New paintings and regular art updates.
Actually my small 2022 crop.
I only put in a couple of small plants this year so we have had about 8 or 10 tomatoes this year. I just haven’t had the heart. Then this appeared on my Facebook memories and I’m amazed at the sunshine. This last few weeks have been a succession of grey, wet days, Atlantic lows storming in with chill winds. According to the weather forecast September might be slightly better. I’d like something summery please, not too hot, not to cold. X
What’s your favorite time of day?
When the sun is overhead
Light shines down on bright flower beds
Makes the hazy colours shine
On plants and flowers and bees divine
At the stroke of noon I see
Primary colours, one two three..
Red and blue and yellow too
And the other colours hue
Make me want to paint and draw
All the beauty that I saw
Afternoon is the key
Makes my mind feel oh so free
Mornings are OK I guess
But post meridians are the best!
My cat was lying, belly up, looking at me. He was on the Sunday papers so I decided to add a mosaic to the background. The only problem is the tool has a pointer that magnifies where you are drawing but it doesn’t line up with the edge of the image. It also means a lot of filling in if you use a small nib, and overlap if you use a larder one. It means if you try and draw round the outline of something like the cat it often overlaps and you have to use the back toggle or add a bit of extra drawing to cover over the uneven areas. Still it looks better than when he was sprawled on the newspaper.
It’s cold in our house today- on a grey overcast bank holiday Sunday. I was having a rest on our sofa, but woke up to a cold shiver down my spine. This is British Summertime so what do I expect? I’ve lived long enough to see snow in June. So this is nothing. It’s just I don’t want to put the heating on. Cost of living and all that!
So what do I do? Add extra layers, curl up and keep out of draughts. Have a hot cup of tea or coffee. I don’t think I will see steam rising! It’s not quite as cold as that, but I’m…. brrrrr… Cold… I’ll try and get a cat to sit on me x
What’s your favorite recipe?
Trifle, my favourite treat.
A layer of jelly, a layer of blancmange or custard and a layer of whipped cream.
I make up a sachet of sugar free jelly with three quarters of a pint of boiling water and a quarter of a pint of port or sherry. I add that to large bowl and add chopped strawberries or raspberries or blueberries to make the jelly stronger when it sets (I don’t use trifle sponges as they are full of sugar) once cooled I put it in the fridge to set.
When the jelly is set I mix up a pint of blancmange with boiling milk (you can use custard) this comes in a variety of flavours. I use a sweetner instead of sugar in the mixture, one that doesn’t have an aftertaste. Once the liquid has been boiled and thickened I put the saucepan in a larger one filled with cold water. The blancmange cools enough so that it doesn’t melt the jelly when you add it to the top.
Once the middle layer is set I take a large tub of double cream and whisk it till it is stiff and makes peaks. This is spooned onto the trifle.
You can add decorations such as sprinkles (hundreds and thousands) or glacé cherries, grated chocolate or chopped strawberries etc.
I make it as sugar free as I can, but it is high in fat. You could use skimmed milk for the middle layer.
This is a Christmas or Easter treat in our house. And sometimes I make it for birthdays instead of cake.
What’s in a cats mind? Waiting for something, but what? No sounds outside, no rustling leaves, but he waits. His sister or brother outside. Is it them he’s sitting, waiting for.
The cat likes to be patient, it’s in his nature, will he see a spider cross the floor? I wrote this, then looked up. A click or clack and he’s out the cat flap, to explore.
Night sits over the house. Will he see a mouse? Will he wait and stare some more, or pounce? No presents please. I don’t need the hassle. You sit and stare, at peace.
I do love how my hanging baskets grow. They build up and then splurge like a firework exploding in slow motion. Petunias (Surfinias) and Begonias are the main flowers, then small flowers and trailing small leaves. There are also fushias in some of the other baskets.
I rely on the small nursery where we buy them to create a wonderful summer spectacle. They never fail to give me joy over the summer. I usually plant up other flowers to fill in the gaps around the yard, although my touch has been lacking with everything that happened over the last several months. My hubby has added some extra plants, sunflowers, clematis, montbretia, a few osteospermums. Missing are pelagoniums, I think they were bought before I even thought of getting some. Still it’s been a good display. I will try and get some closeups if I can safely get out of the back door.
My brain is numb
I want to do things
Stuck inside
Tied down by boredom
And an injured leg
The world turns
And changes
First leaves
Yellow on the Cherry tree
They will wilt and fall.
Bored at home
Will I be out
Before the leaves are all gone?
Swallows will fly
Night returns as days shorten.
Looking out of a window
Limited views
Meanwhile
Keep my legs raised
To reduce the swelling.
Bored
Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.
A couple of weeks ago I was excited that one of my paintings would be entered into an astronomy competition. A magazine wanted to see people’s artwork so I sent in this image. Then I got a message asking me to send in again with a jpeg (it was) as an attachment (my phone sends the image embeded in the email).
I tried again, it did the same trick. I started to walk upstairs to send the image on my PC instead. Snap! That was when my ligament snapped.
Of course I emailed to apologise and explain. I also asked if they had anyone technically able to get the file as I only have my mobile to use as I’m stuck downstairs! I’ve had no response, no reply. I feel dismissed and fed up. Excitement, what excitement?
I was looking through Facebook and saw this image about hangovers and sleeping after drinking heavily. I decided to post anyway because I like the image.
But when I checked the word hangover on Snopes.com it said it does NOT come from people sleeping over ropes in Victorian times. It’s a false claim which is a shame because it sounds right. Even this image of people hanging over the ropes seems to reinforce the idea.
Look up hangover on Wikipedia and it generates all sorts of infotainment, especially if you look for ‘hangover meaning’. Including comedy films and hangover cures. Luckily I’m not suffering from one. (A build up of toxins following the consumption of excess alcohol or other poisons).
Mallaband-Brown