Ozzy & Riley

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Ozzy

Riley who is a little mischievous...notice he has gotten something from the trash!

Today I am thankful for Ozzy and Riley...Ozzy our sweet Rottweiler will be 6 in February and I just love him to pieces...Riley is Ashlyn's little pooch and Ash and Ri came to live with us after she graduated from JMU...by the way, she's still looking for her "big girl job" anyone looking for a smart girl with a political science major? Anyways...Ozzy and Riley get along great, they are good friends!

Linking with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
― Mark Twain

Some Fall Colors, A Fence & Ozzy

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Sunday was so nice we decided to take Ozzy out for a little walk. This was his first time to ride in the back of the truck. Ozzy loved it...I was a nervous wreck. He was tied down but I was still a nervous wreck. Luckily we only went about 5 minutes from the house! (Doesn't that sun flare make it look like he's wearing a little saddle?!) Here Ozzy is showcasing the fence in the background for Tex's Good Fences

more of that same fence...

such pretty leaves!

climbed up to the top and this was our view!

Ozzy really had fun but was definitely ready to head home and take a loooong nap, which he did!

Rural Thursday #31

Boone's Mill, Franklin County, Va

I took a few pictures in Boone's Mill a couple of weeks ago off some rural roads. Remember when I had to take Ozzy to try out that new kennel? This was taken the second day I had to take him. On this day, he was supposed to meet another worker but sadly that visit didn't go well. Ozzy growled at her and she became scared of him and so then he was banned from another kennel. Argh, less than a week before we were leaving for the beach. I had to do some quick planning. The owner of this kennel really liked Oz but of course couldn't let him stay when one of her workers were terrified of him. She did give me the number to a man who trains police dogs so I gave him a call and he referred me to a kennel, get this, right by my house lol. He said his friend took his very aggressive German Shepard there the week before and had no problems. So I made the phone call, told the woman about Ozzy's tendencies to growl at people and she didn't seem concerned in the least. Just made the reservation for him. The whole time on our trip I was worried that I'd get the phone call "come pick Ozzy up" but I didn't and then when we returned back home to get him, I was terrified to get the news "this dog can never, EVER come back" but we didn't! We actually got a good report on him, yay! Now Ozzy is a great dog, he's just not one of those that likes many other people, other than his family. I don't know if this is something we can train him out of or if this is just how he will be.

Anyways.....this area, where my picture was taken, is to be the setting that the new movie Lawless takes place. It's a movie about bootleggin' in Franklin County during the Depression Era. Franklin County is known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World". It sounds really good!

Oh, and today is my birthday :) No football practice today so I have reserved The Hunger Games from the Redbox and we'll grab some dinner out to bring home and have dinner and a movie. I'm really easy to please! I'm looking forward to it.

And all the kids had a good first day back at school yesterday. Braden and Dalton just love their new teacher and came running in the door when they got home telling me how "awesome" she is! They also got to eat suckers yesterday. I think that adds to her awesomeness!

Linking up with

Rural Thursday Blog Hop # 16

This year, year 2012 is the year of the Cicada here in Virginia and in West Virginia. The first time I had heard about this was shortly after we moved to Missouri in 2001 and the Cicadas emerged. We were clueless then, this year we are know-it-alls about the Cicadas coming. I first heard them, the sound is quite loud that they all make, a constant buzzing noise...i guess you could google it if you were so inclined to do so, I wasn't ;)

I don't know much about the Cicada only that they live underground for a very long time, up to 17 years then come up from the underground and look like "exhibit A" (the pic on the left...ok, I know this is a horrible picture but at the time of trying to take this I was also wrestling Ozzy and Ozzy just loves bugs...any kind of bug...unfortunately Ozzy won...RIP Mr. Cicada...and that black blur in the bottom right corner is, you guessed it, Ozzy.)

so anyway....they shed their shell and leave it everywhere, like on trees, by the hundreds...like "exhibit B" the photo on the right. I'm not sure if exhibit A is before or after exhibit B but if you would like to know more on the crazy Cicada you can visit this link Cicada Mania and you can even order stuff like t's, hats and mugs, cool eh?! No, I didn't order any ;)

Well that's what's happening here in my corner of the world and I'm linking up with my pals at Rural Thursday!

Ozzy Sunday

The waiting is the hardest part....

The other day the boys decided they wanted to get off the bus at their friend's bus stop so they could play as soon as they got off the bus....in the first photo Ozzy notices the bus in front of the house....in the next photo Ozzy notices the bus leaving but no Braden and Dalton and looks at me like "do you see this?"....in the last photo poor Ozzy just waits and waits for his best friends to come home. I think that is the happiest time of his day!

SkyWatch Friday

Wednesday night we didn't have any football practice and it was such a nice evening so Ozzy and I decided to run over Greenfield for a walk around the trails. This is my favorite place to walk, it's so pretty and peaceful. Occasionally we'd pass a couple out walking or a jogger but the place is so big that you feel like you are there all alone, just me and Ozzy! Since this is just 5 minutes from my house, I always wonder why I don't this more often?!

Here we stopped for one of many breaks, Ozzy isn't really big on a lot of walking and loves breaks, and I just loved the look of this field of Queen Anne's Lace with the clouds moving in, so voila, it's my SkyWatch Friday pic! To see more skies from all over the world, visit Skyley!
and if you are new around here and wondering who this "Ozzy" is, you can meet him here!

Have a great weekend and Happy SkyWatching :)

Ozzy

Meet the newest member of the Breese family, Ozzy! Ozzy was born on 2/20/2011 and last Sunday we got to drive down to North Carolina to pick him up and bring him to his new home!

Ozzy is a Rottweiler, a mix of American (his mother) and German (his father).

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 163

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1)
Yesterday was Ozzy's Birthday! He turned 7! You're never too old to chew on a good stick!

2)
Braden is competing in States for the 55 and the 4x200 relay on Saturday! It is being held at Roanoke College...the above picture was taken at Heritage High School last month...

3) Last weekend Nick was flipping through the tv channels and came across a cooking show called Cookin' Cheap ...it was filmed here in Roanoke in the early to mid 80's...oh my gosh, we laughed so hard...this was a great little cooking show...you'll have to see if you can stream it...we found it on PBS...

4) The last few times I've downloaded pics from my camera they just kind of disappear into my computer...I know I saw them download but now I can't find them...have you ever had this happen to you? So frustrating! I do however need to clean out the old archives...soooo many pictures that are just sitting there taking up space...

5)
Going back in time to March of 2011 when we first got Ozzy...ahhhh would you look at my 2 babies! Ashlyn was in 11th grade then and Ozzy only about 6 weeks old!

That's my 5 for the week! I hope you will join in! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others!! Have a great weekend friends!!

Frozen

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On Saturday we took the boys and Ozzy out to Day Creek in Blue Ridge...It's a nice area for Ozzy to get a walk and Nick wanted to see how frozen the creek was since we've had all this wintry weather...

Dalton testing it out, looking a bit like Bambi haha


Now he's got his balance...


Crack, crack, crack went the ice...he jumped back quick! No worries, even if he did fall in it wasn't deep!


Ozzy has the hang of it!

We've had a nice warm weekend so I'm sure it has all thawed out by now! Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

First Snow

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Day Creek . Blue Ridge

On Saturday we got our first snow! So later in the day we decided to take Ozzy out for a little hike...Ozzy loves the snow...and so does Nick...I love the snow but really prefer it from inside the warm house and looking out the window at it...Nick wanted to "picnic" in the snow so we packed up the camping stove and some beef stew so we would have a hot lunch to enjoy after freezing our butts off frolicking through the snowy woods...it was a nice afternoon, even if I couldn't feel my fingers or toes by the end of it all haha...this is the same area that LAST WEEK'S picture was taken...

The boys entertained themselves by throwing snowballs at each other...

Look how different this spot looked over the summer...the road had recently washed out...wonder if they will ever fix it?


Today I am thankful for a snow day! Although there isn't any snow haha...yesterday was soooo windy that the snow was blowing sideways...not much stuck but I imagine there are probably some icy roads...I hear Dalton in the shower, he is going to spend the day at his girlfriend's house...it's just me, Braden and Ozzy...maybe I can finally get caught up on some Christmas present wrapping! Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday and just as I typed that I realized it is only Wednesday haha...oh well...I'll save this for tomorrow :)

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 16 - On Read Mountain Rd

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Read Mountain Road, Cloverdale

There used to be a real pretty old house that sat on this piece of property. It was big and kind of in the same state of disrepair as this building. I always loved it though and would admire it when I drove by. I always meant to stop and take a picture. Then one day, about a year ago, I noticed activity going on around the old house and thought "yay, someone is going to fix her up"...then she was torn down...so, a couple of days ago while driving past, I made myself pull over and get a picture of this place and the barn, before they are both gone.

Now it's Willy Nilly time:

1) Did you know that someone is rebuilding the Gone With The Wind house? Yup, it's true...read about it HERE

2) Do you have a hard to shop for person on your Christmas list? I'm sure you can find something for them in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book ...that Vanity Fair Academy Awards Experience would be a wonderful gift, just putting that out there ;)

3) I love street portraits...here are some great ones Meet Harlem's Official Street Photographer

4) Did you hear about the Canadian teen that was bullied? Read about the positive way she handled it Right Here

5) Some of you might know that our Ozzy is a Rottweiler. We've owned the Rottie breed for about 25 years now. I started this blog when we had Crockett and you have probably already seen photos of Ozzy on here, or been on his blog! Anyways, Rottweilers are such a terrific breed, very loyal, very gentle, and very smart! There's a documentary that was recently made about this amazing breed and I can't wait to see it. I wanted to share the trailer with you :)

Black Beauty Breed - Official Trailer from Angie Ruiz on Vimeo.

Our Ozzy sleeps in the boys room. He takes turns from Braden's bed to Dalton's bed and is very protective of his brothers!

Well that's my 5 for the week and now it's your turn! Post 5 random "willy nilly" things and link back to me. Visit other Willy Nilly participants and have fun! Have a great weekend too!!

Black&White Watery Wednesday - Roanoke River

Roanoke River Greenway. Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital straight ahead. Ashlyn parks in the parking garage to the right and crosses that little bridge over the river to get to work.

Got home yesterday to Ozzy running up to the car. He was in his yard when I left but got out somewhere. One of the neighbors came by later in the day to ask me if I was going to start letting Ozzy run loose. Me: "Of course not"! His wife was walking their dog and Ozzy scared her pretty bad. Told me Oz was really pretty far out in the neighborhood just having a great time roaming around. So this weekend guess we'll be fixing the fence in his yard. It's always somethin' isn't it?

Linking to Watery Wednesday which doesn't go live till tonight.

Watery Wednesday

(Ozzy swimming @ our spot on Craig Creek)

Today is the first day of school for kids here in Botetourt County. This school year I have 2 4th graders, a freshman and a senior. Ashlyn likes to keep reminding me that today will be her last first day of school, ack!

Ozzy will be one sad and lonely puppy today. He just loves having all the kids around. He's going to wonder what happened.

Yesterday we had an earthquake here. I was surprised. I grew up with earthquakes and as it was happening I was thinking, wow, this feels like an earthquake but it can't be! Ozzy was chasing the boys through the house just at that time so I thought they were making the floors shake. Then my neighbor called, who is also a California transplant, to ask me if I felt that! We had a nice convo talking about the earthquake and quakes we have experienced in Ca. All is well here though, nothing shook off shelfs or anything like that and it was over before you knew it. Thanks for checking in on us over here :)

Today I am linking once again to Watery Wednesday...go on and have a visit and see some more water shots!

Tuesday's Treasures - Ozzy Chillaxin

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Day Creek . Botetourt County

Sunday we took Ozzy out exploring and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon at his favorite place 😉

I think I forgot to tell you that he had a birthday on the 22nd and is 9! Love this sweet boy 💙

Linking with Tom'sTuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday

Biking

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Day Creek . Blue Ridge . Botetourt County

Sunday was too nice to spend indoors so Nick and I took Ozzy over to Day Creek...a short drive from our house where Ozzy gets some hiking time in and Nick enjoys sitting by the creek. There were lots of people out on horses and bikes!
Warmer temps today and tomorrow too!

Linking with Mersad's Through My Lens

Willy Nilly Friday Five

I am heartbroken this morning after reading the news that Tommie died. He's the dog I told you about yesterday... today's Willy Nilly will be about my own Ozzy in honor of Tommie 💔

1)
There's few things Ozzy loves more than going on a hike!

2)
Or his Christmas stocking...

3)
His favorite spot in the house where he can spy on the neighbors 😉

4)
Snow! He loves playing in the snow!

5)
But his most favorite thing is spending time with his family ♥️

Have a great weekend! Linking with Tom's Willy Nilly

Dog Days

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At the Roanoke Go Outside Festival

Last weekend we attended the Go Outside Festival in Roanoke. I don't think we've missed a year since it has started and each year it just gets better and better...people are allowed to bring their dogs so that's a bonus for me! In the picture above you can see everyone watching a guy do tricks on his bike but me? I'm watching the dogs :)

Unfortunately we don't bring our Ozzy to this as I think the crowds would make him nervous...he doesn't like strangers coming up to him so we keep him safe at home...Today I am thankful for my quiet mornings with my sweet Ozzy...after we get everyone fed and out the door, we have some time in the morning to hang out before I take off...in fact right now he's sitting beside me napping as I get this post ready :)

Linking up with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Through My Lens - #JonasBlizzard

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Well the storm came and went. It started snowing before we woke up Friday morning and snowed and snowed till early Saturday. I think we ended up with about 15 inches or so...not nearly as bad as they were predicting...thank goodness we never lost power! These pictures were taken around my backyard on Sunday, which was beautiful and sunny, and warm(ish)!

Peeking down the hill at the man who lives behind us...see him shoveling? You can also spy a little kid out playing...

What's Ozzy looking at?

It's his little friends next door...see them? I think they were tied to the porch so they wouldn't disappear in the snow! (Don't worry, they are indoor dogs, same as Ozzy!)

School was cancelled on Friday of course and they've already cancelled for Monday. Our road looks fine but the county I live in, Botetourt County, is mostly rural so there are a lot of those backroads that take time to get cleared. Bless the snowplow drivers!

Linking with Mersad's Through My Lens

Ozzy & The Crow

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This guy sat in this tree for the longest time while Ozzy went crazy barking at him. I was getting dinner ready and knew that by the time I went and got my camera he'd be gone but no, he still hung around as I finished what I was doing...so then I went downstairs, got my camera and this is when he decided to fly away, of course!

Goodbye Mr. Crow!

"Bon Voyage Mr. Crow" says Oz!

Signs, Signs & A Good Fence W/Ozzy

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Downtown Charlottesville...
I always get excited when I see an old theatre!
"Following its Thanksgiving Eve 1931 opening, The Paramount became a landmark overnight. Even though the theater came along during the decline of the American movie palace, and two years after the stock market crash of 1929, The Paramount thrived.' For more on the Paramount and its history, visit their website HERE

Linking with Signs, Signs

Now for a fence closer to home:

Took Ozzy for a walk at Greenfield here in Botetourt. If you want to see more walks here just type in "Greenfield" in the search bar up top. Linking with Good Fences

*All these were taken earlier in the month. There is not a speck of snow left anywhere!