I’ve entered a photograph I took of my Cavaliers, Giles & Lily into a photo contest. The contest is for the Leesburg Today newspaper and I think we should win because the picture was taken at the new Leesburg Dog Park! Check out our qualifications!

Dogs of summer? Yes.
Relevant to Leesburg Today? Yes.
Adorable, cute, cuddly? Yes.

We’re in like Flynn! If you’d like to help us out, just click on this link ! Giles & Lily will be signing copies of the paper at the Leesburg Dog Park IF (and when) they win the contest!

My mom has been sending me things that belonged to my grandmother. Today I got a box that contained a No. 2 Brownie camera (circa 1900 – 1907) made by Kodak. It’s awesome! I’ve taken it apart as far as I dare, cleaned the lenses and view finders, and Googled some articles about modulating them to fit 120mm film. I’m excited to have a new toy and an old memory in one.

I might also play around with plain photo paper or Polaroid film, if I can find any. It would certainly make for some interesting exposures!

Here is a link to greyhoundman’s blog where he shows us how he has modded his Brownie and the results. Very interesting, thank you, Dave!

Thunder and lightning give the soul a deep satisfaction. When lightning strikes just outside our home in the field next door and lights up the house it’s exhilarating. And when the thunder CRACKS then BOOMS along the horizon, shaking the whole building, setting off car alarms, it sends chills up and down my spine and rumbles through my tummy. I can’t get enough!

Here’s a picture I pieced together of our Leesburg, VA sky tonight at around 9pm. It’s amateur, but hey, I thought it came out looking pretty cool.

There were burgers and dogs on the grill (hot dogs, not furry dogs).  Plenty of sides, chips, desserts, and tons of cold water.  The dogs had a blast as usual.  Giles jumped in all on his own as usual.  Lily wore Giles’s old Fido Float since he doesn’t FIT in it anymore.  He wieghs 28 lbs.!  And he’s not fat by any means.  He’s just a big Cavalier.

Giles and Lily both swam quite a few laps with me in the pool.  Even though Lily looked kind of nervous she followed me to the deep end and back and did really well.  Really, Lily!

Our friend Kim and her dog Snickers had a good time too.  Snickers made friends with a beautiful Ruby named Lola, who we hope to board some time in the future.  She’s a sweetheart!  Lindsey and her dogs Abby & Mason had fun as well.  Abby floated on the raft with a bunch of other Cavs and her curls looked gorgeous.  I can hardly wait until the day she’s ready to have puppies!  She’s going to make beautiful pups.

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.  Critique is welcome.  I’m working on my pet photography.  You think I could make a business out of it or not?  I’d like your feedback.  Thanks!

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We had a good flight from BWI (Baltimore, Maryland) to MIA (Miami, Florida), then on to ANU (Antigua).  We caught a van that took us directly to the resort.  That was one crazy ride!  As soon as we got to Sandals we were served hot towels to clean up with and champagne to sit back and relax with while we waited to be shown to our room.  Classy.

We had a beautiful Garden View room over looking the small pool for the surrounding room’s convenience.  First thing we did after settling in and changing into our swim suits was to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant right in the sand.  Barefoot by the Sea.  It was great!  We hung out with this nice couple from Michigan and got to know each other a little bit.  After lunch we hit The Big Pool.  Adam went right out to the swim-up bar and acquired us some drinks.

The entire resort was just beautiful.  All the pools were clean and a crisp, cool blue.  The buildings and private bungalows were all painted in different Caribbean pastels and the landscaping was overwhelming, but well kept.  A jungle of beauty.  There were lizards and birds galore, one of which landed on my coke can while I was sitting out on the balcony.  It took a sip of my syrupy, sugary drink, looked up at me, then took off.  I found out later that it’s called a Bananaquit.  Very cute little guy with black wings and a bright yellow belly.

On our second day Adam and I had a couple’s massage at Sandals Red Lane Spa.  It was heavenly!  I’ve had several massages before, so let me tell you, this was fantastic.  It was Adam’s first massage and he just loved it.  We were pleasantly relaxed for the entire rest of our stay.

Along with relaxing in the sunshine, lazing around in the pools, sipping our drinks, and swimming in the bay we also found time to do some activities.  We went to The Cricketer’s Pub to watch the Penguin’s vs. Red Wings game 5.  It was awful!  The Penguins played like crap!  (But we won the cup in the end, ha!).  We took a snorkeling trip which, we both agreed, was kind of terrifying, but the Captain of the boat said that it was rough waters out there for first timers and that we did well.  We also went kayaking.  This mostly yielded some hilarious pictures.  The most fun we had was sailing a hobie cat together.  It’s a small catamaran.  Two hulls, a trampoline in the middle, a rudder, and a 30 foot sail.  We were chased from the shore out into the bay by a storm!  It rained while we sailed out toward a marker buoy, but cleared as we came back in.  It was our first time sailing anything and we did it by ourselves!  I can’t wait to do it again!

A few other highlights from our trip would be dancing together in private on the look out tower with Reggae playing in the distance, having wine delivered to our room, having breakfast, lunch and dinner by the blue-green sea, visiting the adjacent casino and blowing $26 bucks, and watching Adam compete in a dance contest in order to try and win me a diamond necklace.  Too funny!

On our way home we were delayed for 2 days due to a flight cancellation.  American Airlines was very helpful and put us up for two nights in hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami.  They also paid for taxi fair and meals.  We ended up having a good time in Puerto Rico and Miami too.  Then back home to real life… relaxing by the pool.

Enjoy the pictures if you haven’t already seen them!

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Adam and I will be going to Antigua begining of June.  We’ll be soaking up the sun, lounging by the pool, floating on the waves, and eating and drinking ourselves into a coma.  I can’t wait!

My ever changing plethora of interests has pointed me in the direction of piano playing and sailing.  I’m obsessed with Pirates and Tall Ships!  I search Google images relentlessly in search of Tall Ship photography.  I’ve got a book list a mile long consisting of ‘How To’ books on sailing.  There is a lot to be learned!  Also I’ve found some interesting programs for adult sailing lessons.  I’ll definitely be looking into these programs with a fervor.

Adam and our best buddy (we’ll call him Pat) are off in Ohio fishing in Lake Erie this weekend.  So I’m left along to contemplate my book and also my blog.  If I’m going to be a writer I’ll need to start writing, right?

More to come…  and pictures too!

The foster families of the pets you have available for adoption are amazing people.  They have nurtured and cared for many abused and neglected animals, re-aranging their lives around pets in need, and I would personally like to thank all foster families for such empathy and hard work.

The Best DAWG Rescue adoption agency however, is in trouble.  I’m sure you’re ecstatic to find that the 4th and 6th results on the first page of a Google search of your name are bad reviews of your practices.  I’d like to quote one of these reviews from Yelp.com if I may:

This is a review written by Natalie K. in Greenbelt, MD:

“DAWG has many devoted volunteers, who do rescue and take care of a certain number of abandoned and abused dogs. Those who “run the show,” however, impose unreasonably stringent adoption requirements. These requirements are arbitrary and at times discriminatory, from a fenced yard, to non-smoking, to English proficiency. Many good people are denied dogs, and some of them have voiced their concerns on the Internet. Also, they associate almost exclusively with a vet who has been dishonest with some of his (now former) clients and demonstrated disregard for homeless animals.  Instead of being objective about this vet, the DAWG senior volunteers have turned vicious towards those who are. Not a good group.”

Thank you, Natalie.  You have expressed my opinion and feelings about this group proficiently and effectively.

Best DAWG Rescue, would you like to change your attitude?  How about we make a change in the adoption process and actually FIND HOMES for these animals who are in need?

And to those of you, readers, reviewers, and researchers alike, who would like to share your experience with us, whether it’s about Best DAWG Rescue, or another organization with the same “goals”, please feel free to comment and link right here on www.grace1129.net and help make a change!

Sincerely,

Christine Kinder

My dogs.  Lily (a re-home from a Cavalier breeder) and Giles, my puppy, my love.

Click on the photo below to view a full sized version of the Google search.

We met some of Jane’s fellow Floridians there on The Mall.  They asked us how long we’d been there and we told them, “Since 8am.”  They were shocked!  They said they’d been on The Mall since 4am!  Yikes!  Maybe Jane and I were extremely lucky to have so little travel and wait time, but mostly I think it was just preparation.  We didn’t have tickets to see the Inauguration.  It’s a free public event!  We just didn’t happen to be sitting in the folding chairs right underneath the podium.

Here are some more pictures from our adventure.

This experience will last me the rest of my life.  Besides the obvious, it was a clear gorgeous day, albeit in the low 20’s, every one’s mood was great.  The crowd was just so calm and happy.  It was surprisingly quiet when the Jumbo Screens and speakers weren’t on and people weren’t being announced.  I think the crowd’s only downfall was boo-ing George Bush.  It was disrespectful.  Granted, he’s not my favorite person, but we need to respect the office he’s held the past 8 years and recognize that his job was never an easy one.

After President Obama finished his strong and pleasing speech Jane and I skipped out.  We weren’t sure how we were going to get home, thought it best to hightail it out of The Mall, and the rest of the crowd was dispersing so we pretty much needed to move with the flow of people anyway.  We waited around on 13th St. for about 20 minutes for our bus back to her place, but none were showing up.  We ended up walking 4 (yes, FOUR) miles (yes, MILES!) down Interstate 395 (which will probably never happen again in the history of the world) and over the Potomac in order to get back to Crystal City.  It was all worth it.  The cold, the endless standing, the miles we walked… all worth it.  I am so very glad that I went to the Inauguration!

I look like I’m crossing Abbey Road in that picture.  Cool.

I also took several video clips of my adventure today.  I kept having to delete some to take the more important clips, but I think I got what I wanted.  I hope you enjoy watching my video as much as I enjoyed creating it!  I had to cut out all my “commentary” so this isn’t quite what I put together, but this is as good as it’s gonna get for ya!

I want to thank Jane for being a kindred spirit.  She’s brave, adventurous, and as crazy as I am.  Thank you, Jane, for sharing such a special day with  me!

I also want to thank my husband for supporting my decision to attend.  Not all significant others would be so generous or trusting.

And a BIG THANKS to Kim!!!  Your parka was the BEST!  I felt perfectly at home in the cold today.  Never once did I shiver or get a chill.  Thank you!

Congratulations to President Barack Obama and his family, Vice President Biden and his family, and to our Nation for such a joyous day.

God Bless