Monday Mischief: I Got Too Busy Last Friday !!!

Last Friday I was supposed to pull the winner of my giveaway for Jackie's newest book. You would think someone who is temporarily unemployed would have plenty of time to get that done and post about it. But, no, somehow the day got away from me. I did have a couple of phone interviews (yay!) as well as an agility lesson, and then unexpected plans for dinner. That left me with no blogging time and for that I do apologize. Then the weekend held a two day agility trial.....Time just flew by and here it is Monday.

So, the moment you have all been waiting for, albeit waiting overtime, the winner is:

D.Nelson

Congratulations! Please contact me at taryn(dot)tipton(at)gmail(dot)com (or hit me up on FaceBook with a PM) and I will get Jackie's book winging its way to you. I'm going to send it straight from Amazon to you to save a step. I had hoped to purchase a copy at Walmart but alas the three stores I tried did not carry it.

Many thanks to all of you who left comments. I enjoyed reading your stories a lot!

Since I don't like to have a blog post without photos, I want to share some pictures I took last week along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park last week. The day could not have been more gorgeous! Alas, the car ride and the hiking was too much to bring Jimmy and Wilson along on, so these are corgi-free photos! Gasp!

What's Wilson Waiting For on Wordy Wednesday?

Wilson is waiting for you to sign up for my GIVE AWAY !!!

As promised....here is my final reminder about my give away for Jackie's new book, House Trained. Go to this post and leave a comment if you want a chance to win! Comments left on today's WW post won't count. I will pick a winner on this Friday sometime.

So What are YOU Waiting for????

Well Read Corgis Agree.......

.....Jackie Bouchard's new novel, House Trained,  should be at the top of your reading list!!!!

Now I have to confess, I am a big fan of Jackie's books and blog! ( and, NO! I am not biased just because Jackie has a Cardigan Corgi in the family!!!) I loved the first two books so I was pretty sure #3 would not disappoint me. Well, House Trained is now my favorite to date! Yes! It is that good! I think Jackie took her plot development to the next level! This story had  twists and turns I never saw coming! And for me that's what makes a book fun to read. I certainly don't want to have to issue any spoiler alerts so I will not be the one to divulge any of the surprises but just look at Jimmy's face and tell me he's not shocked! I think I heard him gasp!

Now, I'm not going to write a little blurb about what the story is about. Amazon can do a much better job than me, BUT I will do one thing Amazon won't....

I am going to give one lucky person their own copy of House Trained!  I was going to buy myself a copy of the book just the very second it went on sale (October 20th!!!!), but then Jackie so generously offered me an advance copy. (Boy, did that ever make my day! Thank you, Jackie!)  I am sure as heck not giving you that one. That one is staying in my personal library of great reads! But I will send you a brand new copy, one Wilson and Jimmy haven't drooled over!

Now, of course, if you have ever participated in any of my other giveaways, it's never quite as simple as just pulling your name from a hat (almost, but not quite!). I expect a little something in return in the form of entertaining comments. SO!

Tell me a funny story about the last time you tried house training a puppy or dog, or even your baby! I'll even start by telling my own little tale....

Years ago, when my first Cardigan Dylan was just a young pup, I knew nothing about using a crate. Dylan was always just free in my apartment. He was well on his way to being house trained. He knew perfectly well he was not supposed to pee or poop on the floor. So one day, while I was at work a bit longer than usual, poor Dylan had a bout of diarrhea. He could not wait for me to get home, but he also could not let it go on the floor. So smart boy that he was, he hopped up on my sofa and let it RIP! Hey, the sofa wasn't the floor, so no harm, no foul, right?! The sofa was one of those sectional styles and he managed to get lots of poop on every single piece! It was a pretty bad mess and I didn't even try to clean it. I just dragged the whole nasty thing out to the dumpster and started fresh!

OK! Your turn....tell me a funny story about house training!

PS Here's how I'll handle choosing the winner....please leave just one comment  and I will let random.org provide the number of the comment that is the winner. I will remind everyone next Wordless Wednesday and pull the winner on Friday the 23rd. Due to postage costs, I'm only going to ship within the United States. My apologies to those outside the US.

PPS Jodi  and Jackie, I want in on those margaritas!!! Don't you dare start without me!

And The Book Goes To.......

I want to be able to get A Wolf Called Romeo in the mail this week so I pulled the winner today. Monty and Harlow are the lucky ones whose number came up in Random.org. You can email me your mailing address at taryn(dot)tipton(at) gmail(dot)com or PM it to me on Facebook if you prefer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


My blog has a Traffic Tracker widget down on the right sidebar. It holds the 10 most recent views to my blog and shows where the viewer was located. Yesterday, I saw this......

Coming from Google as this viewer did, they were obviously searching on Romeo and maybe even reviews about the book. Seeing as how it is from Juneau, Alaska, I had a good chuckle. Do you think it was Nick Jans, the author, googling to see how his recently released book is being received? LOL! Probably not, but funny to think about! I hope his take-away was that I loved his book, even if he's not thrilled that I shared my copy. That's one less sale. Sorry, Nick!

The Silly Way My Mind Works....

We went on a small road trip last week. It's always great to get a change of scenery. We picked a destination in New York State where there would be lots of outdoor opportunities. And of course, we were taking Jimmy and Wilson along, too! I researched which hotels/motels were pet-friendly, and instead of going with the usual chain motel, I selected one that sounded unique and perfect for the dogs. It was outside of town, isolated on a large piece of property. It was really quite lovely. Here it is.....

We checked in, and we are told to take the hallway to right, then down the stairs to our room in the section reserved for guests with pets. We planned on taking the boys to the room first before unloading the car. We head on down that hallway....(Here is where I mention that I am an avid reader, and have enjoyed many of Stephen King's stories....Can you see where this is going?)

Redrum!

Just the second I see this hallway, it brings back book-to-movie memories, and I blurt out "Redrum!" I blame it on six hours in the car....

But the real kicker comes later when I take the boys out to the back of the hotel for a walk and find this....

You'd better run!

Keeping their eyes peeled in both directions!

There is a roughly hewn maze cut into a large section of wild and overgrown vegetation. It winds this way and that, including forks to choose, and if you follow it far enough, it leads you into the deep forest.

This third similarity to a book setting had me giggling when I returned to the room. Fortunately, our stay was much more pleasant than the one in the book/movie and much warmer, too!

Does anyone know where my imagination took me when I saw this hotel and its grounds?

Black and White Sunday: Fifty Shades of Grey

Get your mind out of the gutter! I was of course referring to the tonal quality of a black and white photograph. And, no, I have never read that book!