We are still dealing with Winter here in Virginia.  One day it feels like Spring (in the 60’s and 70’s) and the next day we get snow.  We had snow again this past Monday, who hoo, I am over it.  We are expecting another winter storm on Tuesday.  Saturday was a beautiful day.  Warm enough for me to wear shorts and a T-shirt.  Today I am back to wearing a sweater and jeans.  It is a wonder we are not all sick from all the temp changes.  Our monthly Greyhound Meet and Greet fell on Saturday and with the nice weather, we decided to bring all the hounds with us.  We chatted with several folks who are interested in adoption.  Fingers crossed that they apply to adopt. 🙂

Below are a few pics from our day.

Jade….

Cueball was our donation dog for the day.  Orange is his signature color.  🙂

Ziva.  She is one month s/p her accident and doing great!

Jade and Pippi.

Apollo.  He just came up from Florida three weeks ago.  He did awesome at his first meet and greet.  You will see more of him on our next post.  We are doggie sitting him for a few days while his dad is at a work conference in Williamsburg.

Last weekend we joined our walking group (Around Town Hounds) for a walk at Forest Hill Park in Richmond.  The park has an interesting history.

We will definitely visit this park again.  It is close to home and was a beautiful setting. Below are a few pictures of some of the hounds who joined us on the walk.  This walking group is now at 112 human members!!  Not sure how many hounds, but there is at least one hound per human. That is a lot of humans and hounds!  We enjoy these walks and hope that we can make it to more of them this year.

Lastly, I finally got a new lens (50mm EF f/1.4)!  I am really enjoying it so far.  This lens has been on my wish list for a few years.  So happy to finally own it!  I used it to take the Meet and Greet pics above.  I will share more pics using the new lens soon.  I am still getting the hang of it. 🙂

More practice shots.  Outside and in the sun.

Maybe it is because the older I get, the less I like cold weather, but Old Man Winter has over stayed his welcome this year for me.  The pups enjoy a good romp in the snow, but after a day or so they are over it.  It just becomes a mess and is too crunchy.  It is hard on their pads of their feet.  After a day of the white fluffy stuff, I am ready for it to all melt.  Last year, we had snow in March, late March, which was a first that I could remember ever getting snow that late.  We just had another snow storm last Monday.  I was fortunate enough to not have to go to work, thanks to our office closing.  The roads were a slick mess. The storm started with rain, then sleet and then eventually changed over to snow.  I should mention that just the day before, we saw temperatures in the 60’s!!  I read on FB that Virginia is a place where you can experience all four seasons in 2 days.  I would have to agree.  Our weather is bizarre and seems to get more bizarre as the years pass.  Quiet frankly, Mitch and I are ready to make our final move to somewhere much warmer.  A place where we will still experience our seasons, but without snow and ice.  We look forward to sunshine and palm trees.  That is our idea of paradise!  We are working hard to make that happen, hopefully within the next three years.  🙂

Okay, I am done with my little rant now.  I feel better.  🙂  The snow did allow me to get a few decent action shots.  I learned a valuable lesson too.  The first time I let Ziva out to play, I thought I had everything set correctly on Manual mode to get some really great pics.  Ziva was frisky and wanted to play, so it was a perfect opportunity.  Alas, I forgot to change the setting from MF to AF.  Needless to say none of my photos were in focus (one example below).  I kept clicking and did not realize the camera was out of focus the whole time until I downloaded the photos.  😦 Major bummer!

Later in the day, I tried again.  This time I made sure the camera was set on Auto Focus.  I am not thrilled with the shots I was able to get and have a lots to improve on, but with every mistake, I am learning more and more.  🙂

Below are the ones I thought were decent action shots.  I would like to get a whole lot better in this area. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.  I still have not tackled editing so these are “raw” in every since of the word.

We really hope Spring is about to be sprung!  Go away, Old Man Winter!  Seriously, go away!!

February 19th is a very special day for us.  It is Pippi’s Birthday, she turned 9 this year, and it is also her Gotcha Day!!  She has been part of our family for 5 wonderful years.  Her Birthday fell on a Wednesday this year.  On Wednesday, we gave her lots of extra loving and a special treat with her dinner.  On Saturday, we continued her celebration by taking her to our monthly meet and greet, where she was center of all attention! 

She got lots of loving from many folks who stopped by.  She enjoyed herself very much!  She also did great as our donation dog for the day.  She helped us raise over $59 for Greyhound adoption!!

Her favorite part was lying down on the job and getting some sun bathing time in.

On Sunday, we took a trip out to Stony Point Fashion Park.

We were fortunate to have such beautiful weather for her Birthday weekend.

We took a little stroll through the outdoor mall and then went to pick up Pippi’s Birthday cake at Three Dog Bakery. The pups enjoyed cake several times over the week.  They gave it 12 paws up!

Pippi really enjoyed the toy section.  She picked out a new toy.

She had a little ETS after so much celebrating.

Happy Birthday/Gotcha Day to the best snuggler in the world and one of the sweetest hounds we will ever know!!  We love you so much, Pippi, and are so thankful to have you as part of our family!! We look forward to many more wonderful years with our very special girl!!

Lastly, Ziva continues to amaze me in her recovery.  The Vet says I am more traumatized then she ever was.  She is likely right in that assessment.  🙂  She is doing very well and had an excellent f/u visit at the Vet last Thursday.  She is able to resume all normal activity!  All her sutures were removed and her internal boo boo’s are healing also.