The lucky winner is Kate, with comment #4.
Mr. Chewy Giveawy Winner
Thank you to everyone for entering the Mr. Chewy giveaway! I enjoyed reading all your comments and it made me feel good to realize I'm not the only crazy pet mommy out there in blog-land. ;-)
Congratulations, Kate! Or should I say, Winston. I know he'll enjoy his chewies, cookies and treats. But if he doesn't, I'll be sure to include my address as I know Spencer and Clancy will happy to eat the leftovers.
GRITS
Growing up in a southern family, I learned there were two meanings for the word grits. One was the traditional, coarsely ground corn breakfast cereal. The other, Mother and Annie taught me- Girls Raised in the South. Now while I wasn't technically raised in the south I was raised by two women who were Southern born and bred, so I kind of qualified. But three decades later, I've found a new meaning for the word that makes me a bona fide GRITS...
Girls
Really
In
To
Shooting
I've mentioned before that I've been taking shooting lessons from a wonderful woman in Central Virginia. Several years ago Elizabeth formed the GRITS so that women interested in the shooting sports had an opportunity to get together in a setting with constant encouragement, helpful instruction and good old fashioned fun.
Dave I shoot several rounds of sporting clays each month and are sometimes joined by his friends. While it's fun to hang with the boys, I cherish the time I have every month with the GRITS girls. We meet once a month to shoot, hoot and have fun with each other while breaking clays. We met in November at a sporting clays course not far from Monticello and a few weeks ago we had our holiday part at Elizabeth's farm.
Shooting a teal (target launched straight up in the air)
The blondes in their Dubarrys :-)
The whole gang
Elizabeth's shooting shack is all dressed up for Christmas
My friend SJ, lighting it up on the chilly morning
Shooting from middle position of the covered 5-stand pavillion
M, doing a great job!
The elves, D and S, having a little too much fun
The best four letter word in sports- PULL!
The gang
If you have the opportunity to take a shooting lesson, do it! There are public shooting ranges in almost all locations and you can find one near you by visiting the National Shooting Sports Foundation or the National Sporting Clays Association. If you've never shot before, make sure to sign up for a lesson or a learn to shoot class. Ranges provide everything- shotguns and eye and ear protection- so if you don't like it, you don't have to invest anything in it. But I guarantee that once you've broken a clay or two, you'll be hooked!
I'm off to southwestern Virginia this weekend for a quail hunt with the GRITS. Shhh, I don't like the taste of game birds (at all) but I do have fun hanging out with the girls!
Girls
Really
In
To
Shooting
I've mentioned before that I've been taking shooting lessons from a wonderful woman in Central Virginia. Several years ago Elizabeth formed the GRITS so that women interested in the shooting sports had an opportunity to get together in a setting with constant encouragement, helpful instruction and good old fashioned fun.
Dave I shoot several rounds of sporting clays each month and are sometimes joined by his friends. While it's fun to hang with the boys, I cherish the time I have every month with the GRITS girls. We meet once a month to shoot, hoot and have fun with each other while breaking clays. We met in November at a sporting clays course not far from Monticello and a few weeks ago we had our holiday part at Elizabeth's farm.
Shooting a teal (target launched straight up in the air)
The blondes in their Dubarrys :-)
Elizabeth's shooting shack is all dressed up for Christmas
My friend SJ, lighting it up on the chilly morning
Shooting from middle position of the covered 5-stand pavillion
Our wonderful instructor, venerable leader, and hostess with the mostess
Pictures from around the fields...
M, doing a great job!
The elves, D and S, having a little too much fun
The best four letter word in sports- PULL!
The gang
If you have the opportunity to take a shooting lesson, do it! There are public shooting ranges in almost all locations and you can find one near you by visiting the National Shooting Sports Foundation or the National Sporting Clays Association. If you've never shot before, make sure to sign up for a lesson or a learn to shoot class. Ranges provide everything- shotguns and eye and ear protection- so if you don't like it, you don't have to invest anything in it. But I guarantee that once you've broken a clay or two, you'll be hooked!
I'm off to southwestern Virginia this weekend for a quail hunt with the GRITS. Shhh, I don't like the taste of game birds (at all) but I do have fun hanging out with the girls!
Mr. Chewy Review and Giveaway
Shortly before the holidays, the kind folks at Mr. Chewy offered Spencer and Clancy a gift card to use on their site in exchange for their thoughts on the experience. Since Mr. Chewy offers lots of their favorites, including Zukes, Greenies, Flossies, and Sojos, no convincing was needed. Mr. Chewy carries loads of healthy pet food and treat brands. They offer nutritious food* such as Pinnacle, Holistic Select, Go! and Solid Gold. They even carry my fancy schmancy dog and cat food, Fromm. Their food prices are actually a bit lower than the pet shop where I buy the boy's Fromm so I'll definitely be ordering the next bags from Mr. Chewy. A nice benefit to Mr. Chewy is that all orders over $49 ship free. Even though I'll order plenty of food to reach the shipping minimum, I'd gladly pay shipping just so I won't have to battle Route 7 traffic to get to the pet shop (Northern Virginia friends will know what I mean).
The boys sat down to make their list but the absence of thumbs made it a little difficult to use the keyboard and trackpad effectively so I did the ordering. Clancy infused some Christmas cheer because he convinced Spencer the Scrooge to add a few things for the kitties.
I set off to find the boys items on the Mr. Chewy site. The search feature was easy to use and the large pictures were nice. One thing I didn't care for were the product descriptions. While some items had a fair amount of information (the Zukes products), others (the Merrick beef chews, which were in fact cow's ears) simply had a stock description from the manufacturer. With the cow's ears, if Mr. Chewy had said they were cow's ears, it would have been a lot easier and I would have put 10 in the cart instead of just two, since these are favorites of the Spencester. Another improvement I'd make would be to widen the product offerings. I know Mr. Chewy focuses on food and treats but I'd like to see them offer toys and other chew products. This would definitely make them a one-stop shop for me.
Just two days after placing the order, the box of goodies was waiting for the D family furries! And two days after that, a sweet Christmas card came to me from Mr. Chewy.
The kitties got three bags of cat treats- Zukes, Greenies and ZiwiPeak. The pups got cows ears, wishbone tendons, and flossies, all Merrick products.
Spencer and Clancy couldn't get enough of their flossies!
This was a great experience and I will definitely order our next round of food from Mr. Chewy.
Now for the fun part! I'd like to give one of you a box of dog or cat treats. The dog lover will receive two paws up when they give their best friend two Flossies, Sojos peanut butter and jelly cookies, Blue Buffalo health bars, and a Merrick commander chew bone. The kitty fan will be rewarded with purrs aplenty when they give their trusted companion Halo chicken treats, Zukes savory salmon treats, Greenies beef treats, and ZiwiPeak venison and mussel treats.
Please leave a comment and include whether you're a dog or cat lover and the name of the pet to whom you'll give your prize. Please make sure to leave your email address if your blog profile doesn't link back to it. All comments must be received by Wednesday, January 11 at midnight. I'll announce the winner, selected via random drawing, on Thursday, January 12.
** I use both Whole Dog Journal and Dog Food Advisor when evaluating food brands for both my dogs and cats. It's always been important to know exactly what your pet eats but it's paramount now since the tragic melamine pet food recalls of 2007. I only buy food and treats manufactured in the United States and encourage you to do the same. Please take a few minutes to look up your pet foods at one of these sites to make sure your animals are eating as healthy as you are. :-)
Disclaimer: Mr. Chewy provided the products reviewed in this post however I will purchase the products that will be provided to the winner of the dog/cat treat giveaway.
The boys sat down to make their list but the absence of thumbs made it a little difficult to use the keyboard and trackpad effectively so I did the ordering. Clancy infused some Christmas cheer because he convinced Spencer the Scrooge to add a few things for the kitties.
I set off to find the boys items on the Mr. Chewy site. The search feature was easy to use and the large pictures were nice. One thing I didn't care for were the product descriptions. While some items had a fair amount of information (the Zukes products), others (the Merrick beef chews, which were in fact cow's ears) simply had a stock description from the manufacturer. With the cow's ears, if Mr. Chewy had said they were cow's ears, it would have been a lot easier and I would have put 10 in the cart instead of just two, since these are favorites of the Spencester. Another improvement I'd make would be to widen the product offerings. I know Mr. Chewy focuses on food and treats but I'd like to see them offer toys and other chew products. This would definitely make them a one-stop shop for me.
Just two days after placing the order, the box of goodies was waiting for the D family furries! And two days after that, a sweet Christmas card came to me from Mr. Chewy.
The kitties got three bags of cat treats- Zukes, Greenies and ZiwiPeak. The pups got cows ears, wishbone tendons, and flossies, all Merrick products.
Spencer and Clancy couldn't get enough of their flossies!
This was a great experience and I will definitely order our next round of food from Mr. Chewy.
Now for the fun part! I'd like to give one of you a box of dog or cat treats. The dog lover will receive two paws up when they give their best friend two Flossies, Sojos peanut butter and jelly cookies, Blue Buffalo health bars, and a Merrick commander chew bone. The kitty fan will be rewarded with purrs aplenty when they give their trusted companion Halo chicken treats, Zukes savory salmon treats, Greenies beef treats, and ZiwiPeak venison and mussel treats.
Please leave a comment and include whether you're a dog or cat lover and the name of the pet to whom you'll give your prize. Please make sure to leave your email address if your blog profile doesn't link back to it. All comments must be received by Wednesday, January 11 at midnight. I'll announce the winner, selected via random drawing, on Thursday, January 12.
** I use both Whole Dog Journal and Dog Food Advisor when evaluating food brands for both my dogs and cats. It's always been important to know exactly what your pet eats but it's paramount now since the tragic melamine pet food recalls of 2007. I only buy food and treats manufactured in the United States and encourage you to do the same. Please take a few minutes to look up your pet foods at one of these sites to make sure your animals are eating as healthy as you are. :-)
Disclaimer: Mr. Chewy provided the products reviewed in this post however I will purchase the products that will be provided to the winner of the dog/cat treat giveaway.
Christmas Day Fun
Our 2011 ornament. I have one painted every year by a super talented artist. This year it was great to be able to add another D family member to the gang.
Mother, Sissy, and Hadley, along with Dave's dad, brother and step-mother joined the boys and us at our house on Christmas day for a late Christmas lunch. Dave and his brother deep fried the turkey outside while I cooked inside, which consisted of a roast, popovers, roasted potatoes and other traditional side dishes.
Before everyone arrived Dave and I exchanged gifts. He often says I have a hard time saving my pennies. Perhaps this pink argyle piggy bank will make it easier.
Hadley sent us some beautiful flowers that were the perfect centerpiece.
Sissy and Hadley
The boys waited patiently for turkey or roast beef to fall on the floor. Unfortunately their daddy is a good carver and all the meat made it to the platters.
Mother, enjoying watching Hadley watching everything going on.
Even though Hadley was with us last year, I really considered this her first Christmas. I can't wait to be with her next year when she's walking and talking.
After everyone left and I cleaned up, I found Angus in his usual spot. He was SO sad on Wednesday when I took the tree down. He's been quite sick lately that I actually left the tree up two days longer than I normally do (that sucker normally comes down on the 26th- like clockwork) so that he would have a few extra days to rest in his favorite spot.
Thank you for your readership in 2011! I've loved telling my stories, sharing my pictures, and getting to know you all over the last few years.
I wish you all the best in the new year.
xo xo
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