Sheep and Swans

We visited a local sheep farm, Everona Dairy, making various cheeses from their milk. It was a hot day, and the sheep weren’t really moving much.

The farm dog came to check out the new visitors in blue booties.
Baby sheep are so darn cute.
Yum. Corn and pellets.
Can you smell the cheese cave? Could almost taste it.
The 15 year old Border Collie whom the owner said just stopped working one day. Now he just roams the farm in total disregard of the sheep.
We washed off the sheep smell, and headed out to dinner at Barboursville Winery’s Palladio restaurant. I’m not much for having to wear a coat to dinner, but the food was yummy.
Trina and Kris play Words with Friends in the morning, while the kids lay all around. Except for Henry who is giving his mommy a kiss.
Shiloh and Cali were there first. But being the couch queen, Stella somehow managed to squeeze her rump in.
Trina was delayed a few minutes in the morning to let the swans cross the road. The babies look so fluffy and cute.

Summer is Here

All the Spring showers brought lush growth. Love the smell of honeysuckle.

Hope the snapping turtle was not too disturbed from all the dogs barking at the fence to finish laying eggs.
Summer also brings thunder storms. Our kids are pretty oblivious to storms, except Jaime. Her current routine is to roo until she gets a chicken treat, then she curls up on the couch to be covered which I think makes her feel safer.
I am attempting a small garden in the front yard. I think I pulled this carrot up too early. 5 feet of green for a couple inches of scrawny carrot.
Kris left a shopping bag full of Ziploc bags of food at the door to the basement. This was meant to be used for fosters and such, but Beth decided to help herself. She took it back to the safety of her favorite bed where she had just been snuggling with the growly lion.
Stanley waking up from a nap. Roaching gone bad.
Greyhound version of the Figure 4 leg lock. Stella is looking to the ref to call the match over. The donkey is waiting to tap-in.
Charlie is our latest and last new boarder. After looking at our recent schedule, we are closing our house to new boarders. What started out as a way to help out new adopters, has over the years turned into a full house much of the time. My kids will enjoy their downtime from babysitting duties.

Summer = Babysitting and Festivals

Summer for us usually equals babysitting while people are on vacation and lots of festivals. Some we can even take the dogs to.

Fenway is a big goofy boy. Is he guilty? Yes. Does he look remorseful for eviscerating that poor stuffie? Not so much.
We had our VAGA group picnic a couple of weeks ago. I was busy holding onto my guys, so didn’t get many pictures. Please check out more pics at Angela’s blog. The picnic was held in her spacious back yard. The pools were a popular spot.
Ted being responsible at the picnic by picking up after his dogs.
My kids relaxing in the shade under a tent.
Miss Pippi came for a visit.
On the way back home, we ran across bikers heading up to D.C. for Rolling Thunder.
The next series of pics are from the Cooper Wine Fesitval, and the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ Festival. See more pics onTrina’s blog.
We squeezed all the kids into a corner of the deck at Cooper Vineyards, while we sipped wine and ate cheese.
One of the winery dogs goes for a ride. That looks like fun.
Trina’s mom takes a crack at using Trina’s camera.
I call this shot ‘Two Old Ladies Bonding’. Hope neither of them minds :) Henry seems to find it funny.
In between festivals, the kids relax.
With all the VAGA vending events over for a while, we returned all the boxes from the garage to the basement. The kitties are not amused by the disturbance.
We watched Nike and her sister Ella for a week. This is what happens when we forget that Nike is a ‘trash dog’.
Nike is one of them smart and busy greyhounds. She did find the gorilla relaxing.
The following weekend was the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival. A group shot before too many tasting.
As Trina mentioned on her blog, it was a completely different crowd from our usual wine festivals. See what I mean?
I was there to try beers and bourbons I usually don’t drink.
Back at the house, we run out of beds, but Stanley finds a comfy spot on Jason’s lap.
Jaime and Stella make a feeble attempt at the yin/yang sign.
How do we relax after a beer, bourbon, bbq festival. Sitting on the deck with wine and Scotch.
Back home, we finally got the dogs to relax. From bottom left, it is Ella, Kris on the couch with Jaime, Stella, Zoey, then Beth, Stanley, Dora, then Harper, with Nike in the middle, and Parker at his mommy’s feet.  Sarah was upstairs helping me compose the shot.