Getting Inked

This morning started bright and early, but unfortunately, I had some stomach issues to remedy. I believe all the rich food in which we've been indulging finally caught up to me. Once I felt better, I was ready to take the pups outside for some play time.

Piper is so excited about play time, he sleeps with his ball.

We spent about a half hour out by the pond while letting Cliff sleep late. When we finally returned, I was ready to make a light breakfast. One of the awesome things about Barkwells is the gift tote we received when we arrived. The tote had lots of fun snack foods, but one of the best inclusions was this.

I know this is a Horizon Organic package, but this was a dozen eggs from the chickens they have here at Barkwells. You can't get any more local than that. So, I made a couple of overeasy eggs and toast for breakfast.

After breakfast, Cliff and I wanted to get some coffee from Starbucks. I knew there was an Ingles nearby, so we opted to go there to visit the Starbucks kiosk advertised. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Ingles near Barkwells, we realized it was still "under construction" and not yet serving the much needed caffeine. So, we started searching for another Starbucks. It turned into quite the quest. We have seen so many Ingles with attached Starbucks, that we just assumed there would be one close to the store we had to leave. After about 15 minutes of driving blindly, we finally found an open Ingles with our much beloved Starbucks kiosk.

The nirvana called to us at the Ingles entrance.

My soy caramel macchiato...oh, rejoice!

Cliff has a love affair with Starbucks.

Since it took so long to get our Starbucks, we had to hustle to get ready when we returned to the cabin. Our appointment to get our tattoos was at 1 p.m. with Hot Stuff Tattoo. When we got there, we waited for the equipment set up, then it was time to get Cliff on the table. Here are the pictures of the work in progress.

The stencil is in place.

The outline and initial shading

The finished artwork with full color.

After Cliff was finished, they got the equipment arranged for my tattoo. I don't know why I like getting tattoos. I'm really a wuss when it comes to tattoos. Today was no different. I was working a breathing routine that would rival the lamaze technique. Here are my in progress photos.

The stencil (the green lines were a guide to the size needed to match Cliff's)

The outline and initial shading

The finished artwork with full color

When we finally got home after getting our ink, I took the dogs outside for some more play time by the pond. I walked around the pond with Piper and Tokie, and when I saw Piper fretting by the side of the pond, I knew he had dropped his ball in the pond. I stood and watched him try to figure out how to get his ball without getting in the water. At first, he was intrigued by a dead fish that was floating in the water by the shoreline. He keep pushing it under the water, unsure what to do when it would float back to the top.

Finally, I couldn't watch him struggle anymore. I went to help him retrieve his ball. That's when this happened.

Somehow, I slipped when I was retrieving Piper's ball and ended up halfway in the lake. Luckily, I managed to save my new tattoo from getting wet, which would have been a definite no-no.

After a couple of hours, we removed the bandages and worked on fitting our ink together to see if we get the desired heart effect. It's subtle, but definitely there.

The tattoos helped keep my mind off what needs to happen tomorrow. My little sister arrived tonight, and we took her and Rob out for dinner at Lexington Avenue Brewery.

After filling our bellies, it was time to get back to the cabin to get some shut eye. Only a few more hours, now.