Spring has officially sprung in VA.  We couldn’t be happier!  Love this time of year! 🙂 Last weekend, we took a walk with a group of greyhounds along Richmond’s Flood wall; We only took Cueball with us. Maggie at 12 1/2 doesn’t do so well on long walks and really prefers to be in her own element. She has separation anxiety, so we let Pippi stay home with her; I got to play “sub” as our group photographer for the day, as our usual photographers were either unable to attend or enthralled in the nature we saw along our walk. 🙂 It was good practice for me.

We had a good turnout for our walk and I think everyone had a good time. Below is the group photo.

Cueball loves an adventure and was ready to walk and visit with his fellow greyhound friends.

Walking along the flood wall gave us some interesting and pretty views of the River City.

The Walking path was easy to manuever for our hounds and afforded us views of wildlife, like herring.

I left my zoom lens at home, so I did not get any good pictures of the birds we saw. 😦 We plan to make another trip out some time soon.

Below are random shots of some of the hounds who joined us for the walk. I can’t remember all of the hounds names.

Jack.

This sweet fawn girl had something to say!

House and Hitchie. House is a big, sweet boy!

Sophie.

Jackson.

It was a lovely walk and I think we made quite the positive impression for greyhounds in our community.

We have had an unusually cold and long winter in VA this year.  Can’t remember ever having snowfall in late March.  The temps continue to be cool, so we continue to hibernate inside where it is toasty.  Booyah would have loved this winter.  He loved the snow.

I miss him every day.  It has been three months but it seems like yesterday. I am starting to be able to look at pictures of him and smile. It is progress in the grieving process, I suppose. We hope to have another hound like Booyah someday in the future. He sure was a special boy and was loved by so many.

Maggie would like to know when Old Man Winter will be done.

Cueball agrees.

Cueball did enjoy playing in the snow, but was quickly over it. It is pretty to watch when it is falling, but I am ready to put the boots, gloves and scarfs away and bring out my flip flops.

We did not get a lot of snow and it only stuck around for a day or so, but it was perfect for romping around in.

Love the expression on his face. Pure bliss!

Maggie is so over the snow. She is more of a beach girl, just like her momma.

Pippi doesn’t care for the snow either and prefers to be the queen of the stacked dog beds.

Not sure if I have shared this pic or not before. I took this in September last year. It is my favorite pic of our four hounds. I am so glad I was able to get a good picture of all four. I have this pic on my mouse pad at work. 🙂

Goodbye Old Man Winter; we are all ready for Spring!!

On February 19th Pippi turned eight and celebrated her fourth gotcha day with us. Pippi’s four favorite things in the world are 1. Food, 2. Love 3. Ear scritches and 4. Sunbathing. She got to enjoy three out of the four on her birthday. 🙂 We showered her with extra love and snuggles. I also made home made dog biscuits too.

She spent most of the evening like this:

She has been a wonderful addition to our family.

She has her quirks for sure but she fits right in with us. We love her dearly and hope that we can share many, many more wonderful years with our sweet Pippi.

Can’t believe how quickly time flies.  That saying is so true!  February 17th marked our one year anniversary in our new home.  We moved into our home on a Friday and were amazed at how quiet our little subdivision is.  It has remained that way over the last year.  It sounds strange to say, but the truth is our new subdivision is quieter than where we lived out in the country.  We have done a lot since we moved in. 

Some things were immediate like upgrading the electrical panel, which was overloaded and from the 1960’s, and getting a fence installed for the pups and getting E-shield installed so we could save on those heating/cooling costs.  Other things we have done as we have gone along like paint the hallway, foyer, dining room and kitchen, install new toilets, install cabinets upper and lower with a granite top in the laundry room, install cabinet in the master bathroom and landscape front and back yard flower beds.

One project that started in May and continues is the remodel of our kitchen.  We have come along way but still have a little ways to go.  The worst part of the project was not having use of my kitchen sink for weeks.  I did not particularly enjoy washing dishes in my bathtub.  And it made me miss that big, deep utility sink we had at our old house. Below is how Maggie spends her time when we are in remodel mode. As you can see, she is in her safe spot with her thundershirt on. Cueball keeps her company.

Our kitchen was stuck in the 1960’s. The cabinets were pine and all our dishes smelled like pine from sitting in the cabinets. Yuck!! There was only one family who owned this house prior to us. The mother passed away and the son bought it. He was born and raised here. From what we could tell not much was updated over the years. The house had good bones, was well built and had character. We knew the first time we saw the house, it would be our next home.

Below are pictures of where we are with this project today. I took these tonight when I got home from work.

Mitch is very happy with his handy work!

Lastly, the queen would like you to know she is ready for this remodel to be complete. Maggie, Pippi and Cueball do like being able to see us from the couch when we are in the kitchen. We pass them treats and pats through these windows. This was our solution to “opening” the space up since taking the wall out was not a feasible option.

At last, I will leave you with this. A few weeks ago we received this lovely card in the mail from the young couple who bought our old home, which was my first home and one that I am still emotionally attached to. It was very nice to receive this note filled with kind words and appreciation. I am glad our old home is being appreciated and cared for. We certainly did put a lot of work into that property in the 11 years we were there. We promise the hounds will be the stars of the next post, stay tuned!!

A few weekends ago, we joined a group of greyhounds for a walk around Hollywood Cemetery.

Brief History:

Hollywood Cemetery is a large, sprawling cemetery located at 412 South Cherry Street in Richmond, Virginia. Characterized by rolling hills and winding paths overlooking the James River, it is the resting place of two United States Presidents, James Monroe and John Tyler, as well as the only Confederate States President, Jefferson Davis. It is also the resting place of 25 Confederate generals, more than any other cemetery in the country. Included are George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart.

Hollywood Cemetery was opened in 1849, constructed on land known as “Harvie’s Woods” that was once owned by William Byrd II. It was designed in the rural garden style, with its name, “Hollywood,” coming from the holly trees dotting the hills of the property.

In 1869, a 90-foot (27 m) high granite pyramid was built as a memorial to the more than 18,000 enlisted men of the Confederate Army buried in the cemetery.

Hollywood Cemetery is one of Richmond’s major tourist attractions. There are many local legends surrounding certain tombs and grave sites in the cemetery, including one about a little girl and the black iron statue of a dog standing watch over her grave. Other notable legends rely on ghosts haunting the many mausoleums. One of the most well-known of these is the legend of the Richmond Vampire.

A place rich in history, legend, and gothic landscape, Hollywood Cemetery is also frequented by many of the local students attending Virginia Commonwealth University.

If you are in the Richmond, VA area and have not checked this place out, you should. It is fascinating and filled with history! We were only able to make it halfway through the walk before we had to leave. Maggie was worn out from all the walking up and down hills. We plan to make a trip back without the pups so we can do a walking tour.

On our way back, we passed by our local Resivor. Not sure why I am fascinated with bodies of water and water falls, but I had to snap a pic while Mitch was driving. 🙂

A few weekends after the walk, we joined a group of greyhounds for a fun run. Cueball has been very sad since Booyah passed. He misses his running buddy. This was just what he needed to lift his spirits!

He was worn out when we got back home and slept the remainder of the afternoon. It is always amazing to watch these dogs run! Hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day! We are ready for Spring in the Ridlon Abode. 🙂

So it has been a long time since I last updated our blog. Shame on me!  I have enjoyed reading all of the blogs we follow though. The last 5 months have been a roller coaster ride emotionally.  We have celebrated some great times, like Maggie’s 12 Birthday on 9-27; her 6th Gotcha Day also in September; Cueball’s 5th Gotcha Day also in September and Booyah’s 6th Gotcha Day on November 27th.  We unfortunately had to say goodbye to two of our beloved fur kids over the holidays.  Misty, our cat, passed away in early November.  We adopted her as a kitten (only 8 weeks old) from the Richmond SPCA in ’99.  We miss her dearly.  😦 

If that wasn’t hard enough, we then, shortly after Christmas,  had to make the heart wrenching decision to put Booyah to sleep.  He was only 9 1/2.  His neurological issues he had experienced in June reared their ugly head again in November. It went downhill rapidly for him from there.  On the 21st of December, our vet found a large (size of a tennis ball) mass in his prostate on ultrasound.  This mass was not there just three weeks before and was palpable on physical exam.  We knew this news was not good!  Whatever it was certainly was fast progressing.  We kept him comfortable for as long as we could, but his health declined quickly within a week’s time and we knew we had to do what was best for him and let him go.  We are thankful to have shared one last Christmas with him. We are also thankful to have had the opportunity to make a memory stone before we had to say goodbye.

We both miss him so much.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or cry over losing him.  He was a one of a kind special hound.  He was loved by so many people.  We know there will never be another hound like Booyah. 

This was one of the last photos I took of him.

He was the life of the party in our pack.  The rest of our pack has taken it hard too.  They are mourning him for sure.  Cueball is having the hardest time.  His entire demanor has changed.  We are showering them with lots of love to help them through this difficult time.    

I am working on putting together a scrap book. This so far has been very theraputic for me. It is also nice to have a lovely memory box for Booyah’s ashes.

The hound sculpted on this box reminds me a lot of Booyah. It is the perfect way to honor him.

He will always be in our hearts! Run pain free sweet Booyah. 6-30-03 – 12-29-12.

Just found this post I had done on October 1st but never published.

September has been a good month for us.  Lots of good things to celebrate!  First, on September 13th, we celebrated Maggie’s 6th Gotcha Day!  Hard to believe six years ago I knew nothing about greyhounds and how great companion family pets they were and today as I type this I am surrounded by four of the most loving creatures on the planet.  If it had not been for that radio spot “Pet of the Week” on 1140 and the introducing Charlie Brown, the retired racing greyhound to me, I may have never known this wonderful breed.  Maggie flipped our world upside down for the better!  I will always be greatful that she found her way to us.  She is my heart dog.

A few days later, we found out that Cueball’s picture I took a few years ago made it into the Celebrating Greyhounds Wall Calendar in the month of September.  It is such an honor.  We are very excited to see both calendars!  Congrats to all who made it in!

On September 17th, we celebrated Cueball’s 5th Gotcha Day.  Cueball is Mitch’s heart dog.  He is one cool hound.  He loves people, other dogs and loves to socialize.  He is the perfect ambassadog for the breed.  He is our most active hound enjoying a good romp around the yard several times a week.

Then on September 27th, we celebrated Maggie’s 12th birthday!  It was a very special day!  🙂

We are truly blessed!

Just a quick update.  Cueball was seen by our primary vet on Tuesday.  Dr. G examined his left foot.  It is not fractured.  She was not sure what it was, so she drew some fluid off and sent it to Pathology.  The results came back today.  No cancer cells are present.  He has a joint infection.  Antibiotics, Rimadyl and time should heal him.  We are going to monitor him closely.  Cueball says thank you for all the well wishes and hopes to be feeling better soon!

I am trying to improve my photography skills.  I recently ordered the dSLR Photography for Dummies book and have reached out on FB for some other options for taking an online or local course.  I would like to thank everyone who responded and provided me with options/info. (you know who you are). I appreciate it!  Today is my last day of my mini summer vacation.  I took a few days off to help Mitch install the upper kitchen cabinets. I know, sounds like fun, right?  It will be so worth it when it is all complete.  Long way to go.  Installing the lower cabinets and new countertop is the next phase.  We hope to have this completed by early December. Today, I have been mainly lounging around the house with the pups.  They very much have enjoyed me being home.  Maggie will have a rude awakening tomorrow when I go back to work.  She may require her Thundershirt and anxiety med.  I have not left the house, except to do a Home Visit for VAGA yesterday and to take Maggie to the vet last Thursday.  She will freak out on me, I know it, but she will get over it.  🙂 I enjoyed the quality time with all the pups over the last 5 days!

Anywho, I would love some feedback from you on these photos. For now, I am practicing outdoor portraits.  I am fortunate to have so many talented photo taking blogging friends and value your opinions.  🙂  I just installed some photo editing software and have been playing around with it today.  I usually don’t do anything to my photos except for the occasional cropping. I am trying all sorts of new things.  🙂

For editing, I just used the color enhance function on this photo.

For this photo of Booyah, I edited using color enhance and white balance.  Black dogs are tricky to photograph.  I hope to learn some good tips/tricks on how to improve.  I still like the photo though.

Same editing functions on this one.  I love Booyah’s ears and expression.  He is always such a happy boy.

Just used color enhance on this one. Cueball is a natural in the sun.  He loves to lay around. Makes for an easy subject to practice with.

I look forward to hearing your opinions and tips.  🙂

I hope we still have readers out there.  If so, please leave us a comment, so we know you are stopping by. 🙂  I am debating on whether or not to continue with this blog.

Not much going on in the Ridlon abode, outside of remodeling the kitchen, we have been enjoying our summer from the comfort of indoors.  If what I have read from several weather forecasts is true, we are in for a cold and snowy winter. I say bring it on!  After the summer we have had, which has been brutally hot and miserable with all the misquitos, I am looking forward to the possibility of a cold, snowy winter.  🙂

Just some cute pics for now of the girls catching some Z’s.

A quick update on health.  Booyah continues to do well.  Maggie had a repeat ECG and even on her anxiety meds, she still has an irregular heartbeat, so we are making an appt. to see the cardiologist.  Cueball will be making a trip to the vet tomorrow for a swollen, painful toe. We have been trying to mend it since Friday with limited activity and Rimadyl, but it is not getting any better and is very tender to the touch so to the vet we go.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  We are looking forward to some outdoor fun with family and friends.