Another View of the House

 

A different view of the house from the far side of the gazebo

Biltmore Estate

We had a major snowstorm this past weekend. There was 10 inches of snow at my house- snowfall totals of up to 17 inches were reported in Asheville. I've never seen the Biltmore House with snow on the ground - a totally different but gorgeous perspective!

Montford Window Box

I've been really bad about blogging, so I decided I would just try to add photos on a regular basis. Let's see how that goes.

Vacation is Over

Back from vacation and trying to get organized. I took over 1000 pictures!! It was fun taking them, but not so great going through all of them now.

The trip was incredible. The river boat was even nicer than I expected. We met a lot of nice people, food was good and the excursions were great. We started in Amsterdam and then went to Volendam, Edam, Arnhem, Ghent, Willemstad, Kinderdijk, the Keukenhof Gardens and back to Amsterdam. The architecture in the Netherlands and Belgium was incredible. It's difficult to imagine that some of the buildings we saw were from the 1500's. I thoroughly enjoyed every place we visited, although Arnhem was my least favorite. Here are just a few of the photos I took. I hope to get more on my Flickr page within the next few days.

I've been really bad about blogging - almost a month since my last post! Things have been hectic here and I've put off posting. I'm leaving tomorrow for Europe!! I'm going on a river boat cruise to the Netherlands and Belgium. I can't wait! I think I'm all packed and ready to go. I'm really looking forward to seeing the tulips in Holland and all the architecture. Hopefully I'll have some good photos to post when I return. Had a crisis about a week ago. Got the final documents for my trip and I noticed that it said that passports had to be valid for 6 months after returning from a trip. I looked at my passport which I thought expired in 2010. Much to my surprise, it expires this June! I rushed to the passport office and found out that I didn't have enough time to even get a expedited passport. I looked on line and found some companies that say they can expedite a passport anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks. I made some calls and picked one of the companies. I wasn't sure they were even legit!! Luckily they were and I had a new passport in 4 days. Whew - that was a close call.

Spring is supposed to be here. Sunday it was beautiful and 80 degrees! Today it is in the 30's and we're getting some snow flurries. Had to cover my vegetable garden last night. Here's a picture of my rhodendron bush in full bloom with snow surrounding it. I'm hoping it survives.

The 2009 Paws For Charity Art Book is now ready for ordering! That's the book I mentioned in my last post that includes a picture of my cat Smudge. Go to www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/606337 to preview and/or order. (When you preview the book it only shows the first 15 pages. Smudge's picture is not on the first 15 pages - guess you'll have to order the book to see him)!! Remember, all funds raised from the sales of the book are directly donated to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade by blurb.com (the book publisher).

That's it for now. Have to finish last minute things. Until I return...

I received great news the other day. One of my photographs has been chosen to be published in a book where all the proceeds will be donated to Breast Cancer charities! Sara Harley is an animal lover and lost her mother to breast cancer. Sara has put together a book of animal photographs and art work and the proceeds will go to research for Breast Cancer. I am honored that she has chosen my photo of my cat Smudge.

What is "Paws for Charity"? Paws for Charity was created several years ago by four women who ran dog businesses and used their businesses to raise money for breast cancer charity. When the group was started, Sara ran a dog biscuit business and sold a package called "Crunch for a Cure". One hundred percent of the proceeds was donated to breast cancer charity. Last year, she sold her dog biscuit business and Paws for Charity languished. This year, she decided to focus on fund raising through Paws for Charity through two projects. Two of the other Paws for Charity founders continue to sell their products to raise funds, and this year will be raising funds for different charities. Paws for Charity is not a registered charity, but we do raise funds for registered charities.

What is the "Art Book Project"?
2009 is the first year for this project. A 40 page book is being created using donated art and photograph images from the US, UK, and Canada. The book features dogs and cats (and one teddy bear!) (the PAWS part of the project) and all proceeds raised will be donated to breast cancer charities (the FOR CHARITY part of the project).

Why are you donating to breast cancer? Why not an animal charity?
Sara's mom died of breast cancer when she was 21, so it's a very personal cause for her. She thought it might be unique to use the bond we feel for our animals and raise funds for a human cause.

What is the book going to look like?
The book is a soft cover book, 7 inches square and 40 pages long. It features the artwork and photography of 37 artists from the US, UK, and Canada. It will be published by an online, on demand company. This means that the books are printed one by one as they are ordered, and shipped out to the purchaser directly by the online printing company.

The book will be available for purchase in April. I'll post more details as they become available.

Mardi Gras Comes to Asheville

Asheville is now called home to many ex-New Oreleans folks since Hurricane Katrina. Many think it is because both Asheville and New Orleans share a sense of community. Last year, some of these New Orleans transplants organized the first Mardi Gras parade. Although it was a small parade, those that participated and attended had a great time. Despite braving tempertures in the 20's, this year's parade was bigger and better! The parade ended in Pritchard Park where everyone gathered for drumming, dancing and music. It's very much an Asheville event.

TAGGED - Folder 6 Picture 6

Thanks to Bethany from Malamoose and Godiva I've been tagged.

Here are the rules:
Choose the 6th image out of your 6th picture folder from your computer and blog it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same!


Peacock at the WNC Nature Center





I love going to our local Nature Center. It is only 10 minutes from home so I have an annual pass. They have bears, cougars, bobcats, grey wolves, red foxes, racoons, etc. The last time I was there most of the animals were sleeping but I did get to see this beautiful peacock.


I'm tagging:
Angie - Times and Chimes
Megzy - Megzytred
Robyn - Robyn's Art
Tatyana - Dogs, art, and possibly a cup of tea...
Cheree and Meg - Busted Knuckle Photography
Stephanie - Blaubeermund


Hope you can keep this going, it's fun!

Road To Max Patch

I haven't written in a week and now I have 3 different topics to blog about. I'll probably only get to one now, and do the others tomorrow.

I got selected for another Etsy Treasury!! Thanks so much to Megzy of Tredlight Photographs for including my Road to Max Patch print in her Treasury. Check out her Etsy shop - lots of great merchandise!

Francis the Parrot

Francis the Parrot is in a Treasury. I was driving down a street in Charleston a few years ago when I saw this guy with Francis. Francis was sitting on the remote control Hummer going for a ride! It was a really neat thing to see. Francis's owner told me that Francis loves to be outside and gets all excited when he sees the Hummer. I really enjoyed watching Francis go for a ride!

Pat Summit Gets 1000 Victories!

I'm a huge Tennessee Lady Vol basketball fan. This past April I went to the Women's Final Four in Tampa and got to see the Lady Vols win their 2nd consecutive National Championship! I'm fortunate to have friends who live in Knoxville who have season tickets so I get to go to as many games as I want. I've been counting the games this year to try to figure out when Pat Summit would get her 1000 career victory. Even though I shouldn't admit this, I was hoping the team would lose last Monday night in Oklahoma so they could try to get the win at home. Luckily, they did lose that game. Yesterday I went to Knoxville to see them play against Georgia. What a great game - the team played very well and the crowd support was incredible. The atmosphere was electric. Realistically, I don't think they will win another national championship this year, but one can always hope!

I'm Featured In A Blog

Check out the blog Magnolia Blossom Art. Every week, Sharon features an Etsy seller for her Fabulous Friday Freebies. This week I will be giving away either the Dogs Galore Note Cards Set or the Assorted Note Cards Set (you pick any 5 cards from my Etsy shop). Be sure to visit Sharon's Etsy shop. She has many unique and beautiful items. She has "a variety of art for a variety of interests."

Biltmore Estate

I am very fortunate to live 5 minutes from the Biltmore Estate - America's private largest residence. This is a great place to visit any time of the year. Not only do they change things in the house each season, but the property itself is amazing. There are various gardens that highlight the flowers and plants of the season. There is an award winning winery and have daily wine tastings (yum)! I went there yesterday and although the gardens were pretty bare due to the cold weather, there were beautiful plants in the greenhouses.

I'm in a Treasury!

Thank you LuckyDogTreatCompany for including Dogs Galore Note Cards Set in a Treasury.

Click here to see the treasury and comment

Remembering Costa Rica

While going through some of my old photos I came across those photos from my trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. I went with a company called Adventure Life. Their mission is "to provide quality small group tours that have a positive impact on the local culture and environment." They really were great. We saw Arenal - an active volcano, the Monteverde Cloudforest, Quepos, and Manuel Antonio National Park. I wasn't very excited about going to Manuel Antonio as I had a pre-conceived notion that it was just a beach. After living in Florida for 10 years, I wasn't very interested in going to a beach! Along with seeing an active volcano, Manuel Antonio was the highlight of the trip. I love seeing wildlife and there were tons of monkeys! I was lucky enough to stumble upon the scene below. There is a man who has fallen asleep lying under the plaid shirt. His picnic lunch is in the white plastic bag.

I only wish that I had been able to get a picture of the man chasing after the monkey!

Timothy Adam Designs

As a newbie Etsian and blogger, I've had many questions. I've used the forums as my main source of learning. Yesterday I found Timothy Adam Designs blog. If you haven't seen this blog, it's a must for both new and experienced Etsians and bloggers. The site is filled with great tutorials and tips in an easy to understand format. It's great to know that there are people like Tim out there who are more than willing to help others. Thanks Tim!

Two posts in 1 week - amazing!

Today I woke up to temps in the 20's with the windchill making it 9 degrees! Pretty unusual for here. I normally take 2 of my dogs to run everyday (well they run, I walk). Since the weather report was for the temperature to continually drop I thought I should take them this morning. Schmidty, the Jack Russell mix, hates the cold, except for when she gets to go hiking. Although I was freezing, it didn't appear to bother her. Nellie is the English Setter rescue who absolutely loves the cold weather. We only did a little over a mile as I was quite cold but they had a great time anyway. (Photos are from my phone, thus the poor quality).

Tonight I'm going to see the Sweet Potato Queens. If you haven't seen her (Jill Conner Browne) you need to check her out. She is so funny!

Of course, I'll have to make it back in time to see the Lady Vols basketball game. I'm a big fan. They're having a bit of a rebuilding year, but hopefully in March they will be ready.

Guess I better get some work done. Check out my new listing here.

Stay warm.

My First Blog

This is my first attempt at blogging! I'm not a big talker or writer but I think this will be a great challenge for me in 2009. I hope to share with you a little about myself and my interests as I go forward. Thanks for looking and check back soon!