So this past Friday my friend Anne, her dog Robbie, me, and Mr. Giles went down to Glouchester, VA.  That’s SE of Leesburg near Williamsburg.  We made a visit to a Cavalier breeder that Anne has known for a few years.  Lynda has several Cavaliers.  She breeds, fosters, raises, and loves her dogs.  She had a 5 year old female named Millie that she was looking to re-home, meaning she had tried to breed Millie twice, but she didn’t take.  Lynda didn’t want to put Millie through that again, not only because it’s not exactly fun for the dog, but because it’s expensive.  Lynda felt that Millie would be better off and much happier in a new home.  Besides, Lynda shows some of her dogs every weekend, so showing plus breeding dogs and whelping puppies takes a lot of time and focus.  Well… now Millie is better known as Lily and is Mr. Giles’ big little sister.

Lily doesn’t notice the change in name since it sounds exactly the same.  Her full name was Lyndsfair Thanks a Million.  But on her second night home her new name just popped out of my mouth.  Lazy Bones Lily Jones!  She is SO mellow!  Giles is very playful, but still sleeps a lot.  Lily sleeps A LOT, but is playful now and then.  I’m hoping the two of them will strike a nice balance in each other.  Yin and Yang.  Either that or I’m hoping Giles won’t bug her too much and HE will mellow out.

Anyway, here’s our new girl!  Lily and Giles get along great!  I think we’re all smitten with each other.

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Lots of updates to be had yet.  And more pictures too!

I can’t tell you what an amazing day Giles and I had!  But I’ll do my best.

Today we got up at 7:00 AM and made our way to our friend Lindsey’s house.  Lindsey has two very adorable Cavaliers named Abbie and Mason, I’ve posted pictures below.

We all piled in the car and headed out to Alexandria, VA for the Christmas Scottish Walk.  We met with the rest of the D.C. Area Cavalier Meet-up Group at the Monaco Hotel on King St.  The organizer of our group, Anne Gavin, reserved their courtyard for us and had arranged for coffee and refreshments.  We milled around there for a bit, chatted, and took plenty of photographs.  Then we headed out the front door, posed for a group shot, then headed down a few blocks to get in our assigned spot for the parade.

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The dogs were on excitement overload.  They were oooed and aaahed over everywhere they went!  They’re such an amazing breed.  So friendly and laid back with smiling faces and wagging tales.  And they’re just plain adorable!

Everyone had a great time all bundled up, prancing down the parade route.  There was a good size crowd, cheering and singing, and some AWESOME Bagpipe music!!  I’ll say, that just made my day!

It’s taken me hours to transfer, upload, edit, and organize these pictures/movies/words, so enjoy.

I’d like to thank Anne and the rest of the Cavalier Group.  It was really nice to see all of you there and the dogs so happy.  Sally, Corduroy, Margaret, Bobby, Penny, Nancy, Lucy, Riley and his mommy, Marcie and her Riley, Marty, Buzz, Cooper, Anne, Robbi, Nubi, Calvin, everyone!  Mr. Giles and I thank you!

Our sweet, happy puppy is ONE year old today!!!

WE LOVE YOU, MR. GILES!  CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR 1ST BIRTHDAY!

YES!  I have family members in Virginia!  HOORAY!

My cousin Kirk, his wife Amna and their daughter Sarah are only 30 minutes away!  Adam and I went over to their place in Winchester today.  They’re living in a great big house, just the three of them.  It’s gorgeous!  Built in the 1700’s with more rooms that I can count on one hand.  They’ve been Nomads lately, moving from California to Georgia, to London and back, then forth again, and landed smack dab in Virginia.  I’m so happy!

Amna made this amazing home made “Chicken Soup with a Kick” as Kirk called it.  It was spicy with curry and had a sort of Indian cuisine taste to it.  It was fantastic!  She had also made a fresh cucumber and tomato salad and home made hummus.  I was in food heaven.

The five of us… and Mr. Giles… went to the Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry today.  It was gorgeous, though the leaves have pretty much already gone out in a blaze of orange, red, and yellow.  We parked just off 340 and took a little hike down the mountain to the river bank.  Kirk, with Sarah in his arms, jumped across rocks and ventured pretty far out.  They also climbed above the waterfall near by.  Sarah found a dead minnow, a seashell, and some leaves the size of baby elephant ears which she’ll take to Show and Tell tomorrow.  And Mr. Giles had a big old time rustling in all the leaves and digging a hole in the sand.  We had a really fun day.

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Enjoy this little video I made!

Yes.  Adam and I bathe our cat.  Fiona weighs in at 14 lbs., thinks she’s the queen of the hill, and has the worst dandruff you’ve ever seen, including that kid you went to school with who wore coke bottle glasses, had acne the size of Mt. Saint Helen’s, and smelled like disinfectant.

Fifi gets a bath about every 3 months.  She’s not afraid of the water and used to play in shallow water in our tub when she was a kitten.  We suspect her love of water comes from tiny kitten-hood when Adam’s sister, Tara, used to hand feed the kittens, then give them each a bath in the sink.  They were messy eaters.  After they got off the bottle they all shared a dish of formula in which much havoc was reeked.  Hence “Kitty Bath Time”.

These are photos from Fifi’s latest bath.  She gets in the shower with boy and actually purrrs the whole time!

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Hope you’ve enjoyed the hilarity.  We’ll be back with another bath time experience in a few months and update you on the dandruff situation.  As of right now it’s not gotten any better, but it also hasn’t been upgraded to a crisis either.

Oh, also, I thought I’d let you know that the dog walking is going great!  Dutch, a very strong Pitt Bull, has left me a bit stranded though.  We had just gotten to the bottom of the stairs and he gave me quite a bit of a tug for his first potty.  I was trying to gain leverage with my legs, but instead my right foot got caught between the sidewalk and the grass and folded in half.  I twisted it pretty bad and also fell and scraped up my left leg.  I’m doing ok on the twisted side of things, but now my arthritis is acting up in my right foot.  Oh, the perils of dog walking.

Made a quick trip to PA last weekend.  I drove up Saturday morning and got to Crafton, near Pittsburgh, in great time.  Of course as soon as I got on 60 I got lost and showed up about 20 minutes late for Matt and Michelle’s wedding.  Gar.  It was a lovely ceremony though, from what I did catch.  I took some pictures in the low light of the church with no flash and some serious zoom, so the exposures are grainy and there’s a lot of movement, but it was the only way to go in such a large space.

The reception was great.  I was seated next to Andy and Allyson and some other friends of Matt and Michelle’s.  We had a nice dinner, an open bar, and some dancing.  Too bad boy wasn’t there to take me out on the floor.

Funny story…. well, I thought it was funny…. one of Matt’s groomsmen was so wasted by the time they got to the reception hall from the church he gave one of those classic drunk toasts.  I just about died laughing.  I hope someone caught that on video and if they did I want it!

It was sort of sad though, because this guy was so inebriated that he had to be escorted to the buffet and later escorted out of the reception hall and to his car.  His fiance was embarrassed and in tears.  I felt for her.  Other than that it was a beautiful day.  Michelle looked stunning and Matt looked elated.  I’m happy for the happy couple!  Congratulations, Matt and Michelle!

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Here are a couple more pictures from the Allen wedding.

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I’ve spent a lot of time with other people’s pets lately.  Check out some of the photos I’ve taken over the last year of friend’s and neighbor’s dogs.  I’ve also included some shots of my own cats and dog.  Click on the Photography Gallery link over on your right under “Friends & Links”.

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