I am almost a month late, but better late than never.  Yes, I know…..bad momma.  😦  We have been busy, busy lately.  I am hoping to post some of our recent adventures to the Mountains to see fall foliage and pick apples sometime this month.  More importantly, on September 28th, we celebrated the Diva’s birthday. Her big day is just one day after Maggie’s Birthday.  It was a very emotional couple of days for me, but we wanted to make sure Ziva’s day was special and was centered around her, so we did just that.  🙂

She turned four.  She is still very much in her “puppy” stage in life and has brought a lot of energy and fun to my aging pack.  Her favorite thing in the world is to play with toys.  She loves all squeaky toys, it doesn’t matter if they are small, large, long, short, hard or soft.  She plays with them every day in the morning and evenings.  She brings her favorite Teddy Bear to bed with her each night. So sweet. 

So she got 5 new toys for her big day along with a pup-pie to share with Cueball and Pippi.  She also got loves of love and attention all weekend. 

She was over the moon happy about her new toys.  🙂

When she gets a new toy, she takes it and runs with it down the hallway and jumps up on our bed to play with it.

She played and played until she wore herself out.

The Pup-Pie was a big hit too!

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All the pups got a nice size piece with their dinner.

This was the first time they have ever had pie and they seemed to really like it.  It was easy to slice up and cut into small pieces.  It smelled like a ginger bread house.

The Diva had a great Birthday!  We look forward to celebrating many, many more Birthdays!!!!

Since the weather was so beautiful last weekend and the pups had spent a long day on Saturday cooped up in the house while we were enjoying a local wine festival, we took them out for a little outing at Pony Pasture.

Ziva is an outdoor girl.  She would be content to stay outdoors all day long, if we let her.  Cueball and Pippi prefer the comfort of the great indoors. 

Ziva was so excited to explore the trails.  Her ears stayed perked up almost the entire walk!

The trails are not very wide and are surrounded by thick woods on either side.  Birds chirping, squirrels moving, leaves blowing by and other woodsy sounds captured her attention.  At one point, I think she was on stimulation overload.  She is a great little traveler and is always up for any adventure we bring her on.

We walked two trails that lead us to the water views of the James River. 

Ziva was very curious about the water.  I think she is going to love the beach.  We can’t wait to take her to see how she will do.  She doesn’t seem to be scared of anything except thunder.  Maggie’s thundershirt has now been passed to Ziva.  🙂

Mitch loving on his heart dog, our handsome Cueball.

Miss Ziva approves of this adventure. 

Back at home, Ziva had more energy to burn.  She recently discovered the outdoor toys.  She knows that these particular toys don’t come back in the house. 

She has found all of Booyah’s buried backyard treasures.  🙂

And we also received some exciting news. Booyah and Pippi’s pictures are both in the Celebrating Greyhounds 2014 Wall Calendar.  Booyah is the month of November.  This brought me to tears when I saw it.  We adopted him in November 2006 so it is a fitting month and a lovely tribute to our beautiful, special boy.  Pippi is also in the calendar.  Her pic is in the collage of pictures towards the front of the calendar.  Now all of our pups, except Ziva, have made it in.  So cool!  We are so humbled and honored.  🙂

I always enjoy looking at all the beautiful pictures in the desk and wall calendars each year.  Again this year, we see lots of hounds we recognize.  Congrats to all who made it in!

Last week, I took the week off for a staycation.  I am at a point in my years of service where my vacation time accrues quickly.  We can only carry or hold a certain amount of days in our PTO bank.  Once we reach the limit, we no longer accrue time.  I know, real nice problem to have.  🙂  So rather than lose it, I decided to use it.  Mitch had to work all week, including Saturday and Sunday.  When you are married to a self-employed HVAC tech, you begin to hate the summer.  The pups enjoyed having me home all week and it gave me some time to get some small projects around the house done.  I would have liked to have tackled the backyard, but without Mitch’s help, it was a moot point.  We have lots of work to do to get the back yard looking nice.  I am hoping the Fall will bring us weekends with nice weather so we can get a few things done before the winter approaches.

During my week off, Ziva, FKA Gal With A Gun, got her first bath, well her first bath by us anyway, I am sure she had one at some point in her life.  She did well and now no longer has that kennel stink, which is fantastic. 

She looked pitiful once I was done and she soon forgot about the evil water sprayer monster in the bath room.

She had her monkey toy and bone to comfort her, so all was right with the world. 

Pippi is a pro at bath time and handled it like a champ.  She never once tried to get out of the tub.  She knew it would be over soon and that she would have a yummy treat waiting for her when it was over.  She loves wet towels anyway so she enjoyed attempting to dry her self off.

She relaxed on the couch until she was dry.

Cueball needs a bath too, but he is too heavy for me to lift into the tub so I need Mitch’s help.  I am hoping Mitch will be home next weekend so he can help with giving Cueball a bath.  We need to get some doggie pools so we can have bath time outside. I do miss the large deck/patio we had at the old house, it made bath time for the pups a breeze!

Ziva continues to do well.  She is a pretty good meet and greet dog.  She loves people, is good with kids and is good with other large breed dogs.  She has a high prey drive, though.  She, like Pippi, has an issue with any small, non-balanced, fluffy dog.  She lets out a deep bark and then wants to go after them.  We have to be really careful, as we do not want to give the wrong impression to people about greyhounds.

She has two meet and greets under her belt and will be attending many more with us over the years. 🙂

And another first for Ziva was a wine trip.  We took a trip to Cooper Vineyards yesterday afternoon after our meet and greet.  It was a beautiful afternoon and a perfect way to spend a lovely Saturday afternoon.  This winery is very dog friendly and has a lovely tasting room and wrap around deck with seating.  We packed a small lunch and bought a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy. 

Cueball is starting to get shaky leg after standing for too long, so he spent most of the afternoon laying on the soft blanket.  The girls were up and about quiet a bit scoping everything out and ready for pets from nearby folks.  They always draw a crowd!

The outside tasting bar was just steps from us.  Made it very convenient when we needed a refill.  🙂

Cueball was content just to rest.

Ziva thinks wineries are fun!  She says, what is not to like? We get pets from lots of people and mom and dad gave us several pieces of the “good cheese” as a treat.

She also received her official ID collar this week.  Hot pink is her signature color.  Nothing else fit for this Diva!

We have had a few visitors so far this summer.  Starting in reverse, our most recent guest is Dexter. 

He is a two year old hound who was adopted through the Second Chance Prison Program.  We are doggie sitting for the week while his mom and dad are at the beach.  He is one of the calmest two year old hounds I know.  He has fit in well.  He reminds me a lot of our Booyah.  His stance, curved back, horse like trot, J curled tail with a white tip and he is a follower and lover.  He loves people. He must be where people are.  He is not satisfied with being with other dogs unless people are there too.  He is so sweet.  We have enjoyed having him and will miss him when he goes home on Sunday.  We hope he comes to stay with us again soon!

Cueball and Dexter enjoy looking out the big bay window watching the world go by.

Ziva has enjoyed having another young hound to play with.

But, I think he has worn her out a bit.  🙂  They both love toys.  If he gets a toy to play with, she must have that toy, even if she has a gizillian other toys to choose from. 

We are still working on her manners.  She is a Diva, big time! 

So long as Pippi had a spot on the couch, she was content.

I am ready for my pedicure mom.

Pippi and Dexter had one trait in common.  They are both the backyard fun police.  Muzzles were a must. 

We can’t figure out why but all the hounds love this spot in the yard.  The mulched up leaves must feel so good when the sunshine is out.

We lucked out with nice weather, in the 70’s, on Wednesday and Today so we spent some time enjoying the great outdoors too. 

Back inside after enjoying a beautiful day, Cueball finds his comfy spot.

At the end of July, Mitch’s brother Mike and his family came for a visit.  It is always nice to see his family.  We all live so far away, it is a treat when we can get together.  They stopped to visit with us for a few days while on their way to D.C. for their family vacation.  We got to see two of our nieces and one of our nephews.  Mike’s oldest son is in Kansas in college so he wasn’t able to join us.  We mostly spent time at the house since their stay was so short, but on Monday, we took the kids to Maymont Park and then had lunch at Strawberry Street Cafe.  Both were a lot of fun.

The first stop at Maymont was at the Dooley Mansion.  No tours on Mondays, so we just admired the outside of this historic home. 

The kids young and old enjoyed feeding all the animals at the petting zoo.

We enjoyed walking around looking at all the wild life and kids enjoyed climbing rocks.

We enjoyed the scenic view of the falls.

Mike and Mitch.

We all had a great time and look forward to seeing them again in November.

Early in the Summer and in early Spring, we doggie sat Ms. McGann.  She is a sweet girl and gets along well with my pack. 

She loves the big bay window too, but she prefers to sit and watch the world go by.

She likes toys too and enjoys just pulling the stuffing out.  The green frog was her first victim.

She has a big crush on Cueball and follows him around like a lost puppy.  It is quiet cute.  She won’t be pleased with me that I told her secret.  Her mom and I tease her about it.  😉

They enjoy playing in the yard together.

And while I was going through these old pictures for the blog, I found this one of Maggie.  This is one of the last pictures that I took of Maggie.  We doggie sat Ms. McGann the weekend before we lost Maggie.

The pain is still incredibly deep.  Monday of this week marked three months.  I still can’t believe she is gone and September is approaching, which I am dreading.  Her Gotcha and Birthday are in September, and I know it is going to take a lot of strength to muddle through, but life goes on and so must we.

I do hope everyone is enjoying their Summer.  If the weather stays like it has been the last days in Virginia, it will be great!  I am over the hot and humid days! 🙂

On July 16th, we celebrated Cueball’s 10th Birthday! 

It is so odd for me to say that he is my eldest hound. The words just don’t seem quite right.  For the almost six years we have had Cueball, his birthday has been celebrated with his brother and best buddy Booyah.  I am sure Cueball doesn’t know any different but it was a little sad for me.  We treated the pups with Frosty Paws to celebrate.  One of Cueball’s favorite treats.  He could have a frosty paw daily if we allowed him too.  🙂 

Cueball is a hound who makes us laugh every day.  He has always been a goof.  He loves everyone he meets, is very social and is my most laid back hound.  He is sweet, confident and independent.  As he has aged, his black ticking has become more pronounced.  I guess it is how the white hounds age, since we can’t see their gray hairs.  🙂 

I think he enjoyed his special treat!  Of course he got lots of love too. 

Pippi seconds the daily frosty paw idea.

This was Ziva’ first frosty paw.  She got brain freeze for a moment, which was quite cute, but she soon learned to take it slow and before we could get a good pic of her with her treat she had already finished and was on to cleaning everyone else’s bowl.

A very Happy Birthday to our one of a kind hound!  We love you very much Cueball and we look forward to many more wonderful years with you.

I am a little late in posting this exciting news.  I had some major lap top computer issues that have just been fixed, yay.  🙂  It is so nice to have an IT guy in the family.  On June 5th, I picked up a return dog named Ziva for VAGA to foster until a new home could be found.  She was returned due to no fault of her own and after only two days of being in her home. 

We had helped transport her and another sweet senior female to the VA Beach area for VAGA on the June Haul.

After three days as our foster dog Mitch asked me if we could keep her.  I told him that I was not ready to bring another hound into our family after just losing Maggie and Booyah.  I also told him that VAGA was working diligently to find Ziva a new forever home and that if he was serious about wanting to adopt her, then he should call and let them know. 

With time, Mitch convinced me that adopting another hound was an excellent way to honor Booyah and Maggie.  And Ziva was a perfect match for us. She has traits similar to both Maggie and Booyah.  She is like a “hybrid” of both. We could not have asked for a more perfect match.  Sometimes things are just meant to be even when you think you aren’t quite ready.  

I should have known she was here to stay after her first night with us.  She was in my lap a few minutes after walking through our door.

She was making herself right at home and enjoying the comfort of a couch within the first week of being with us.

After two weeks of being here, she began sleeping with us on the bed. On my side, curled up next to me just like my Maggie Mae. She is another momma’s girl.
It may have taken me some time to figure out she was a keeper but now she is here to stay and we could not be happier that she is part of our family!

We will have more pictures of her to share soon.

Very late in posting this, but wanted to share these cute photos of Pippi and Cueball enjoying our late Spring. It was so nice to actually have a Spring this year! We usually go from cold to hot with barely any time in between to enjoy nice weather. In late May, we put a blanket down in the front yard and just hung out in the evenings with the pups. Now that we are in July, we know our outdoor time will be limited with the extreme heat.

I wish our weather was Spring like all year round. Like we do in the winter time when it gets cold, we also hibernate inside in the summer when it is very hot. We certainly miss our pool at our first house. That made it tolerable to be out in the heat!

The pups are just happy and content on being where ever we are. Cueball really enjoyed the breeze, the smells in the air and the feel of the cool grass.

Pippi enjoyed the soft blanket and watching the world go by.

He is a stunning looking hound, isn’t he?

He knows it too!

Pippi is our super sweet girl. She loves to be loved. I love her heart shaped gray face! She is so cute.

The feel of cool grass is so refreshning.

Pippi says watching the world go by is a lot of fun.

I just love these two of her. Look at those ears!!

Such a pretty girl.

I admit, I have been very slack in blogging and keeping up with reading blogs over the last two months. I need to get better at both. I started this blog about nine months after we adopted Maggie. Over the last month, I have gone back and read almost every post. I am so glad I have those posts, it brought back such wonderful memories of our time with Booyah and Maggie. Although we miss both terribly and it certainly has been a rough six months, life goes on and we are fortunate to have each other and our furry children to share it with.

We hope everyone is staying cool this summer! We have more to share, including some exciting news…..stay tuned!

Thank you to all who have served and those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

Last Sunday after a wonderful weekend with our hounds at Grapehounds Virginia, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Maggie. Our first greyhound and my heart dog. Her passing was sudden and unexpected. She is missed incredibly and will always have a big piece of my heart. She and I had an amazing bond that I know is a once in a lifetime experience. I still can’t believe she is gone and I am still numb. Cueball and Pippi are grieving also. Time will heal our pain. I am thankful to have had 6 1/2 wonderful years with such an amazing hound. We will forever be grateful to VAGA for bringing this beautiful creature into our lives. A special thanks to our friend Debbie who drove to Orlando to pick up Maggie and bring her to VA to us. We will always remember the story you told us about meeting Maggie in the GPA-GO kennel. That story, among others, is dear to our hearts.

Below are some of my favorite pictures of Maggie that capture her personality. I have so many wonderful memories of my special girl. She was the most alpha female I have ever known, at only 51 lbs, that could not be an only dog. She was the boss in our home and all the hounds who have come after respected her authority. 🙂

Her favorite toy, the Cuz toy. Her pink one will be placed in her shadowbox.

Love this picture of her sweet face as she slept. Bottom part of her tiny mouth was usually open showing those grinded down lower teeth.

She was a hound that was happy to be where ever we were and did not mind traveling to new places so long as we stayed close to her.

This is such a sweet photo of her and my special boy Booyah.

She was a hound who taught the ropes to the others in my pack. She and Pippi were always close.

Very early pics of her. 2007 and 2008. She was always inquisitive. Always happy to be by my side.

2009 investigating snow on the trees.

ETS.

Love of the water. Always enjoyed her pool, but wasn’t a fan of bathtime.

A pure love of toys. She had to “kill” her a toy before each meal every day. I have some videos on my blog at ridlontails.blogspot.com. I enjoyed watching these again. She had such personality.

A rule breaker. 2007. No dogs allowed on the furniture. That rule did not last long with her.

A love of the water. BBH 2009.

I have so many pictures and wonderful memories of Maggie. I am so thankful she was my dog and that I got to share so many adventures with her. She is so loved and will be missed every day, always.

Some do not believe that spirits can remain, but I already feel her around me already. It has been a comfort during this very difficult time. Last Wednesday Mitch let the pups out for their potty break before breakfast. Cueball went right outside and right over to Pippi and pee’d on her. I was sound asleep and heard commotion in the kitchen. I came running in to find Mitch cleaning Pippi with a warm soapy washcloth. I asked what had happened and when he told me what Cueball had done, I smiled, grabbed Cueball and said to him “Maggie told you to do that, didn’t she?”. Cueball has never done that before and has not done that since. However, the queen, Miss Maggie, would cock her leg and pee on Pippi every day. In my heart, I feel it was her way of telling us that she is still here and will always be here with us.

We loved our Maggie Mae so much and she will always hold a very special place in my heart. My one and only heart dog.

Run, pain free my sweet girl (9/27/00 – 5/12/13).