Darling Doggie and I thank everybody for playing along on our little “Name the Sheltie” contest.

We got LOTS of guesses — ranging from Irish names like “Seamus” and “Knute,” to cute names like “Fluffy” and “Silky.” From “girly” names like “Honey-Bear” and “Shannon” and “Flossy” to cats’ names like “Socks” and “Rusty.”

However, NO ONE guessed accurately. And here, I thought I’d given you too many clues!

So, Darling Doggie supervised while I wrote everybody’s name on a slip of paper (sorry, but only one slip per person — more guesses didn’t earn you additional chances, this isn’t a county fair or a church picnic!). Then I took those slips of paper and dropped them into a plastic cup. I swirled them around and around, but figured that wasn’t quite sufficient, so I took an identical plastic cup and sashayed them back and forth until they were good and mixed up.

Only then did I close my eyes, reach in, and pull out one slip.

One name. Belonging to one person.

Are you eager to find out who it was?

Or is the identity of Darling Doggie more pressing?

Bet you’d all have a fit if I refused to tell you either the winner or the Sheltie’s name, wouldn’t you??

Okay, enough suspense.

The person whose name I drew from the cup — winner of my hand-beaded chandelier earrings — is none other than Katybeth!

Congratulations, my friend!

I swear I didn’t rig it, just because it was her idea in the first place.

Katybeth, if you’ll e-mail me (ole miss debbie at gmail dot com — minus the spaces, of course), I’ll package these babies up and send them right to you.

And now for the “reveal” — Darling Doggie, the Sheltie, is named “Dallas.”

Big D. Lone Star. A stone’s throw from where Domer was born 21 years ago.

I told you the Sheltie was a “big boy,” didn’t I? And that he was the lone male in a litter of three?

And if you’d really been observant, you’d have noticed that w-a-a-a-y back in my blogging history, I mentioned his name. Hover your mouse cursor over the photos, and you’ll see I’m right.

And I know I’ve mentioned that I worked in Texas before moving back to Illinois.

So you see? The clues were there all along!