We stayed in Jacksonville this weekend, and to give Gary a treat we decided to take him to Dog Wood Park. This is a wonderful 42-acre swim and play park for people and their doggies. The park is one of the country's largest completely fenced dog parks and it would be our 1st time there.
We arrived as a visitor ($11 - you're worth it though my boy!) and were given a quick tour of the facilities. They have...
•Lake Bow Wow, a 2-acre swimming lake for dogs (with a fountain!)
•25 acres fenced with 6-foot chain link fence
•Huge fields for frisbee and throwing balls
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•A 4-acre shady area for those hot days •A dog shower for muddy paws
•Barkham Woods, a 10-acre natural wooded area with nature trails around and through it
•Small dog area for dogs under 25 pounds with both sunny and shady sections, and Lake Fifi, a small dog swimming pond!
•Night dog: 4 lighted acres for use after dark (until 10 p.m.)
•Special Events: a one or 3-acre separate area that can be rented for parties, festivals, or any kind of special event
•Kids 'N Dogs: a separate area with playground equipment for kids of all ages and kid-friendly dogs
•Benches and swings for relaxing
•Hammocks for those into serious laying-back
•Picnic tables
•A doggie sand pile for climbing and digging
•Tunnels, tires, jumps and other fun exercise obstacles for the dogs
•Park-provided tennis balls
•Use of a full agility course (for safety reasons, use of the agility equipment is restricted to those who are taking or have taken an agility course)
The best thing really is that the dogs get to run off leash and socialize with other dogs. Because they are outside of their own enviroments they tend to behave very well with each other and we only saw a couple of small squirmishes which were soon broken up by the owners. It's lovely to walk somewhere where there is no poo too!..Everyone picks up...it's a miracle!
Gary's favourite bit? the large dog pool.. he was swimming for an age and even found himself a big stick to chase... check out the video!
We will be going back, probably just as a visitor to start off with as it's pretty expensive for us if we don't use it very often...but we'll see, maybe Gary will get a membership for Christmas!
When my husband came home on Saturday from work he informed me that he had invited some work colleagues for Sunday lunch. I don't have a problem with that, but normally I like a bit more notice so I can get the house cleaned and plan something delicious to eat. Hmmmmm, what to make...I know, a traditional English Sunday Roast Beef lunch, with Yorkshire Puddings. We had nothing in the house, so a trip to the supermarket was in order. Normally we shop at our local Publix, however hubbie wanted to see what Whole Foods was like as I am always telling him if I died and went to supermarket heaven this is where I'd want to end up! You can see what a beautiful day it was, not really suitable for roast dinner, but we could always turn the AC down...we're doing that alot lately and it's supposed to be Fall!. If you've not been to a Whole Foods, they specialise in Organic produce and pride themselves on their fish, meat and cheese departments, all of which at the Jacksonville location are superb. You will pay a little more, but as you can see from this organic pepper and chilli display, it's more like looking at art than shopping!
I love the olives and antipasta, which is next to the cheese section. If I'm ever lost and I can't be found anywhere you might find me face down in Whole Foods olive display! and the cheese...we both had to try the free Comte...yummo! Anyway...you're asking what did we buy... Organic beef (on sale), broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus, red potatoes and two bottles of wine, one of which turned out to be fantastic value ($5 off), a Pinot Noir called Camelot, French, bottled in California...normally I'd shy away from that, but I have to say I wish we'd had two bottles!...
Hot footing it back to the house, I managed to have dinner ready within two hours, and after we consumed far too much food including the largest yorkshire puddings ever and a Key Lime pie we all slumped in our chairs in front of the football, semi-comatose. I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods all the time, but when I can I really notice the difference in freshness and quality...so if I won the lottery, forget fast cars and huge houses, just let me shop at Whole Foods!
