Wishy-Washy Weasel Words Won't Work When aWarding Wilson's Winner on Wordy Wednesday

The week has whirled past and it is time to announce the winner of my 1500th post giveaway! There's no way I can do that in a wordless manner!

Now, first I want to talk about my title today. I had never heard the phrase "weasel words" before I read it in a Clive Cussler novel I was reading the other night. Of course my Wordless Wednesday radar immediately alerted to something new I could use so I looked up the meaning of the phrase. It certainly wasn't something that would be easy to set to a photograph, but I think it works well in today's contest!

So, last week, I asked you to identify or guess what painting I thought my photograph resembled. Many of you picked up on it right away!

It was, of course, Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World......

Here's mine again for comparison......

So there you have it! Many thanks to all of you that played along with my game and left a comment!

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for......

Wilson's Winner is.....

JAN !!! from the Poodle (and dog) Blog!

Congratulations!

Drop me a line at my email address: taryn.tipton@gmail.com and give me your current email so I can send the gift certifcate (or you can leave it in the comments if you are comfortable with that).

One Thousand Five Hundred Posts!

I know you all come here on Wednesdays to see if I was able to pull off another "W" themed title for Wilson. I am afraid I'll have to disappoint you today. It is something of a milestone here on the blog and I want to address that instead.

This is my 1500th post on the blog! Now I know a lot of bloggers out there are way more prolific than that, but I am still pretty proud of sticking with this little project through so many years and so many posts! June marks eight years running of A Tail of Two Cardis. I've had close to half a million pages views, coming from 116 countries around the world. I've "met" a lot of people and made friends I would never have known without this blog. All in all, a very rewarding experience, even when it is a challenge to keep it going at times.

When I hit my 500th and 1000th posts, I had little contests/giveaways to celebrate. I want to continue that tradition. My giveaways always ask a little something from my readers in the form of captions or a comment, and this one won't be any different. Wilson is taking a break so I have a photo of Jimmy from this week. When I downloaded this photo to my laptop and saw it full size, it immediately brought a painting to mind (years ago, I minored in Art History in college). The painting is very well known so this should not be too difficult of a task. I'll even give a big hint by giving my photo a name.....

Jimmy's World

So to be eligible for my prize, tell me what painting I am thinking of and who the artist is. Of course, more than one person will probably get the answer right, so I will still use random.org to pick my winner. Even a good guess will still get you in the running, so don't be afraid to leave a comment. The prize will be a $20 gift card to The White Dog Bone Company. It has both dog and cat products, even bird products, so there should be something for anyone who reads my blog. Plus, I will be able to just email you the prize so no worries about sharing your home address with me!

 Who is the artist and what is the name of the painting? GO!

Wilson Wants a Winner on Wordy Wednesday!

This week I have to go with a Wordy Wednesday. I can't do a GIVEAWAY without a few words! I have an extra copy of the 2017 Welsh Corgis calendar that needs a new home before it goes to waste. This is the one that features Wilson as Mr. September. I already have two copies for myself, one for the wall and one to keep sealed and safe as a memento. So my third copy that the photographer gave me needs a person of its own!

Here's a photo I took of the calendar when I spotted it in the local mall at Christmas....

Now if you are interested in winning this calendar (it has both Cardigans and Pembrokes) just leave a comment with a "W" caption for this picture below. I can think of one for it and I bet you can too! I'll give you a few days to come up with something. I'll pick my favorite caption as the winner!  (US folks only due to the postage. Sorry!)

GO!

Wilson Wants Words on Wordless Wednesday!!!

As yesterday's post mentioned, I've been low on time and inspiration. That includes my "W" words for this blog hop, so I had an idea! How about all my loyal Wordless Wednesday visitors put their minds to it and come up with some words that start with "W" that I haven't used yet. I've been doing this Wednesday thing for quite a while now, so you will need to search my blog to see if your word has already been in play. You can do that by using the little search box that is in the very top left corner. Enter your word and click the magnifying glass to search. It should give you posts that include your word, either in the title or the blog body. So what's in it for you? Well, one, you'll get to see your word with a Wilson photo one Wordless Wednesday (isn't that enough reward, LOL?), but, two, I will come up with some kind of small prize I can send your way via email. I'm not sure what yet, but some kind of gift card, like Amazon or Starbucks, or such.

So give it your best shot! Leave your word suggestions in the comments, or even a full "W" themed title and we will see what happens! This could be a lot of fun!

And of course I can't have a post without any photo at all, so here is a beautiful little spot I saw over the weekend....and a "W" caption to go with it......

Wishing Wilson Was With us When We Walked near Windows!

Sometimes......

....I just can't come up with a clever blog post title! Today is one of those times!  During this period of unemployment I've found myself in, I am trying to make the best of the new freedom and free time I have, and have been taking the boys around to walk in new areas. We all enjoy the change of pace. The fall season is such a great time to be outdoors, with the heat and humidity a thing of the past.

So here are some shots taken on a recent walk......There is a bonus to being unemployed....places that are packed full of people on the weekends are blissfully empty on the week days! I had no trouble taking pictures without other people in the way!

This was Sunday's black and white picture.

This gate was beautiful but I couldn't do it justice.

This tree is on FIRE!

Be sure you don't miss my giveaway of Jackie's  newest book! Go HERE to enter!

Black and White Sunday: Perfect Posers

Be sure you don't miss my giveaway of Jackie's  newest book! Go HERE to enter!

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!

A Wolf Called Romeo: Book Review and Giveaway!

I'm a big fan of Patricia McConnell, the renowned animal behaviorist. When she recommends a book, I usually take notice. Just so long as it is not too technical and text book-y, I will give it a try. Back in July she recommended A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans, the tale of an freakishly friendly black wolf that showed up in the suburbs of Juneau, Alaska in the early 2000's. He was quite the celebrity for several years, befriending a lot of the residents' dogs, and even developing a relationship with a few of the humans. The book covers the wolf's life around Juneau. His proximity to people and their dogs was not without the expected controversy. The book is well written and interesting. I only wish it had contained many more photographs of Romeo. The last third read like a thriller for me and I could not put the book down! As is so sadly true for many wild animals, life does not hold a happy ending. So be warned, this book pulls you in emotionally and leaves you sobbing your heart out at the end. However heartbroken it left me, I am still very glad to have come across this story. As such, if one of you out there would like my copy, I would be happy to mail it to you (within the US due to postage costs). If more than one person has an interest, I will use Random.org to find the next home for this book. I'll give it a few days and then pull the winner early next week.

 Photo credit: John Hyde

Photo credit: John Hyde

Have a great weekend, Everyone! 

I hope you find time to read a good book!

Tasty Tuesday - Jones Natural Chews - Winner Revealed!

Today is the day! A lucky winner has been chosen to receive their choice of Lamb Lung Puffs or Windee Rings. To keep the suspense going just a bit longer, I want to first thank Flea and the rest of the good people at Jones Natural Chews for allowing me the fun of reviewing their products. Wilson and Jimmy also say thank you as they are truly enjoying their samples! I used some small Lamb Lung Puffs chunks this past weekend at Jimmy's agility trial to hold his attention as we queued up for our run. It really did the trick! When my complimentary supply is gone, I will definitely be buying another bag!

Allowing for comments that didn't count toward the contest, I had 22 valid entries (Thank you one and all for playing along!) and Random.org selected......

Congratulations to LybertyGirl!

You can email me at taryn(dot)tipton(at)gmail(dot)com with your choice of treat (Lamb Lung Puffs or Windee Rings) and your mailing address.

Tasty Tuesday: What Would Your Dog Do for a Jones Natural Chew?......Oh! And a GiveAway, Too!

Flea and the kind folks at Jones Natural Chews sent Jimmy and Wilson some of their all natural, made in the good ol' USA treats to try out. We received  Lamb Lung Puffs (just what it sounds like, sort of Lamb Cheetos in texture) and Windee Rings (chewy beef trachea). Now I am really picky about what my guys eat. It's important to me that the treats are wholesome, free of artificial ingredients, and made and sourced here in the United States. So of course, the products sold by Jones Natural Chews fit the bill perfectly. 

First, we tried the Lamb Lung Puffs. These come in large, light-weight slabs. They have a nice crunchy texture, but they don't crumble like a biscuit would. The really nice thing about these is you can snap them down into small training treat sized squares with no trouble at all. Jimmy is my agility dog, and as a result gets lots of training treats when we do our practice. I need the pieces to be small, but also extra-tasty and high value so he wants to work for them. These Lamb Puffs got Jimmy very excited!

Look at him go! He's zig-zagging for that bag!

Next up, Wilson got to try a Windee Ring. These are a much more chewy treat and not one you can break into small chunks, at least not without scissors. The point of these is a nice longer lasting chew. Now Corgis are well known for their strong chewing jaws, and Wilson's are no exception! He made his Windee last for about three minutes. Having a camera in his face may well have accelerated the pace of his chewing! You never know when the camera or maybe the person behind the camera is going to try and steal a bite of your Windee!

Where Jimmy had to practice his weaves, I had Wilson show us his strong self-control in the face of overwhelming food desire! Here he is in total concentration mode.....

I didn't make him wait too long. That would be mean! Here he is in full out chewing glory. You can see this is a sturdy treat a dog can really get his teeth into!

I think this next photo says it all. Can't you just feel the doggy ecstasy?

MMM-MM! This Windee is freakin' AWESOME! Heaven in a dog chew!

Both of these treats were very well received by my dogs. For that matter, I kept the taste testing sessions separate so there was no worry of brotherly competition while I was busy trying to film them enjoying their new taste sensations! I was provided these treats at no cost, but the opinions expressed are all Jimmy's and Wilson's! I know my dogs and I know they loved both of these great treats! Thank you Jones Natural Treats for letting us sample such doggy goodness!

Now the Jones' generosity doesn't stop with Jimmy and Wilson. They are also willing to send one of you a bag to sample as well! You get your choice of a bag of Lamb Puffs or a bag of Windee Rings. I'm not much into those Rafflecopter doohickeys, so I'm going to make it really easy to sign up for this giveaway. Just leave me a comment, telling me what your dog would do for a Jones Natural Chew. I will use Random.org to select the winner for me. I will announce the winner next  Tasty Tuesday. That lucky person will need to provide me with their name/address/choice of treat that I will forward to Flea and JNC so they can mail you your prize directly. (You must be a US resident to be eligible for the prize.)

You really don't want to miss out on a chance to win some of these great treats!

 Get busy and leave a comment!

What would your dog do for a delicious Jones Natural Chew?

Click HERE to find a list of stores that sell JNC in your area.

Wilson Wondered Which Way We Went When We Waded a-Way on Wordless Wednesday

If case you missed my Monday post, be sure to check it out!

There's a giveaway!

Monday Mischief: I Forgot My Own 5 Year Blogiversary!!!

It's my turn to be the mischief maker! Close on the heels of my 1000th blog post comes another milestone, FIVE YEARS of keeping up with this blog. Wow! That's half a decade already!  But, do you know when that day occurred? Nope, not today, but over a week ago on June 1st! I completely missed that little fact and the day came and went without me even giving it a thought! Bad blogger, Bad!

Well, my intentions today are still the same as if I had remembered to post on the correct day......

A GIVEAWAY!!!

And of course, as I've done before, I'm going to make you earn it! I know I am not the only person who has these moments of forgetfulness, so why not tell me one of your silliest tales of when a lapse in your memory caused you some mischief. It can be a missed date like mine, or perhaps misplacing something and finding it in the oddest of spots. Please...do tell....in the comments.

For this little contest, the prize will be winner's choice! I am going to give you two prizes to choose from.....

If you are the lucky winner selected by Random.org, you can choose between:

1) A $20 Gift E-Card to the White Dog Bone Company

                                   

OR

2) A $20 Gift E-Card to Starbucks

                                      

                                 

This way you get to choose whose turn it is for a treat, you or the dog! No worries, I won't judge! LOL!

This is also very easy for me and you. All I have to do is get your email address and the E-Card will be sent directly to your inbox. No trips to the post office for me, and you don't have to reveal your home address!

I'll pick the winner next Monday, June 16th. OK everybody, let's see what you've got! 

WOW! Won-thousand! on Wilson's Wordy Wednesday!

Here it is.....drum roll please.......blog post....

#1000 !!!!!

And as promised last week, I have a giveaway to celebrate this auspicious occasion. However, it's actually going to be more of a trade. You give me your best W*** themed caption for today's photos in the comment section and I'll have random.org select the winner. I'll post the winner next Wednesday.

*** If you aren't familiar with my Wordless Wednesday entries, I strive to entitle my posts for Wordless Wednesday with as many words starting with W as I can as it relates to the photo of Wilson I am posting that day. Look back through my blog at the last few Wednesdays and you'll see what I mean....

So here you are...putting on your thinking caps.....and Go!

You may be wondering if all this mental hard work is worth it. Well, I assure you it is! The lucky winner will receive a box of goodies.

Here's a list of the loot:

1) A brand new copy of Jackie Bouchard's second novel Rescue Me, Maybe. If somehow you haven't had a chance to read this great book, now's your chance. Jackie is a wonderful storyteller, bringing her characters to life with wit, humor, and a great understanding of the human/dog connection. I guarantee you will enjoy this book as much as her first.

2) A slightly dog-eared (but who doesn't love dog ears?!) copy of Chaser. This true story account of a brilliant border collie will amaze you with Chaser's seeming endless ability to learn new words.

3) A dog toy and some treats for your favorite pup!

Doggy crack for sure!

and now a DISCLAIMER....I am afraid this giveaway is open to US residents only. Sincere apologies to my international viewers but the last time I did a giveaway, the international postage cost way more than the prize.

and a NOTE to Jackie and her sister Terry.... if either of you win, I will be happy to substitute a different book of your choice in place of Rescue Me, Maybe. Murphy's Law is sure to monkey with this contest this close to St.Paddy's Day! 

We Whiningly aWaited Warmer Weather While Wilson Was Way-too Warm and Wanted Wintry Weather on Wordy Wednesday

It's Wordy Wednesday today....not Wordless! Be sure to read after the photo for news of a celebratory giveaway!

It was all of 35 degrees this day
and Wilson sought the only shade in the front yard.

This post today is Number 999! So my very next post is a pretty big milestone in my blogging career. I want to share my excitement with all of you, since you gals (any men out there reading this?) are most of what has made this journey so fun. It started out as just a place to save pictures of my dogs and it has turned into so much more for me. So I want to reward one lucky reader with a giveaway! I don't know when Post #1000 will hit as I don't have a photo yet, so all I can say is be on the look-out!

I Couldn't Resist!

A couple of agility trials back was the one sponsored by the local Pembroke Welsh Corgi club. Of course, this meant a corgi focus for one of the vendors. Not only did she own and run a Pemmie, she had tons of corgi items for sale. Most was Pembroke stuff and that makes sense. But there was one silly little item that I couldn't resist and she had the Cardigan version.....so of course I bought two!

Here's the close-up.....

I finally got around to sticking them on my car window. I used to make fun of these stupid little stickers when I would see the human version on someone's car so I guess I am officially a hypocrite! LOL! It's just that they go so well with my Got Corgis? sticker, not to mention my Mazda's white paint job.

I bought an extra one of these cute Cardi stickers as a tiny giveaway so if there is a Cardigan person out there who would like this, just leave a comment and I can mail it to you. If I get more than one request, I'll let random.org pick the winner. And if no one responds, I guess I will just have to get a third Cardi so I can use the sticker!

Ferdinand?......and the Giveaway Winner, too!

Did you ever read the children's story Ferdinand the Bull? It is one of the beloved stories I remember from my childhood. I still have a copy of it from the early 60's tucked away in one of my closets somewhere. At any rate, I can remember the illustrations well, and this next photo is what brought the book to mind......

Jimmy the Bull? Happy to sit and smell the roses, er, bluebells...

Here's the illustration from the book......

Artist: Robert Lawson

The bluebells bloomed earlier than I expected this year and the patch was much smaller than last year. I noticed them a few days back and knew I needed to hurry and catch them before the blooms subsided.

There were deer close by and I could not get the boys settled into modeling mode. It didn't help that I constantly had to remind them to stay with me and not run off after the deer. Here's what I got......

The expressions on their faces definitely show their discontent.
They had much better things to do than deal with the annoying camera!

Jimmy: Deer at one o'clock! I'm outta here!

Wilson: If I sniff this leaf all cute and stuff, can we call it a wrap?

_________________________________________________________________________________

And, NOW! The real reason you are here today......... Drum roll, please.........

But WAIT! First let me say Thank You! to everyone for taking the time to leave such great comments. It was a lot of fun to read some of the stuff your dogs ate. I'm glad all the dogs are OK!

I just counted the comments, leaving out the ones that were not actually entries, like Jackie's and her sister's, and came up with 35 qualifying comments. With that said.......

The lucky winner of Jackie's book What the Dog Ate is................

So! If BL (who commented on April 23rd at 1:00 am) who has the naughty parrot who feeds the dogs would please contact me at taryn(dot)tipton(at)gmail(dot)com, we can finalize the details. Congratulations on winning Jackie's book! You are going to love it!

Once again, thank you to everyone for participating!