Bluespirit

+  Hi everyone & a very belated 'Happy New Year'!
I hope everyone is well & happy.  We're all good here at Chez Buddy.
Here's a pic of Bud on one of our walks this week. We'd had some snow & it was so beautiful in the early morning light.




+  Oh, & the reveal has been done (actually a while ago now) for sga_art_santa.
I was so pleased to have this beautiful piece of art done for me by mella68, & here's what I made for danceswithgary:

Click on the teaser:




+  Did/does anyone watch* Star Trek: Enterprise?  We gave it a try back when it first aired but didn't really take to it & only watched about half a dozen eps.  However, we decided to try again & bought the boxed set of the entire series (sadly only 4 seasons) & we're absolutely loving it! We're currently part of the way through season 3 with the Xindi threat. Love, love, love it!
*Please - no spoilers! *g*


+  I'm still busy sewing & have just finished making this teddy bear for my cousin's little girl's 7th birthday tomorrow. The clothes were a bit fiddly, but I'm quite pleased with how she's turned out in the end.




Happy Friday, all!
*hugs*

celtprincess13 managed to hook me up with the shirtless!Sam gifs that I wanted needed! \o/
So, I've added them to my sidebar & like to think that these three tell a little story... ;)

Sam's working out & sees Dean watching him...


Sam's all 'like what you see? Strip!'


Dean doesn't have to be told twice!


*g*

I've had some lovely responses to my 1920's AU McShep art, 'World, far away', &, as I'd mentioned that I felt it could easily be viewed as Lord John & Rodney from my Big Bang story 'Time & Tide', it's been lovely to have a few comments to that, too!
I love the idea that people are coming new to something that I wrote quite a while ago. :)

In completely different news, with the installation of a new window blind our kitchen renovation is finally complete! \o/
It's a whole new kitchen (everything was ripped out) & I absolutely love it!  (I'll take some pics to share when I get a second.)  It's a fairly small area (no room for seating but it does lead into the dining room through an open doorway, so that's not a problem) but the new layout has given me so much more storage space!  I actually have empty shelves! LOL  Although, I've rediscovered my love for baking (after a break of over 15 years) & so I doubt they'll stay empty for long with all the supplies I'm buying. *g*

I'm finding the baking very therapeutic for my depression, funnily enough.
I'm concentrating on fairly straightforward stuff like muffins for now, but I'm loving baking them from scratch, & the measuring, sifting & mixing is weirdly soothing. :)

My lovely xanthe  gave me her recipe for the gorgeous pear & ginger muffins that I always love (& scoff!) when I stay with her, & I'm really pleased at how they've turned out. (Although the first batch was a bit iffy.  Turned out my oven wasn't quite at the temp it said it was - thank goodness for an oven thermometer!)
I'm also planning to try out some raspberry & lemon muffins, & some carrot & pineapple wholemeal muffins.  The recipes sound very scrumptious.
If anyone has any favourite muffin recipes - please do share! :)

Happy Thursday, all!
*hugs*

Gif credits in my profile. :)

+  I'm a couple of days late, I'm afraid, but here's a little something for the lovely hilde 's birthday!

Clicky!




+  My sweet xanthe  came to stay for a few days at the weekend, & we had the most fabulous time!  We did some shopping (& Xanthe helped me to choose a Xmas party dress plus a dress, etc for my sis-in-law's wedding in March.)  We also went to the National Memorial Arboretum & I showed her the tree & cross we have there in memory of Dad.
On Sunday evening, we went out for dinner with the amazing lantean_drift  & saffron_1 & had a fabulous night of laughter & squee.
In fact, the whole weekend was filled with chatter & I can't remember when I had so much fun!

+  I've booked our seats for The Hobbit! 
*dances*
It's the 7.30pm screening on Thurs 13th!  Woot!  I got us the premier seating with the comfy sofas for two & snacks. :)

Happy birthday to the lovely neevebrody.

I think the boys have something planned for your special day... *g*

Today is the lovely & talented sgamadison's birthday!
Mads is such a kind & good friend - I feel so lucky to have her in my life.

Here's a little McSheppy something to say 'Happy Birthday!'
*hugs*

Click here for the prezzie...

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

I hope everyone is having a lovely day.  Mr B is on holiday this week, so I'm not online too much - just enjoying having him at home all day & spending time together (with the Budster! *g*)

The Valentine's Day fests at sgaartvalentine & h5oartvalentine are going wonderfully with today being the final day of posting.  There have been some gorgeous pieces of art posted & I'm still enjoying catching up with them all.
I do have to give a shout out to one in particular though as it was dedicated to me! \o/

Family Portrait by velocitygrass

It's a wonderfully romantic John/Rodney little snapshot - with a very special guest star! *g*

My own contribution to the SGA fest is an addition to my American Romance Library.

Teaser for 'Law and Order':




Oh, & I must say a belated happy birthday to the lovely berryann!
I'm so sorry I missed your special day - I hope it was filled with wonderful things.
*hugs*

And thank you to hildejohanne & winter_elf for the lovely glass hearts decorating my profile page!
*hugs*

The artist reveals are now up at both h5o_art_santa & sga_art_santa.
My beautiful gifts - which I squeed over before the holidays - were created by the very talented galadriel34 & velocitygrass.  If you haven't had chance to see them yet (or any of the other beautiful pieces) then please do pop over - they're gorgeous!

+ A Festive Collection by galadriel34

+ Elf Angel by velocitygrass

As well as modding both comms, I also took part & my contributions were:

+ New Day (John/Rodney)

Click on the teaser:



&

+ Wonders of the Universe (Steve/Danny - SGA xover)




And on a completely unrelated topic: I've just finished P D James' 'Death at Pemberley' - a murder mystery set within the Pride & Prejudice world.  What a wonderfully entertaining & satisfying read!

Here's a little prezzie for my lovely flist (& anyone else who might enjoy it. *g*)



Home for the holidays - a McSheppy (& Team) bit of festive fondness

Click on Rodney. *g*



Happy holidays - whatever you celebrate! ♥

I've been going through a little bit of a creative slump in the last few months, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see how much I have managed to produce. :)


+ H5O (Steve/Danny)

Art:

Making Waves (American Romance Library)


+ SGA (John/Rodney)

Fic:

Touchdown John gets kidnapped. PG-13 (~6,000 words)

Art:

Second Time Around

Safe Surrender (American Romance Library)

The Dandy Highwayman or You Can Take The Boy Out Of The 80s...


+ Lord of the Rings RPS (Sean Bean/Viggo Mortensen)

Fic:

A dark... and stormy night (a pair of drabbles telling one story) It was a dark and stormy night... PG-13


+ Awards

The GateFic Awards 2011

I've won some awards! \o/

( banners )

Thanks again to everyone who took part in the awards process. I'm really, really touched. ♥
*hugs*

I haven't been online for the last few days (hiking the Stiperstones, taking Bud to the beach, broadband dropping out, etc, etc *g*) so I hadn't realised that the results were up for this year's GateFic Awards. Luckily, the lovely hildejohanne & sgamadison were on the ball & emailed me to say 'go & look'!
*hugs*

Wow... I'm absolutely blown away. I've won three awards!







Thank you so, so much to everyone who took part in the awards process. I'm so touched & can't stop smiling - this has really made my day (week, month, year! *g*)
*hugs*

There were so many amazing stories & pieces of art - congrats to everyone who won & to all the nominees! What a lovely celebration of our shared passion.
I was especially pleased to see sgamadison's wonderful 'Second Verse' being recognised in the novel length AU category! This is my absolute favourite of her stories. ♥

And if that wasn't enough - Team Sheppard has won this year's mcshep_match!



\o/
Woot! We won!
Go, Team Sheppard, go! *g*

The standard was incredibly high & the result was really close, & Team McKay were gracious & wonderful opponents.
Congrats to everyone involved!
*hugs*

I've just posted my own Match contribution in my fic & art LJ - I wonder if anyone guessed this was mine? *g*
*waves at winter_elf*
:)



What an exciting day!
*hugs flist*


Thanks to GateFic Awards & mischief5 for the banners.