Dog Days of Summer Heat

Cable & Coral Dog Days of Summer at Amazon

As the dog days of summer (early July through early September) and its heat intensity begins to wane, my mood seems to swing out of the present day and into thoughts of the past and the future. The changing weather seems to beckon an answer to the ongoing question of my life, "Where do I wish to be?"

I know I do not wish to be in the present moment, as sadly, on June 30th, I lost my dog Tidbit to old age and the big "C" when Cancer took its toll and took her away from me. I have spent the dog days of this summer mourning the loss of woman's best friend.

In fact, no longer being able to share daily walks on the beach with my girl, I no longer enjoy where I am. I have not walked the neighborhood nor the beach without her. It seems pointless to be here in the Sunshine State of Florida without Tidbit by my side.

Nonetheless, Tidbit's legacy lives on in my article writing online and she shall be ever-present in future writings. 

• On one of our last walks to the beach together Tidbit learned a new trick and that became the fuel to caution my readers about the need to take precautions to prevent heatstroke in dogs. 
• In my review of P.D. Eastman's "Go Dog. Go!" I said so long to my canine companion.
• As the Book For Kids Contributor on Squidoo, the future holds a few more children's dog book reviews of a positive nature from this PAWSitive reading list.

As for me, I know not what my future holds in store, maybe another moving adventure, maybe not. I can assure you of one thing, though ... I will not be without a dog by my side for long!

I am a dog lover and I will sure keep you posted on the future dog walks in my life. In the meantime, let us enjoy what is left of the dog days of summer and the gifts the present holds for us all.

HOP and SQUIDOO

This article is linked up with HOP and SQUIDOO at Marsha's Spot, a blog hop for bloggers that are writers on Squidoo, too.

Join Squidoo and hop along with us!

abitosunshine Disclosure

Amazon and Squidoo Golden Opportunity

Today was my Amazon Associate payday and I do enjoy seeing those dollar signs added directly to my bank account as a reward for my work-at-home efforts. I must add, too, that if I had not become a product review writer on Squidoo that I might never have known about affiliate earnings through Amazon being such a golden opportunity.

Squidoo affords me the opportunity to write and publish rave reviews of a variety of products. Consequently, if those items are available for purchase through Amazon I will automatically include them within my article. When a purchase is made via my web page - I earn!

Of course, I also use my direct Associate link within articles here on my blog. For instance, the image and link for the Golden Dollar Sign Porcelain Ornament in this blog article are both directly linked to Amazon via my personal affiliation link, which means if someone clicks on my link to learn more about the ornament, buys it or any other item while browsing through the Amazon marketplace via my link - I earn!

Thank you, Amazon and Squidoo, for being somewhat like the geese that lay golden eggs - FANTABULOUS!

Speaking of fantastic and fabulous things... You, too, are invited to blog about anything you deem such and blog hop along with me for FANTABULOUS FRIDAY!

Feel free to add your blog post link and title anytime during the week to each week's FF post here at abitosunshine. (There is a link-up list at the end of this article for this week!)

Perhaps you are blogging about Squidoo, too. If so, Link that blog post up with Marsha's HOP and SQUIDOO!

Squidoo Contributors Are Fantabulous

For those who are members of the Squidoo writing community or those of you who are online friendly with a Squidoo writer or a few, you may have already heard about the latest fantastic and fabulous new goings-on, that of Squidoo Contributors. We - yes, I am honored to be one - are FANTABULOUS!

A Contributor on the Squidoo platform is nothing more, nothing less than an authority on a specific topic. Most are considered experts in their designated writing category.

I am going to direct you to just a few of my friends who are official Squidoo Contributors. Each of these writers has written their own introductory article to explain their topic of expertise. And what a FANTABULOUS variety of information they share!

Squidoo Contributors I Highly Recommend

• Forever Hopeless Romantic
• Home Renovator
• Recycler
• Mid-Atlantic States Travel
• Party Planner
• Pattern Queen
• Photo Bug
• Books For Kids

The short list above is just a smattering of topics to be covered by Squidoo Contributors. There are many wonderful writers on Squidoo who are willing to share their knowledge with you.

More FANTABULOUS News For Me Today

My Solar Indoor Sun Chimes article was presented with a Squidoo Purple Star! The editorial team of Squidoo found my article noteworthy and I certainly appreciate the gift ot this award of excellence.


You can be a Squidoo writer too! Join Squidoo today and become part of the pleasure of sharing your creativity and writing treasures.

Blog Hop Along Here With FANTABULOUS FRIDAY! 

You can add your blog post link and title anytime during the week to each week's post here at abitosunshine.

Without a doubt you have something fantastic and fabulous to share with the world too. So go ahead, blog about it, and then submit your blog link to the list at the end of this article.

I am also linking this blog post up with HOP and SQUIDOO over at Marsha's Spot, a blog hop for Squidoo Lensmasters and bloggers.

Melancholy Turns Joyous Thanksgiving Day

Happy belated Thanksgiving! And this Joy Solar Powered Garden Word Art states perfectly how my day turned out to be. It was filled with joy!

The spirit of thanksgiving is a year-round thing so every day is a day for giving thanks. That said, I could not wait to share with my readers how my melancholy day turned into a joyous occasion.

I began my favorite holiday with an attitude of gratitude; however, melancholy thoughts seeped in, as they often do this time of year. I did what I do best when this happens, I began writing my thoughts and feelings down - the result quite cathartic and the end result joyous!

You can read about the purging of my emotions of the day and see the face of my joy right here and add your own thoughts of the day in the page comments if you wish: Give Thanks

I give thanks to my pal Marsha for the opportunity to be linking my Joyous Thanksgiving post up with the blog hop she hosts - HOP and SQUIDOO - where Squidoo writers share their blogging that pertains to their Squidoo publications. Join Squidoo and blog hop along with us!

Hooked on Crochet Friends

Yes, I am hooked on crochet friends and want to share a couple of them with you. Of course, I met both of these gals through the community of Squidoo. Thus, today I will be linking this blog post up with HOP and SQUIDOO over at Marsha's Spot.

And, I must add, Marsha crochets too! You will not want o miss Marsha's toothbrush rugs!


Years ago I was crochet crazed too, but then along came my first computer and I was hooked into a whole new world that consumed so much of my time that I no longer had time for yarn crafts as I was busy sharing my poetry and writings with the world wide web. Along came publishing my articles on Squidoo and there is where I met writers who were writing about their crochet craft too!

A squid being the symbol of the Squidoo writing platform, I decided to purchase myself what I call a "baby squid" from a gal who calls herself Wednesday Elf. How cute! I discovered her crochet pattern for a baby octopus and was happy to find that she sells them too! Sweet, I could have a baby squid and wouldn't have to interrupt my writing to make time to crochet it for myself!

I have now purchased three of these octopus creations from Elf's Etsy shop, Coastal Crochet Crafts. You can see my collection and read all about them right here at All Squids On Deck!

This past week I published an article about a wonderful gift from my friend LisaAuch on Squidoo.

Lisa presented me with the gift of a sunflower and together we share the pattern of the flower of the sun with you so you can crochet yourself or a friend a bit of sunshine too!

And now, I am once again hooked on crochet and have my yarn stash out and plan to begin crocheting myself some holiday decorations! Not to worry, this will not interfere (much) with my writing.

Are you hooked on crochet or other crafty endeavors?

Hop and Squidoo Blog Hop is Back

I was delighted to read that Marsha's Spot has brought back the Hop and Squidoo for Squidoo lensmasters to share article writing input and lens links in a blog hop! This gives me good reason to blog today, hooray!

FYI: A "lens" is an article, nothing more and nothing less. It's just what we lensmasters (writers on Squidoo) call them.

Yes, I am proud to say I am a writer on the Squidoo platform! If you are, too, I hope you blog with us and link up each week. If you are not yet writing on Squidoo, sign up right here with my referral link.

You will find this week's Hop and Squidoo return post by Marsha talks about the new format for articles on Squidoo. Personally, I am loving the new formats as they are rolled out, for several reasons:

• I find it much easier to stay on topic with the guidance provided by Squidoo.
• The articles are short and sweet in appearance and to the point.
• I enjoy being able to add my own background images to the page.
• My affiliate sales, percentage-wise, seem to be better with the new format than with the way of making lenses in the past.

Just this past week I published a recipe lens with the new format. Ohio State Buckeyes and fans will not want to miss my delicious Peanut Butter and Chocolate Candy Recipe.

Go Bucks!