Roxy takes a hike

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when we decided to take a ride up to Silver Falls State Park.

We walked past a rock wall and we were on our way for the easy quarter mile hike.

Forgetting which part of the season we were in, Roxy reminded me that she would keep an eye out for wildflowers.

The colors were fabulous.

And the bleeding hearts were at their finest.

Roxy and Karen really seemed to enjoy the day. Since Roxy will be 14 in September, it's important for her to take it easy and really enjoy herself.

The fiddle-heads were at their peak.

And the sun streamed between the trees.

The trillium were blooming everywhere.

Karen and Roxy paused briefly for me to catch up to them.

Skunk cabbage were just starting to bloom is some of the lower creek beds.

Roxy was adorable on the way home. She pulled at the jacket I had taken off until it was up on her cushion, she laid her head down and slept the entire way home.

Roxy's Road Trip

OMG, with everything that has happened this week I almost forgot Roxy's adventure.

Rest assured she has plenty to talk about and will be back soon to talk about her trip.

We're on a roll this week

Last while out playing in the yard, Jori must have caught her dew claw on something. Of course, greyhounds rarely break a nail, (like me), they crack it above the quick and leave it for us to do the dirty work. Enter Nurse Ratchet with the toenail clippers.

Yes, Jori cried and the toenail bled, but she nursed it back to happiness.


So what does she do tonight? She cracks the other one up above the quick. Although she attempted a quick exit, I held Nurse Ratchet accountable with the toenail clippers once again.


Greyhounds typically come in two flavors. Stoic and brave or wimpy drama queens. If you've ever heard the greyhound scream of death, you know the blood-curdling, heart stopping cry.

Jori has the scream down, but tonight she was much braver.

I'll be up all night installing bubbles around all of the greyhounds. I think we need it this week.

Happy Birthday Duncan!

And just what are you trying to tell us young man?


What's that? It's your 11th birthday? Happy, happy birthday big guy.


You can have whatever you want and we will do our very best to make it a good one.

Two words I hate

We know the drill all too well. We know the signs, we know the symptoms.


Saturday it was a slight limp. Sunday it was a lump.


Tuesday the diagnosis was our worst nightmare. Duncan has osteosarcoma.


Our promise to Duncan, as it has been with all of the others, we'll watch his quality of life, we'll keep him as comfortable as we possibly can. We'll do our best to make sure we're a day to early and not an hour to late.

We're so sorry Dunk-a-dog.

Cancer sucks.

We've got the Monday morning blues

Not sure anyone will face it bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Finley Wildlife Refuge

The alarm sounded at 3:15 am in hopes of catching a glorious sunrise at Finley. The skies were clear then, but by sunrise, the skies were beginning to get cloudy. No dogs are allowed on the trails, it was a dogless trip.


A short glimpse of the sunrise.


We were greeted almost immediately by this flower.


And I went face-to-face with a banana slug.


As we rounded the trail to the pond, this little guy was wishing a happy morning to everyone.


The grasses glistened with lots of little dew drops.


And other grasses were just beautiful to look at.


We spotted a bald eagle on the other side of the pond, a mere pin dot with my 70-200mm lens and this was one of the birds we watched fly and play around the eagle, so I'm thinking maybe it is a baby or a female.


As we got closer, she took off.


Cattails were plentiful in the refuge.


The marsh looked was clear and smooth when we first got there, about an hour later the winds had started to pick up.


I saw my first blue heron, absolutely beautiful birds.


And as soon as we rounded a corner, these ducks took off.


The bunny posed, knowing it was safe from the greyhounds.

Twins go to the tulip fields

The girls were definitely up for their first adventure, they immediately headed off for the fields.


Of course, the two gorgeous girls drew plenty of attention from the other tulip visitors. But Slinky only had eyes for the little girls.


Together, the girls checked out the surroundings.


And together they walked up and down the rows and rows of tulips.


Stopping occasionally for the their new admirers to scratch their ears.


Ms. Slinky sporting her Slinky-dink pink collar.


And Ms. Jillian sporting her Jilly-bean green collar.


The tulip fields were a greyt adventure for the girls.

The twins take their maiden adventure

The twins took their maiden adventure last week-end. 'Twas a beautiful day and Jillian surprised us quite a bit by not being the cooperative little car rider we had hoped for. We made the trip and she made the trip and we'll try for another adventure on another day, but holy smokes that girl can wail.


We took the girls out to the tulip fields and they were stunning (both the tulips and the girls).

I'll be posting more pictures from our trip, but here is a tease.

The nemesis

"Here I am greyhounds, come and get me!"

Really, really retired

Got the call about 10 am this morning from our vet needing some blood. It was Danny Bleu to the rescue.


His 9th birthday is next month so today was officially his last blood donation.

He was the the best donor in the world. Even though he was usually a tad nervous, he stood so still and so proud while he donated.

Thank you Bleu, you've officially entered retirement.