Volt

We don't always do dog stuff..occasionally we run off to a cool restaurant just for fun.  A few weekends ago, Kristen, Gyeong, Jason and I packed up the car, had a trusted friend come stay with the large pack and headed to Frederick, MD to visit Volt.  We watch Top Chef and Bryan Voltagio has been on that show numerous times.
We also have wanted to go to some wineries in Northern Virginia for quite some time.  We always hit the wineries associated with Grapehounds, but the ones that don't allow dogs or that are farther from leesburg get missed.  So we knocked a few off of our 'must hit' list on this trip.  I've also moved away from 'loving' most of the central virginia wines and am really  hoping Northern Virginia saves the local wines for me.
We stopped at Molon Lave first which was quite good.

I wish they were closer. They had fantastic grounds and a huge winery..perfect for some dog events. 
Then we made it to Frederick, MD and headed to Volt.  We had booked the small Table 21 which is right by the kitchen and serves TWENTY ONE courses!  Don't worry..i won't show photos of them all.  He also does molecular gastronomy which combines science and food..two of my favorite things (if only we could have had our greyhounds, I'd have been in heaven!)
It was neat watching the chefs do their thing. Bryan wasn't there, but his sous chef who is always on the show with him was. 

One of the small bites. There were roughly 10 'bite size' courses like this.  This was a parmesean baked potato..doesn't look like it, does it? But it sure did taste like it!!!

Busy bees

Then we had 11 or so 'entree' courses which were small plates.  They were all lovely too! This was Lobster with pumpkin kimchee with pomegranite and taragon.

 THis is my favorite 'chef' photo.  It was really neat being in all the action. We also did a wine pairing with it and had our own server who was very friendly and helpful

 After a few courses of desserts, they presented us with a box of handmade truffles and our 'diploma' which had all the courses we'd eaten and all the wines we had sampled. 

 The next morning we slowly zig zagged our way down and hit a few more wineries. One that had been on our list for a long time was Linden Winery.  We did their 'special' cellar tasting of older wines in their cellar. That was good.

 They had a wonderful deck with a great view. The weather was awesome.

And then we did lunch...the best way we know how. 

 After a few hours there, we moved down the road to Narmada winery which is owned by an Indian family. They have great wines and serve Indian food at the winery.  We had the lady do a group shot..it isnt' a great shot b/c i forgot to change my camera but oh well..you get the idea.

Then we have second lunch at Narmada with red wine and various Indian delicacies.  I guess I forgot to photograph that meal..it was quite tasty. 

 So it was a fun 24 hours of eating, drinking and enjoying life.

Greyhound gathering

We had a board meeting for the greyhound group at our house a few weeks ago and turned it in to a greyhound gathering.  Once the business was done, we grilled and invited others to enjoy the day.

Cooper manages to get comfortable anywhere...

 Kelli wants to know if this puppy makes her butt look big?

 Doc and Dinah now have a new brother, Dobby,  a 5 month old whippet puppy. He is super cute and loved Kelli.

 Cathy..is now Zooey and has found a wonderful forever home.  Which is good..I think if she came back to me she would have stayed.

Happy Birthday, Cali!

Tomorrow is Cali's 11th birthday.  A few months ago, this birthday would have been 'just another birthday'...but now it is different.  We hope to celebrate many more.
I make a point to be the 'cool' aunt with my niece and nephews.  And I try to be a good 'auntie' to all my dog family as well.  But apparently, without "Aunties" my dogs would not have special birthdays celebrated properly.
Auntie Kristen made Dana a wonderful dog cake for her 13th birthday a few weeks ago.  And Auntie Tracey made Cali low carb "pup"-cakes for her birthday!  We are keeping Cali as carb free as possible (while still feeding kibble) so I was excited that she was able to make one with almond flour!  And ...Cali is oddly an incredibly picky eater when it comes to treats.  She hates vegetables..always has.  She won't even eat a french fry!  So I was hoping Cali would enjoy these pup-cakes.

 I think she approved

 Dana on the other hand has never met a cookie she doesn't like.  Kibble is not her favorite, but cookies..always.

 The "frosting" was peanut butter..

 She eventually got it all down.  We have a few more for tomorrow.
Happy birthday, my sweet girl. 

2 Months

Today is Cali's 2 month amputation anniversary. Her last chemo seemed to affect her similar to the first time, but on the plus side she has gained weight since her amputation (so now she is on a reduced diet...).
But we had another snow this week and Cali felt great. So we took the Angry Bird toy out and had some fun.  Shiloh and Dana couldn't be bothered.
But Cali put on quite the show..

 Sometimes she got a little snow in her face

 But she didn't seem to mind too much

 And an uncut sequence

 And you know when Cali is done..

 

 And we finally have our paintings updated.  We've always gotten a portrait.  The 'original 5' still hang over the TV, but I will move the boys upstairs to hang over their urns eventually.

 But we had Shane's done and framed.  Christy Dekoning does our paintings.  She is a great artist though not greyhound specific.

Today, I'm excited because Cali gets to dust her therapy dog jacket off and visit a high school for a special presentation.  She is so good at that.

Lazy bones

Winter is almost over...almost.  Festivals and outdoor activities will begin soon, we hope!  For now, we lounge. 
There was a rare afternoon where lounging could be done outside.

 

 But mostly we hang out inside...literally.

This is the "What?  Why are you taking pictures of me?" face.

Now, if you follow Gyeong's blog you witnessed another episode of old dog's can't hit the bed with Shiloh.  This has become a thing for her. She is so wobbly at this point that 'falling' in to a bed can be treacherous.  I found her like this the other day

She slept that way for some time.  Once I saw her try to get up, I helped her out of that predicament.

 

 Cali had her 2nd chemotherapy treatment last Monday.  Like the first time, she didn't want to eat for the first 3 days.  They did lower the dose this last time, but she was just not hungry. We give her anti-nausea meds.  We bought a fresh pig a few months back and with it came ham steaks. We weren't 100% sure what to do with those...so we figured the dogs would love them. So we ground them up and all bowls were licked clean.

And while out to dinner, Jason asked for some foil to bring Cali back his Osso Bucco bone..it was clean and cooked so not dangerous to her. 

Jason took a video when he got home to give it to her. 

Visitors

We had a foster for about 6 hours..which I personally think is the perfect foster!  Cathy was returned and as soon as I met her, I was pretty sure I knew who would love her.
I sent a text to a friend of mine who had recently adopted. Oddly and coincidentally, she was out and about with her dogs and her kids. So she popped by to meet her.
Cathy wasn't too worried.

 She met her potential new brother, Findlay, and she didn't great with him!  Findlay is a sweetie and he has come a long way since acquiring greyhound siblings. 

 Cali has her second chemotherapy treatment tomorrow.  She continues to do very well.

Happy Dogs..

 Make Happy People

 And Happy Boarders (Jack)

 Cali is officially (at one month post amputation) doing BETTER than before the amputation..for the first time in a long time. She is pain free and happy.  THIS is why we did it.  She ran and played without limping/crying afterwards.