And the winner is.......

Me! Well, it was really Fiona Graham, but I feel like it was me. *g*

Friday and Saturday I was in Jackson, Michigan meeting up with net friends for a Diana Gabaldon event. Friday night it was a reading and signing at the library.

Saturday, Diana has some writing seminars, I don't go to those, since you can prolly tell by this blog.... there is no help for me! After the seminars was a luncheon, that I did attend. I bought a Brianna's Braclet to raffle off at luncheon. BetsyG and Colly helped me sell tickets, I wouldn't of been able to handle the crowd if it wasn't for them. When finished over 550 tickets were sold, and $528.00 was donated to the library's Word Wise program.


Instead of numbers on the tickets, well at least the first 450 tickets, I used character names out of the books. This sounded like a good idea when I started, at 200 I marveled at Diana's ability to think up names, but at around 300, I was beginning to think I was nuts for thinking of this, and wondered how in the heck does one person come up with that many names?

I did notice a bit of a pattern though, there were a lot of "J" names, a bunch of "Geordie"s, other initials I don't remember (I know this memory thing is sad), and thankfully only one "Loaghaire". I did include names of animals, and appendages such as Bonnet's "Leroi". I really wanted "Leroi" to win, but to no avail.

I lost my voice due to allergies about two weeks ago and was just getting it back on Thursday. But lost it again on Friday, Michigan is about two weeks behind so they were in full bloom, so I lost it again. Which was a bit embarrassing getting up in front of about 225 people sounding like Peter Brady when he became a man!
(I just had to post this picture I thought it was so funny, it looks like Im trying to catch flies with that huge mouth open.)

Diana picked the winning ticket which was... "Fiona Graham"! To which I looked at Diana, and said, "Fiona Graham?" To which she replied, "You know her, Roger's Fiona." Me, "Oh yeah!" Phew, nothing like forgetting a character in front of the author. :-)
This is what the little tickets looked like.

After the luncheon was over, Lynn, the gal that won the bracelet came up to me and asked if I was the same "Michelle" that started the Katherine Swynford Yahoo Group? I said, "Yes." And she preceeded to tell me years ago I posted a recommedation of "Outlander" on the group and that's why she read the book. I just thought that was the neatest thing!

(Lynn the winner, Diana and moi)

While cleaning up these two older women came up to me and asked if I was the "jewelry lady" and I said, "I am." and they wanted to show me what they got for Mother's Day... it was jewelry from my website. They said they also got Dove chocolate, and I couldn't imagine anything better to go with my stuff, since my favorite milk chocolate is Dove! :-)

Then dinner with buds and Diana, and then I came home. Ian was home from school, and had a nice quiet Mother's Day with the boys!

Lola's Spoooooooooky Birthday!

So, I do make cupcakes. They are more for us than for Lola, esp. since they are chocolate cupcakes and chocolate is a no-no for dogs. So I go to put one candle on a cupcake and I have all that type of stuff in a little box in my baking cabinet.

I see one pink candle laying out of any candle box in the bottom of the supply box. With all boys we usually always have pink candles. :-) So I dig out the pink candle and go to put it on the cupcake, and there is a Montana hair on it. Hair gets everywhere with dogs, but usually the inside of cabinets, well the top cabinets are safe.

Maybe it was just his way of saying....
Don't forget me.
I'm okay.
I'm still here.

or maybe..... I want a cupcake too!




Of course there is the singing and then we scare the crap out of the dog with fire!

M

Happy Birthday Lola!

Lola is one today! Just a year ago this week, we lost Montana and a big chunk of our hearts. What we didn't know was, two days after Montana died, Lola was born... and was meant for us.

Lola sleeping under my desk chair her first week with us.

Lola trying to sleep BY my desk chair today.

Puppies do heal the heart!

M
.......and yes I made her cupcakes!

I have a feeling mine will be of food....

So when I was looking up the last words of Napoleon to double check I had them right... I found this site with people's last words. I thought it was kind of interesting!

Especially those of people that were getting excuted, some were jerks till the end...

Kiss my ass.
Who: John Wayne Gacy
Note: Those were Gacy's last words before being executed by lethal injection.

I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.
Who: Thomas J. Grasso, d. March 20, 1995, executed by injection, Oklahoma.

Remember, the death penalty is murder.
Who: Robert Drew, d. August 2, 1994
Note: Executed by injection, Texas

...some thought they were comedians, not murderers.

Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.
Who: George Appel, executed by electric chair in 1928.

Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow's paper? 'French Fries'!
Who: James French.
Notes: French, a convicted murderer, was sentenced to the electric chair. He shouted these words to members of the press who were to witness his execution.

Yes...A bullet-proof vest
Who: James W. Rodgers
Note: Asked if he has any last requests before facing a firing squad.


Now for the law abiding citizens last words.

...some funny

Am I dying, or is this my birthday?
Who: Lady Nancy Astor
Note: In her final illness, she awoke on her deathbed to see her family at her bedside.

Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.
Who: Voltaire (attributed), when asked by a priest to renounce Satan

Leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub.
Who: Conrad Hilton when asked if he had any last words of wisdom.

...some that are just too good, they must of thought of them before hand.

Now comes the mystery.
Who: Henry Ward Beecher evangelist, d. March 8, 1887

All my possessions for a moment of time.
Who: Elizabeth I, Queen of England, d. 1603

Thank God. I'm tired of being the funniest person in the room.
Who: Del Close, improviser, teacher and comedian, died 1999

.... some you know they weren't planned.

I can't sleep.
Who: J.M. Barrie, author of works including Peter Pan.

Can this last long?
Who: William III of England, when his doctor told him that he was ill.

Wait a minute…
Who: Pope Alexander VI

...some just sad.

I'm going to go be with Gloria now.
Who: Jimmy Stewart, speaking of his late wife

Hello.
Who: Graham Chapman, Monty Python's comedian, to his adopted son who had just arrived at the hospital.

I'll finally get to see Marilyn.
Who: Joe DiMaggio, talking about his former wife, Marilyn Monroe

....and some of food.

That was the best ice-cream soda I ever tasted.
Who: Lou Costello

I just wish I had time for one more bowl of chili.
Who: Kit Carson, American frontiersman

I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.
Who: Humphrey Bogart

Let me change that, I have a feeling mine will be of chocolate!

Josephine B

The Josephine Bonaparte Collection by Sandra Gulland
The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
The Last Great Dance on Earth

Her website and more on the books

I have never read historical fiction before and the French were the good guys, so I really enjoyed this series. It's written in a journal format, the journal being Josephine Bonapartes. I haven't read anything on Napoleon before either, and basically knew he was short with a big tummy,lost at Waterloo and was exiled to an island. That was the extent of my knowledge, the guy has gotten a bad rap it seems in general, he wasn't that short 5'6", he won way more than he lost, and he's named in an ABBA song, who could ask for more?

(Napoleon)

The story is basically of Josephine's relationships with family, her island upbringing, her first husband, her children, Napoleon, and Napoleon's wacky family. It seems Napoleon's sister Pauline was known as a bit of a floozy, you know the type that let's her nips show in paintings of herself.


(Pauline)

Josephine is portrayed as a lovely person actually, a wonderful mother and a faithful wife to Napoleon, and she spends quite a bit of money.
She wasn't suppose to be beautiful but it's said she had a beautiful voice. The exact same thing is said of Cleopatra. I'm guessing as much as they had bad teeth in those days, that they maybe had bad eyesight too. *grin*

(Josephine)

So these types of stories always gets me googling. There is so much on Napoleon that you could spend years on here and never read it all. He talked .... a lot! Quotes of him are everywhere, he said this...

"Women are nothing but machines for producing children.”

I'm thinking he said this when he was around a bunch of guys, you know how men talk when they are soldiering and their wives are safely in another country! Since Josephine saved his letters we also know some of his quotes from letters to her. Things like.....


"Goodbye, goodbye! I shall go to bed without you, sleep without you. Let me sleep, I beg you. For several nights I have felt you in my arms; a happy dream, but it is not you."

"Oh, my adorable wife! I don't know what fate has in store for me, but if it keeps me apart from you any longer, it will be unbearable! My courage is not enough for that."

Napoleon divorced Josephine because she couldn't produce any children, he thought it was him until his mistress had his baby. Although whatever I've read it says that Josephine did have an affair. It tells after the divorce of Napoleon's little visits to see Josephine just to talk, since they had a friendship as well. I'm not sure if this happened, but would of been nice if it did.

So in my googling for pictures of Josephine, this picture came up....


you might not recognize that, but if you are a devoted follower of Heloise and Abelard you would! You've heard me talk of them before, and I have a website dedicated to a historical fiction novel about them. Well, Jospehine heard or read of their story and had their bodies brought to Paris and buried together. I'm guessing she was a bit of a romantic, but not sure if that explains the male and female mummies, relics of the Napoleons Egyptian campaign, she bought.

If I had to make a decision on whether I liked the lady or not on one thing... her bringing Heloise and Abelard together again would put on the "like" side.

I will leave you with Napoleon's last words...

France, army, Josephine...

Maggie with the waggily tail...

It was about 12 years ago, I was bestowed an honor, I got to pick out a puppy for my sister Georgia's family. Gretchen had a wonderful black lab named Hank. Hank's breeder was Cheri in New Lenox, and that's the breeder I went to to pick out Georgia's black lab.

We lived in Granger at the time, so when Ian was at school, Collin and I made the trip to Chicago to pick out a puppy! I don't remember how many were in the litter, but I do remember we got to pick from quite a few. I don't even know how old they were when we went to pick them out. If you know me in the slightest bit, you know that being surrounded by puppies is pure heaven to me.



Georgia wanted a black female, because she just loved our Lieber.


There was one female that stood out from all the rest, she had a little colic running down her nose. I thought that was kind of a nice feature in an all black dog, something to set her apart from the others. Collin and I knew, this was our girl or their girl.




That little black girl with the messed up hair on her nose became Maggie. When we moved to Indy, Maggie would stay with us most times during family vacations. I called her the "Human Speed Bump", she would just plop down anywhere and you moved.... not her. For a girl she had a really low "woof", and it sounds just like that ... woooof! Just one woof, no need to expel more energy than necessary.


Really tall for a lab too, we were thankful she didn't want to sleep in our bed at night, but was content to sleep on her little blanket from home on the floor by us. Maggie was just happy, all the time, her tail never stopped wagging.


..... and then comes the call out of the blue, that Maggie is gone. And all you feel is sadness. Not only for the loss of Maggie, but for Maggie's family, because you know what they are going through and unbearably hard it is to get through.

But you know, from losing two of your precious pups that all the tears now are worth all the years you had with your pup. That if given the chance again, to go through what you have to go through now with their death to have the 12 previous years of their love, companionship and comfort, that you would do it all over again in a minute.

We will miss you Maggie here in our home, I can't imagine how much you will be missed in yours.


God Speed Maggie!

Henry VIII es mas macho!

Since nothing exciting is happening around here, here's what I've been reading and watching....

--Books

"The Autobiography of Henry VIII
with notes by his fool, Will Somers"

This was pretty good, it was written like Henry VIII's journal, so it's Henry's way of explaining a few things like...

-Why its okay to chop the head off a couple of wives.

-Marry a wife while the other wives head is still rolling on the ground.

-Convince your self that a really really fat man is really quite attractive.( I'm thinking Rush Limbaugh can somehow trace his roots to Henry! )

Funny how Henry looks at things totally different!

I also read "Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovich. These are always such fun reads! The problem is, I can never remember what they were about a week later just that it was funny!

--Movies

I think I've only seen one, "Duplicity" with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. It's a bit confusing. Don't see it if you don't want to sit there and pay attention, and it's a bit slow. My neighbor almost fell asleep..... then Clive took his shirt off!



--Treadmill

I'm watching HBO's "Rome" again on the treadmill. This time with one of the special features on, sort of like "pop-up" Rome. Just little windows come up explaining this or that, for example....

It was okay for a husband have sex with their slave.

Totally understandable to kill your wife and children if the wife had an affair.

Cows were okay to sacrifice, but not to eat.

You know, things like this that would help you in every day life!


Spring has sprung here, it has been nothing but blue skies and beautiful warm days. Which for us means.... dirt and mulch! So you can see why I'd rather talk books and movies.

Elton and Billy....

Okay you all know me, and you know I don't really "do" concerts. I'd rather listen to people on a nice clear CD. Boring I know, but that's me.

But, I've always regretted not seeing Elton John and Billy Joel in concert about ten years ago in South Bend. So I was determined to go this time when they started touring. So I joined Elton John's fan club so I could get good tickets, and the first date that popped up that was doable for us was March in Cincinnati.

That was two days ago. Last concert I was at was Billy Joels farewell concert about fifteen years ago. That's a guess I dont know how long ago it was.

The stage looked like this......



That's about the distance we were back, but up about ten rows on Billy Joels side.

Billy Joel's piano rotated when he alone, Elton's didnt. Billy Joel seemed more concerned about connecting with the fans, and he introduced members of his band, and talked a bit between songs. Elton didn't really say anything, just got up and bowed after every song.... a bit of a diva, but you knew that. Billy Joel was a lot more physical, Elton really looked subdued compared to Billy Joel.

Then they talked about their ages... Billy just turned sixty, and Elton will be sixty-two. Funny about concerts when you get older and depending on the band.

-We sat more than we stood.

-The only boobs you see shaking are usually on the middle aged men going up and down the stairs.

-I saw more beer guts on women than men.

-The woman next to me clutched her purse in her lap the whole time.

-The woman in front of me must of watched too much Seinfeld and thought Elaine was a good dancer.

-For some reason older woman think they look cool in a solid shiny silver top that makes them look like an anorexic baked potato, which dances like Elaine from Seinfeld by the way.

-Canes, have never been to a concert that I have seen so many canes! I take that back, when I went to Bobby Vinton with my mom.

-Older men go to the bathroom a LOT, get an aisle seat dude!

-At one time the video screen was tinted blue and Billy Joel now looks like Mr. Freeze

All that to say, it was a great concert! Billy and Elton play first together, rotating verses on each others songs. Then Elton solo, and then Billy solo, then they got back together again and they end with Piano Man. It was over three hours long.

Worth every penny!

The dogs have their collars all is right with the world...

Okay, I'm anal about dog collars. It started with Lieber, she had to have a red one!


Even when she had bone cancer in her leg, and we brought a special harness collar so we could help her walk up and down stairs, we made sure it was red.


Montana our only boy, he of course was always blue. It went with his green eyes.


Okay, then puppies had to be pink!

Lego


Lola


When the puppy develops a personality then it's time to pick a grown up collar. Lego, was a bit feisty, a little wild... so when I saw the leopard collar it was all Lego! Look how well it went with her Minnie Mouse ears on Halloween.


Now, she's 7 and she went through two leopard collars. But then I couldn't find that leopard collar any more and hers was getting a bit... gross. But it wasn't as gross as the orange polka dot one we replaced it with. Ian said she looked fat in it! :-)


And then there was the rainbow phase. Lego is confident in her sexuality so that wasn't the issue, it was just too... you know, unicorn, rainbows, fairies... too cutsie. I'm not into cutsie.


Meanwhile... Lola was in her own collar Hell. Her pretty pink ribbon one, was not very good for playing with the dog next door, it would be in shreds by the end of playtime. So we tried the dreaded orange polka dot in a pinch, it nearly killed her.


While out shopping a few months ago at Sears of all places, we found a leopard collar! Lego was freed of her imposed Fairyland crapola collar, and Lego was back to her spotted leopard self.


We still hadn't found one for Lola yet, let's try Lavender. We did, and it didn't say "Lola"


Then today at Target (Target has the funnest/cheapest dog collars) there it was... a pink collar with a ribbon of pink and orange paisley print. It said "Lola" all over it, you know, the whole nice girl who likes to party but stays aways from the bad boys type of girl... dog.

She didn't exactly party after I put it on her, but it is so her!

And... just in case you are wondering... Lego's Aunt Maggie wears green!

M

My Bad!

Man, I have been bad at updating, been a bit busy.

There have been some new products added to the jewelry line...

A little how this works. Some items of Diana Gabaldon's are taken directly from a description in the book, like the ring or Brianna's Bracelet. The Running Stag brooch is a take on a piece of cover art from "Fiery Cross", another variation of the brooch from a book description will come later.

Here's some "before" pics



I work with a great guy named Bob at DeSignet and he makes all the final grahics you see.

As far as the Running Stag he made about three different versions and I picked what I liked from each and he combined it all, and.......




and the cute little "Da Mi Basia Mille" pendant, I drew a rough sketch of what I wanted and he decifers *g* that and makes a final design.


The Celtic Dragonfly, I sent him pictures of features I liked on others I've seen and he made it into what you see.


With the new items, I had to redo the whole Gabaldon page on The Author's Attic site...

I also made a You Tube of the Outlandish jewelry, to post on things like Facebook, and .... You Tube. :-) The music is from Emma Beaton, I made her website, and the pictures are from Marcie, who I met up with (along with Chirre) in Scotland a couple of years ago. These things are just so much fun to make!




I'm very happy to say, that the DeSignet was very happy with the sales so far, and we will hopefully have even more new stuff soon! This is so much fun. I basically work with two people, Bob a designer, and Marie who does everything!

So if it seems like I'm on the puter a lot.... I am! :-) But did read a book... "The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B" It was pretty good, it's a historical fiction of Neopoleon's wife Josephine. It ends right when she marries Neopoleon. I have always basically read historical fiction related to England, and this was my first one with French history. The French are always the bad guys when I'm reading. I did find it interesting, I thought the French women could at least have an opinion.

Saw couple of movies...

"Slumdog Millionaire" Very good!

"The Reader" Very very good!

If I had to pick one for the Oscar, I would of went with "The Reader". Also saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic", it was cute. Oh, and I had a colonoscopy, which could of been a comedy in itself.

That's all she wrote!

M