Puzzle Fun for You

I saw my first ever double ringed Sun Dog yesterday on the way back from church.

I don't know what it is with Sun Dogs this year, but we saw another awesome display yesterday on the way to church and then more spectacular on the way back after. I'll show you the photos here but I'm also trying something new.

I've turned these 3 photos into jigsaw puzzles compliments of http://www.jigzone.com/ so if you want to relax for a few minutes, vist my Sun Dogs Jigsaw Puzzle Gallery - JigZone.com

I took the first one around
9 am yesterday. The temp was only
-15 but the wind chill was ridiculous. I stepped out of the car to snap this photo and my hands were chaffed and stinging by the time I got back into the van. And I was only outside the vehicle 20 seconds tops.

We go to church in Glenavon, SK and they have one of the few remaining grain elevators still in operation. It was about 9:30 am at this time.

We left church at 12 noon and headed west on Hwy 48 toward Montmartre. I didn't realize anything spectacular was going on until I looked out my window and saw this bright light on the southern horizon. Say what? Then I realized it was the bottom of a Sun Dog. It took me a few more miles to realize it was a double ringed Sun Dog - my first ever. (This photo is not a puzzle.)

Actually, this next photo is too washed out to see the glory it showed live but die-hard puzzle fans might like the challenge.

It's the best photo of the double ringed Sun Dogs  because it was so big and wouldn't all fit on my little camera screen at the same time. The right rings were rainbow colored but in the photo, the bright sun has washed it all out.

So, did you go over and make a puzzle?

And no, I'm not wasting my time making puzzles instead of writing... our church has over a dozen beautiful 4-8 foot fabric banners and I'm turning them into puzzles for the church website. This is just my testing ground.

Is it Me?

I'm blogging over at Prairie Chicks Write Romance today about phrases I've misunderstood and said wrong or get perturbed when others say it wrong.

I'm using these phrases as examples:

- uh huh, uh uh, huh uh, nuh uh

- 'shaking your head, yes'

- ‘If that’s what you think, then you have another thing coming.’

- card shark

- spitting image


What about you? See anything you'd like to discuss on this list? Then head over to the Prairie Chicks and join our discussion. I'd love to read your take on it.

Sun Dog Book Winner

Well, that was a fun contest! I ended up with 28 entries. Some people only entered once, others had several entries as they made the rounds of my blog posts. I assigned each entry a number. And then I gave the numbers to the Random Number Generator.

And the winning number belongs to...

DebH

Yay!

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. I had so much fun I'm going to hold another one soon. Hubby just pulled a new book out of my latest eHarlequin shipment and said, "I read this one!" OOps. So it looks like the next prize is a spankin' brand new Love Inspired Suspense book. I just have to think up a contest now....

Meanwhile you're probably tired of looking at these, but I wanted to get the photos you liked best all together
for an encore.

This first photo was from the first blog (not on eHarl) and had 7 votes.

This is #6 from my 2nd blog. It garnered 6 votes.

Here's # 5 from by second blog. It came in with 5 votes.

Thanks again.

Final Day to Enter Sun Dog Contest

It's January 31st! That means I'll be making the draw tonight at midnight for my Sun Dog Contest.

If you haven't entered yet, here's the deal... check out my the two posts below this. They both have photos I took of recent Sun Dogs.

Then click on the 'comment' below the post and leave a comment - I'm actually interested in which photos you like best.

I'm going to pick one name from all the comments I've received and that person will win a book I'm giving away - see details in the posts.

You get one entry for leaving a comment at each of these spots:

- Sunrise Sun Dog Pics

- Sun Dog Book Giveaway

- My eHarequin blog (must be a member to comment)

- Sunrise Sundog Pics on my Facebook note page

- Sun Dog Book Giveaway on my Facebook note page


There... that's 5 chances for you ambitious types to enter.

Deadline for entries is midnight CST tonight.

I'll post the winner's name on Monday.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Sunrise Sun Dog Pics

A few days ago I posted some photos of a Sun Dog and asked you to pick which one you liked best. It's the post below this one or you can go here.

Yesterday morning I looked out my kitchen window and a glorious sunrise Sun Dog awaited me. Still in my striped fleece pajamas, I slipped into a hooded sweater, coat, boots, hat and gloves and went out to see what the new day would bring.

I almost reached our farm sign when I stopped to take this photo.

The wind razed my cheeks once I passed the shelterbelt but this glorious scene awaited me. Good morning!

Just a couple hours later, I looked out my front door and the Sun Dog was still there although more to the south, now.

Again, I dressed in outwear and took that long walk down past the shelterbelt. I wanted to show a photo that would simulate the Arctic.

At the end of our driveway is this small grouping of trees. You can see them smaller on the left of the second photo above.

Have you entered my contest yet?  You can enter by leaving a comment on my first sun dog post or you can leave one here. And if you leave a comment on both posts, you get your name entered twice.

You have until Jan 31st to enter for a chance to win a copy of Midnight Marriage by Victoria Bylin. It's a Harlequin Historical so it's not an inspirational book although Vicky is writing for Steeple Hill's Love Inspired Historical line now. Vicky is one of my favourite authors and I've ended up with 2 of these books. Both have been read but this is the better copy in very good condition.

And if I don't know you, please leave your email address with (at) and [dot] so the net spammers can't find it.

For those of you seeing this on my Facebook page, if you want to enter there, rattle my chain somehow because I keep forgetting about it and I wouldn't want to miss your entry.

Because it seems so many people haven't seen a Sun Dog, I'm going to cross-post this on my eHarl blog as well. That means they'll be entering for the draw - but it also means if any of you are eHarl members, you can go over there to get another entry.

So, are you tired of looking at Sun Dogs, yet? Got a favourite?

Sun Dog Book Giveaway

I'm blogging over at Prairie Chicks Write Romance today about going for the big scenes with huge emotional content. And yes, I'm talking about Emma's story again because that's the project I'm working on.

I haven't seen the sun since Tues and if the weather forecast is right, I won't see it until this coming Tues. It was drizzling in the city and surrounding areas yesterday which shows how warm it is and today it's foggy.

But I took these photos at 11 am about 2 hrs before the sun disappeared on Tues. I really like the last one but it's so bare. I'm trying to figure out which one is more pleasing to the eye. If you have a minute, can you post a comment as to which one you like best?

It kinda looks like a big ole' eye ball, doesn't it? LOL

And just to make it interesting, everyone who leaves a comment until Jan 31st will be entered to win a copy of Midnight Marriage by Victoria Bylin. It's a Harlequin Historical so it's not an inspirational book although Vicky is writing for Steeple Hill's Love Inspired Historical line now. Vicky is one of my favourite authors and I've ended up with 2 of these books. Both have been read but this is the better copy in very good condition.

And if I don't know you, please leave your email address with (at) and [dot] so the net spammers can't find it.

For those of you seeing this on my Facebook page, if you want to enter there, rattle my chain somehow because I keep forgetting about it and I wouldn't want to miss your entry.

Have a great day!

White Winter Photos/Working on BIAW

Today, since I'm busy working on my manuscript, I'll just show you some photos instead of giving you something to read.

I'm hoping to give you a sense of the winter wonderland I live in her at the farm. These photos have all been taking in the last few days. I'm not sure why we're having so many frosted days but the weather has gone from drastically cold to melting in the last week or so which probably has something to do with it.

Natural glitter at its finest.

Anyway, here's a feast for your eyes, all taken in or at the edge of the yard beside the shelterbelt.

I think this bird is a grackle sitting in the weeping birch.

I like this photo not only because of the sun in the trees, but for the way the shadows splay out from the base of them.

I Made a Website!

I just had to tell you!

I started working on a website for my church in Glenavon, SK this past Monday morning and I finally put it on-line a few hrs ago! That's just over 4 days to get the job done using a 3rd party template and working with the html coding.

I would've been finished earlier on Friday except Book in a Week (BIAW) started with the Saskatchewan Romance Writers (SRW) so I had to write. It was only tonight when I returned from the city that I went back to working on the website. I only have the blog and the sunrise photo links working and I will add the other web pages later on because I'll be working on Emma's story for the rest of this week.

Yeah, I know the website and blog colors don't match but they will - at a later date - and it'll be the blue, not  the orange.

Also, you might see ads popping up and that's because I'm still working with our host, Bravenet to give us the best price possible.
Okay, it's late, gotta go to bed.

Making a Website

I've been busy for the last 2 days making a new website for my church which is located over in Glenavon, Sask. I'm starting to go googley-eyed from all the html coding. I searched for about a year to find a website template that would really suit our small country church. The choice was between a ready made one where you fill in the blanks and a template where you change all the html coding. There weren't any suitable ready made ones so I had to find a template I could work with since I only took the html course a couple years ago. I finally found 3 that would do, one of which was exceptionall. I showed them to the family and they all liked my favorite. That was last summer.

I looked at it every so often while continuing to search, just in case. Then last week I had this overpowering feeling that I should be setting it up. It's been a couple years since the pastor's wife asked me to make it so it's not like they've been real demanding but it would be a good thing for the church and the community.

It's just that I've been working on Emma's story since I'm kind of on a deadline to submit it. But while I've felt this urge to make the church website, I've also kept thinking that if I give time to God for his work first, He'll help me make time for mine. I really believe that.

So far I've got most of the segments worked out where I want them. The images gave me about 3 hrs work until I figured I needed to resize them first. I'm still having trouble figuring out how to publish the header along with the content so I guess I have at least another day to work on it. And that's just the home page.

Meanwhile, the temp was up to about 0C which is the freezing point. Such a far cry from our -47C/-54F weather just a week ago. Almost felt like sunbathing in that bright sun today except I needed to work on the website. :D

My bruises are healing since I started the anti-inflammatory meds on Sat. It's been about 10 days since my fall and it feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest in the mornings but it gets better during the day. Probably due to the meds and Tylenol. Still hurts to cough, sneeze, blow nose, hiccup and yawn, though. They're only bruised and just need time to heal. At least I have a job where I can sit and rest.

This is a pic of Monday night's sunset - looking towards the south! Taken about 5:30 pm, it was very weird because of the colorful southern sky but nothing in the west.

I'd like to bring it up in Photoshop and get rid of that power line but it's getting late. The laptop I was working on the website froze up in the middle of checking to see if I got the images done right this time so I've powered it down for the night. I don't want to check and see that it didn't work because I'd feel compelled to try to fix it. Time enough tomorrow, I guess.

At the Inkwell: Jessie's story

I've tried my hand at writing a devotional over at Inkwell Inspirations today.

Daughter Jessie is 19 today and all this week - since she flew back to Calgary - I've been thinking back to the time surrounding her miraculous birth.

So if you have a chance, skip over to the Inkwell and read Jessie's story.

And if you know her and have access to Facebook, wish her a happy day, would ya?