Since you just clicked on a site called SaltyHedman.com, I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re at least slightly interested in what we Hedmans were up to?… Well Friday night included a planned run around West Barnstable with girlfriends, followed by a spontaneous bonfire on the beach in Sandwich with a larger group of pals – what cozy fun!

Saturday was a day of errands and food prep for the big adventure we were to embark on Sunday morning. Months ago, we reserved our spot on a small island off the coast of Falmouth/Mashpee, MA. Washburn Island is part of the larger reserve called Waquoit Bay Estuary…. and it is approximately two miles long with 11 primitive campsites. As luck would have it, and the season winding down, we actually were one of only three or four boats overnight on the first night, and Gary and I were alone with just our dogs on the second night! What an incredible heaven for the dogs (we had four total), who ran around mostly off-leash to sniff trees, splash in the ocean and – in Bromley’s case – roll in human feces and eat dead bunnies. Blech.

If you are interested, make your reservations very early in the year next year. Particularly if you’re looking for a Friday and Saturday night, which we obviously didn’t get this time around. The island is now closed to campers for the season. We shared the trip with our friends Jess & Nate and Alicia & Tim, and dogs Kenai, Shiloh, Brewer & Bromley – but we look forward to being able to include more of you next time!

By the way, Washburn Island is one of those things that makes me completely doubt my first 18 years on this peninsula. I don’t know what the heck my friends and I were doing all those years that we never kayaked Scorton Creek or camped on a desolate island.

Anyway, I hope you had a relaxing and uplifting mini-vacation yourself over the weekend, and that you’re enjoying the crisp September air that blew right in!

No, it has nothing to do with sunshine or anything – don’t be crazy. June has now passed with 30 days of rain, rain, rain. Honestly, even July has sent us packing for the hills of Vermont this 4th of July weekend. I haven’t been on the boat once, but Gary’s been squeezing in some excellent fishing with pals whether rain or shine, daylight or midnight.

Heather was in town from Arizona for the last few weeks, which is always awesome. We managed to hit a couple of our regular spots to catch up and eat ice cream, but the time went fast. Here are her girls playing at Craigville Beach one evening:

The Pashbys came into town one weekend as we also kicked off Emily’s bachelorette weekend in Wellfleet and Provincetown! Drag-queen karaoke is the perfect bachelorette festivity, FYI. Highly recommended. It was great to have a bunch of our friends meet each other that weekend, all cozied around the back deck sharing laughs and that now-so-familiar bottle of Hound Dog iced tea vodka (classy). We also got to meet Otis that weekend, the adopted little boxer brother of Toro Pashby!

In the meantime, a local animal hospital is ordering up about 10 to 12 of my prints in art gallery canvas and they look incredible! Check out the first trial order  below, and you’ll see this 30×20″ vision of Brewer above your bed when you visit next. It’s so exciting to see these and to be able to start showing them to clients.

On that note, I dabbled in my first-ever family photo session on the beach for a college friend, and I actually loved it! While I don’t expect to change the business name to ‘Warm’ Nose Photo any time soon, please do spread the word to friends and family that I’m available! Click on the photos to go through to the larger portfolio.

Stay tuned for more photos from last weekend, when Gary, Eric and Jill all ran the Fairfield Half Marathon in Connecticut, and the nieces and nephew had their uncle build them a big sand box in the back yard!

I hope you all have something exciting and dry planned for the holiday weekend ahead!

You can see the picket fence in the background here, but rest assured there is also wire fencing behind it to keep the four-leggeds on the inside.

I love that everyone’s laughing and happy in this photo:

Tracy’s kids are so incredibly used to having dogs around. Charlie decided to spend some quality alone time with Brewer in the grass.

Sister Michelle thoroughly enjoyed playing in our sandbox… She doesn’t need to know it was actually a veggie garden, to be planted today.

It was soooooo wonderful to be able to hang out with friends, stuff ourselves with food and merriment, and know that our “kids” were having fun nearby. No one was home alone in a crate. Every pup was getting their exercise and socialization. All were laying down, exhausted at the end of the evening. We counted 11 dogs in total!

This morning was another momentus occasion! We woke up, opened the door, and joined the dogs in the yard while sipping coffee! I’m still in my pajamas!

Hope you’re having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend where you are!

This month marks the one year anniversary of when I started Cold Nose Photo!!

A year ago I was a few months into having my fancy, schmancy new digital SLR camera, and about a month into living with the most photogenic mutt I’ve ever met. I had never heard of or researched the idea of pet photography. I don’t even know how I stumbled to her site, but the first photographer I encountered was Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos on the West Coast. Whoa. I stopped in my tracks. Amaaaazing stuff.

Being as impulsive as I am, and being currently involved in Wordpress training at work, I mocked up a quick site, borrowing too much from Grace’s at the time. But that very night I set to truly working on the site, researching this incredible industry and developing my own goals and ‘personality’ over the next 12 months.

I don’t really recommend this approach – I think it’s much more respectable to spend time dreaming and cultivating, and really working toward delivering the very best of yourself once you’re ready. Write some things down, share with your friends and family, check out peers/competitors around you and get excited – and then launch a web and marketing effort. I only began marketing myself in earnest with the start of 2009. I needed that time to really know who I was, what I was willing to give this new dream, and what I hoped it would give me.

Looking back over the year, I’m extremely proud of where I am today. I get regular practice and snuggles from the dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster, MA, and I have prints going up in two of the Cape’s largest animal hospitals this spring. With an average of 40+ hits a day, more people are commenting on my blog, and it’s exciting to receive compliments via Twitter. My new photo project, Dogs of Cape Cod, just launched. I’ve had strangers on the Cape even tell me they’ve heard about me, which is really a funny thing actually. 74 of you gorgeous people have even become fans of the Cold Nose Photo Facebook page!

I won’t be quitting my day job any time soon, but Cold Nose Photo is what I identify myself with when I wake up in the morning (after first rolling over to identify myself as Gary’s wife, Bromley’s trusted guardian and Brewer’s tennis-ball holder). It always makes me smile to think, “hey, I’m a pet photographer.” It’s creative and fulfilling. I work longer and harder than any other job I’ve had working for other people. I’m downright happy, in this and in other aspects of my life, because I’m doing something that I love.

I encourage you, my friends and family, to think about the kinds of things that make you most happy. You don’t have to give up your full-time salary in order to follow your dream. Start small, be inspired. Maybe you’re already doing it – painting, writing, throwing pottery, sewing, gardening, fishing, singing in the shower… How can you start to share your talents with others in your community?

I went for a long, leisurely drive home along 6A on Friday afternoon after visiting the Animal Rescue League of Brewster. I stopped to look at flowers, antiques and even a couple of the libraries now that I’m officially a card-carrying member again (shout out to Earth Day!)

Check out the pretty flowers I found!

And the old wooden boxes!

On Sunday afternoon, we spontaneously hopped in Kevin & Danielle’s boat and drifted over to the Vineyard for some apps and cocktails. Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? I was so excited for the amount of DOGS that seemed to conglomerate around the one waterfront bar that was open! I was snapping away with the camera – a perfect time to launch my new website!

Are you ready?? Click the screenshot for more, and please join the fun! Weeeeeeeee!

So you can take that approximately 5% decrease in your annual salary, and you can sulk about not being able to eat out at restaurants as often as you did before. Or you can look at the fact that you just gained EIGHT hours to yourself every  month (or 11 if you commute like I do!). A whole day to get out in the great outdoors, to donate your time to a favorite cause, to learn a new skill you’ve been thinking about, or to simply do nothing and relax!

What did I decide to use that time for? Well, you know my pet photography is a huge source of enjoyment and fulfillment for me, and you *know* how I feel about shelter dogs. I’ve done one-off shelter photography for a while now, but most places prefer you come in on a slower weekday to spend time with the dogs. So that’s what I’m doing! I’ve decided to split my furlough day in half and spend four hours every-other Friday with the animals at the Animal Rescue League of Brewster.

You can see photos of my first trip here and here. These photos will be used to boost the dog’s profiles and visibility, and of course I’ll be sharing them over at my photography blog and through an upcoming web project launching soon. Maybe you’ll consider bringing one of this little furballs home with YOU someday!

We’re celebrating a momentous occasion ourselves here in our cozy Cape Cod home…

Please head on over to Cold Nose Photo to read more!

Our weekend was filled with running (with dog), a great hike out at Chequasset Neck in Wellfleet, and some more local walks through the conservation lands. Like any young pup, the key to Kenai’s heart is through exhaustion!

In addition, I went to two sessinos over the grand opening weekend of a new yoga studio in Sandwich, MA – the Sanctuary. It’s a pretty tiny space, but I enjoyed the staff instruction so far! I hear there’s a new studio in Falmouth too?

It was a gorgeous 55-degree weekend, and the coming weekend brings the vernal equinox! We still have a big ski weekend ahead with 12 of Gary’s colleagues, and maybe another spring ski weekend squeezed in there somewhere, but it’s always nice to declare that HOME = spring. Hope you’re enjoying!

Sarah tore her ACL a couple of weeks ago, so we added lots of cozy dinners and hot tubbing to the mix instead of long ski days and dog hikes.  The skiing was great too though, and we snuck off to where the Presidents Day Weekend tourists wouldn’t find us.

Aside from our romantic dinner for four at the 1824 House, we also set out for an evening at Hannah & Steve’s new home (Sarah’s sister) – what a unique house up in the mountains of Moretown, built mostly of wood from the property itself! Their property line even extends into the Mad River. Very happy for them, and the three sisters who are now all within ten minutes of each other.

Gary dropped me off for the second half of the workday in Boston today. Things have been busy and continuing to ramp up at the office, which is great news for all. At the same time, I’m putting a huge push into my photography business for the spring, so keep your eye out for upcoming goodness at Cold Nose Photo!

On a much sadder note, Gary’s grandmother is quickly declining in health. She is 91 years old, and the toughest, most vibrant 91-year old I’ve ever met. Lee is a true matriarch. She had the kind of husband legends are made of and bore three children. Those children are still very close, with expanding families of their own (five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, four great-grandpups). She has participated in her community her entire life. Her network of golf friends, the ladies she plays cards with, the women’s group, her cookie-swapping neighbors… I know they are all keeping her in their thoughts right now. She is passing of nothing more than old age, systems shutting down. What an admirable thing that seems like these days.

We hope you’re all well, surrounded by love and pink doilies, and savoring the coming of spring.

Lucky for me, this was one of my first trips out with my new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L camera lens! Funny photos resulted – we now have a full series of Brewer’s ear blowing in the wind!