Shelties Like Scratches!

Hi everyone,

I know, I am a horrible person and have been slacking off on the blog-front for a LONG time now! I do have some good excuses, we've been super busy around here lately. Just no time to write anything worth reading.

The PhD project is coming along well.
Gio and Romeo are both happy and healthy, no issues with seizures for a long time now!
I'm now a certified CARO Rally-O judge and am eager about my first judging assignments coming up soon!
I'm still teaching Rally-O classes for Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club.
I've been traveling a LOT for school, and the boys are loving the quality time they get to spend with "gramma" when I am away.

Why am I dusting off the blog today? Because I've entered the boys in a really fun photo contest and I would LOVE if you could maybe help me out with some votes!

The contest is being run by the Western Canada Lottery Association. 10 winning photos (2 from Saskatchewan, where we are) will be selected to appear on Scratch-n-Win tickets! How hilarious is that?! Shelties LOVE scratches, so a Scratch-n-Win ticket is the perfect place for them to be.

I've entered the max of 10 photos into the contest and would greatly appreciate if you could all swing by there and give them a rating. I don't think this is a "vote every day" thing, so just once is enough! I'm trying to find the fine line between asking politely for votes and being so obnoxious so as to turn people off from helping me out. haha

Below are the photos. You can rate them all, or just pick your favorites. I think the voting is only open to Canadian residents.

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

Neve Zedek

It's been much too long, again, I know. I'd planned on posting at the beginning of this week, but then I caught the flu so the hiatus became even longer than I'd anticipated. Oh well.
I'm going to share some pictures with you that we took a week or so ago when my boyfriend and I went to walk around in Neve Zedek, an old neighborhood in Tel Aviv one evening. It has a bit of a European atmosphere, I think, and felt nice and romantic. I'd never been there before, and I really liked seeing the old houses and narrow streets. It is very different from the architecture elsewhere in Tel Aviv which is very modern, worn down and dare I say quite ugly.

While we were there I also spotted a little shop that seemed to be filled with antique or antique like treasures. Unfortunately it was closed, but I was standing there staring through the shop window for at least ten minutes, so I simply need to get back there one day that it's open.

Stroll on the weekend

Thank you for all your good ideas and advice on what to do if you have troubles sleeping. I've tried out some of them already and my sleeping routine's gotten better. It's still not perfect since I still go to bed at about two or three in the night, but at least that's a whole lot better than eight in the morning. Hopefully I'll be able to go to bed earlier and earlier and slowly get back on track.

We took these photos on the weekend when my boyfriend and I went for a really long walk (we probably walked for an hour or so) along the beach promenade in Tel Aviv and in a little park that we got to at the end of the walk. I've always loved going for long walks, but here that is nearly impossible due to the extremely bright and hot sun and the humidity. In the evening walking is a little more manageable (though the humidity is still there), luckily, and therefore that is something I try to do very frequently.






Skirt and hat from H&M and top and shoes from Asos

Countryside

This weekend I spent at the countryside where my late grandfather grew up - picking cloudberries, a few blueberries, visiting my godparents and reading books. I have many fond memories from this place, where I as a little girl spent a lot of time with my grandparents in their cabin. The meadow where these pictures were taken used to be one of my absolute favorite places to play when I was younger; either with animals that I would make from cones and little sticks, running around and making flower crowns or just lying amidst the straws and flowers and gazing at the sky.








Vintage dress, cardigan from H&M, tights and shoes from Topshop

Nine pictures from Saturday.

My Saturday more or less. Woke up much too late, got dressed and did my make up, went for a walk with Tassus, ate a delicious and oh so filling bagel that my boyfriend made, biked to and from a private German lesson I gave, cooked potato and pea curry. Quite an ordinary and relaxing Saturday.

Yarkon Park

On Tuesday evening, my boyfriend and I went to Yarkon Park, which is a massive park in Tel Aviv. We'd planned on going there for quite some time, but due to my boyfriend being extremely busy with his final project in architecture it was always canceled. I had been to the edges of this park before, but not ventured deep into it like this time. Being there was absolutely wonderful with the enormous green lawns, trees growing sideways so that one can easily sit in them, and a lovely lake with boats and ducks. Somehow, it reminded me of being in a completely different country. We both agreed that we need to go back there again, especially to rent a boat and sail in the lake which is in the park, or to just have a little picnic there - something this park is surely perfect for.