Stanley gets a Subaru

Sounds like the title to a children’s book. Well, we finally decided to trade in the 4Runner and get something a bit car-like to tote the kids around. Bye bye 4Runner. You’ve been a great car!

We convinced Jason and Trina to join the greyhound cult. Now we decided to join their Subaru cult with our Outback 3.0R L.L. Bean. New car smell to doggie smell in 7 sec flat.
We went down to Richmond to pick up the new car. So we stopped off at Trina’s. Here’s a shot of Jason’s STI, our Outback, and Trina’s WRX wagon in their driveway. When Jason gets his Big Green Egg, we will have a cult trifecta ☺
Stanley is settling in nicely. He says dog beds and toys are the shiznitz!
Stanely admiring the fish at Trina’s. He probably thinks it's a screensaver.

Trina was baby-sitting four greys, a new foster grey, along with her three, plus our four guys. Twelve doggies. For pics of them playing, check out Trina’s blog.

Stanley Joins the Gang

Stanley’s returned from the vet minus his ‘manberries’ and a tooth. He seems to fit in quite nicely here. Not really up for playing yet, but is able to do the stairs and doggie door with no issues. Only tried to mark a couple of things in the house. Loves the dog beds and is finding out the couch is just as comfy.
It was a nice day outside (especially for July), so we sat outside for a bit.
Here is another shot of Stanley with his sisters.
Stanley says ‘I think I’m gonna like it here’.
Parker says he will guard the deck so the greys can get their rest.
For dinner, tried a little stir-fry on the Egg. Garlic chicken with onions. The wok is a couple of inches above the coals. About 1000 degrees F. Ooh it’s hot in there!

Buster and Friends Arrive

Nothing like getting up at 3am to drive 4.5hrs to pick up some doggies. Another volunteer and I split up the seven dogs. Nothing like that kennel smell. I put four in the back of the 4Runner and made it back home a bit before 1pm. I dropped off one of the dogs at a Meet ‘n Greet to be taken to Northern Virginia. So three made it back to my house to be picked up by another volunteer to make the final leg of their trip. The three that made it to the house were HKF Ruby, Iruska Baron, and RJ’s Buster Bar. Of course Buster Bar will be coming back to our house. After meeting him on Saturday, we’re leaning toward the name ‘Stanley’.

Here is Buster standing next to the Juniper he just peed on.
Baron is trying to figure out if Parker is some kinda stunted greyhound.
Jaime is ecstatic to have someone who will run around the yard with her. Lucas was always up for a good run around the yard. Stella not so much.
Stella in the background doing her impression of Ruby.
So, you’re Buster. I’ve heard about you. I need to get a whiff to make up my own mind.
My turn. Mind if I use my tongue?
Stella and Buster have a similar brindle color and whitish face. Buster has very distinctive eyes. Very penetrating.
Ruby does her impression of the very rarely seen vampire greyhound.
There was a toad in the yard. Buster came over to check out what I was looking at, but couldn’t seem to find it. It’s the little lump in the grass next to his foot. Luckily I didn’t have to clean up toad bits.
He says he is glad he didn’t get smushed.

Love the Couch!

Haven’t had an entry in a while. Been on the road a lot these past couple of weeks. Taking a few days off to welcome the new boy to our group. He will be coming up this Saturday, going to the vet and getting snipped and teeth cleaned on Monday, and back to our house on Tue. Kris and I are planning on taking the rest of the week off to help him acclimate to our family. When coworkers ask what I am doing on my vacation, I tell them I am actually taking ‘paternity leave’.

Anyhoo, here are some pics of the kids on the couch. As I write this, Noah, Parker, Stella, and Jaime are on the couch with me. Not unlike this pic.
Noah is in his usual spot while Jaime does her contortionist act and Stella gives her usual butt shot.
Ever heard of upside-down couch races? Looks like Stella is in the lead.
Behold, the siamese greyhound! Should that be conjoined?
It’s amazing the advances in modern veterinary technology. This is them after the surgery.

Elbow and Butts

Wed was the 4th of July. Independence Day for ol’ America. Do expats still celebrate the 4th? Got a mish-mosh of pictures this week.

It’s been a bit since Parker got a bath. He was starting to smell like Cheetos. Not sure how that is different from how greyhound feet smell like Fritos, but everyone seems to like that. So Parker got a bath. He sure does shed a lot after a bath. He gets a poofy fuzziness about him. Here he is drying out in the sun.

Here is another shot of a hummingbird coming to one of our feeders. Now that they know we have put the feeders back out, there appear to be at least two groups feeding. The girls are always dive-bombing each other. Can’t they just get along?


A colorful butterfly graced us with his presence. Sharing the flowers with the hummingbirds.

Noah loves laying on the greyhound-embroidered fleece blanket on the back of the couch. It’s his new favorite spot in the house.

He is nice enough to share the couch with others. Stella says she ain’t giving up her couch for nobody.

He also doesn’t mind sharing the back of the couch either.

Stella got a little bump on her elbow. It was hard, red and the size of a pea. We are still a bit touchy about the health of the kids right now. Don’t think we could handle something bad happening to one of our other kids. So we took her to the vet. The vet said it didn’t look like anything bad. So we said, take it off and biopsy it for good measure. So here is a pic of Stella with a bandage on her elbow. She just got back from the vet and is still a bit loopy. It took her most of the day to sleep it off.

Now for the butt. Boston butt that is. Aka Pork shoulder. Lots of connective tissue so needs a slow ‘n low approach. These are 7.5 lb and 8 lb. The smaller was in the Egg for 18h45m and the larger for 19h15m. Talk about self control. I did not lift the lid once during the cooking. The beauty of the egg is that I never had to replace the lump charcoal. Just made sure the temp stayed in the 225-250F range till internal temp reach 200F.

Kris and I pulled the pork with a couple of forks. Each butt was enough to fill a half-size steam pan. Probably ended up with 10 lbs of pulled pork. Put some on a cheap white bun (to not detract from the flavor of the pork) and top that with some cole slaw and a vinegar-based sauce. As good as I’ve had at any barbecue place. Didn’t get any pics of the sandwiches. Was too busy eating ☺ This was North Carolina-style BBQ and is what I grew up with. I will try a beef brisket next. Katy, you’re from Texas. Real BBQ is beef right? Hehehe.

Noah says, “Dang, that is some good pork BBQ”!!!

A Boy and His Toys!

We have gone from a houseful back down to just our kids. I have to admit, the house does feel a bit empty. Three of them left us on Saturday. Murhpy’s daddy returned from his fishing trip, so the little fence jumper is back home. Leeder got adopted and now has a new brother. His new brother is also a bounce back and got adopted on the same day. Leeder says he was just settling in here. I assured him that he was going to his forever home now.

Topsail also went home on Saturday. His mommy and daddy got back from the beach and were ecstatic to see him. They were met at the door with wagging tails. Jaime actually tried to leave with them. She really misses having a brother. We are in the works for bringing up a brother for her. Anyhoo, Topsail is a boy who loves toys!.. Peekaboo.

Can I have this hedgehog? It’s still got some crunch to it.

I only left a few teeth marks on it. It was talking smack. I had to give it what for!

Hey Mister, can I have this one too? I think it was giving me the stinkeye.

I give up. I went out of my way to remove every toy out of both toy baskets. And you just put them all back. Jeez!

Noah watches over the entire crew wondering when they are all going to leave. Saturday was his lucky day.

Parker and Stella decide to share the same pillow on the couch. Just opposite sides.

A slightly wider angle. Parts is Parts. Left to Right is Parker’s head, Stella’s feet, Jaime’s body and Kris’ elbow.

A close-up of Parker behind the couch. Just so darn cute!