A Thank You

I recently won the Poe 'n Raven giveaway hosted by Debra from She Who Seeks :)

Here is The Raven, my new foul-feathered friend keeping a keen eye on me from his appointed perch, high upon my bookshelf. With all his croaking, Nevermore shall I have a moments peace it would seem!

As well, my gift included this attractive theme box & little book 

containing Edgar Allen Poe's celebrated poem The Raven.

For me, the best part of winning this giveaway was the added opportunity to meet Debra for coffee (& a muffin ;) at the Wild Earth Bakery & Cafe here in Edmonton. 

Many of you may be wondering what Debra is like. Down to earth and soft-spoken are the first words which spring to mind. I even managed to sneak a photo of her for you when she wasn't looking :DDD

It's amazing -- she looks exactly like she does in her profile pic!

Thanks again for everything Debra, I had a great time meeting you and Love my prize :)

"Get Real, Barbie"

The Scary Reality of a Real-Life Barbie Doll!

I stumbled across an interesting article the other day in The Huffington Post. This larger than life Barbie was built by Galia Slayen in an effort to raise awareness amongst her highschool peers about eating disorders and body image issues.

"Get Real, Barbie" statistics:

• If Barbie were an actual women, she would be 5'9" tall, have a 39" bust, an 18" waist, 33" hips and a size 3 shoe.
• Barbie calls this a "full figure" and likes her weight at 110 lbs.
• At 5'9" tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 and fit the weight criteria for anorexia. She likely would not menstruate.
• If Barbie was a real woman, she'd have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.
• Slumber Party Barbie was introduced in 1965 and came with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs with a book entitled "How to Lose Weight" with directions inside stating simply "Don't eat."

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A great big Thanks to Elisabeth from Food and Thrift Finds for the beautiful Lenox candy dish

I received in the mail on Tuesday. I was the lucky winner of the giveaway she held a few weeks ago.

It's really lovely, in mint condition and the creamy finish is pearlized.)

Thanks again, Elisabeth!! I'm certain I will treasure this candy dish for many years.

Also, here's the cute box it was snugly tucked into.

Say Cheese, Emma!

Calories Be Flummoxed!

I'm in hog-heaven folks!

A few weeks ago Francie from A North End Journal,

held the 2nd Annual Magic Pig Wand Contest, which I luckily won :)

Well, I received my prize in the mail yesterday and I have to tell you all that Miss Eulalie is absolutely Gorgeous! 

It's quite obvious a lot of work went into her creation; 

feathers, rhinestones, beads, stars, hearts, ribbon, tinsel - she has it all! 

Francie also sent along some very yummy-looking chocolate, which I will happily put to good 

use when trying out the Magic Spell below. Check out Miss Eulalie's necklace!

I suspect I may go hog-wild pigging out on chocolate now that it's calorie-free!

Thanks again Francie :) What a fantastic prize!

Naughty by Nature and we have our Winners!

We have our giveaway winners!

JJ Hubby did the honours...

Congratulations to Sarah and Dianne!!

Email me your shipping info ladies and soon you will be privy to the deep secrets held within 

The Catkins Diet. This manual was originally intended for cat's eyes only. (As a result of 

the Persian Catwa that was issued against him for translating this book, author Michael

Domas has been forced into hiding somewhere in upstate New York.)

Guard it with all of your nine lives! 

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Everybody has an opinion on Nature. But what about Nature's opinion?

EOS magazine decided to give Nature the means to talk. 

A 100 year old tree, living on the edge of Brussels, was hooked up to a fine dust meter, ozone meter, light meter, weatherstation and webcam.

Visit me at my website Talking Tree

I'm also on Facebook!

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And since it's Friday, I thought I'd end off the week with freak trees;

this time it's Mother Nature herself who's the artist...

Have a great weekend!

Of Cats and Cold

Frosty Greetings!

It's a balmy -28C here. Sounds frightfully cold (& it is) but if you're dressed for it and the sun is shining (& it is :) it's really not that bad! I was thinking that this morning as I ran errands, and I'm loving our snow-packed roads as opposed to the treacherous ice we've been tippy-toeing across the past few weeks.

Above is my first give-away(s). I've been keeping my eye open for something for quite some time now and this cute little book jumped out at me this morning, the price was right and I bought two. Twice as nice. They fit in with the whole New-Year's-resolution-losing-weight theme that I'm seeing on so many blogs. Even if you don't have any extra-weight you're trying to lose, it's an adorable read. Cats are infinitely amusing. My only stipulation for this draw is that you are a follower of mine - so if you've been hesitating.... now's your opportunity. I'll announce the winners next Friday. I appreciate people wanting to protect their privacy on the internet, I myself have used a box number when giving out an address for a giveaway - you could also send it to a friends place of work (in another city) - whatever works for you - ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies! So leave me a comment and good luck to everyone!

A few pics I just snapped :)

We're not quite up to our necks yet...!

 * Also, if all goes as planned, I will be sharing pics of Peter Pan on Friday's post... stay tuned...