Paint Party Friday - Unfurled Flag

I had this last minute idea to do an unfurled flag for Paint Party Friday, in time for the American July 4th Independence Day celebrations. My piece is done on heavy paper (8 1/2" x 11") with my permanent markers, outlined with a fine point black marker. Happy July 4th to my American friends!

Yummy Cake

Daughter L made this beautiful diabetic friendly cake to celebrate both my birthday and Father's Day this year. My birthday is always pretty close to Father's Day. Here is the recipe, she might have made a few changes here and there. She said the icing was made with cool whip and cream cheese along with a few spoons of coconut milk, yum.

Scribble Picnic - Fox

Welcome to Scribble Picnic's 'Fox' theme! My piece is done on cardstock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2"). I used watercolour pencils and permanent markers. They look like dogs don't they?

On Weeding

I was walking by this beautiful peony and noticed how they open fully in the bright sunlight.

I've been spending a lot of time picking weeds painstakingly out of my lawn.  One day my neighbour came over to tell me I am wasting my time as they will just grow back.  What I need to do it over seed the lawn with lots of grass seed and top with quality soil.  He recommended Scott lawn products, which I always see at Costco.  He said if I do this once, I'll never have to do it again.  Husband M says he will take on the chore.  Meanwhile, I am still weeding as I actually enjoy it.

Strawberries and Wild Raspberries

Strawberry Day 1

Strawberry Day 2

Wild Raspberry

I noticed these strawberries growing in my garden. They have never produced fruit before, but we have been having a lot of rain this year so that must be what they needed. Of course that strawberry was gone soon after, we have lots of rabbits and birds around. The wild raspberries also appear to be fruiting.

Sunday Sketches - Toronto Skyline at Dusk

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! This piece is called 'Toronto Skyline at Dusk', inspired by a photo I saw. It's done on heavy paper (8 1/2" x 11") using my permanent markers, outlined with a fine point black marker. I am showing the photo as well as a scan, the scan did not do justice to the 'sorbet' pink that I used.

Favourite Dwarf

One of my sisters who lives in Florida shared this photo of her favourite Dwarf (Grumpy) which she took on a recent trip to Disneyworld. Do you have a favourite dwarf?

Paint Party Friday - Deer in the Shade

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This piece is called 'Deer in the Shade', based on a photo my husband took when he was up north in cottage country recently. It's done on cardstock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2") using my permanent markers, outlined with a fine point black marker.

Blackberry harvest

Blackberry Galette

Blackberry Jam

One of my sisters who lives in California is blessed with blackberry bushes in her yard. She has a delicious harvest every year and she shared a few photos with me.

Scribble Picnic - Jars

Welcome to Scribble Picnic's 'Jar' theme! My piece (6" x 6") on textured cardstock,is done with my permanent markers, outlined with a fine point black marker.

Cutting Pineapple

I thought this was funny:

This link shows how my dad taught me to cut a whole pineapple and I always do it this way. I understand his dad also cut it this way. Do you ever cut up a whole pineapple?

Skillet Gnocchi

Daughter L discovered this Olivieri skillet gnocchi recently. We tried it and it is delicious although a bit pricey. You pan fry it from frozen in for about 10 minutes. We added the shrimp.

Sunday Sketches - Concept Sport Yacht

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! This piece is a concept sport yacht I saw in a magazine. It's done on heavy paper (8 1/2" x 11") using my permanent colouring markers. I had done an initial version on a 3 inch memo sheet last week.

And Happy Father's Day!

Finch mishap

These pretty asters are growing in the neighbourhood.

I happened on this video introducing a braille smartwatch for the visually impaired, this is a wonderful use of technology!

In other news, we saw the new Wonder Woman movie. She is gorgeous, but the movie was too much action and violence for me, but it is to be expected for this kind of movie.

And a little finch crashed into our patio window yesterday morning and did not survive, poor thing.  I have stickers on the glass doors but to no avail.

Paint Party Friday - Reflection

Welcome to Paint Party Friday, thanks to Kristin and Eva for always hosting! This piece (8 1/2" x 11") is coloured with permanent markers and acrylic on heavy paper, based on a photo I took.  I called it 'Reflection' to represent the trees being reflected in the water, but perhaps it can also refer to the mood of the piece, which might inspire one to reflect.

Early morning adventure

I thought these were rather stately looking weeds.

We are hearing a lot about mental health these days and it's a good thing. Here is a good website from Public Health Ottawa with some excellent videos we should all watch.

A couple of days ago, it was around 4.30 am, I heard my son running down the hallway, he had switched the lights on.  I asked him if he was ok, he said 'there's a bird in the house'!  Sure enough, these was a tiny black sparrow (?) flitting through the house in a panic.  I went downstairs and opened the patio door and front door for a short while, it was still dark outside.  Then we decided to close up and go to bed.  Thankfully when we woke up that morning there was no bird in the house.
However that same night the creature came out of hiding.  Turns out it was a bat!  Husband M caught it in a makeshift butterfly net and put him outside.  And that was our bat adventure!

Scribble Picnic - Bird

Welcome to Scribble Picnic's 'Bird' theme! I went with a black swan, on an index card sized paper (3" x 5"). I used my brush markers with a bit of white acrylic.

Cauliflower Mash

Last week, I was boiling some cauliflower and carrots. I had them simmering with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and onion powder. Unfortunately I forgot about them and they cooked for a lot longer than the intended 10 to 15 minutes. They would go to waste being overcooked like that so I went googling for a cauliflower mash type of recipe. I found this one with cream cheese which was a bonus as I had lots of cream cheese on hand. I skipped the step requiring me to boil the vegetables of course and I didn't have to season them.

The vegetables mashed up quickly with parmesan and cream cheeses. I topped with a bit of grated cheddar cheese and baked them at 350F for actually 15 to 20 minutes until the cheese started to brown lightly. It was delicious as pictured!

And here are some photos from the second time I made it days later at daughter L's request:

Jicama

Jicama salad

So I found this jicama (Mexican turnip) on sale at our local grocery store! I loved it when I was on vacation in Mexico last year and can't wait to try it again. From what I can google, you peel it with a vegetable peeler and slice it like French fries. You can eat them raw in a salad, as I plan to, or roast them. They are healthy and low in calories. The 'j' in jicama is pronounced like an 'h', fyi.

Well all of a sudden we have our first heat wave in Toronto, I actually put some sunscreen on yesterday and donned a tank top!! One of my sisters who lives in Florida says they are having some flooding issues with ducks swimming in the streets. I hope things go back to normal soon. Our own Toronto Islands is closed to the public due to recent flooding as well. The Centre Island ferries are not running.

Sunday Sketches - Sport Yacht

This sport yacht is done on a 3" x 3'" memo sheet inspired by a photo of a Lexus sport yacht concept that I saw. I coloured it in with markers and white acrylic for the water wake trail. Happy Sunday Sketches!

Summer Festival 2017

It was time once again for the annual summer festival in our city. The weather was perfect (22C/71F), cloudless skies and lots of sunshine. I took these photos for you as I do most years!

Town Crier

Marching Band

Clown

Falun Dafa seniors

entertainment

Flame Juggler

Paint Party Friday - Tulips and Forsythia

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This piece, called 'Tulips and Forsythia' is done on cardstock with my permanent colouring markers (4 1/2" x 6 1/2"). It is inspired by a photo I took, although the tulips were more of a pale green at the time and I added the yellow forsythia bush for added colour contrast.

On the Danforth

Leonidas chocolatier

Can you spot the moon?

We had a Greek dinner on the Danforth a few weeks ago with some close friends. The weather was beautiful. The Pantheon restaurant was very loud and busy, our chicken souvlaki was good. They had a lot of fast moving senior aged waiters and the service was excellent. Our waiter had worked for this place for 20 years and 8 years prior to that when the restaurant had a different name. Before that, he had worked at another restaurant for 5 years. So he had been a waiter all his life.

Scribble Picnic - Letter/Mail

Welcome to Scribble Picnic, kindly hosted by Michael! We have a 'letter/mail' theme this week, my piece is index card sized (3" x 5").  I put a cygnet (baby swan) on my 'stamp'.  It is playfully addressed to 'Scribble Picnic, 123 Anywhere St, Anytown USA'.  I used acrylic paint and a fine point black marker.

Lily of the Valley

I have these lily of the valley plants growing in my backyard. They started flowering over the past few weeks.

Well my daughter and I have completed watching all 7 seasons of the Gilmore Girls.  Now we have to watch Year in Review, which was done 9 years later.

Lovely evening

I went for a lovely evening walk a few weeks ago and saved this photo for you!

It has been a rainy spring but some mornings are so sunny and beautiful with the trees splattered yellow with sunlight.  The birds are very noisy in the early hours of the morning.

I saw the trailer of the new Wonder Woman movie and can't wait to see it!  I also watched One Love Manchester all yesterday afternoon, the benefit concert held for the Manchester terror victims.  It was very moving.  Husband M watched the NBA basketball playoffs later that night.

Sunday Sketches - Lilac

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! This piece is based on a photo I took of a pretty scene of lilac trees blossoming over a fence. It's done with my permanent colouring markers on cardstock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2").

Purple Calla Lily

This purple calla lily caught my attention at the store, certainly an unusual colour, have you seen these?

I have been watching the Genius series on National Geographic TV for the past month, they are featuring Albert Einstein.  It is very well written and the actors are fantastic, a definite recommend!  He was not a boring genius, quite the lover in fact!

Paint Party Friday - Magnolia

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! This is a magnolia flower on cardstock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2") done with my new permanent markers and outlined with a black fine point marker.

This is an interesting article on amazing new technology for artists.  It talks about a digital pen with 2000 levels of pressure sensitivity, temperature sensitive paint,  3D printing of facial expressions, 3D drawing and sculpting, a 3D robot that can draw, a digital Moleskine notebook.  Yes, technology is changing our entire world!