I spy with @ladybug146's eye winner announcement + B-day raids and the black forest

Hey SSG!

I guess today is going to be a post about nothing and everything at the same time. I had a contest last week and all your bling made my stackitis worse but thankfully @silvergingerman saved the day once again.

First of all, I want to thank you for your great entries to the contest, I asked for bling and you all gave me bling!! I didn't think of the part where I actually have to choose a favorite!! I have to admit it was tough to choose, it was close but I narrowed it down to 2 winners. @gdwcoins had my favorite picture with the daily bling but @ronaldoavelino's 10oz beast hit me strait in the heart and conquered me so you will both be winners, congrats! I have sent for an SBI share for each of you, allow them 7 days to process the request.

WINNER #1: @gdwcoins

WINNER #2: @ronaldoavelino

Now to the birthday raids, Pirate Sunday was my birthday, how fitting...Perfect time to go down to Aaron's shop and see what treasures may lie within for the taking. It all started after I made my last SSG posts and all the bling I encountered got me feverish, caught in a fog, all I could do was sleep,maybe that was the allergic reaction and the benadryll, maybe it was the fact the I'm now officially old at 35. In my fog, @silvergingerman kept hearing about this black forest, where could that be, where has her mind gone? He knew it was time to get me something the reduce the fever while there was still time. Quick we went to Aaron's see if he had a recent shipment that could help. As per usual there was an assortment of shiny objects to awaken every pirate within and because it was my birthday, @silvergingerman was buying... What to choose! What to choose! First I went for a nice Monarch Precious Metals 2 oz hand-pour, I don't know why but I have always been a big fan of these, they are a beauty.

Shot 1/30 sec. f/3.2 40 mm, ISO 900

Every pirate needs a nice booty bag and for whatever reason I didn't have one yet. I have treasure boxes but no bag, It was time to change that, there was a box of home made bags by some kid trying to buy Pokemon cards, they were a bit over priced but I can appreciate the enthusiasm and the effort. It will make a great background for coin pictures until it gets taken over by my shipmate and best hired mouser's fur, Kit-Ten. It has skulls and roses, Very fitting to hold my loot. You can see parts of it in the background of the picture above.

Shipmate Kit-Ten

Of course we cant leave without checking out the loot box of random 1 oz/fractional bars and rounds at bargain prices and found some interesting 2012 Year of the Dragon 1/2 oz bars still in the original package.I can't walk away from a nice dragon.

Shot 1/30 sec. f/3.3 40 mm, ISO 1000

Of course no worthy sea journey is complete without a good shark encounter, this Hammerhead was headed strait for us, I could see his glimmering teeth thru the blue water encasing it.

Shot 1/30 sec. f/3.2 40 mm, ISO 1400

This is probably the weirdest thing I found since the pirate bills. Niue has a series of colorized coins featuring sharks and other sea creatures. The coin looks like looking thru a submarine window. The case cover has a blue water like substance with an air bubble to make it look like it is being looked at under water. Unique indeed! So I conquered the shark and put him in the bag too, what a find!

Shot 1/25 sec. f/3.2 40 mm, ISO 1600

What about the black forest mumbo jumbo? It was my birthday after all and since I have deadly food allergies, @silvergingerman can't really take me out to eat or it might end in the hospital and I can't buy any baked goods in store and all have to be hand made from scratch, he bakes me whatever cake I want from scratch. What a guy! I'm so spoiled. This year I wanted a black forest cake. This thing was so beautiful I had to share his baking skills. I wish you could all taste the decadence. Thank you @silvergingerman, you're the best.

Shot 1/40 sec. f/4.5 34 mm, ISO 800

Well that was a lot of raiding for one day, stack on!

All images taken with Nikon D7000 and 40mm Nikkor micro except for contest pictures.

Cheers, X🐞X