100 already? Let's celebrate!

On Sunday I popped in to visit my Grandmother Grace's oldest friend, Mildred. "Gracie" past away a couple of years ago. Mildred, who just turned 100 misses her a lot. We all do. Mildred and Gracie (don't you just love those good old fashioned names...Gracie and Mildred??) have been through quite a bit together in their lives, marriages, births, the "Great Depression," deaths. They were friends for 70 years. I love listening to her stories, many of which I've heard 100's of times, but they never get old. Gracie was some cook. Her meatballs were legend. I made a batch over the weekend and brought some of 'Gracie's meatballs' to Mildred. Mildred proceeded to tell me how during the Depression, Gracie would always find something to cook. She loved to cook. We used to kid her that she could make an 8 course meal from a head of lettuce. Mildred told me how Gracie always shared whatever she had. If she had 2 she'd give you 1. If she had 1, you'd get half.

I think blogs are cool. I think blogging may just be where our stories are told. A blog can inspire me, inform me, relax me, help me figure out what to cook for dinner, or just plain make me laugh. I have recently made my 100th post to this blog. To celebrate 'my 100' I will have a fun little give-away contest right here!

This give-away will be open to all subscribers to my mailing list. (fun and free!) The box on the left of this blog will let you easily subscribe. Rest assured that your personal information is never sold or shared. Now, what shall we do for our little contest? I know! All you have to do between now and November 10 (which would have been Gracie's birthday) is to leave a comment on this post telling which of my posts (see archives!) was your favorite. One of the resident Corgis will help me to choose a winner and the prize for this giveaway shall be a 10 pack of the new nifty sized 'notecards' and a brand new mug from my CafePress online Pembroke Welsh Corgi store in your choice of design. Then you will have a bit of fun Corgi-ness to enjoy some delicious hot cocoa and marshmallows this Winter while you read your favorite blogs! Have a happy week! Corgishly, CS ^..^

Mad, Mad Science!

New Original painting, on Ebay today! Click the button below to see the auction. Have a happy day!-CS ^..^

Yogi and Whoopie Pies

This absolutely lovely (and loveable!) fluffy boy's name is "Yogi." Yogi is
Baymoor Anwyll Quillan and is owned and loved by Wendy Shapiro of Rhode Island. Yogi is working on an obedience title and gave Wendy a nice birthday and anniversary present in September by scoring 2nd place in his pre-novice class with a score of 190.5 Whooo hoooo! Way to go, Yogi!

I just could not resist trying out my friend Suzanne's very own recipe for her 'Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.' You can find the 'receipt' (a Tasha Tudor term for recipe) on Suzanne's website http://www.blueberrycottagenaturals.com/ The hardest part was keeping my husband away from them as they were cooling and before they were filled! Dieters, beware! -CS ^..^

Harvest Moon Agility!

New auction! Click the Ebay icon to the left to see this original painting on Ebay! Have a happy day! -CS ^..^

Happy 11th Birthday, Bailey!

I love you with all my heart. -CS ^..^

Saboteurs

There are days when all of the little creatures that surround me seem to use their powers for evil. Take Skittles, for example. We have precious little closet space, so I tend to use baskets to store things. While washing all of the towels (which are usually rolled up to fit nicely in the basket) Skittles decided to take a cat nap in this empty basket. After the towels were dry and put back in, he thought it was a lovely idea just to sleep on the towels. I'd take him out, he'd go back in. This battle of wills lasted for a few days until I decided to just take the towels out and give him a little fleece of his own. He looks very content knowing he won this bout, doesn't he?

I also have a constant battle with the woodland creatures. Sometimes I don't know if it is the deer, the squirrels or the chipmunks who do the most damage. I think they feel that I am their personal sous chef and that everything I grow or bring home is for their own personal buffet. Look at what they did to my poor pumpkin! An Autumn feast. I have not caught them in the act, but I fear they will be back for more.

And with friends.

I took a cup of coffee outside with me this morning before starting some chores. After I snapped this pumpkin photo I decided to take a photo of Bridget who was at my heels. She became instantly distracted.

What grabbed her attention? Another saboteur...

(queue the scary music....)

The wicked Amy, running from the woods with her slobbery hedgie! Way to much for any self-respecting Corgi to resist. We did manage to get one photo, however!

Have a happy day! -CS ^..^

The 2008 Christmas Corgi Calendar!

Now available! Click the CafePress button on the left side of this blog or go to www.cafepress.com/christmascorgi to order! Get a headstart on your Christmas shopping! Thanks to everyone who has already purchased theirs, and especially for the lovely comments! Have a happy day! -CS ^..^

Clean and Spiffy...

I don't know about you, but after bathing a Corgi, I look like a wild woman with big frizzy hair. For some reason, even when bathing the more well-behaved-in-the-tub Corgis, I come out of it soaking wet, with wet fur stuck all over me. Here is our veteran Ch. Windcrest Zip'N Indiana Jones "Indy." Sure, here he looks like he could sit all day posing for pictures. I assure you that an hour earlier he was a crazy man in the tub. This is a dog that has never liked taking a bath. We've tried every trick in the book. Lord knows he had many baths when he was entered in conformation dog shows. He never got used to them. Sometimes Mary Elizabeth and I will plan a 'spa day' for all of our dogs. We'll do baths, teeth, and nails. We always seem to leave Indy for last (sort of like a kid who will leave his least favorite parts of his dinner on his plate, hoping someone will rescue him from the inevitable horrible fate...) We usually have to brace ourselves when it is Indy's turn. It usually involves getting a Starbucks beforehand so we are fortified with caffeine and up to the challenge of bathing this bucking bronco. He is, however, the sweetest, friendliest, most lovable boy. Outside the tub, that is.

And......here we have the Princess, BISS CH. Heronsway Two For The Show "Bridget." Bridget, on the other hand, will elegantly step into the tub, expecting the very best shampoo and a massage. She will hold her paw up so you can rinse underneath and expects that she will have a cookie, an Egyptian cotton towel and her Mason-Pearson brush waiting for her.

I think I need a cup of tea...and a shower. -CS ^..^

Fr. Mack and Fiona

I am convinced that Corgis possess a magical quality which enables them to find the hearts of kindred spirits and knit them together. Meet Fr. McCormick (or Fr. Mack as I call him) and his smiling Corgi, Fiona. Some of my fellow Corgi artists may recognize him as he and his lovely wife, Ruth, (who snapped this snazzy photo of the dynamic duo) are fans of Corgis and Corgi art. I was so happy to meet Fr. Mack a couple of years ago when he came to cheer Bridget on at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in NYC. In addition to Princess Fiona, Fr. Mack and Ruth have quite a menagerie of God's creatures. I do believe that even the horses are called into service as Fr. Mack transforms into St. Nicholas at Christmas time. I must remember to ask permission to post a photo on St. Nicholas Day as proof!-CS ^..^

Diva, the Diva

One of my most favorite things is when I receive Corgi photos. They are all quite adorable and really make my day. I must confess, however, that some of my very favorites come from Jane Dewey. This is her Corgi, "Diva." If there were a Corgi Vogue, Diva would surely grace its pages as she has many 'fetching' (sorry, couldn't resist that one) outfits and costumes. Dig those wild sunglasses, baby! -CS ^..^

The Power Of Cheese

Training show puppies involves lots of love and patience on the part of the trainer and the puppy. Pups need to learn to stand patiently until you let them know it is OK to move. We find that short training sessions keep our Corgis happy while learning. Too long and they get bored. A few seconds can seem like an eternity for a puppy. God bless the cheesemakers! Cheese is an excellent motivator for puppies in training.

This is Stella "Reinwood On With The Show"

(CH. Tallyrand No Greater Love x CH. Heronsway Two For The Show)

"I won't move, but I won't promise not to drool!"

Here is Mary Elizabeth teaching Stella.

"Come on, Stella! Fix those feet!"

"Getting better!"

Below is Amy "Reinwood Show And Tell"

(CH. Windcrest Pilgrims Pride x CH. Heronsway Two For The Show)

"Behold the power of cheese!"

Bridget's babies are growing up so fast! -CS ^..^

(p.s. if you click on this photo of Amy, you can see the cheese on her lips...the Corgi version of a 'milk mustache' :) !!)

Oh Baby!

Happy September everyone! It has been a while since I have posted; (I thank many of my regular readers for nudging me back on!) But, the short hiatus, I think you will agree, has been with good reason! Please meet our new grandbaby, Liam Nicholas Santarsiero. Mom~Renee, Dad~John Jr. and baby~Liam are all doing well! He is a sweet little angel, fresh from heaven :) We are all so blessed. -CS ^..^

"Bone" Voyage, sweet Corgi....

Here is Martha, going home with Anne Bowes. Martha will be called, "Leah," Anne tells me, in honor of Bridget, and Bridget's mother, Irish. Leah means 'the light of the sun.' I think the name suits her, as she has been a little ray of sunshine here. Leah will be "Heronsway Showboat" (Ch. Windcrest Pilgrims Pride x BISS CH. Heronsway Two For The Show.) While Bridget and all of us here are sad to see her go, I am thrilled that Anne is so happy with her new precious girl. I expect them to do wonderfully together in the show ring! I hope that Leah will follow in her mother's pawprints! Have a wonderful life, sweet Leah! -CS ^..^

In the garden...

Don't you just love it when you don't know what to cook for dinner; then you go outside and find some inspiration in what is ready to pick in the garden? So....what is everybody growing out there in Corgi land?

-CS ^..^

Happy Birthday Bridget!

We found little notes around the house this evening with our names on them. They were from Bridget, inviting us to her candle lit birthday party. She was a gracious hostess, and had bones, Italian ices, and ice cream sandwiches for all. Here she is smiling with her new birthday hedgie! Corgi birthday bliss! -CS ^..^

Flying Lessons!

Click the Ebay Icon to see new Original painting. Auction ends Friday, July 27! -CS ^..^

Tasha Tudor's Garden

Last weekend I had the rare privilege of touring Tasha Tudor's lovely garden with some kindred spirit friends (13 of us!) I brought my friends Sandi Eaton and Cyndi Rusakovitch with me. Oh my, did we have fun. Tasha is the reason I got 'into' Corgis in the first place. She inspires me in so many ways. Tasha's garden is a lovely and magical place. Her Corgi, Megan is a cutie pie. One gets the sense of being in another world when walking the lovely paths and discovering all of the secret gardens that have been the subject of much of Tasha's art. Would that even a teeny bit of her talent rub off on me, I would be extremely grateful!

While Tasha does not allow photos taken inside her garden, here is a photo of all of us together outside the rookery. Well, almost all of us. Poor Kristen (doll maker extraordinaire!) fell in the road while picking up LaVonne and Linda at the airport. They flew in for our Gathering all the way from Montana and Oregon. Kristen ended up spending 5 hours in knee surgery! Ouch! We were all so sad; but then who should walk in to the hotel the next day but Kristen! Crutches and all, straight from being discharged from the hospital! She and Suzanne had arranged for us to have a conference room where we had tea (and yummy treats using Tasha's recipes or 'receipts' as she calls them) and did some serious crafting.

I brought one of my Santa and Corgi eggs for Tasha. I believe LaVonne brought some of her wonderful wool for her. Oh, do let me tell you about LaVonne's wool. She raises sheep and the wool she has is just lovely! You can see some of her wares at www.montanacountrypickins.com Do tell her I sent you! I will need to order some more wool to create more of these little creatures, and perhaps to knit a scarf!

LaVonne brought some wool roving which she dyed to a perfect Corgi color! We made felted Corgis with her! The felting needle is barbed and every now and then you would hear an 'ouch' when someone pricked their finger! We made cut wool animals with Suzanne. Bless her husband's heart, he cut out some wood templates for us to wind the wool around. We had feathers from LaVonne's chickens and bunny whiskers from her horses. LaVonne really brought so much great stuff for us all the way from Montana to Vermont! Everyone went to bed, but Sandi, Cyndi and I hung out to finish our little creatures and then did this late night 'photo shoot' about midnight! (click photos to enlarge) Left to right: my owl, Sandi's Corgi, Sandi's bunny, my Corgi (sleeping on its back), Cyndi's bunny on the box and Cyndi's Corgi. On the way home (well, sort of) Sandi and I stopped at Yankee Candle. I made the mistake of persuading her to follow me into the Christmas shoppe. There was a room full of twinkling Christmas trees with 'stars' overhead and a nifty little machine that 'snowed' every 4 minutes. We didn't care that it was artificial snow. It was beautiful. We both had the same evil thought at the same time. Bending to pretend looking at an ornament close to the ground, we both scooped up a big handful of snow and threw it at each other. Of course, this resulted in two grown women having a snow fight in the middle of Yankee Candle. We laughed so hard that I inhaled some snow. Blah! Yuck! We were covered. Snow in places it should never be. I have 'big' hair...just right for catching fake snow. Good Lord, what a sight! The other customers we passed were simply speechless....CS ^..^

Find the hidden Corgis!

Agility Corgis Gone Wild II !!!

Continental Corgis

This piece was done especially for the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club Specialty Show. See you there! -CS ^..^

After the 'cheese and beauty'....

We got together with a few of our breeder friends to help us evaluate our puppies. After the 'cheese and beauty' (which is what my friend Nancy Boyd calls it when you are teaching a Corgi to stand on a grooming table using cheese as a bribe to teach it where to place its little paws, a.k.a. 'stacking' in the dog show world,) it was time for the puppies to have some serious fun. We all went out to the sand ring with our puppies. Oh, there were about 15 or so! As soon as the Corgis saw Sue Jacob (fellow Corgi artist!) running, they all flew toward her. It was a sight to behold. In the last photo below, you can see that they all caught up to her and she was in a sea of Corgi cuteness. Little Martha is giving her a big hug in that same photo. I will never forget watching those little ones having so much fun together on such a perfect day! I'm sure everyone's puppies slept very well that night. I know mine did! (and so did I!) -CS ^..^

God Bless Our Troops

On this Memorial Day weekend, please join me in praying for the safety of our troops all over the world who protect our precious freedoms.

Going home...

Yesterday the awesome Moran family came to pick up Martin to begin his new life with them. While we are sad to see our little teddy bear man go, we are thrilled that he will be loved by this wonderful family. We taped up that floppy ear before he left. I'm sure we will see him now and then as he only lives a few miles away. The Morans had a beautiful and beloved Corgi who lived to a ripe old age. Since a few years have passed; they are now ready to let this little guy fill the Corgi shaped hole in their hearts. What a lucky little Corgi he is! -CS ^..^

Going home

As much as we love raising these wonderful little creatures; it is a bittersweet day when our little Corgi puppies leave us to begin their new life with their new family. Here is Holly, holding 12 week old Sputnik; and her mother, Cheryl. We took this picture today when they came to pick her up. I was thinking about Sputnik all day, and suddenly the phone rang. It was Cheryl to tell me that the transition was going well and they were all in love with her. I know Sputnik will do just fine and that she is going to have a wonderful life with this fantastic family.-CS ^..^

Happy Mother's Day!

While running a few errands this morning, I stopped at the 'drive up window' at the bank. Indy likes to ride in the car with me and he is great company. He stepped on a pricker from a bush earlier so he was holding his paw up all day. He has quite a memory, this little Corgi of mine. Even when his paw felt better, every now and again he remembered that he was pricked and would hold it up. At the drive up bank window, he started drooling. He remembered that the bank teller usually sends a dog biscuit back through in the tube. Today, there was a different teller. No cookie. He tilted his head with that inquisitive look (you Corgi owners know that look) utterly surprised that there was no cookie for him. Luckily I had a cookie in my pocket and was able to restore his faith in the magic cookie delivery system.

I'd like to wish all of you mom's out there (especially mine!) a very Happy Mother's Day. May the day be filled with wonderful memories you will cherish always! -CS ^..^

A Circle Of Friends...

"Duck, Duck, Goose," anyone?

Puppy Days and Puppy Nights...

Every day we try and give our puppies some new experiences along with their regular routines. Yesterday one was running around the kitchen as I made dinner. The other night, this little sweetie was on the settee with me and we watched American Idol together.

Here they are outside watching my husband rake some winter debris from the yard. After chasing each other and then chasing him and the rake, he had quite enough of that and into the ex pen they went so he could get some work done!

A lovely Spring day!

The Corgi puppies just love playing outside. They certainly can get themselves into mischief! This is Martha trying to taste the petunias. She is such a wicked little monkey.

Here is Martin, posing for a photo on the grooming table.

Left to right are Hoops, Amy, Martha (by a nose) and Sputnik. They turned 8 weeks old on Saturday. Such cuteness! -CS ^..^