Tulips

Today's piece is entitled 'Tulips'. It's acrylic on cardstock (11"h x 8.5" w).  It sort of just came together as I painted it, changing the colours several times until it looked right. I usually have a better  plan in mind beforehand.  But I was determined to make it work.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter Weekend! L and her boyfriend are home from school and spending the long weekend with us.  L made these delicious cookies:

Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are some of the chocolates I bought.  I ended up doing treat bags for the young adults, I couldn't help myself. What are your favourite kinds of chocolate?

Paint Party Friday - The Tower

Earlier this month, I stayed at a hotel for a night and there was a view of an old Tower from my window. I grabbed a sheet of the hotel's notepad (4" x 4") and started sketching its intricate details. So here you have it outlined in a fine point black marker and coloured in with watercolour pencils!  Today a condominium complex and parking garage has been built around the tower.

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Puns

These are good, hope they'll give you  a chuckle!

     
> When chemists die, they barium.
>
> Jokes about German sausage are the
>         wurst.
>
> A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now
>         a seasoned veteran.
>
> I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid.
>         He says he can stop any time.
>
> How does Moses make his tea?
>         Hebrews it.
>
> I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then
>         it dawned on me.
>
> This girl said she recognized me from the
>         vegetarian club, but I'd never
> met herbivore.
>
> I'm reading a book
>         about anti-gravity. I can't put
> it down.
>
> I did a theatrical
>         performance about puns. It was a
> play on words.
>
> They told me I
>         had type A blood, but it was a
> Type-O.
>
> A dyslexic man walks into
>         a bra.
>
> PMS jokes aren't funny, period.
>
> Why were the
>         Indians here first?  They had
> reservations.
>
> Class trip to
>         the Coca-Cola factory.  I hope
> there's no pop
>         quiz.
>
> Energizer Bunny arrested.  Charged with
>         battery.
>
> I didn't like my beard at first.  Then it grew on
>         me.
>
> How do you make holy water?  Boil the hell out of
>         it!
>
> Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job
>         because she couldn't control her
> pupils?
>
> When you get a bladder
>         infection, urine trouble.
>
> What does a clock do when it's
>         hungry?  It goes back four
> seconds.
>
> I wondered why the
>         baseball was getting bigger.
> Then it hit me!
>
> Broken pencils
>         are pointless.
>
> I tried to catch some fog.  I mist.
>        
>
> What do you call a dinosaur with extensive vocabulary? A
>         thesaurus.
>
> England has no kidney bank, but it does have a 
>         Liverpool .
>
> I used to be a banker, but then I lost
>         interest.
>
> I dropped out of communism class because of lousy
>         Marx.
>
> All the toilets in  New York 's police stations have
>         been stolen. Police have nothing
> to go on.
>
> I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.
>
> Haunted French pancakes give me
>         the crepes.
>
> Velcro - what a rip off!
>
> Cartoonist found dead
>         in home.  Details are sketchy.
>
> Earthquake in 
>         Washington ,  D.C. it’s
> obviously the government's fault.
>
> I
>         used to think I was indecisive,
> but now I'm not so sure.
>
> Be kind
>         to your dentist. He has
> fillings, too.__._,_.___

A trip to the liquor store

I don't really drink but made a trip to the liquor store to purchase these 2 bottles of alcohol for cooking. One is a port wine that I use to make a Chinese wine soup. They discontinued the EMU 999 Australian port wine that I used to use for this recipe.  The other is for a new recipe for Japanese simmered chicken with Daikon radish. It calls for Saki. I love Daikon radish and wanted to try cooking it. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.  But that is a maybe a post for another day.

Creative Tuesdays - Skyscrapers

I decided to remove my original entry as I'm concerned about violating copyright. I saw an image of a tower in downtown Toronto and liked the perspective of it, as did the earlier commenters. However I've decided it looks too similar to the photo and noticed it has copyright. Sorries.

I've snuck in this photo of another take on the theme. Hope you like it, the copyright on this one is mine!  It's acrylic on cardstock (11" x 8.5").

Linking to Creative Tuesdays.

Iceberg

A new laptop

Well, I'm now the owner of a brand new Sony Vaio laptop! We were on the point of getting
the latest Lenovo which boasted 1 terrabyte of storage but the salesman convinced M into getting the Sony Vaio for its faster processor, although only 750 Gigabytes of storage. The Lenovo had excellent reviews but the reasoning is that processor speed outweighs storage. 750 gigabytes is a lot of storage anyway. New laptops seem to come with Windows 8 operating systems, which is a bit different than Windows 7. I'm adjusting however (curse curse).  In fact the laptop was hanging yesterday but it was likely the internet connection acting up because it worked fine at someone else's house.  Changing laptops is a bit like moving house, lots of things to adjust to, until you settle in.  M says we have 2 weeks to decide if we want to return it for whatever reason. 

If you are interested in caregiving issues, here is an interesting Canadian website that shares caregiver stories and supports caregivers.  I read it from the Good Times magazine website.

Sunday Sketches - Some Framed Pieces

Today I thought I would share some of my framed art pieces that I have on display in my house. It started when I happened upon some picture frames for sale. They were 4 x 6 inch frames and I thought I could enjoy some of my art within them. I had some photos of the art which fit perfectly in the white frames. The black frames contain  original art.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

At the dentist

This is a Tim Horton's berry yogurt. It's a delicious snack I sometimes have when I am out and about and hungry. I couldn't help noticing how much less yogurt they put in the container these days. This is before I ate any of it!  I'm trying to watch my weight and I hope it's better than grabbing a muffin or a donut.


I was at my dentist earlier this week for a checkup and cleaning. He is actually my cousin.  He had a nice painting of some birds in some trees on his wall so I complimented him on the pretty picture. He said it was actually masking a hole in the wall.  It seems some vandals threw a large rock through his  office window shattering  the glass.  They stole a $400 laptop causing $15,000 in damages which will be covered by insurance. What a horrible world we live in sometimes.  Fortunately it happened at night and no one was hurt. 

Paint Party Friday - My Spring Tribute

Today's piece is a welcome to Spring, although it's been so cold here in Toronto! It's acrylic on cardstock (11"h x 8.5"w).  Those are supposed to be burlap containers.   The photo below it shows the work all framed!

I hope the weather is warming up where you are, if you live in a cold country.

The Sandy Hook Auction last week was so much fun, thanks to Kristin and Eva for hosting and congrats to Gloria Zucaro who won the bid on my "Valentine Moon" piece!

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

A Special Delivery

I had a special delivery of books authored by Gigi-Hawaii. She even personally autographed each one so nicely for me. I look forward to reading all of Gigi's memoirs and the anthology. Indeed, I have already started and am enjoying the first memoir.  Gigi had suggested we do a swap for 2 of my paintings in exchange for her 4 books. Of course I jumped at the chance! I'm thrilled to know someone whose books are available in the libraries in Hawaii and on sale at Amazon (search for Glenda Chung Hinchey)!

Bomb diggity and a Leading question

I just have a few miscellaneous thoughts today.

I've been seeing this new word 'bomb diggity' in a couple of places and got curious enough to google its meaning.  Sure enough, I found a definition in an urban dictionary meaning it's a new word!
It means totally awesome, very very cool!  Have you noticed this new word anywhere?

Here is a leading question for you.  Do you believe that shopping malls are threatened by the internet era as people start to shop online more?  This article brought the question to mind.

At one time, I wondered if the cinema would become outdated, but it has not. People still need somewhere to gather and socialize in person!

My husband M, my son K and I were in a Swiss Chalet restaurant recently. This Canadian chain is popular with senior citizens. There was an older man and his mom sitting at the table next to us. M heard the man say to his mom 'It's my CFO's birthday tomorrow, I'll have to remember that'. His mom said 'What's a CFO?' The man answered 'Chief Financial Officer'. Then I heard him explain further 'He's an accountant at one of my mining companies'. At which point I realized he must be really wealthy! I guess 'wealthy' doesn't have a 'look', they were casually dressed, he wore jeans, nothing special.

Finally, the monitor on my computer overheated and blacked out. My husband M was able to bring it back but if it happens again that might be it. We were able to backup whatever files we thought were important but the whole thing is upsetting.  So I am looking around for a new laptop.  This is the 2nd one on the fritz, they seem to last for just a couple of years.    I don't want another HP as this one has overheating issues.  The older one was a Dell. So i have 2 partially working computers, we even have an ipad but I'm still more comfortable with windows. 

Clever French Commercial

We had a meeting with Counselling and Disability Services at the college K is planning to attend in the fall.  He has a non-verbal learning disability which unfortunately impacts his academics.  He appears normal in every other way including socially.  M and I are happy to know he will be accommodated in every way possible.  The counsellor put us right at ease.  We have to get a consulting letter from his psychologist regarding extra time on tests and a few other matters.   College will be a big jump from high school and we will take it one step at a time.  K's priority at the moment is to somehow get his own car.  At the very least, this would be contingent on graduating high school.  He will turn 18 in April, and enter the period of emerging adulthood.  Yikes.

I was walking through the mall and saw this stunning prom dress on display. Isn't it pretty?

And here is a very clever French commercial!

Test your news IQ

If you feel you are up on current events you may want to try this quiz. I passed (7/13) but likely by guessing a lot, also I don't live in America.  It asks if you recognize a bunch of prominent people in America news. I would recognize Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, he has been in the news a lot lately.

I was in church yesterday.  It was cold and windy although sunny.  The priests were full of prayers for our new Pope Francis.  It was also coffee Sunday, put on by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic charity group, so after mass I had a nice cup of coffee and some Timbit donuts.  At this time of year, they are pushing for Sharelife donations, similar to the United Way drive.

Here are some pretty flowers to brighten your day:

Waiting for Spring

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This piece is done with watercolour pencils on cardstock (4.5"h x 6.5"w). It's called 'Waiting for Spring'.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

A nice cup of hot chocolate

M, K and I were in a restaurant recently and K ordered this nice cup of hot chocolate. We had $15 left on a gift card and wanted to use it up.  Are you good about using all your gift cards? We ended up ordering a calamari appetizer and a dessert platter to share. They gave us lots of delicious bread rolls to scoop up the calamari! K didn't want coffee so he asked for the hot chocolate.

I found this interesting book review in the local paper recently.  The book is 'Wave' by Sonali Deraniyagala.  'After losing her entire family in the 2004 tsunami, this mother finds her future by tenderly piecing together the past'.

Sandy Hook Auction Blog Hop

To my regular commenters, please leave a comment even if you are not able to bid at this auction, I love hearing from you all!

I've chosen this original piece I called 'Valentine Moon', to auction for the Sandy Hook benefit. This piece seemed to fit with the tone of the auction, the soft pink moon being a symbol of the innocent angels who were taken too soon.  The misty, grey day adds to the mood.

 It's acrylic on cardstock (8.5"H x 11"W") and will fit beautifully in an (11" x 14") matted frame that you can purchase just about anywhere these days.  This (11" x 14") one  with an (8" x 10") mat would be perfect.

 I'll pay for the postage to the winning bidder. You submit your bid in the comments below and the winning bidder will pay directly to the charity. I will then ship the piece to the winning bidder once I have confirmation of payment (receipt or email receipt) from the winner.  International bids are welcome.  The minimum bid is US $5.00

This auction will run from Friday March 15th, 2013 until 

Monday March 18th, 2013 at 11:59 pm EDT.

Shipping (anywhere worldwide) is free. 

(If painting is shipped internationally, shipping is still free BUT 

the buyer is responsible for any duty/taxes/etc.)

How to bid:

1. Place a bid (with a way to reach you) in the comments section.

2. Bookmark this page so that you can easily check back to see if you've been outbid 

(and need to make another bid).

3. If you are the winning bid, I will contact you.

4. Payment will be made from you to a Sandy Hook Elementary charity (see below).

*I will not personally be collecting any money.*

5. Once you have made your donation to the Sandy Hook Elementary charity, you will send your proof of donation (a forwarded receipt) to me at: 

cmlk79@yahoo.com

6. After I have received your proof of donation (and you have given me your address), I will mail your painting out to you! 

As you make your bids, please keep in mind that all proceeds go to a worthy cause...

Happy Bidding!

Sandy Hook Elementary Charity Websites:

https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/

http://newtownmemorialfund.org/

http://www.mainelovessandyhook.com/ 

Linking to Paint Party Friday where they are having the exciting Sandy Hook Blog Hop today!

Kumato

I made Laurie's Texas sheet cake last night, it was really delicious and baked up in just 10 minutes in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Thanks Laurie, this very old family recipe is a keeper! Maybe it's the cup of butter it requires that makes it taste so good and of course, the cocoa!

My friend S and I were out walking on the weekend, the weather was beautiful although the sidewalks were still muddy, icy and slippery in parts. I wore boots, they are a lot more stable than running shoes for clambering through the snow! We saw these kumatoes in the grocery store, imported brown tomatoes from Mexico. They taste like tomatoes, maybe sweeter. Have you tried these?  We seem to see them around this time of year.

A Lovely Visit

K is on March Break school holidays, so M, K and I went to see L at her university a few days ago. L wanted K to spend a day with her attending classes, thinking it would be a good experience for him. M and I decided to spend the night at a hotel in town and K spent the night with L and her roommates for a real experience. He had a fabulous time, largely because it was not for real work! Do you know that L's computer class that day was about blogging?  Fellow bloggers, we would've been right at home there!

I took this view from our hotel room. It was a nice break away from home.

Interesting Tower

Creative Tuesdays - Twisted

The theme for Creative Tuesdays today is 'Twisted'. This is a (5 1/2"H x 4 1/4"W) card. I started off with watercolour pencils then it became mostly acrylic with fine point black marker. I noticed we are quite close to St Patrick's Day so I added some clover to the tablecloth, all in good fun! Can you spot the 4 leaf clover?  Of course this is not meant to detract from our 'Twisted' theme.  I decided to 'twist' the steam from the cuppa .

Please visit our other talented participants!

Brownie Cookies

It's March break for the high school and elementary school kids this week.

Last week, I intended to make some chunky chocolate peanut butter cookies from this recipe, but forgot to add the peanut butter. I got these brownie cookies instead, maybe 8 less cookies. This was a divine mistake that I shall be making over and over again, because I love chocolate, and I love chewy brownies. This will do it, it was hard to stop at eating just three!

Sunday Sketches - Easter Dreams

Linking to Aquariann's Bunny Blog Hop!

What do you see in the clouds?  This piece is entitled 'Easter Dreams'.
Acrylic on cardstock (8.5"H x 11"W)

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Darling Floral Arrangement

For the book readers, this video says we can only read about 1000 books in our lifetime so we should be selective!

I bought this darling artificial floral arrangement at the stores this week, I just love it. As I was making my way to pay for it, this lady remarked on how pretty it was and spring-like. I thanked her and went to the cashier who also remarked on how pretty it was and how spring-like. Have a great Saturday!

Paint Party Friday - The Sky

This (8.5"H x 11"W) acrylic on cardstock was inspired by a sunset photo I saw on Gigi's blog recently. I found this nice quote to go with it.  It's just one week till the PPF Charity Auction.  I hope you will join us and maybe make a bid on some art.  I will be participating!

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Joke

This joke is making its way around the internet, couldn't resist! Have a great day!  Do you like Eggs Benedict, by the way?  It's not my favourite, but I'll eat it.

Breathable Nail Polish

I read about breathable nail polish in this article recently.
According to the article, 'Unlike regular polish, which keeps oxygen and moisture from reaching the fingernail, Inglot O2M Breathable Nail Enamel was formulated to let both air and water through'. It sounds healthier than regular nail polish and I sent the article to my daughter L who wears a lot of nail polish.

L is also a fan of these low calorie crackers that have come on the market recently.  They have like 90 calories per 17 crackers and the ingredients don't seem to be harmful, not even the sodium levels.  They taste pretty good, although I am more addicted to say, salty cheesies!

Beet Salad Recipe

My free watch came in the mail from my Chatelaine magazine subscription.  It's quite attractive.  Magazines are really fighting to stay alive in this internet world, I think.

I was leafing through a magazine at K's orthodontist the other day, and came across this recipe in Chatelaine magazine. This looks like a nice, simple recipe. You just boil the beets and make a nice dressing for them. It even includes the beet greens. Last summer I was given a lot of beets and didn't know what to do with them all. I think I still have some frozen. Are you a fan of beets?

K had to get new retainers at the orthodontist. They took a digital scan of his mouth and showed him a 3D image of his teeth, rotating it at will.  He said it was so neat to see.  The old way was to put gunky plaster in your mouth.  You can hardly see these transparent retainers when he is wearing them and they have a precision fit. He needs them at night to keep his teeth in place. They must be very comfortable as he has been wearing them without being reminded. He had braces for 3 or 4 years and has a perfect set of teeth so it's worth looking after them. I admire the orthodontist, he is so 'state of the art' and on top of things. We never have to wait and everything seems to be automated and efficient. Well, he is a simply brilliant doctor.

Burgers

M, K and I went to The Works Burger Bistro downtown recently, we were curious to try some of their large selection of burgers. They have an extensive menu. These were our selections.  It's a Canadian burger chain. The buns were fresh and delicious as were the burgers.  They were served medium but you can request them well done, which I would probably do next time, as it is ground beef after all.

wild mushrooms, brie, bacon

smoked meat and cheese

sweet potato fries, carmelized onions, avocado

Sunday Sketches - A Meaningful Gift

I showed this piece last summer, for Creative Tuesdays and Paint Party Friday. It's a little duckling I painted in acrylic on cardstock.

I recently framed it and gave it away as a gift.  I've since learned to sign the art in such a way that it will show up after framing.  There is a story behind this gift.  This little duckling was raised by friends.  Its egg had likely fallen from a tree.  It was found and it was hatched and raised last summer by these friends.  They watched it grow up over the summer until it eventually flew into the wild.  I had painted it by chance based on a photo I saw of the little duckling. We decided they would like this as a gift.  And I think they really did,  as the image captured a treasured memory!  They said this picture will sit on their mantelpiece in their home.  I have the satisfaction of having given a meaningful gift!

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

Brown Butter recipes and a Good Day

This past Thursday morning I woke up to a winter wonderland.  It was beautiful and mild out.  The snow was wet and heavy but not as much as the day before that.  My neighbour was out with his snowblower and kindly cleared the bottom of our driveway where the road plow had just left a big pile.  He offered to do the rest of the driveway but I told him I would be ok.  I managed to clear the rest of the driveway while starting to think I should've taken him up on his generous offer!

After that, I went to the grocery store where a kind lady gave me her cart and didn't want to take the 25cents that we usually put into the buggy to release it for use.  I did give her the 25cents.  This was shaping up to be a good day!   Then at checkout, a friendly cashier with whom I will sometimes chat, told me I was paying too much for some multi-pack boxes of facial tissue.  I had just assumed it was on sale because they had them right out front on display.  I decided not to buy them of course!

Do you have good days like that?  It ended with me figuring out how to punch in the cube root of a number on K's scientific calculator all by myself!  I help him figure out his grade 12 math problems.

I was reading this Chatelaine magazine at my hairdresser's recently.  I found these interesting recipes you might want to have a look at.  There is an easy recipe for buttercream icing and also one for an easy pasta sauce made with brown butter.  I really thought it was more complicated than that, and I happen to love buttercream icing!

Brown butter recipe

Best-ever buttercream cupcakes...buttercream icing.

Easy cheesy linguine recipe

Paint Party Friday - Spring Snowdrops

Today's art was inspired by all the posts I've been reading about bloggers being tired of the cold and sounding so ready for spring!
It's done in acrylic on a 3 x 3 inch post-it note.  And welcome to March!

Linking to Paint Party Friday.