Sunday Supplements (and Sunday Puppy too)

It's been a while since I did a Rustic Weekend feature. Yesterday I had a guest post over on Bonnie's A Compass Rose, titled "Why being a Brit in suburban USA isn't so bad", and writing it reminded me of some of my favorite things about living here in Nowheresville, PA.

Originally, Rustic Weekend was a quiet celebration of being able to enjoy doing nothing with my husband, something I hadn't been able to do at all for our first year of marriage. Then both our schedules filled up, even at weekends, so the feature became Sunday Supplements, a quick round-up of my favorite finds.

We didn't go anywhere or do anything particularly exciting this summer. And that was kind of wonderful. We did however, do plenty of other lovely things… (sorry vegans/vegetarians, close-ups of meat are imminent!)

So roll on Fall and all its tasty rustic bounties! And yes, that's a pumpkin beer right there. If you hold on, I'll be happy to share our recipes for honey glazed BBQ chicken and basil pasta salad later this week!

I don't think I'll manage a whole month of posts just on pumpkins this October. What would you like instead?

Ad Space Giveaway with A Compass Rose

Hey look at this, I'm part of an ad space giveaway for bloggers! This is being hosted by the wonderful Bonnie from A Compass Rose . She will treat you very well as a blog sponsor, so it's worth it just for that. You'll also get a spot on my blog here, and alongside all these other lovely faces. 

Enter below, or directly on Bonnie's site (if you comment on her post you get an extra entry, and you get to see what landmark I want to visit next). 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A few months back I myself won some ad space on a variety of different blogs. It has been great fun, and I got to connect with some excellent bloggers. But it also made me realize how amazing and hardworking these bloggers are. 

Over the past few months I've been adjusting to a whole new career and work schedule. It's been fantastic so far - I've got some great paying clients and I'm learning a whole array of new skills. But it has meant that I had to step back from personal blogging for a bit. I struggled to keep up with some of the great opportunities that come from blogging - I've ignored PR requests that I'll get back to at some point, I haven't kept up with comment replies and reading other blogs. And I'm just a teeny tiny blog!

So hats off to all my favorite super bloggers. You are truly excellent. And if people have tips and hints for multitasking and project management in this web 2.0 freelance world of ours, you know where to leave the comments!

PS - the ad space I'm offering is 200px wide, however tall you want (within reason, ok?) and it'll probably end up being up for more than 30 days because I'll forget to take it down. 

Labor Day, Philadelphia, 2013

Last year for Labor Day, we stayed at home, baked cookies and watched Newsies. This year I had the honor of witnessing Philadelphia's Labor Day parade. Just like July 4th, I thought I'd share some of my photos from the beginning of the parade.

Now the tricky part about this was the rain that hit just as the event got going. It was torrential, but it didn't deter those who marched - which was truly awe-inspiring. People grabbed plastic ponchos and kept on walking. I grabbed one myself, although I used it to cover and protect my camera, while I got drenched from head to toe. My shoes took days to dry. I didn't mind though - it was much warmer than the same kind of rain in Glasgow!

So that's why these photos aren't the best, as most were taken through the armhole of a free plastic poncho.

What did you get up to for the holiday weekend? And what are you looking forward to this fall?