Melodious Monday: I'm Ba-ack!

~Bedraggled Arwen~

So Saturday the 5 of September was supposed to be a great day. I had booked an appointment to get my hair done and then afterward Brennan had booked a cottage for us to spend 9 idyllic days for our first vacation in 8 years....well....our first vacation ever! We hadn't had a vacation since before starting to work in high school, so this was a big deal. We woke up early on the Saturday to finish packing some things, as Brennan would drop me off at the hairdresser's and continue on to the cottage (only 15 minutes from our house - gorgeous and convenient!) to unload the first bunch of items. He would then pick me up afterward, grab the dog and head on to our merry little Vay-cay. We were very lucky as we were renting the cottage from our neighbor, and while he wasn't initially thrilled with having us bring the dog (being worried, I am sure, about messes), he had relented after we had sworn to be careful and not let her mess anything at the cottage.

~One of the Ginormous Bullfrogs, About the Size of a Salad Plate~

......Yeah, well, it didn't work out that well initially. I let Arwen out first thing to go and do her usual morning business, during which I started breakfast and huffing and puffing our luggage to the entrance for Brennan to load into the car. I suddenly heard a rather triumphant bark at the back door. Tramping my way back I suddenly had one of the worst sights greet me - Arwen with....well....poop smeared all over her face. Yes, she had found some wild animal's poop and rubbed her face quite ferociously in it. My strangled growl of rage and impatience must have scared all of the wild critters for miles, but not my dog, oh no, she was so proud of her new decoration.

~A Beautiful, Wood Panelled Boat Making it's Way Down the River~

In she was dragged, straight to the shower for the fastest, and I am sure, the most thorough bath any dog has ever received, with me horrified all the while that she would smell up the cottage or mess it and make my neighbor hate us.
Once clean, I returned to the kitchen, feeling rather nauseous as I had taken my "take with food" vitamins, only to make the vitamins wait for half and hour while I scrubbed wild animal excrement from my dog's cheeks. Yeah, ew.
While eating breakfast and emptying the fridge of the perishable items to take to the cottage, I was inundated with...that smell. You know....poop. I look down and (squeamish people might want to advance to the next photo) was welcomed with a cheerful sight of dog vomit. Apparently rolling in the poop wasn't good enough. You get the idea, I am sure.
Another strangled cry escaped me, but she looked so pathetic, all bedraggled and wet that I couldn't be mad with her. I found myself comforting her, while trying not to breathe. I cleaned up the mess, hastily packed myself a lunch (my date with the hairdresser's is usually a few hours as I have massive amounts of thick hair) and ran out the door, making it to my appointment with seconds to spare.

~The View from Our Neighbor's Dock - the River is Covered with Lilypads and Waterlily Flowers~

A few hours later, my hair was done, the dog was packed (now smelling quite good) safely in the car with her seat belt, and we got to the cottage to have a dinner and sit out on the large dock to enjoy the large boats going by on a river seemingly made of glass. We had arrived! We were welcomed by some of the largest, no, make that THE largest bullfrogs I have ever seen - some as large as dinner plates - and some wonderfully friendly cottage neighbors.

~Happy to Be at the Cottage~

Coming up the small hill to the cottage, the sun setting in front of us, we were welcomed by this sight, above, of Arwen - she was very happy to be on vacation as well!

More vay-cay shots coming soon, thanks for your patience while we were away without internet access - I can't tell you how much I missed all of my blog friends!
and Arwen

Fabulous Friday - Contest Winners!

I am sorry for the absence yesterday - Brennan decided to rent a cottage for us and I've been trying to get everything organized to go there. It is only 15 minutes away, so thankfully I'll be able to come back home every day (or almost every day) to check emails and blog and tell you all about it. Don't worry, I'm not into those weird half-focused shots of hairy guys in teeny swim shorts (I think I'd divorce him if he wore those), but you'll probably get more shots of Arwen at her first cottage than you could ever think possible!

Now! Down to business! Way back in July I asked you for ideas on how to make this blog and my stores more appealing and I have had some really great comments. Thank you so much for putting some serious thought into your answers! I am trying to put as many of your ideas into practice as I can, and I hope you like the new additions.

To determine the prize winner, I used a random number generator and came up with Theresa from Theresa's Treasures, Congratulations!!! Please go to my Etsy store, pick out your favorite ring and then contact me with the convo feature to give me your mailing address and the name of your favorite ring.

Also, I've decided that when you sign up for my newsletter, you'll be entered in again for another prize for subscribers-only! Each month the winner will be chosen at random and will receive a gift certificate to use in my Etsy store. This month's winner is.......Sharla from BeadedTail! You win a $10 gift certificate to my Etsy store, congratulations! I have to say, I was so incredibly pleased when the number generator picked her, she always has the nicest things to say and is on my comments almost every day. Congratulations on this well-deserved gift :)

That is all for now...oh wait...here is Arwen, as almost everyone has requested! This is one of my favorite photos - she loves this poor little green pepper toy so much that, even though she has repeatedly ripped all of the stuffing out of it, she still carries it almost everywhere (unless she has the deflated seal or deflated crab!). On this particular occasion, she brought it with her to sit on my bed, looking out the window. Seriously, I didn't pose the green pepper - she got up on the bed and spent a few seconds arranging the pepper to sit next to her on the pillow, looking out at the backyard to watch the birds and squirrels....I love my dog!

Keep checking back for the next contest, and if you want an extra chance at winning a prize, why not sign up for my newsletter if you haven't already done so??
and Arwen

Wordy Wednesday: September's Charity of the Month, Epic Farms!

Thank you to everyone for their purchases last month, you helped raise $5 for the Country Cat Sanctuary. I will be matching that and giving $10 to them. Thank you!

This month's charity of the month is Epic Farms. They've been a charity here in the past (they have a donation widget on the right hand side of the blog), and are always open and upfront about every cent they've been given. They recently had to rebuild their open air stalls after a series of violent storms ripped the roof off of the old ones (no one was hurt, but the cost is, as you can expect, quite painful).

~A Great Bookmark (I Have One and Love It!)~

Run by Jen, they have a few equine rescues that are mostly permanent residents, and are a registered 501 (c)3 charity. They have a website at www.EpicFarms.com and they also have an Etsy store where you can find all manner of beautiful, well made and affordable items at www.EpicFarms.etsy.com~A Carousel Horse Woodburning By Jen~

10% of the total sales before taxes and shipping in my Etsy store will go towards Epic Farms this month. Please do check out their Etsy Store and see Jen's beautiful artwork, as well as scrap booking supplies.

Please keep checking back here, I'll have the winners of last month's contest and a new contest for you to try and win great prizes!

Tuesday's Treasures: New PhotoAccessories!

Well, here they are, my new photo accessories! I got a mini tripod (I won't tell you what Brennan said it looks like - it was rude!), a remote for my camera so I can take photos of my hands while I work, and a magnification filter for my lens. Now, I haven't figured out quite how the lens filter works best - my camera seems to have a hard time focusing when the filter is on, but I'll play around a bit and let you know how it goes. If I can't use it for jewelry, it isn't a big deal, I can still use it for flower and bug photography. I am so excited to show you my techniques and various other things now! Stay tuned, I'm working on some ideas for you.

The back to school sale is over, but keep checking back for more great sales, specials and jewelry goodness.

I will also be doing a charity of the month post very soon :)