Chilly and Cali's 2nd day of work

Now that I have gotten my blog back from the hijacker..we can talk about something besides Cali..well..at least for a moment.
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, but this year we actually stayed at home and didn't travel! The first time ever. And since this was Jason's first Thanksgiving in which he got to cook the meal by himself..we went all out! No turkey..our guests enjoyed 10lbs of prime rib..vegetarians..look away!
And then..you know when you go to a local festival and there is a band playing that consists of a bunch of old guys in hawaiian shirts trying to sing Abba and the Beach Boys? Well..we had a moment like that after Thanksgiving dinner and a few bottles of wine. On the mic is Bruce (Hemi and Bella's dad) singing Spirit in the Sky with my mom and Jason on guitar and Kristen on drums. I wish I had figured out my cell phone takes videos before this occurred..it was great.
And now we have Chilly for a few weeks. He is a funny boy who reminds me of Stanley. He seems to be in love with Dana..Cali says it is because he likes the 'big chicks'..I told her that was rude. ;-)
Chilly is on his back more than anything else.and I couldn't resist taking these photos the other day. Jason apparently gives the dogs lots of treats during the day. He can't go in to the kitchen without Dana running in rooing her head off. Her tail is too fast to be photographed! And Cali had her SECOND day of wurk..er..work this week. We went to the nursing home/hospice of the VA hospital this time. We visited people in their rooms for about 1 1/2 hours. She did so well. I really think this is her 'calling'. She just walks right in to the room and right up to the people. She is learning to walk up to beds when the people can't lean over. She has the wheelchairs down pat, but still confused when the person doesn't gesture for her to come over. But she really seems to enjoy it ..even the rough petting and jerky motions. We are going back in two weeks for another visit. I am hoping to visit all the units and then pick which two she does best at and do those each month.
I probably will never have photos of her in action b/c I have to get a release form from any patients I photograph. I am goign to try it soon...but didn't want too the first few times. Here she is arriving at the VA hospital (this time I went home at lunch and brought her back)..ready to go!And this is her on the way home..POOPED!Maybe I will let her blog about her next session.
Happy Holidays!

My first day at wurk

I wanted to blog about my day today. Mummy said it was OK and that everyone that reads this would like to hear from me becuz they know about me and call me a tart..which sounds like fart and I am not sure if they are they same thing.
Today I went to wurk with Mummy. She told me it was becuz i yurned it..I don't know what yurn means but I know I like it. She promised I could go to wurk with her that day I went and took my test..i passed really good so now I get what i yurned.
I knew something was up when she put me in that little white room where water falls from the ceiling. I don't like that room at all..and it usually means I smell like flowers afterward. When I get out of that room, I just feel like running and tearing things to shreds. Then I try to rub the water off as hard as I can on everything I can find..mummy and daddy don't like when I do that on the bed. Then this morning I got to leave with her..usually she leaves me behind every morning but this morning WE got to leave everyone else behind..C-YA! She said it was a hospital..I don't like hospitals. THEN she said there were lots of VETS there!! VETS?? But once I got there..no one tried to shove anything in my butt or stick me with sharp objects so they weren't like any vet I had ever met.
Mummy takes a photo (she wanted me to tell everyone it was with her cell phone) that morning in the front of the hospital at the statue for dogs.See my pretty vest..I don't know what it says but again..yurned it! Mummy said only 7 out of 19 yurned the vest that weekend..so I guess I am specialer than I thought I was!
Then we go inside..mummy works in a lab so I couldn't touch anything. And I was only in 'safe' labs Then we went and saw all sorts of people. At first they were all people that work with Mummy..she was showing my bad self off! Oh yeah. They were all very nice and thought was purty..damn skippy, I say! Then she said it was time for wurk..so off we went. Did I mention that for some reason I always have to go in that magic box? You know.the box you walk in...turn around..the doors close..then your tummy feels all funny..the doors open and poof..you are somewhere new! I don't particularly like that box..and we used it a lot. The first time I got in the magic box was the day I yurned my vest..but today I had to get in one a lot! I like it better when there aren't a lot of other people on there..but it isn't my favorite part of wurk.
So back in the magic box and then out in to the a bustling world of people on wheels, lots of people walking around..stopping to pet me..large crowds. It was GREAT! Everyone kept telling me how beautiful I was and wondering what I was (seriously..isn't it obvious..I'm perfect!). Then we go in this room and all these people are there to see me..just ME! Mummy kept saying it was the men-tal health unit..again..not sure what that means but everyone was super nice! I don't mind strangers touching me..they rubbed and loved on me. One man was very sick and couldn't move..I felt bad and stayed near him a long time. When they put his hand on me..his face lit up and he started kneading my head. I could feel he really liked me being there even though he couldn't say anything. And they all said I made him very happy. Everyone else had big smiles when they saw me. It was different from the usual events I go too..this one seemed more specialer for some reason. I kept moving from person to person..mummy just followed so I knew I was safe. But I was the center of attention. It was really great. After 1 hour of that..I was SOOOOO tired. Mummy said we could go home. We went back to say good bye to her friends but I fell asleep on the floor. I couldn't hold my eyes open any more. This wurk stuff is hard wurk! But before we left a co-worker took a photo of mummy and me after my 1st day of wurk..she was so proud of me and gave me cookies. I think I get to do this every few weeks! I will like it..maybe I will blog about it again. Tata for now..continue admiring my gorgeous self..I never grow tired of hearing it and if you have anything bad to say about me..talk to my DADDY! Now I really must continue my nap.

Winter arrives

So as I alluded in that last post, winter means a slower pace and occasional boredom. So the past few weekends we rearranged things. We are planning on moving in the next year (bigger, garage..same area) so these are just adjustments. ;-)
Shiloh, Dante, Cali, Dana and Avery show off the newly redesigned den. We finally have greyhound artwork on the walls..it was only a matter of time.
The dining room was the most dramatic. We had Jason's bachelor pad dining room table, a TV table holding the liquor and it served as our garage most of the time. it will still be a garage (after the holidays) but for now it is a little more 'pretty' with a new table, liquor shelf and wall hangings. We have a wine fridge coming to replace the mismatched wine rack.
We still have Avery..he is such a good boy. He is getting adopted after Thanksgiving, so he is around for a while. He is actually a pretty tall boy..but he can pretzel with the best of themWhen the pretzel un-curls
Avery models the new chaise location with Shiloh Since we are hosting 8 people for Thanksgiving for the first time this year, Jason has started 'practicing' certain things. I drew the line at using me for a guinea pig on the dessert b/c my ever expanding arse is ever expanding enough without the help of an entire cheesecake. So he made his bourbon pumpkin cheesecake with bourbon sour cream topping for the monthly GPA Board meeting that was being held at my house this month. The meetings are always living so why not get us all on a sugar high!
So..a preface. I was taking the 'artistic' shot of the cheesecake..and being an overall photo dork.
When I caught a sight out of the corner of my eye. I didn't realize what my burst mode had captured. When I looked later..I couldn't stop laughing out loud.
Needless to say Avery is still learning on the whole counter surfing thing. I WAS able to stop this before he got a bite and really had NO idea I had captured this shot until a few days later. Gotta love the SLR burst mode.
And I will leave with a shot of Nerice cuddling with Ally. Ally had a bad diagnosis (the bad O) a few weeks ago. so we are cherishing all moments with the sweet cow dog. I will have more photos of her soon.

A new foster

Just to catch up..I have been MIA for a while. I mean..I have been busy touring. Being a rock star is hard work and takes up a lot of time. Dealing with back up singers, equipment, band mates' egos..it is stressful.I did take a breather and hung out with Nerice at University of Richmond's Spiders on the Vine event a few weekends ago.
Yes..Nerice DOES drink!!! I was amazed. ;-)
The music...was ...well let's just say it did get better after this one. But we were glad we had wine for this guy.
Cali's therapy dog vest and badge arrived! I am doing my first therapy session at the hospital where I work in 2 weeks! I am still dealing with all the red tape to do therapy at the main hospital downtown. I am lobbying to take my camera..we shall see.When I get bored...my checking account suffers as does Jason. It has been slow lately with greyhound activities, friend outings and other things..so I turned my attention to home upgrades/remodels. We have completely redone our dining room and rearranged our main room. PHotos of that to come b/c it isn't 100% done. But while we were moving furniture around in what seemed like 1 million different ways..all the dog beds got piled up. Dana was crying softly in a far corner..but Cali and Dante took advantage.
"there is a pea in my bed"This cracked me up b/c he had to leap straight up to get in the bed.GPA-Richmond got a haul of 8 dogs on Sunday (check out the blog for photos of the new arrivals!) But I finally had an opportunity to get a foster! Even though I am the foster coordinator for my group, I have been full of boarders all summer long and unable to assign myself a foster! But now i have KL Avery..he is really sweet and a BIG love bug!Such a cute boy..
The holidays are coming up and for the first time ever we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my family. And yes..that would be the catalyst for the upgraded dining room.

So long Porno fish..

We have a 30 gallon fish tank that we have had for years and we stock it with African Cichlids. The great part about Cichlids is that they are very aggressive and highly active. The bad part about cichlids is that they are aggressive. So ... if the environment gets out of whack..they eat each other.
Well..we got busy and our tank started to degrade. Finally on Sunday..we did a total overhaul. I have never named my fish. Even though these two in particular I have had for almost 5 years. Meet big Green Guy (Jewel Cichlid) and Porno fish or just Big F'er (Banded Leporinus). They were all the remained of a once prolific cichlid tank. But alas..the Porno fish was belly up the day after renovations. Five years is a long time..but this guy was HUGE..he would have made one great fish stick. (FYI...7 inch fish..don't flush) So we rearranged..got new rocks, plants, even a new stand!And of course..new fish. All African Cichlids..you can't even put South American Cichlids in the tank. I don't have photos of them all ..we got about 5 new little guys...yellow guy, orange guy, brown guy, blue guy with yellow fins and yellow stripey guy ...well..yellow stripey guy 'disappeared' in the night. I did photograph Orange guy
Isn't this the stuff nightmares are made of?
So we said good bye to our 3 boarders..they were actually fun.
One last photo of Ezri
The weather has turned chilly and we only have our four dogs! So they have enjoyed some crisp afternoons running around outside. You don't need my narration..




this one makes Dana look dominant and powerful and Cali look weak and submissive. I should put it in a locket for Dana to wear around her neck..give her some confidence.I am still amazed at how long Cali's (and most greyhounds' in general) tongue is...
I played tug-o-war with Cali for a bit..it shows off her beautiful brown eyes. ;-)And when I finally let go..she trotted off in a style on Cali can have..and this photo made me laugh out loud. It says so much..and for those of you who have met Cali (or are devoted followers of my blog)..it will speak the same to you
and finally..a milestone. My 5000th photo taken with my new camera. 5000...I wouldn't have particularly thought about it, if I hadn't noticed the number count. Of course it would be of Cali and the octopus. And yes, I love love love my new camera and already have a new lense picked out for my Christmas gift. It costs as much as the camera. So goes the world of SLR.

More cow dogs..with a Belguim or two thrown in

Our cow dog mania continues. Much to the chagrin of my dogs

We still have Ezri, Terran and Linka (one more week)but this weekend we had two of Nerice's dogs, Ally (cow dog) and Diego (whippet). So that made four cow dogs, 3 little snugglers, a tart and a fawn..whew.

Diego shows how stinking cute he is ..

He makes the smallest little ball..(I forgot to change my white balence in this photo from the night before..doh!)Diego couldn't tell the difference between the cow dogs and started to snuggle with Dana instead of Ally. I think he knew Terran wasn't right b/c Terran is a lot bigger.Ezri..she remains as entertaining as everFour cow dogs..But throughout the cow dog invasion, we were busily attending events. Last weekend we went to Ladysmith,VA for the Dog Days festival. Which was a lot of fun and actually ended up being quite the money maker b/c we oversaw a 'game' and subsequently got the proceeds. Shiloh shows off her Halloween bandanaAnd Dante got the Dog Days bandanaCali...I don't know what to say anymore...This little one cracked me up..he was a puppy and eventually the owner picked him up so he could get a proper drinkThen this weekend, Jason and I went back to New Kent Winery..our new favorite place..for a carriage tour of the vineyards! It is going to be quite the place when it is done. Restaurant, polo fields, spa, lakes, etc. The carriage tour was awesome. We got wine, cheese, bread and cherries.

Our ride arrives..Meet Andy and Randy..Belgium geldingsWe begin..the green in front of Andy will be a lake in a few monthsAnd this will be the horse pasture for the polo fields We had to rub their noses. I love the smell of horses!!! It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend for anyone in the area. The weather has finally cooled off and we have more festivals and events planned before it gets stupid cold and I hibernate. We are going to see Robin Williams Live on Thursday..very excited!

Happy Columbus Day!