Month: July 2011

Eating at a glass table can be reflective as well as revealing!

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The Crowded Kitchen (Part One)

The Crowded Kitchen (Part Two)

Wally

Wally (Loop Hole Wally): January 2000 – July 2007. (Osteosarcoma).

Wally was a big, bouncy boy who loved everyone – such a doll. What a sweet guy.

Renner

Renner (Tin Pan Man) Shown here with Grand Greyhound Ruby and Little Guy.:

Born April 2001 – March 2, 2012. We miss his cute speckled ear and his constant cock-roaching. What a total love. 😦

His favorite sleeping position.

Renner’s cute ears!

Scooter

Scooter (Tyville Scoop): March 2004 – July 2010. (Osteosarcoma).

Hiking with Renner and GGh Ruby.

Scooter was a ‘leaner’.

Mandy

Mandy (Hot Stuff Amanda): January 2008. Mandy is still with us and is such a wonderful girl! Everyone thinks she is so sweet, at the age of 9 she is still bouncing around with her toys, spinning in circles and demanding her treats.

Mandy and Renner sharing.

See you next time! Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Crowded Kitchen (Part One)

The Crowded Kitchen (Part Two)

For more ‘That’s My World Tuesday’ please click here!

(Continued from part 1)

Bonnie

Bonnie (racing name?): July 1987 – January 2002. (breathing problems and lymphoma).

Shasta

Shasta (Mister Shasta): July 1992 – December 2004. (Brain tumor).

Cosy and Shasta – photo shoot for stock company.

Blew

Blew (Blue N Gold): January 1998 – June 2009. (Cushings and intestinal cancer).

Blew with Grand Greyhound Ruby keeping cool on a hot summer day.

 

Geterbug

Geterbug (Kiowa Bel Geter): December 1995 – March 2006. (Blind when we adopted her. Numerous issues due to her illness at the track before we adopted her. Unsure.)

(The Crowded Kitchen Part Three)

 

 

Long ago, in a kitchen not so far away, there was a family that suddenly fell into running a Retired Racing Greyhound rescue organization….  WAIT – now hold on for just a minute! This is not a fairytale, it happened right here at my house!  Look at the photo above and you will see me doing pill duty or treat duty. It all seems so long ago now that I cannot really recall what all of the clamor was about in my kitchen.  However, it happened quite often.

None the less, the hounds are all a permanent fixture in my memories and my heart.  All had/have different personalities and were wonderful to be able to share my life with.  To this day I miss all of them and don’t regret any of them being part of our family.  Yes there were numerous hounds here and these photos don’t even count the vast amount of retired racing greyhounds we have fostered and worked to adopt out over the years.

These days there is still clamor but on a lesser scale. Though we do not have near as many hounds as we used to we love them as completely as we always have. I’m sharing with you today brief glimpses into some of the loves of my life.  All have taken a piece of my heart and given even *more* back to me in return.

I have tried to list them in the order of ‘adoption’ into our family. Some photos old and before digital photos were ‘big time’, so the quality of them will be of lesser quality. Eventually I would like to do a post on each of the hounds individually so you can get to know them a little better. However, this is pretty long as it is and I *do* hope you will stick with me through the end. There you will see some familiar faces if you have been a regular at the ‘Spacial Peepol’ blog site. So lets start at the beginning, shall we?

 

Blaze

Blaze  (Speculatedledlegend): January 1987 – March 16th. 1997.  (Hemangiosarcoma).

(So it begins…Blaze and Tex were my first Retired Racing Greyhounds.  Both over the age of 7 when we brought them in. They were bounce backs from previous failed adoptions. After Blaze and Tex there was no looking back and the organization of a new GPA-MN was in the works at our house!)

Tex

Tex (Ramrod Rule): July 1986 – May-1999. (Degenerative Myelopathy).

 

Cosy

‘Cosy’ Cosette (Remain Royal): Oct. 93 – August, 2005. (Osteosarcoma).

 

Sister

Sister (Sister R): June 1988 – December 1998. (Hemangiosarcoma).

 

 

Toni

Toni (Hit N Run): April 1990 – September 2002) No digital photos; need to scan them into computer. (Osteosarcoma).

 

Tyler

Tyler (no racing name): September 1995 – June 2005.  (Heart complications during routine dental).

Tyler laying with Vinni.

 

Beebe

Beebe (P’s Beebe): March 1988 – August 2001. (Leukemia).

 

Cyber

Cyber (Cyber Space): June 1993 – February 2003. (Hemangiosarcoma).

 

Roni

Roni (Rosy Crucifixtion): March 1992 – April 2006. (Hemangiosarcoma).

Roni in front with (left to right) Tyler, Trixi, Cosy, and Wally in doorway.

 

Trixi

Trixi ‘was Belle’ (racing name?): October 1992 – May 2006. (Hemangiosarcoma).

(The Crowded Kitchen Part 2)

“Hey Guys!  Little guy here and guess what!  I got your Weekend Reflection right here!!!”

 

Mandy:  “WHERE?”

 

Little Guy: “Right HERE!”

For more Weekend Reflections please click here!

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This is how it looks when looking out the window for the last few days….

The heat and humidity are so bad these days that the windows fog on the ‘outside’ (not on the inside). We are a hot, wet Minnesota. At least I *think* I am still in Minnesota and haven’t suddenly transported to a Rainforest in Latin America. The mosquitoes sure are loving it but, whew…I can’t wait for Fall! I also try to remember that if this were snow….the house would be 6 feet under by now.

For more ‘That’s My World Tuesday’ photos please click here!

Minnesota Government To Re-open As Gov. Dayton Caves On Tax Increases

Jul. 14 2011 – 9:26 pm

By RICK UNGAR

Leaders of the Minnesota GOP controlled legislature and Democratic Governor Mark Dayton have reached an accord on a budget that will allow Minnesota to close its five billion dollar budget shortfall and re-open the government for business.

It must have been the threat of Minnesota’s bars quickly running out of beer and being unable to buy new supplies without their government issued purchase cards that did the trick.

The agreement, which provides no new tax increases despite Dayton’s campaign promise that he would levy new income taxes as a critical element of solving the state’s budget gap, is being viewed by both sides as a compromise.

The ‘give’ on the Republican side will include some $1.4 billion in new revenues but those revenues will be achieved by delaying payment of $700 million in state aid to public school districts while the remaining half will be raised by selling tobacco payment bonds. The GOP leadership also agreed to back off their effort to cut the state’s workforce by 15% and took a variety of conservative social policy changes off the table.

Of course, these social policy changes had nothing to do with budgetary policy in the first place.

Gov. Dayton agreed to some $3.5 billion in cuts to a number of state programs and, of course, was forced to give up on raising new revenues via state income tax increases.

Republican House Speaker Kurt Zellers appeared with Governor Dayton and GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch to announce the deal.

Said Zellers-

It was about making sure that we get a deal that we can all be disappointed in, but a deal that is done, a budget that was balanced, a state that was back to work.

Dayton added –

Nobody is going to be happy with this, which is the essence of real compromise.

Somehow, I sense that the Republican legislators are considerably happier than they are letting on while it is Gov. Dayton who is coming out on the losing side of this one – along with the people who will suffer the pain of the large cuts to important government safety net programs.

http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/07/14/minnesota-government-to-re-open-as-gov-dayton-caves-on-tax-increases/

 

Mandy: “Hey Renner, we can bring the Screaming Monkeys out of hiding for now, I think they are safe!”

Renner: “Mumphf grrrrr…..”

 

Renner: “Mandy, good news and just in time! This big red ‘thing’ keeps attacking my face!”

 

Renner: “Mumphfum….blubowah….ack!”

And the saga continues…..

Photo credit: http://brewsnotebook.blogspot.com/

 

Shutdown forces Miller-Coors to pull beer from shelves

Posted by: Eric Roper Updated: July 13, 2011 – 10:55 AM

Miller Time in Minnesota is over — until lawmakers reach a budget deal.

The state’s government shutdown, now in its 13th day, will soon force Miller-Coors to pull all of its beer from Minnesota liquor stores, bars and restaurants. A state official says the mass exodus of products like Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon will begin soon.

“I would suspect within days to see that product leave the shelves,” said Doug Neville, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

Miller-Coors must remove the product because they did not renew their brand label registration with the state before the shutdown began, Neville said. By law, brewers must renew those registrations — which show the label on each brand of beer — every three years.

The company tried to renew in mid-June, but the process got delayed when they wrote a check for too much money.

Neville said his agency has asked MIller-Coors to develop a plan to remove the product from shelves and cease their distribution. He added that Anheuser-Busch will face a similar problem if the shutdown extends to October.

The development follows news that hundreds of bars and liquor stores across the state are slowly running out of alcohol because they were unable to renew their state-issued purchase chards. But eliminating Miller-Coors could have a much larger impact, since it would apply to nearly every liquor retailer in the state.

Here is a list of the beers that are affected:

Blue Moon Pale Moon Belgian Style Pale Ale, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Coors Light 3.2, Foster’s Lager Beer, Foster’s Premium Ale, Grolsch Amber Ale, Grolsch Blonde Lager, Grolsch Light Lager, Grolsch Premium Lager, Hamm’s, Hamm’s Genuine Draft Style, Hamm’s Special Light, Henry Weinhard’s Dark, Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, Henry Weinhard’s Pale Ale, Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, Icehouse Beer, Keystone Light Beer 3.2, Killians Irish Red 3.2, MGD Light 64, Mickey’s Ice Ale, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life 12/16 oz can, Miller High Life Ice, Miller High Life Light 12 oz can, Miller Lite 3.2%, Miller Lite Beer, Milwaukee’s Best #1 , Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Milwaukee’s Best Light #1 3.2, Molson Canadian, Molson Canadian Light, Molson Golden, Molson Ice, Molson XXX, Olde English 800 Malt Liquor, Sparks Light.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/125490398.html

Mandy: “Taking away a Minnesotan’s Beer…. stooping pretty low!  Hope they don’t start on purple screaming monkeys next.  Maybe Mom renewed my Monkey Ownership license before they closed the state.”

Even more disgusted!

For more Wordless Wednesday please click here!

Despite Government Shutdown in Minnesota, Residents Still Face State Taxes

By Mike Tobin

A bicyclist rides on the road leading out of the closed Fort Snelling historic site Friday, July 1, 2011 in Minneapolis after negotiations over the state budget between Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton broke down and the government shutdown at midnight.

Even though the Minnesota government has shut down, halting all non-essential services, residents still need to get their state taxes paid. However, no one is at work to process the return.

Campers planning to spend the July 4 weekend under the stars have been turned away from state parks. Highway rest stops are closed. Road construction projects are left as obstacles that need to be dodged as you drive through the Land of 10,000 Lakes. State employees are furloughed and uncertain about the future of their paychecks. In short, Minnesotans have all the tax burden and few of the services or security offered by the state.

This as Republicans and Democrats in the capital, St. Paul, failed to meet a deadline Thursday night to agree on a budget that addresses the state’s $5 billion deficit. Therefore, the government shutdown went into effect. The two parties are about $1.5 billion apart on paper but worlds apart ideologically.

Republicans won control of the state Legislature pledging no new taxes. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton came to power on the promise that he would preserve state services and put the burden on the wealthiest Minnesotans.

As details of their failed negotiations went public, we learned that Dayton had bargained down to raising taxes only on Minnesotans who earn at least $1 million a year. Republicans refused.

“Instead of taxing their friends, they would prefer damaging cuts to health care, K-12 education, state and local public safety, mass traffic and other essential services to the people of Minnesota,” Dayton said.

Minnesota Democrats want to blame Tim Pawlenty, the former governor and current Republican presidential hopeful. They say the structural budget deficit is the result of his reckless spending policies over the previous eight years.

But Pawlenty disagreed.

“If this state government would simply live within the revenues it has available, it wouldn’t have any deficits at all,” he said.

Now, 23,000 state employees are off for an extended holiday weekend with no idea when the holiday will end. They were told to take their plants home if the plants needed to be watered. One state employee carrying home a couple potted plants said, “You never know how long it’s going to be. So, I don’t want my plants to die.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/01/despite-government-shutdown-in-minnesota-residents-still-face-state-taxes/

 

 

 

I’m disgusted!!!

For more ‘That’s My World Tuesday’ photos please click here!

zzzz….uh HI…

I’m Renner and I like to lay like this:

 

I just don’t know why people think it is silly looking. I find it quite comfortable myself and well….

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

 

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This week’s pet blog hop hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume. If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor (found at Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume). Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

This past holiday weekend we took some time out to visit Stillwater. The day was very hot and humid however, it was enjoyable to take in the sights and do a little antiquing at the same time.

The photos below are typical of what you will see around the main tourist areas of Stillwater on just about any warm, summer weekend here in Minnesota.The only exception being all the rain we have been getting this year has left the rivers and lakes very swollen.  In the photos of the river you will be able to note the flooding if you look for things under water such as stairs, sidewalks, street signs and so on.

It was a very nice 4th of July weekend here in Minnesota…plenty hot and lots of sun. However, today we were awakened by thunderstorms and, as I sit here writing, it is again….raining.  I think the only things that are still actually benefiting by the copious amounts of rain we are continuing to get in this area are the mosquitoes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information regarding Stillwater, Minnesota please click here!

 

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‘Red, White & Roo by Kent Roberts