Delightful Surprises

Yesterday, Sept. 29th, was my 42nd birthday. I didn't tell anyone because I like low-key birthdays. Imagine my surprise when I received a package in the mail from Catherine Holman, a blogging friend and the folk artist at Pigment of Your Imagination. She didn't know it was my birthday, but her timing couldn't have been better if she'd planned it. Inside, I found a print of one of her paintings (it's one of my favorites) and an adorable handmade kitty card featuring another print of her work.

Cathie is amazingly talented. If you haven't been to her blog yet, you really need to go and just browse a while to enjoy the art she creates.

Thank you, again, Cathie for your wonderful serendipitous birthday gift! It brought such joy to my heart, and I'm still smiling.

Then today, I received another delightful surprise from Annie at Annalunda (a wonderfully romantic Swedish blog with gorgeous photos of roses and other wonderful scenes). I feel very honored to receive this award from Annie, because it is HER blog that inspires my romantic senses so often. And isn't this award just lovely to look at?

I am passing this award along to ALL of you! Each one of you inspires me in your own unique and specifically important way. At lunch yesterday with my mom, I was telling her how much I appreciate my blogging friends. Because of all of you, you have helped me feel connections that I haven't really had before. Each of you has helped me feel like less of a loner in this world--less like the odd one out. Each of you has brought me a sense of belonging. I've written before that Hubby has likened this phenomenon of the "blog-o-sphere" or "bloglandia" to a 21st century version of a Jane Austen village--a village that spans the globe and brings kindred souls together that otherwise would never have lived in close enough proximity to one another to become acquainted. Thank you to all of you for the gifts you give me everyday that have awakened my creativity after a very long dormancy and connected me with who I really am so that I can openly say, "I am a pink-obsessed, rose-sniffing, animal-loving, sledgehammer-toting, retro-spirited woman, that is a photographer, a gardener, an artist, a writer... and anything else I want to be." Thank you!!!!!

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A New Look for the Blog's 1 Year Birthday

The Rosehaven Cottage blog (and website) turned a year old this week! I can't believe how fast a whole year has flown by. I decided that the blog (and website) needed a facelift with a design that was a better reflection of who I am.

I stayed up way too late last night coming up with designs based on my photographs and my art. I did mock-up homepages using Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop Elements in tandem until I found something that felt right.

Today, I ventured out into the cloud called the internet to find out how I could create my own Blogger template or at least customize an existing one so that it felt like it was my own.

Through the use of Google, I found the site Blogger Buster and the wonderful free eBook that she has available for downloading called "The Cheats' Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates".

With my mock-ups in one window and the eBook in another, I set up a test blog on Blogger so I could tweak the html code to my heart's content without messing up the real blog. Once I got it the way I like it, I went back to the real blog and made the necessary template change to Blogger's Minima and then did the very minor html code changes by hand instead of copying and pasting the code from the test blog. That way I didn't lose all my widgets and sidebar elements.

So this is the result! If I was a white goose, I'd dance with my head in the air.

The website is going to take longer to overhaul particularly since I need to get Mac-based software for the development. I'm leaning toward Adobe Dreamweaver and would appreciate feedback any of you may have on what has worked for you, what hasn't, and whether you've used Adobe Dreamweaver before.

As a little treat to commemorate the blog's birthday, I decided to go back through the last year's posts and feature some of my favorite photos with today's post. Enjoy!

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Thoughts on My 41st Birthday

It was 41 years ago today that I was born into this world during a September heat wave (poor Mom). After 38 hours of labor (again, poor Mom) I was born c-section, had the guck suctioned from my lungs, and I took my first breath.

It was almost 2 years ago (1 year, 10 months, and 29 days to be exact) that another surgery gave me new life by freeing me from over 20 years of living with the crippling condition of endometriosis. It was as if someone had again allowed me to take my first breath.

It was 10 years ago today that I sat in my Auntie's home, discouraged and forelorn at the horrible prospects of my lovelife. I was browsing through one of her quilting magazines and admiring a design with a grapevine wreath in the center.

"I'll make you a deal," Auntie said with a twinkle in her eye, "I'll make you that quilt either as a wedding gift or for your 35th birthday--whichever comes first."

It was shortly after that birthday that I went out on a second date with an old friend whom I'd had a first date with a month previously and determined he wasn't "the one". Tonight, I sat across a table holding hands with that same man and proudly told our waitress that we had been married for almost 10 years now. He is my soul mate, my protector, my all-time love, and my best friend. The friendship and deep love I share with him also breathed new life into me allowing me to heal past wounds, discover parts of myself I had not known, and gave me the courage to explore creativity and passions I had left untapped within me.

My mom recently told me that she wished that my life had been so different than how it had been. I told her, in all honesty, that I wouldn't want it any other way. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot about my life that has been just plain awful and truly a living nightmare. But I survived to be 41 years old and am a stronger woman for all that I've experienced and will continue to experience. That's what my life's trials and tribulations have been for, so that I got the privilege of learning what Cindy is made of. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Now today I'm going to do exactly what I want to for my birthday.... work in my garden!

Happy Birthday Dexter and Dee Dee!

Today, September 6th, is the birthday of the two "Originals", Dexter and Dee Dee. As brother and sister from the same litter, they both turn 7 years old today! [photo at left taken by Hubby]

We love them both so very much that it's hard to remember life before Dexter and Dee Dee were a part of it. They are such loyal little companions that we often joke that they are "dogs in cat-suits".

Each chose their human very early on in life. Dexter chose me as his human, while Dee Dee chose Hubby as her human. Still, they are both equal opportunity kitties when it comes to being lovable to both of us.

As a special birthday tribute, we share some favorite photos of them both as kittens and as grown-up kitties. Happy Birthday!






Above left: Dexter as a kitten looking soooooo cute!
Above right: Dexter drinking from the bathroom faucet (photo taken by Hubby)


Above left: Dee Dee as a kitten. Even then she always found a box to lay in.
Above right: Dee Dee as an adult "scootching on the smooth" (she loves newly smoothed out bedsheets and blankets).

Click here for the story on how Dexter and Dee Dee came to live at Rosehaven Cottage.

Did you know that Dexter has his own line of clothing and accessories? Click here to see.

Did you know that Dee Dee has her own line of clothing and accessories too? Click here to see.