New Year's RooFest

We need to practice for when they drop the ball later at midnight.

Stella resting her vocal cords.
Abby and Blue have no idea what is about to happen.

All right everyone, let’s take it from the top.

Oh, Abby!

Abby and Blue are regulars this time of year. This year we also had the Pine kids: Strut, Sandy, Jasmine, and Ava. Strut is a big boy and likes the big end of the couch.He decided to make some more room for himself by getting rid of the pillow. Poor Abby was just minding her business on the mini-couch bed.
Jaime watched the whole thing and hoped no bad luck would befall her.
Like the Couch Queen claiming the exact spot on the couch she was looking for. Whether anyone is there or not.
Sandy chose to find a quiet spot by herself on the floor away from all the craziness.
We also watched Link and Zelda for a night. Link enjoyed romping around, while Stella stood guard against any fun that might erupt in the yard.
Abby: It wasn’t me.
Ok, maybe it was me.
Why is everyone at the other end of the yard? I know they want to play with me.
Are they behind me?
Parting shot of Kris taking a cat nap on Stella’s head.

Christmas Adoption for Freia

We have our usual boarders for the Holiday Season. For a total of 10 dogs. One of them is a slow eater. Stanley, Jaime, and Parker, our resident vultures, wait for Jasmine to walk away.Narnia, now know as Freia, is not impressed that I keep following her around the yard snapping pictures.
Inside, after checking out the house, she relaxes while Strut looks on.
A ‘typical’ adoption at my house. Narnia, bottom right, relaxes while her new Dads get ready to sign on the dotted line.
With the couch mostly full, Stella, aka Couch Queen, was late to the game. Daddy, make them move.
Meanwhile, Ava loses interest in the adoption process, and decides to take a nap.
Unable to convince Jasmine to move over, Stella is forced to make do.
Freia is excited to go to her new home, and new Sheltie older brother. We heard they stopped off on the way home to load up on treats and toys at the pet store.

Charlottesville Mall Walk & Liebster Award

I think I am done adding to my lens collection for now. I don’t feel like getting a bigger camera bag. I tested the Canon ’70-200mm f/4L IS’ by stalking Stella in the yard.Stella impersonating a velociraptor with her big ol’ ostrich legs.
Stop following me. I don’t like to be watched when I’m looking for the perfect spot to do my business.
I’m just gonna stand here and close my eyes. If I can’t see you, you’re not there.
We watched Sly and Cooper, and Roadie and Sally, along with Jorja this past week. Roadie hadn’t moved in so long, Sly felt the need to check his pulse. Two toes on the carotid.
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to make it to Charlottesville for their Mall Walk. A time for dogs and people to catch up. We made plenty of stops to let people pet the dogs. But this pit stop was for the walkers. It was a chilly day, and a hot coffee was in order. Of course this drew a crowd of people for more petting.
It wasn’t long before Jaime was tired, and had to use Stanley to prop her up.
When that no longer sufficed, she just had to lay down.
Stella was staring intently at something. It turned out to be a white plastic bag. But this time, she was on to something. He actually stopped for a second from his nut-gathering to give Stella the Stinkeye.
I would like to thank BrindleHounds for the Liebster Blog Award. Pop on over to read about what Nibs and Ambam are up to.

Fredericksburg Christmas Parade & Jorja

We took the kids downtown for the annual Fredericksburg Christmas Parade. The parade committee put us fourth in line, so we didn’t have to wait too long once the parade started at 5:30pm, but we had to be at our spot by 4pm. We dressed the kids in the parking deck and headed down to stake out our spot.
Greys start trickling in. The weather cooperated with us, so we had about 30 greys show up.
We waited about an hour before others started showing up, so Stanley decided to take a little break.
We were in line close to the Renaissance Fair people all decked out in costume. One of the little girls from the group came over and squealed with delight at being surrounded by greyhounds.
I only got one practice shot before we got to the main parade route lined with about 10,000 people. While I was getting my camera settings straight, I noticed Stanley with his head down, looking uncomfortable, and slowing down. We had taken the corn off his foot, but chided ourselves for not bringing his Therapaws boot and giving him a preemptive Rimadyl. So, only a couple of blocks into the parade, I took Stanley and headed back to the car. Halfway there, he stopped, pooped, and then walked away with a spring in his step. We managed to catch up with the crew near the end of the parade route.
Parade time also means we get to watch Jorja. She is just as cute and fuzzy as last year.
After trying all the greyhound sized beds, she decided that Parker’s bed was just right.
Jorja only took a small corner of the bed. Unlike Stella who laid down diagonally with frog legs position to take up as much space as possible. Didn’t have my camera with me, so took a pic with the Blackberry.

Stella the Fun Police

Stella is not only the Fun Police for other dogs in the yard. There is a special place in her heart for anything rolling on wheels. Especially delinquent kids in the neighborhood on skateboards. Oh, Oh, I think I see one of them suckas.
You won’t get away this time.
Wait, he changed direction.
I think I scared him away.
Daddy, did you see that? He won’t be bothering us again anytime soon!
Jaime, on the other hand, would rather stretch and catch some rays. What is it about black dogs sunning themselves?
Jaime: Daddy says enough with the barking. He sent me to get you.

Bye Bye Bèbè

No, it's not the name of a musical. We had Beth for a week shy of her one year Gotcha Day. A month shy of her 14th birthday. I had big plans for her Quinceañera, but it wasn’t meant to be. I started calling her Bèbè, and soon, Kris was too.

Not sure why she was given up after being an only dog with the same person for 8 years. Never was given a satisfactory answer. Must have been quite a shock to come to our house.
She was a bit on the skinny side. We fattened her up in no time.
She was still in good health. Her ears were always up.
Yes, Stella, she is coming to stay. You can be Queen of the couch, and she will be the Hall Monitor.
This is the only pic of all the kids on the couch. She was more of a dog bed kinda girl.
We tried to help her relax by playing some soothing music.
It snowed right after we got her. She was all about playing in the snow.
Mommy, I’m ready to play. Throw it already.
We had a ramp built, so she wouldn’t have to deal with stairs. We did carry her upstairs every night, so she could sleep with us.
Since it was bit hard for her to get up by herself, she took to the bolstered beds. She would lay with her rump on the bolster, which gave her leverage for getting up on her own.
She was Ms. Grouchy Pants, aka, the Hallway Troll. If she didn’t like you, better to go thru the kitchen.
We tried to show her a good time. She even got to meet Katy of Needle Noses fame.
At Grapehounds Virginia.
At a waterfall during our trip to Barkwells.
Managed to do a little hike at the North Carolina Arboretum trail.
Hanging out at the annual VAGA picnic.
Hanging out with Trina’s kids at a winery.
Slowly denuding her favorite hedgie.
For her last dinner, each of the kids got a cheeseburger and chicken nuggets with their regular food. She woofed it down. She always ate well and had the best poop in the house. She had a cast iron stomach for a greyhound.
I won’t miss getting up at 3am every night to carry her down the ramp, holding on to her sling while she looked for a good potty spot. We could have kept doing that. But the pain meds couldn’t cover her pain anymore. Run free little girl. We miss you!
Say Hi to Lucas for us. Tell him we still miss him too.