Creative Tuesdays - Monogram

The current theme is Monogram.  It's a greeting card in acrylic and finepoint black marker (4 1/2"h x 5 1/4"w). I'm using a photo because the some of the colours don't look right when scanned.  Thanks to MMm for coming up with this great challenge to do something different!

Linking to Creative Tuesdays.

Salary Review?

Muscari

a week later

Look at the muscari in my garden, I took the last shot a week later in slightly different lighting
but I noticed how much it's grown already and looking so much more filled in.

Here's some humour for you:

A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley

motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.

The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take

a look at his bike.

The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a

question?"

The surgeon a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the

motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and

asked, "So Doc, look at this engine.

I open its heart, take the valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and

when I finish, it works just like new.

So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks,

when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the

mechanic...





"Try doing it with the engine running."

Sunday Sketches - Outdoors

I saw this beautiful photo in the newspaper and felt compelled to sketch it. It was a 'Sporting Life, North Face ad'. I used a sheet of paper lying on the table. The piece is (11"h x 5 1/2"w) done with watercolour pencils.

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

GPS

This is so cute, should give you a good laugh today!

I have a little GPS
I've had it all my life
It’s better than the normal ones
My GPS is my wife

It gives me full instructions
Especially how to drive
"It's thirty miles an hour", it says
"You're doing thirty five"

It tells me when to stop and start
And when to use the brake
And tells me that it's never ever
Safe to overtake

It tells me when a light is red
And when it goes to green
It seems to know instinctively
Just when to intervene

It lists the vehicles just in front
And all those to the rear
And taking this into account
It specifies my gear.

I'm sure no other driver
Has so helpful a device
For when we leave and lock the car
It still gives its advice
It fills me up with counseling
Each journey's pretty fraught
So why don't I exchange it
And get a quieter sort?

Ah well, you see, it cleans the house,
Makes sure I'm properly fed,
It washes all my shirts and things
And - keeps me warm in bed!

Despite all these advantages
And my tendency to scoff,
I do wish that once in a while
I could turn the darned thing off.

Paint Party Friday - Big Vase

I did a greeting card in acrylic (5 1/2"h x  4 1/4"w) entitled 'Big Vase'. I saw this vignette in a store at the mall and decided to paint it. The vase was at least 4 feet high with a couple of giant tulips inside it. I think the turquoise side table beside it added a nice touch.

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Queen Elizabeth cake

Last night I was able to hear Alexander Graham Bell's voice from this news article. I hope you have all the plug-ins in your computer to do this, I had to go to K's macbook as my Vaio couldn't do it.

Laurie recently posted this 100 year old family recipe on her blog and I decided to make it.  I love to learn about old recipes. It was delicious, made from dates. I used a 9 x 9 baking pan and baked it for half an hour, that was the only difference. And I didn't make the frosting. K loved it with ice cream. It's called 'Queen Elizabeth cake'.

Spinango Drink

I saved this interesting article for you. Did you know that pandas are picky eaters? We have some visiting Toronto.

I had this spinango drink from Extreme Pita and loved it.   I had tasted a sample at the gym recently. It's only 147 calories. It's something healthy to grab if you're on the go.  I suppose it would be easy enough to make your own.  They sell all kinds of frozen fruit at the supermarket these days if you didn't want to cut your own.  It's made from spinach, mangos, bananas, apple juice, orange juice

Creative Tuesdays - Striped

The current theme for Creative Tuesdays is 'Striped'. I thought a fashion inspired piece would do this theme justice. And I was inspired by a brochure I saw from an upscale mall. It seems stripes are very much in fashion currently. This piece is done on a 3" x 3" post-it note, with a fine point marker and acrylics.

Let's go see what the other participants came up with!

Linking to MMm's Creative Tuesdays.

One Minute Egg

I found a recipe in Chatelaine magazine recently for a one minute microwaved egg. I think they called their 'fluffy baked eggs' and it had ricotta cheese in it. I tried a variation of this and was quite happy with it. I beat an egg into this cup, added some black pepper, about a tablespoon of shredded cheese and a pinch of dried herb like tarragon. I microwaved it for a minute and I had a quick, tasty, 'no-mess' egg.

My friend S and I have been walking this cold weekend. It was sunny yesterday and we decided to wear our spring windbreakers instead of winter coats! We had a cup of coffee at McDonald's and chatted for awhile.  The basic topic was 'money is the root of all evil'.  S noticed that a lady with 2 small children spilled her large coffee all over the floor and a couple of strangers immediately came to help her clean up. She thought that was nice. I noticed a young couple sitting next to us. They were totally engrossed in each other. The guy who gave us our coffees reversed our order. I asked for one cream, S has 3 milks in hers. So I got 3 creams and S got 1 milk. But he corrected the error. It made me wonder if he has a learning disability, it seemed like something my son K would do when he is overwhelmed with information.  Although it wasn't that busy. Said son got 74% on his last math test, he failed the previous one, so it was a happy weekend. How was yours?

Sunday Sketches - Shannon

I was leafing through a magazine at the hairdresser and was inspired by a photo of a model I saw. She had the prettiest hair and eyes and I felt compelled to draw my own version of her.   This portrait is done in acrylic on cardstock (11"h x 8.5"w).  I decided to call her Shannon.

Here's the photo

Magazine Photo

Linking to Sunday Sketches.

For Posterity

M got a hold of some Canadian pennies in mint condition. A store had some left over that they had gotten from the bank. So we will put these away for posterity.

Canadian Pennies

My son K goes swimming sometimes at a friend's condo pool. He has met this young Russian man there from time to time and they will chat in the hot tub. The young man told him he works in construction. He came to Canada at age 17 on his own, speaking no English. He is now 23 and bought his own condo in the building. He says 'it's just a one bedroom but it's enough for me right now'. They talk about girls and he feels his heavy Russian accent holds him back. In fact K is amused to see him approach the girls asking in vain for their number. K says he is good looking except for some large tattoos! I am impressed by what this young man has accomplished so far, I'm sure he will do well in life. Apparently he had to forgo any further schooling as he had no time for it.

Paint Party Friday - Overcast

I decided to name this piece 'Overcast' and am happy with the way it turned out. It's acrylic on card stock (8 1/2"h x 11"w).  Do you see this as a happy or gloomy piece?

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

My Steak Dinner

I love this article which appeared in yesterday's paper.  It says 'Tylenol may reduce existential angst'!

I found this new HGTV design show called Bryk House and quite enjoyed it. The female star sounds like a superwoman. Then it seems her husband is a successful Canadian TV star.  Okay, some people have perfect lives and I know I'm impressionable, lol.

I bought some strip loin steaks at the grocery store recently. They were a tender batch. I had it with roasted new potatoes and cherry tomatoes.  It's a little too early to barbecue, although some people do all year.  So I sauteed them 4 or 5 minutes per side (cooked to medium level) in a small amount of canola oil as they were about half an inch thick.

New Technology and Some Ducks

These ducks made a surprise appearance in my backyard one morning last week! I was able to quickly take this photo before they flew off, they look like a couple. This doesn't happen too often although I have seen them in the front yard before. There is a lot of construction and their wetlands are being destroyed.

So have you heard about Snapchat? K and his friends seem to use it quite a bit and love it. It's like the new Instagram. They can snap photos and send instantly to selected recipients. The photos only last up to 10 seconds. The sender can save the photo if he wants but the recipients can't. It's a lot of fun.

Oops

I had prepared this post prior to the terrible Boston Marathon terrorist attack yesterday.  My thoughts are with the victims and their families it is so awful what happened.



This is the post I had prepared for today:

I went into a public washroom the other day and noticed someone had left their eyeglasses in the stall I was about to use. I hoped they would remember where they left it and would be able to retrieve it!

I was at my hairdresser's recently. His broken right hand still needs another 3 weeks to heal, so his assistant had to cut my hair. We were trying to think of good news to talk about, and she brought up the topic of a recent single winner of a $40 million lottery. Then she remembered this story of a university student who won $30 million in the lottery. Her friends suggested they go out to dinner and she agreed. Apparently a lot of people came. When it was time to pay the bill, the girl thanked them all and started to leave. Everyone was confused and asked her why she wouldn't pick up the tab. She said 'you invited me, I didn't invite you!'. I think this girl will keep her millions and not lose it all like most winners!

Turning 18

K turned 18 recently.  He won't be of drinking age until 19 in Ontario.  But he can now skip, or drop classes without parental permission, and he is not obligated to show me his marks I think the teacher says.  He is a good kid, and doesn't smoke or do drugs to my knowledge.  He realizes the importance of school.

Our answering machine broke and so did our kettle.  A testament to the passage of time!

Sunday Sketches - Spring

I seem to be doing a lot of tulips lately. This is a greeting card I made on acid free paper. (5 1/2" h x 4 1/4" w)

Linking to Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

Easy Jam Biscuits

I made these 'easy jam biscuits', a recipe from The English Kitchen. They were delicious and really quick to make. You need self rising flour, sugar, butter, one egg, jam, and if you don't have self rising flour just add 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder per cup of flour.  And as Marie says, a 'biscuit' in England is really a 'cookie' in North America!

Linking to Sweet Saturdays.

Easy Jam Biscuits

Paint Party Friday - Spring

I bought a box of blank acid free cards complete with envelopes. This greeting card is done in watercolour pencils (5 1/2" h x 4 1/4" w). I was going to include a nice quote with it then I started thinking 'are quotes copyrighted?', better safe than sorry!

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Funny Video

This is a good one, entitled Help!  The Elephant ate my Iphone!

new potatoes with sausage bits and mixed vegetables

This was my dinner one night. I love new potatoes which seem available at this time of year. I found out you can just roast them at 425F for about 20 minutes. I just add a little olive oil, garlic powder, chopped onions and some herbs before roasting. I cut up some leftover Italian sausages that I had cooked and added it to the cooked potatoes with some frozen mixed vegetables that I had steamed.

75% Off and a Joke

Yes, I know Easter's over but a few days after, I was at the grocery store and they had all their chocolates like 75% off! What could I do?  I bought these treats.  I love creamy Lindt and Cadbury chocolates.  The brown bunnies are a new from Ferrero Rocher, hazelnut flavour and yes, the bunnies are hollow!  

Here is a joke I received via email, I've seen it before but it's a good one, lol:



Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement - not even her parent's nasty divorce.

Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear, and would be the best-dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new, young wife had bought the exact same dress as her mother!

Jennifer asked her father's new young wife to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not! I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, ''Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day.''

A few days later, they went shopping, and did find another gorgeous dress for her mother.

When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, ''Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another
occasion where you could wear it."

Her mother just smiled and replied, ''Of course I do, dear.....I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night BEFORE the wedding.''

Creative Tuesdays - Newborn

This week's theme is 'Newborn'. It's a greeting card done in acrylic (4 1/4"h x 5 1/2"w) on acid free paper.  Please visit the other participants to see their interpretation of this theme!


Linking to Creative Tuesdays.

No Banks Here

My son K took these photos of the Flatiron Building in downtown Toronto.

Flatiron Building Toronto

Flatiron Building Toronto

I found this interesting news article where companies such as Paypal and a startup company called Kabbage are financing small online businesses as online shopping grows.  The point is that no banks are involved here.  Business is changing quite fast due to the internet, even banks are starting to be affected.

The church choir was very inspiring yesterday, the 4 men and 8 women sounded so good, I found myself unconsciously swaying to the music before I corrected myself!  The deacon remarked on the crowds at the Easter service compared to the lesser numbers yesterday.

My mother in law at 82 is mentally ready to move into a seniors home.  She had a mini stroke a few months ago and doesn't feel comfortable living alone anymore.  We found a seemingly great place near where she lives and they are having an open house in a few weeks.  It looks great online, in fact, I wouldn't mind moving in there one day (well not before my time).  They have an interesting schedule of activities.  It all boils down to whether one can afford to live in these nice places and of course what their waiting list is like.  Of course the more independently you can live the better.

Moving Towards the Light

My sister-in-law had a beautiful pot of tulips moving towards the light at her house last weekend, and I wanted to capture that effect here.  They look like they are dancing don't they?  This piece is done in acrylic on cardstock (8.5"h x 11"w).  Have a great day!

Linking to Sunday Sketches, thanks to Alexandra for hosting!

Here it is framed:

Toward The Light

Gluten Intolerance

I got this information from a friend, 10 signs you're Gluten Intolerant.  You may want to check this list.  My son K suffers from Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and it's on the list!  (That's an underactive thyroid condition).  I've always felt we have a slight wheat allergy.  A friend I know has gone gluten free and reports feeling so much better as well as having lost quite a few pounds (which she didn't need to lose).  Going gluten free seems easier said than done, I do love bread products.

Speaking of gluten free, I made this savory oatmeal with greens recommended by Kathy.  It reminded me of grits or maybe of a savory Chinese rice congee.  Neither M nor K really liked it unfortunately, and I thought it was just ok.  It is undeniably healthy and gluten free with the steel cut oats that it uses.  I used collard greens in this recipe.

Savoury Oats with Greens

Paint Party Friday - Stylish Girl

I saw this young girl of about 10 or 12 years old a few weeks ago in my local McDonald's restaurant. I couldn't help admiring her stylish good looks and tried to recapture it here. I remembered she was wearing a checkered patterned hat, a black jacket and stylish checkered patterned boots. The prettiest thing was the ruffled scarf she wore around her neck to complete the outfit. She sat with a couple of older ladies, maybe one of them was her grandmother. I wondered if they were European as the little girl had that sense of style.  Wish I could have taken her photo for you!  She seemed to be nursing a black eye, dabbing it with a tissue, hope they didn't notice I was staring.  They probably did, as I tend to stare at things that interest me.

The piece is on cardstock in acrylic (11" x 8.5").

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Stylish Girl

Paramedic Truck

This was the scene outside the gym when I got there one morning. It was a paramedic truck, 'uh oh'. The receptionist told me a man had passed out in the men's change room.  Anyway, I started my workout after that. I had been on the treadmill for about 15 minutes when the alarm went off in the building. It was not turning out to be a good day. Fortunately, it was not the kind of alarm where we had to exit the facility and I was able to finish my workout.

On another occasion I met a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. She told me she had just returned from 5 weeks vacationing in South America, mostly based in Argentina. They even took a cruise out of there. Her husband was ready to come home after 5 weeks, but not my adventurous friend. She can't wait to go off somewhere again. They are enjoying their retirement.

I have plans to go walking with 3 different girlfriends over the weekend. Spring's in the air!

Simmered Chicken with Daikon Radish

Sometimes you feel like a change from your regular dishes.  I made this Japanese dish recently and it was simple and delicious. It was based on a couple of recipes I found on Google. The radish is a root vegetable and I actually used the chinese kind called Lo Bok. You can use sake or chicken stock.

Simmered chicken with daikon radish

4-8 chicken thighs bone in
1 TBS sugar
1 c chicken stock or sake
1 c water
2 green onions sliced
2 tbs soy sauce
1 or 2 large carrots cut into chunks
1 daikon radish cut into chunks


Add all ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. I forgot to add the green onions.

The meaning of life

A friend sent me this video of a 9 year old discussing the meaning of life. Just wow, listen here.

I took this photo about a week ago when I first noticed the crocuses starting to pop up. There are more shoots coming up really fast in the garden from day to day, nature's miracle! Yes, I think spring is my favourite time of year, simply beautiful.

Easter Lunch

Happy April Fool's Day!  L and her boyfriend are safely back at school, I miss them already.  It was a busy and wonderful weekend.  We had a lovely Easter dinner on Saturday with M's extended family.  Everyone showed up this year, it was fun to see the little toddlers playing.  L had spent the morning with her boyfriend's extended family and it was great that it worked out that he could also spend some time with them.

I took my mom for a Seafood lunch after her appointment with the cardiologist last Thursday. We love crab and lobster so we had a great (if messy) time digging in.  We decided it was our Easter Lunch.  The Hong Kong style fried crab was an interesting dish.  I asked the waitress why it was 2 or 3 dollars more than the other fried crab dish.  She said this dish had small fish as well.  So those aren't fries on top of the dish.  Can you see the eyes in the second photo?  Well, they were yummy.  Anything fried is yummy.  I think I should order more steamed crab dishes next time and less fried.  Needless to say I just had soup and a salad for dinner that day.

Hong Kong Style Fried Crab

Small Fish

Crab with Ginger and Green Onion

Lobster with Ginger and Green Onion

Fried Lobster with Salt and Pepper