The Weekend

We had a great weekend here in Central Virginia.  Georgia was entered in the Virginia Kennel Club (VKC) shows in Richmond so we got up at ungodly hours both days to drive to The Showplace (which is actually kind of dumpy) to take a run at picking up some more points.  We didn't have any luck on the points but we did get to see some friends and relatives and I think I've finally managed to explain to UHM, in a way she can understand, how the AKC points system works.  Next shows will probably be in August.

We also picked more beans and beets in the garden.  Tonight UHM made southern-style beans for herself (read cooked until they are a disgusting shade of pale olive and have the texture of mush).  I don't understand southern-style green beans, I really don't.

Georgia's Slow Mo Moment

Cue Music (Right Click to Open in a New Tab)

I don't know if this music makes Georgia more sophisticated or not....

Click photo to see in full screen mode.

Bogey's Baywatch Moment

Baywatch Theme Song (Right Click to Open a New Tab)

So he's in a hay field in Virginia not on a beach in California but, The Hoff ain't got nothing on BoBo.

Click to see Bogey in full screen mode.  It's pretty impressive!

This is one of the images taken last week at a photo shoot with Dwight Dyke.  Dwight shoots a lot of the photos used in breed specific calendars.  We were invited to bring some of the dogs to be photographed with the understanding that it wouldn't cost us anything, all we had to do was release the rights to the photos.  In exchange, we got some great pictures of the dogs and we can use the images any way we want - as long as we don't sell them.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It's mid-June and we are starting to see results from our efforts in the community garden.  Today I harvested the first of the green beans and beets.  They will grace my dinner plate tonight.

On Monday, UHM and I drove out to Afton, VA, to pick sweet cherries.  I drove out there again today because, apparently, nearly 18 pounds of cherries wasn't enough.  I picked another 9+ pounds today.  I've canned jam, cherry butter and whole cherries in light syrup.  I'm waiting for the last batch of cherry butter to cook down right now.

Tomorrow I'll be making bread & butter pickles.  Those are one of UHM's favorites and my mother happened to send me a terrific recipe for them.
What wonderful item are you harvesting or getting from your farmer's market right now?

Father-Daughter

I think this is my favorite photo from the birthday party.

Ginny, from Sam's first litter, and Sam.

Cardi Party 2011

Yesterday we hosted a Cardi Party of epic proportions to celebrate Sam's 13th birthday (May 31st).  In attendance were 16 Cardigans, ranging in age from 9 weeks to 13 years old, 1 Border Corgi (ok, she's a Border Collie but we renamed her so she wouldn't feel left out) and 1 Aussie.  It was a mob scene but everyone had a lot of fun and no one cried or ended up wearing a cone so I felt like it was a success.

We had frapping, watermelon, cake, and lots of fun talking dog.  Sam got lots of emails wishing him a happy birthday and I read each one to him.  He barked back at me - surprising, I know.

Huge thanks to UHM, Liz H., Liz B., Elizabeth, Heather, Robin and Sarah and all their assorted dogs, kidlets and better halfs for making Sam's party so much fun.  You can see a smattering of images from the party on Flickr but there were so many that I couldn't upload them all this month - stupid limits.  Watch The Chronicles of Cardigan and Nick the Cardi, International Man of Mystery (yes Liz B., I'm shaming you into a blog post) for even more images.  Blogger is having some sort of issue with uploading photos directly to blog posts so I'll update this later with a couple of my favorite shots from the day.

PS- I forgot to mention that the wonderful folks at Sammy Snacks, where Sam's cake came from, also very generously provided party favors in the form of samples of their snacks and dog food.  Everyone went home with some to try.

"Mojo: The libido. The life force. The essence. The right stuff. What the French call a certain... I don't know what."

Much like Austin Powers, Sammy got his mojo back today.  Our 1 o'clock appt with Dr. Dove proved that the surgery in March was a success.  There wasn't a lot of volume (he's 13 and he only has one testicle!) but what was there was good quality and sufficient for freezing.  The thousand dollar testicle WORKS!