2010: The Year of Lucy Fur

Looking back and taking stock of 2010, it seems every memory involves some antic of my sweet faced Beagle, Lucy Fur: the canine spawn of Satan.  Within days of adopting her as a puppy, I realized she would never be an old dog, but she would be a happy dog for every day of her life.  In her third year, she left many marks as evidence of this theory.

Anyone who has seen Lucy tearing, leaping and bounding through the snow, green grass or woods can not help but understand true pleasure.  Her frantic yelping after a new scent is the very definition of pure passion.  When Lucy bestows her friendship upon a person, they wear it like a knighthood.

As Lucy's custodian, I battle for the balance of keeping her safe and allowing her the independence to be the happiest dog alive.  How well do I succeed?  Well, lets see...

Lucy wakes up around noon and crawls out from under the microsuede throw and goose down duvet on her queen sized bed.

Lucy maims another Rope Toy before...

...taking a nap.

Quite refreshed, Lucy plays with [terrorizes] Tinkerbell...

and practices her carriage dog skills.

Practice makes Lucy Fur-fect in the Picnic Class at VLCC.

"What a well trained* Beagle!"  [* see: bribed]

A true lover of music, Lucy attends raptly to Debbie Knoll's picnic class recital...

[Busted by Lori Schoenhard's lens.]

And finally,

 Lucy guards the dreams of sleeping nephew.

What does Lucy have to say about all this?  "Woowoo!" of course.  Happy New Year.  Woowoowoo.

Kind Regards,

Michelle Blackler

Serendipity

www.hossbiz.com

Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

The Hatred of Mowing and Shoveling

I used to hate mowing my lawn.  Until it started snowing.  Then I hated shoveling my driveway.  Until is was 95 degrees and the humidity was 85% and I was mowing my lawn.  Then one day, I took pride in making patterns in the lawn.  It looked lovely.  When it snowed, I remembered how I loved to play in it as a child.  So, I decided that shoveling snow was playing in the snow.

I stopped hating both mowing the lawn and shoveling snow.

The added bonus is that mowing in oppressive heat and humidity and shoveling snow in sub zero temperatures is awfully brilliant exercise.  No expensive gym memberships for me, no!  Just my trusty Lawn Boy and my Bog Boots and I can feel the burn of calories.

Real life exercise.  You've got to love that.

Here is Red Green demonstrating another great byproduct of the lawn mower:


And a tutorial on shoveling snow, that is informative and entertaining...


Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.

If Eliza Doolittle Had Bog Boots, Wouldn't It Be Loverly?

Carriage Driving Gloves

When it comes to gloves for work or play, you need the right gloves for the job.  It is so difficult to find good carriage driving show gloves: they are too bulky, the seams get in the way, they are hot, the leather is either too coarse or too flimsy.  So In search of the best carriage driving show gloves...

I have worn a pair of Banana Republic driving gloves for years and I love them.  They are super light which gives me a better feel of the lines, plus they are cooler than any other glove I've ever tried.  To top it off, they are very stylish.  Remember, with leather, you get what you pay for.  Another tip: you want the glove to fit snugly, so try on lots of gloves and find your average size.  With driving gloves, look at the area across the back or palm of the hand and compare it to the wrist.  Look at your hand and compare it to the photos.  More expensive gloves are more contoured.

Here is a good selection of moderately priced gloves:
http://www.leatherglovesonline.com/np/MensGloves-ByStyle-Driving.htm
http://www.leatherglovesonline.com/np/WomensGloves-ByStyle-Driving-ed4010.htm#page=details

Maybe automobile driving gloves are not to your taste.  You want something classic?  Stop by Dents, purveyors of fine leather gloves since 1777 as well as the current sovereign's coronation gloves.  They have a good review of glove leathers and grades that is quite enlightening.  For instance, did you know that the finest gloving leather comes from wild hogs in South America?  Peccary, hairsheep or deerskin, Dents is a fascinating cybershop:
http://www.dents.co.uk/pages/Leather%20Gloves.asp

Closer to home for the chaps is Paul Stuart, Chicago, who also offers a gorgeous peccary glove...http://www.paulstuart.com/product_info.cfm?ProdID=4632&ProdCatId=1003&MainCatId=14&HEADERMENUID=1&SUBPRODCATID=0

Finally, if you are like me and want it all: there are super sexy peccary driving gloves.  Ines is the place for both sexes, and has all kinds of other gloves that have nothing to do with driving that are worth a look...
http://www.inesgloves.com/articlesid/31633/languageiso/EN/SHOP/Detail/My_special_Peccary_Driving_Gloves.htm

So, if the glove fits, buy it.

Kind Regards,
Michelle Blackler
Serendipity
www.hossbiz.com
Serendipity is an Accidental Sagacity Corporation company.