyone had a window seat!It had rained pretty hard the day before which gave us some really neat cloud/fog photos. The fog in this photo looks like a body of water, but the pilot assured us it is just desert.From the air, we had a great dam view.
And we get our first taste of the Grand Canyon
Then we board our next chariot..a helicopter! This was also a bucket list item and it did not disappoint! I loved riding in a helicopter and I got the front seat!
The helicopter took us in to the Grand Canyon to give us a view unlike anything else.
I'm in a helicopter in the Grand Canyon! woohoo!

Also watch the river for perspective. You will see how big the river actually is shortly.
Since I was in the front seat, I was 'easy out' so I could get a photo of Jason exiting the helicopter
Our third stage of this tour was a boat ride in the Colorado River. Now you will see how wide the river actually is..so in future photos keep that in mind to get height perspective.

These are 7-8 Stratospheres high according to the boat captain. The Stratosphere (you will see photos from it soon) is almost 1200 feet high.Notice the helicopter in this photo..looks like a toy!

Then we load back in to the helicopter and head back to the top. I caught the copter blade in this shot
Just gorgeous

We get to the rim and get on a shuttle to head to Eagle Point, home of the famous Skywalk. Now our pilot suggested we skip this tourist trap since we had just had a much better view via helicopter. so we didn't get off at this stop and headed to the next one. He gave us the best advice EVER!
At Guano Point, we had free rein to climb, play and have some fun. We had a great lunch with an even greater view
We had some company
Everywhere we looked it was amazing
This is Guano Point...notice the peak to the left of the photo..if you look on that outcropping..there are little bitty people. and remember that mountain...
no fences or safety nets
Vertigo was common!

After some sweating, grunting and sheer will power..we made it to the top of that rock pile. There weren't trails but it was well worth the pain!From that point, this is the view back looked at where we had lunch and took the first Guano point photo. check out the people to get perspective.then we headed back to Vegas to meet up with everyone else. We stayed at the MGM Grand so there was a lion habitat. But don't worry..the lions didn't live here. They were brought in for a few hours once or twice a week (there were a bunch of them that rotated) and they lived on a big farm somewhere away from the city. This was their enrichment of sorts. the older ones slept a lotThe younger ones played so much I couldn't get a good shot..they were hysterical and quite fun to watch!the next day it was rainy, but we headed to the Statosphere to play on the thrill rides. we stopped to watch the fountains at the Bellagio
Kristen and Jason are the thrill seekers of the group. Gyeong and I were the photographers. This particular ride just spun them out of the edge of the Stratosphere 1000 feet up.Remember the Grand Canyon cliffs were 7-8 times this height...yeah.Then they did the ride that shoots you up in the air and drops you down. Jason is on the other side, this is just Kristen.This next ride..even Jason couldn't do. this car just was just dropped over the edge and something i feel sure that wasn't big enough stopped the car from plummeting to the earth. Gave me heart palpitations just watching it!!!!Kristen is on the 2nd row on the opposite side, so you can only see her hairJason and I went to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill on Wednesday night..yummy! then on Friday night we went to Rick Moonen's RMC which was by far at the top of my 'restaurant' list which says a lot considering how many great restaurants we have been too! This is an example of the meal we had.On Saturday, we gambled..alot. Jason is a craps player so we were at the Craps table most of the day. He made enough money to play all day, drink for free and have a good time..we left with the gambling money we came with..so I think we did pretty well! But of course, you can't take photos of that. We walked around one night, but I guess I just wasn't thinking about takign photos. I got this one of Paris which is one of my favorite casinos.and we caught the fountain show at night
We had dinner with everyone who came out for Gyeong's birthday on the last night. They brought him a cake and I got a rare photo of the birthday boy.

It was a great trip! I knocked two things off my bucket list, spent some time with great friends, played hard and had an overall great time! Happy Birthday, Gyeong!!!!!!

And now a word from our sponsor..

2010-10-02T11:07:00.001-04:00

Henry would like thank his aunt Amanda for the beautiful coat and scarf to keep his old bones warm this winter. Check out her stuff here.
Cali wants to know why this blog post isn't about her.