DOGS NIGHT OUT

The very first thing I want to do is say thank you to Mina from Green Witch with Sprinkles for giving me yet another award. It's getting to be a habit with her. I'm starting to think she likes this blog. I'm supposed to pass the award on to five people who's blogs I follow that I feel are a ray of sunshine but can not choose just five. You are all special and are all a ray of sunshine to me. Please copy this button and display it on your side bar.

Thanks to all of you who have such enjoyable and interesting blogs. You really do add a ray of sunshine. I also want to take this time to welcome my new followers and to thank the ones who have been with me since the beginning.

Now that I've gotten the important things taken care of I'm going to introduce you to the newest member of the Santa Squad. As you can probably guess by the title of this post, there's more than likely some dogs in the bag. The reason we now have dogs showing up is because I've been thinking of my canine niece and sending healing thoughts her way. As those of you who follow my sister Marlene's blog all know, Daisy recently had surgery on her leg. She is such a happy little girl that even when her leg was bothering her she was still so full of joy. I know that she's probably keeping Marlene jumping trying to keep her from doing something to keep it from healing, hence the thoughts I've been sending her way.

So, not to drag this out any longer, here he is.

Since I've discovered black gesso I can't seem to stop myself from using it on my pieces at least in the areas of their coats. It really seems to give me the results I'm looking for.

Here's a little known fact that I'm going to share with you. Santa carries sweets in his pockets because he suffers from low blood sugar and has a sweet tooth. This time he has a ginger bread man cookie and a couple of candy canes. Two of his favorite snacks.

Here's a look at the two dogs in the bag. They are flanked by Annie and Baby Bear.

It almost looks like Baby Bear is trying to climb out of the bag. Maybe he is.  The scarf that Santa has stuffed in his pocket was an early Christmas gift from Mrs. Claus. 

I couldn't resist giving you another look at the pups. Have you ever noticed how looking at a happy puppy makes you smile even when you don't realize you're doing it? Maybe it's just me.

Now I suppose I'm going to have to put some cats in the next bag or my feline nephews are going to feel I like dogs better than cats.

I want to thank everyone who's expressed an interest in winning one of my Santa's in the contest/giveaway. There is still plenty of time to enter and come up with the guess that puts you in the bag for the main drawing. So far it's a pretty empty bag. The bag for the second drawing is getting quite full.

The clue for today is: Think Christmas, folks!!  
The item on the plate is something that you see  only at Christmas. It is edible but is not normally eaten. Does that help? Please feel free to put your guess on this post.

Happy Independence Day to everyone in the states and a Happy Canada Day for our neighbors to the north.  As always, thanks for stopping by.