Overcompensation

So how does Kris deal with our loss of Lucas. Surrounding herself with more greyhounds. So far we’ve had Mitzi, Josie, Sabrina, Topsail, Maggie, and Leeder. Some foster, some babysitting. And don’t forget Murphy.

Mitzi stayed the night before going to her forever home.

Josie was a bounce back. She’s a bouncy happy girl. Her new brother Milo will be happy to have a sister to play with.

The hummingbirds have even decided to join the critical mass of animals at the house.

Another bounce back is Leeder. He is still with us. He is skinnier and has less hair now than when he got off the track. We’ll have fun fattening him up. He’s a sleek black boy and probably the most well adjusted foster we’ve ever had. Not the needy boy that Kris is looking for.

Here he is following his new best friend Murphy (Kris’ dad’s dog). Murphy’s a little terrierist who is the antithesis of the lazy greyhound. Leeder is following him around in the hopes that Murphy will teach him how to jump the fence.

Here is Stella sleeping in the grass. Enjoying the unseasonably nice weather.

Awe come on daddy! Can’t a girl sleep in peace?

Sabrina’s family went on vacation, so she got to spend the week with us. She is an only dog, so this is like doggie camp for her.

Trina and Jason came up with their kids (Shiloh, Dana, Dante). Amanda and Kenney came up with their two greys, Ana and Blue. This helped add to the number of greyhounds. In this shot, Topsail is the brindle next to Jason. He will be with us a week while his mommy and daddy are on vacation.

We forgot we had a box of fireworks. Not quite the 4th of July yet, but after a few drinks, it’s close enough. Jason shot off some of the more projectile ones. The girls had more fun with the sparklers.

This is the morning after shot. Starting clockwise from Jamie on the couch, it is Leeder, Dana, Dante, Topsail, Murphy and Parker passing each other, Maggie getting nose scritches (babysitting for the weekend), Shiloh snuggling with her mommy, and Stella in the center of it all.

Even though we’ve tried to keep ourselves busy to help keep our minds off of Lucas, Jaime says she is still sad that her brother is gone.

Goodbye Lucas!

As most readers of this blog already know, my Lucas passed away last Fri. June 20th is his birthday. He would have been 5 years old. It’s taken a few days to wrap my mind around the idea that he is no longer with us. Right now, I just want to get to the point where thinking about him or looking at pictures of him doesn’t throw me into a fit of tears. Still hard for me to believe he’s really gone. Not having grown up with any animals, this is like a sucker punch to my heart.

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that Lucas is big goofball. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, but the sweetest. He was a notorious momma’s boy. He was usually stuck to his momma’s hip. He had three beloved stuffies. He moved from his big green turtle, to the giant hedgehog, and his last favorite was the giant warthog. Not much of a retriever, but he loved to run around the yard with his stuffies.

There was just something about his big blocky head and thick neck. Just right for giving nose rubs and neck hugs. Not very aerodynamic. That’s probably why he never made it past his maiden races. That just meant that we got to have him for a bit longer.

We had so many names for him. Here are just a few: Luke, Big Luke, Lucas, Knucklehead, Chucklehead, Lukie Pookie, Pookie, Lucasaurus, Lulu, Big Dink, Dinkasaurus, Pony, My Little Pony, Big Goon, Goofball, Luca Brasi (think ‘The Godfather’) and a few I’m probably forgetting.

He showed us why we will always have to have a big goofy boy in our family. Such a lovebug. We will miss you Lucas.



And here is one last Roo!

Baby Turtles & Doggie Burgers

At first I thought it was a leaf in the road. It didn’t move when the wind blew. I stopped the car and went to take a look. Baby turtles. I saw two more in the driveway. I managed to not run over any of them. They were making the 100 ft trek to the pond across the street. I have come across the mommy turtle before. I tried to prod her across the street with a 1 inch thick branch. She hissed, swung around, and snapped the branch in half. These guys were not nearly as ornery. They had just managed to dig themselves out of the dirt and just wanted to get a bath in the pond.
Why are you blocking my way to the water? I can see the pond from here.

So how big am I? I already feel bigger than when I dug myself out this morning.

This is a brother/sister (how can you tell?) who had managed to already make it down the driveway and down to the road.

I took the three that I could find and put them on a lily pad. I figured I would save them the few hours it would take them to make it themselves.

Hey, where did everyone go? Wait for me!

We made a Costco trip for stuff to grill on the Big Green Egg. Since we usually pile up on stuff there, we usually take the 4Runner, but it was in the shop, so we took the sedan. When we came back and started putting stuff away, the kids must have thought we were making room for them. Jaime and Stella jumped into the sling in the back, and wanted to know where they were going?

Hey, is there room for me in there? Don’t leave me behind!

I made some burgers on the BGE. Two for us, and four for the kids. Lucas got the double-size doggie burger because he’s a big boy.

While waiting for the burgers to finish cooking, Jaime decided to relax on the couch and do her impression of a giraffe with ETS.

Parker waited for his burger by sleeping on the floor in full roach position.

Richmond Carwash

We had another VAGA carwash on Saturday. This time in Richmond. It was quite the bright sunny day for a carwash. No pics this time. Too busy washing cars. We managed to bring in some decent donations. Luckily these people did not watch the weather report. By Sunday morning, the front edge of Tropical Storm Barry was bombarding us with heavy rains.
After the carwash, we retreated back to Trina’s for dinner and drinks and playing with the doggies. Dinner was yummy as the local Greek Festival was going on. They were renovating the church, so it was only drive-thru this year. Which was fine by me since I was pooped out from washing cars.
Since it was hot, we were swapping dogs out every hour or so using Trina’s house as home-base as it was only a few minutes away. Not surprisingly, by the time we were done, some of them had decided to leave us some ‘surprises’ on the carpet. While the spots were being cleaned, we had everybody outside. All the activity is inside, so why would the kids want to be outside? Oh please let us in. We promise to be good.


No really mister, please let us in.


Jaime likes to lay ‘in the way’. What do I mean by that? Here she is laying in front of the sliding door to the deck. Nobody can get by without stepping over her.


The kids did their usual romping around the back yard. Here is a shot of Booyah running around with his prize catch.


His sister Maggie was focused on the rubber balls flying through the yard. We would throw the ball, and she looked like a wide receiver waiting for a pass from the quarterback.


The next few shots show some of Stella’s various dog bed / couch partners. Dana had already claimed the bed out on the deck. Did this stop Stella from circling around then plopping her rump right down on the same bed?


Stella and Maggie are both alpha dogs in their respective households. But on neutral turf, they respect the other’s right to sit on the couch.


Jaime loves to be touching another dog when she lays down. Especially Stella. When presented with Stella’s rump, she just couldn’t give up the opportunity.


When we made it back home, the kids decided they needed a nap from all the weekend activity. They were even nice enough to leave two cushions for us.

Big Green Egg

Author's Note to original post added on 6/1.

Well, I finally got my Big Green Egg. I have always been a gas grill man. Charcoal was too much work. But now I am a statistic. I was just reading that a lot of people are getting charcoal grills as a second grill to their gas grill. I still plan on using my gas grill, but a lot of time will be spent experimenting with my Big Green Egg. The BGE is a kamado-style ceramic cooker. Here is Parker guarding the BGE. He knows yummy food will come out of it.




























It uses hardwood lump charcoal so there is very little ash to clean up. And with their great heat retention, you can smoke a brisket for 20-30 hours without having to lift the cover and add additional fuel. I’m looking forward to some real barbecuing. The verb, not the noun. I have in my sights, a brisket, a pork butt/shoulder, smoked duck, and a smoked turkey to start. I have already cooked some Tri-tip, chicken thighs, kielbasa and chicken wings on it. I need more practice with the temperature regulation, but the results were quite respectable. At least all the kids thought so ☺

Author's Note: Who is that climbing out of my grill? He says when I do a beer-butt chicken, I should use Foster's. That's Australian for beeyuh!

Honeysuckle Blooms

Trying to get pictures of the kids with the blooming honeysuckle turned out to be a little harder than I thought.

Stella, go stand next to the honeysuckle so daddy can get a cute picture for his blog. Um, is this far enough daddy?


That’s much better. Good girl Stella. But daddy, it’s hot out here in the sun.


Look daddy, I’m smelling the honeysuckle. You gettin’ a picture of this?





























Stella finally decides to go stand next to the honeysuckle for a full body shot.


Next is Lucas. You ready Lucas? Alright, go stand next to the honeysuckle so daddy can get a cute pic of you. Um, OK. Is this close enough?


How’s this daddy? Is this my good side?


Jaime, would you like to go stand next to the honeysuckle for a cute picture? Ok, daddy. I’m ready for my shot. But the honeysuckle is at the other end of the yard. But I look so cute here. You’re right Jaime. I’ll just take this shot.

VAGA carwash

This is our second annual VAGA carwash at the Culpeper Super Wal-Mart. We raised a good amount of money last year (which Wal-Mart matches), so we gave it another shot this year. Some of the original forecasts called for overcast and possible showers. EEK! But the weather was sunny all day. Lucas has the red bum to prove it. We ended up raising more than we did last year. Woohoo!

We were standing at the main entry from the road with signs for VAGA, a carwash sign, and a greyhound (Lucas) to entice people to get their cars washed.


We had Stella and Jaime working the other entrance. Jaime is wearing her donation jacket. People are much more willing to stick money in the donation jacket than give money to a human who just happens to be holding a greyhound. I only got pictures of my kids working the strip for money. Within a couple of hours of our arrival, we had up to a dozen greys at that point, but I was busy in the back lot washing cars.


We washed quite a few cars. But this was probably the coolest. Ahh, fond memories of the ice cream van. My kids are so used to hearing the one that goes through our neighborhood, they don’t even bother to roo anymore. Our ice cream van still plays Christmas music.


Stella was so tired when we got back that she couldn’t even hold up her head. Working the streets for money is a tiring business.

Rose Leaves & Party at Trina's

Rose left us to go to her new daddy and brother. Gus, the yellow lab, was quite happy she was back. Jaime will miss her. Neither Stella nor Lucas truly plays with Jaime the way Rose did. I’m sure we’ll be organizing some playdates for the two.


Jaime in her attempt to always be touching decided to do a ‘mind-meld’ with Stella.


You can read more about Trina’s party at her blog. Here are just a few pics.

Throw the stuffie already. We can’t chase it until you throw it!


The greys love just running around the yard.


Parker is looking out from the deck wondering if it’s safe to play with the big dogs.




























Blue, Booyah, and Jaime. Is this some kind of black dog conspiracy?