The Vacation After the Vacation

{these gorgeous photoshoots from sweetanthem's Etsy shop almost make me wish I wore perfume!}

{Carl Spitzweg - The Butterfly Hunter}

{Lol... I wish I could remember where I found this!!}

Can it really be almost July already?

Our Dogz

{I posted this on a forum just now and it came to me - this should be on my blog too! So, just in case you've been wondering....}

{picture by ActuallyLaura}

I don't have a dog of my own, but these are our three pups.

Judy, the tiny beagle was our little heartworm foster patient. When she first came to us, her nose was pink from running through frozen brush and she was a 'statue dog'. Where ever you put her, she stayed. Now she runs to greet us, ears a-flyin'. Loves: watching tv on her sofa, FOOOOOOOD! and chewing homework. Hates: squeaky toys and slow cooks.

Wilson, the purebred Aussie Terrier is the newest addition (about a month?). Another failed foster. Loves: traveling, squeaky toys, his teddie and following you everywhere. Hates: tight places and being left alone.

Bebe, the sharpei/beagle is our beautiful queen bee! She's been Laura's dog since she was the size of a chipmunk. She has the funniest bark! She also thinks that she has long wavy blond hair, like my collie Essie who "raised" her. Mirrors are a terrible let-down. Loves: cuddles, singing while Laura practices piano, and being the official greeter. Hates: having to sit in the floor, eating vegetables and fostering dogs bigger than she is. Especially puppies. It's just wrong.

We love our doggies!

Sometimes It's Hard

The day before going to the cabin, we took our foster collie MaKayla on transport to her rescue.

We thought we might cry, but she had fun. ;)

When will another quiet, well-behaved collie like her come along?

We got to do another transport after we came back. (whew!) Oscar, a grumpy little doxie who had to be coaxed into a good mood. Once he was relaxed though, he was just as sweet as he could be! 

So...if you need a pet in the WNC area, please do take a look at our Petfinder page. We have tonnnnnnssss of adorable tinies this week.

Always check with your local shelter first and remember to spay and neuter your pets! 

(Lol...never thought I'd be saying that on a regular basis!)

The Woods Came Out to Say Goodbye

If you don't see me 'round...

It's 'cause I'm off camping! 

...Sorta.

Be back later, gals!

Image discovered at wideopenspaces.

Collie Love

I love collies.

One showed up this week in the shelter. We whisked her right home and alerted the Collie Rescue of the Carolinas. Tomorrow we drive her to meet them. It's gonna be hard.

There is something about their sweet intelligent faces always looking out for you...their fluffy elegant manes...their love for work and readiness to learn. Their hardy spirit wraps up adventure and home all in one. They're very American (Lassie, anyone?), but like me, they've been here a long time and trace their roots back to old country, Scotland mostly. So expressive and patient!

(Are the vintage pics in here not the best? That's a way to perk up a day! Look up 'vintage collies' on Flickr.) 

You see, my first (and only, in fact!) dog was a collie. That's us playing in the leaves. Her name was Essie (Esther) and she was our nanny-dog. 

So when a dog like MaKayla comes along, it's hard to let her go.

It's reminded me...of how much a collie completes a girl like me. 

MaKayla and me outside the shelter

FLICKR COLLAGE: 1. the friendship of a collie, 2. Lyle and Scott Cashmere 1954, 3. Collies, 4. Better Homes Garden--Fabtastic Collie in Front of Cottage Door-1927, 5. Growing the crop, 6. Rough Collie Puppy portrait, 7. Our New Collie Friend, Vinnie, 8. Blue merle collie,Vintage photo, 9. Collie in a yard, 10. Nætur Cató resting on the floor, 11. Carolyn 1940s, 12. Sittin' on the dog, 13. furry Friday fun, 14. Lady with collie, 15. 1970's, 16. glory be to dogs Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Free Camisoles for everyone!

SHADECLOTHING.COM

I have coupons for Shade Clothing's modest spaghetti strap camisole! I was thrilled when a friend sent one to me and can't wait for my cami to arrive. You do have to pay for shipping and subscribe to their newsletter, but that's not much of a problem.

Leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you the coupon! All comments will be screened. (I don't like to have my email out there on the World Wide Web either...)

Do check out the other things that Shade carries. I'm particularly attached to the Shirred Band Skirt and one or two of the bathing suits. I think that I'll set my cami to work under a split neck tee that I have. What'll you use your's with?

Where's a pen?

[above picture from Alinamation - the girl reminds me of ActuallyLaura!]

Blogs that have been inspiring me this week:

• ValWebb's tutorial on drawing a butterfly.
• Draw a bird, own a bird.
• Alinanimation 
  

So then I drew a butterfly! Now I get what she meant by "make sure that you start with a good sketch".... ;) The acrylics were really fun to work with in my journal...will have to try that again!

I love taping special notes and cards into my journal. Do you ever do that? (I've skewed the address here - Mary Alice really has lovely handwriting! Just wanted to make that clear. :) )

Another Month

I just uploaded another month's worth of 365photos to my  Flickr.

See that last pic? That's Jiminy Cricket. He's here until next weekend. He's squirming in my lap. Making it quite difficult to type. 

Hoping you had a blessed weekend!

(LOL! The puppy is watching the words go across the screen. Make that was. Now he's chewing on my journal. Silly puppy. I'm going to take him outside to have some fun now.)

_____________________________________

1. 132 - May 12th, 2. 135 - May 15th, 3. 136 - May 16th, 4. 137- May 17th, 5. 139 - May 19th, 6. 146 - May 26th, 7. 153 - June 2nd, 8. 157 - June 6th, 9. 158 - June 7th

Look at this!

Banners and layouts and icons, oh my!

I do believe that today is the last day of ActuallyLaura's 1st birthday giveaway! 

Examples:

Go Enter!

www.ActuallyLaura.blogspot.com

Shiny teapots and cozy tables

We girls watched "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" again this week. 

This time I was struck by the kitchen in Delysia Lafosse's flat. It's so big! I'm especially fond of the big freestanding, peacock-colored cupboard on the left (though not in this screen cap) and the generous working table in the center of the room. Very nice. :)

Musing in Color

Yes, I am addicted to photo collages, thank you for asking. :)

As the 3rd project of my English Gardening Course is working out, I thought having a visual picture of some of our ideas would be a good idea. Turned out that I have a more distinct picture of what I want in my head than I thought! And that it's very hard to find someone else's photograph to fit the one in my head.... This collage, for instance, turned out far more rustic than I imagined. Hmm...

Anyway, no one tell Daddy about the bamboo. I'd put it in pots! Promise! :D