Category: Uncategorized

 

 

 

 

 

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It’s Ruby’s shedding season!

 

 

 

Frosty dew reflecting the morning sun.

 

Our fearless Viking leader shares his snack with his ever faithful followers Mandy and Renner.

 

Renner: Yum.

 

Mandy: Can we go back to the campsite now?

 

After a tough day of hiking….

 

 

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We are participating in this Saturday’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. Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

 

 

For more Weekend Reflections please click here!

“We want real treats, not pumpkins!”

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Hi there!

Renner here, yup I’m the guy on the right! For those who are unsure of our breed, Mandy and I are retired racing greyhounds!  Living the good life now!  Little Sis Mandy can be kind of a pain sometimes, like when she wants to share my bed as we ride back from camping trips, but all in all she is good to have around.

Both of us are so very happy to have been lucky enough to have a ‘forever home’ where people love us as much as they do. We would like to see other hounds, like us, have long happy lives with people that love them too! 

Please, please, please take a look at the short video below and then go to the other link to vote for Dennis Tyler to help win Greyhound Pets of America – Florida win $10,000.00.  It only takes a moment of a life that, as a person, there are *so many* of, but as a retired racing greyhound there is often *so* few.  The moments are just ticking away as you are reading this, counting down the end of yet another Retired Racer’s life. Please take just a moment to vote for them. Such a small gesture can help save the lives of so many.

The first link is the video.  The second link is the place to vote!  Enter the site and click on Dennis Tyler’s picture to vote for him.  Your vote for Dennis may be the vote that saved the life of the next Retired Racing Greyhound you see!  Thank you so very, very much! OH, Mandy sends her thanks too! (Kisses to you all ‘slurp’! )

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/09/25/dnt-couple-rescues-greyhounds.central-florida-news-13?iref=allsearch

Please continue to vote as OFTEN as you can at:

https://styleentertainment.timeinc.net/people/readerhero/

GPA C FL can win $10000 from People Magazine if they receive the most votes! Ends Oct. 13!

 

We are participating in this Saturday’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. Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

 

 

 

 

When we went Raspberry picking a couple of weekends ago there was also a small area of animals, not many, but a few.  I fell in love with this handsome guy, he was just *so* sweet I found him totally irresistible.   We became buddies pretty quickly.

Then there was this guy too….

Though we did not become as good of friends as the other guy, for some reason his expression struck me as pretty happy-go-lucky when I saw this photo.

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Taken while camping at William O’Brien State Park, MN.

 

Little Guy: And that is the refection for this weekend!! Have a good one and and always pull your pants up straight or you will walk around looking like this!

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Cat….

 

Annoyed cat…

 

Tipsy cat…

 

Directional cat…

 

Multi-directional cat…

 

 

Not a cat…

 

 

Haha…still not a cat…

 

 

Half a cat….???

 

 

Fidget: “No cats  or ‘not a cats’ were harmed in the making of this blog post…the humans are another story.”

 

We are participating in this Saturday’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.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

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Perhaps a little hard to see in this photo, but Dragon Boogers are highly reflective.

A blacksmith practicing his craft.

 

Sir Knight, let the games begin!

 

Could this excellent bowman be William Tell?

 

Hummmm?

 

Wait…I *do* believe it is Sir Little Guy, Knight of the Realm.

 

Do not rile him as he is wielding a new dagger!

 

The good knight is sheathing his weapon, a good sign. All must be well.

 

Even the hardiest of knights must replenish. What is his choice of refreshment?

 

OH, I hope not!

 

Further growth will be required to fit into this suit of armor.

 

This beast required the lightest of petting in order to tame it.

 

What is this? Our brave knight is striking a deal with Captain Jack?

 

Beware when dealing with such a pirate! It nearly cost this brave knight his churro!

For more Weekend Reflections please click here!

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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!

http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=103283

This photo is actually from last Fall. We are excited to see Fall roll in again around here and we can bask in all its beauty!

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During our last camping trip we attended a Luau. Dancing (sort of) and laughter (in this case) were high on the list during this gathering.  You see featured in this clip Little Guy and his Dad trying to figure out their mangos from their kiwis.  It is a little longer than the usual videos I post, so my apologies for that, but I want to make sure my folks get to watch the smooth moves in their entirety.

And no….the laughter is not all mine, though I was laughing so hard my stomach was sore the next day.

Hope you enjoyed the show! Please just drop your donations in the hat by the door as you leave so we will be able to continue buying gas for the camper.

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

Another glass table top reflection.

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There is a lot to do when camping at the Dells.  This time we really didn’t go the ‘nature’ route but more of the tourist route.  Did a bit of hanging out at the campsite as Renner, Ruby and Mandy will attest.

Drove past this…attraction.  Look closely. A bit peculiar. I ‘think’ it is a mystery place…fun house kind of thing. Not sure what it is but it looked interesting so I snapped a photo or two of it.

 

There was a bit of swimming and water slides.

The weather was very hot and Renner, Ruby and Mandy wanted to stay inside the air conditioned camper.

 

There was a Luau along with a DJ and later dancers. The finale was a fire dancer. 

We were only there for the weekend but there is a lot to see and do so we will have to go back when we can stay longer.

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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!”

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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.

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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!

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