Calla lily painting

In complete contrast to my last painting Flower Mosaic , I have finished the Calla lily painting in 3 classes.  I went for a minimalist subject, one flower with an abstract background which is the foliage out of focus.  I am so happy to have completed a painting so quickly.

My next painting is going to be a portrait, very new territory for me.  It's an image from a magazine with lovely light in a lovely setting.  I'll keep you updated if you are interested.

Anne  xx

Bright colours

Some time ago I bought some fabric which I loved because of the bright colours. 

The colours inspired me to start work on a granny square cushion and I'm nearly finished the second side of the cushion with only 5 more rows to complete.

I love these colour combinations so much I've decided to make a throw as well.  Thankfully I have plenty of wool left in these colours.

Another day of beautiful sunshine and another sun bathing opportunity for the girls.

They must be feeling very happy with sunshine and free ranging and rewarded us with two eggs today.  I feel a spot of cooking coming on.  

Speaking of cooking, I made apple muffins and gingernut biscuits on Sunday night and now there are only two muffins left and less than half the biscuits.  I can't keep up with the appetites of this family, I tell you.  Hubby keeps telling me to stop making yummy things to eat, but if I don't, well you should hear the grumbles.  Thinking I would have to bake again today, I suddenly remembered the carrot cake I had in the freezer.  A couple of weeks ago when making a carrot cake, I doubled the mixture so I could bake an extra one to put in the freezer.  Saves on electricity too when you double recipes.  I use to put leftovers in the freezer from our dinner meals too, but now hubby takes them to work for lunch.  :(  Perhaps I'll have to triple my dinner recipes!  Do you double recipes so there are leftovers for the freezer?

Bye for now,

Anne  xx

Little treasures found in the garden

Hello!  I hope everyone is having/has had a lovely weekend.  We have had a beautiful day of sunshine which meant I could get out in the garden again for some planting, weeding and pruning.

I've been re-potting pot plants, adding fertilizer and generally having a good tidy up.  While moving some pot plants around, I lifted up a pot and found this little creature underneath.

I'm fairly certain it is a Delicate skink.
At first I thought it was a three toed  skink from the colour and markings, but the little skink in my hand appears to have five toes.

When I first picked him up, he was very docile as he was cold.  When he warmed up in my hands, he became very lively.  I don't actually know if this is a male of a female skink, I just have a habit of calling things he if I don't know what sex they are.

Animals taking advantage of the sunshine.  Here is Missy having a sun bath.  She looks very relaxed, if somewhat inelegant!

She seems quite partial to hubby's old work boots.

Sophie and Missy sun bathing in close proximity. 

Please excuse the assortment of shoes.  Photo opportunities have to be made the most of quickly, so tidying up for a photo wasn't on the agenda.  :)

Bye for now,

 Anne  xx

Life the last few days

Good morning everyone.    Have a look at this gorgeous kookaburra that decided to sit in a tree in the front garden Sunday morning after sampling a juicy worm or two.

I love their faces.  I know birds are feathery, but to me kookaburras look fluffy.

I started working on a new painting of a calla lily in art class on Monday. 

Blocking in colour.

Yesterday we had some unexpected sunshine, warmth and breeze, so I took the opportunity to put some clothes on the line and do a spot of gardening.  It was so lovely being outdoors.  Here are a few photos of the backyard. 

The roses were pruned during yesterdays gardening session.

Missy and Eagle doing their thing, helping to mow the grass.

I hope all is well with you and yours,

Anne  xx

Fun with fabric scraps

Grab a pile of fabric offcuts.

These are curtain fabric remnants.

Wait for creative mojo to strike (last Saturday night), and play around with a design.

Very basic idea.

Cut out fabric and see what happens.

Sew it up, experiment a little (I've never tried this before).  Add a few extra details, ahem, buttons to cover where I accidentally snipped the fabric and some highlights on the feathers.

I think I have a  peacock  panel which I will make into a cushion cover.  Just have to work out how to add material to the sides and mitre the corners for a neat look.  My apologies for the colour quality of the photos.  I just can't seem to get it right.

Anne  xx

Corn Relish

Hello again.  Before I launch into a post about the delights of homemade corn relish,  I just want to say that I'm thinking of those of you living in the U.K. who are going through a time of instability right now.  It must be very hard seeing the violence and destruction happening in your beautiful country and I hope that a peaceful resolution is found soon.

We love corn relish in our house especially in toasted cheese sandwiches with the cheese oozing out the sides.  It's pretty darn good with corned beef too.  A couple of years ago I figured there must be a recipe out there for homemade corn relish and sure enough I found one.  I've made a few adjustments to the original recipe and this is what works for me.

CORN RELISH

1kg corn kernels, (I use frozen)

1 red capsicum (pepper), de-seeded and chopped finely

2 onions, peeled and chopped finely

3 celery sticks (ribs), chopped finely

1/4 cup salt

2 cups white sugar (I use castor sugar, it's what's in my pantry)

2 cups white or apple cider vinegar (I prefer apple cider vinegar)

2 teaspoons mustard powder

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 teaspoons cornflour

extra vinegar

1.  In a large bowl, mix the corn, capsicum, celery and salt and leave for at least two hours.  Drain in a colander.

2.  Place the sugar, vinegar, drained vegetables, mustard and turmeric in a large saucepan.  Bing to the boil and cook over a medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes.  Stir regularly.

3.  If the mixture is still a little runny (mine always is), thicken with a paste of 2 teaspoons of cornflour and about a tablespoon of extra vinegar.  Stir well into relish and cook for another few minutes.

4.  While the relish is still warm, spoon into hot sterilised jars and seal.

I made 5 jars from the above recipe.

Enjoy!!

Look at all those corn kernels in there.  Commercial bought corn relishes are really stingy with their corn and you are lucky if you find 10 in a jar. As for the red capsicum, hardly a piece of red to be seen.   I exaggerate of course, but you know what I mean.  If you are going to eat corn relish, you want to eat corn relish, not a flavoured and yellow coloured slop.

One last photo for you today.  Here is Sophie waiting hopefully in the kitchen for a tit bit or crumb.  Labradors are insatiable when it comes to food.  She even got into the chook house the other day and ate their wheat.  Naughty dog!

Have a lovely day everyone,

Anne  xx

Flower Mosaic oil painting - Tah dah!

Hello everyone, how are you?  Yesterday afternoon I finished painting my flower mosaic oil painting which I have been working on for many months now.  One of the other artists in the class said that I had really been working on nine paintings so I felt a bit better about it taking so long to finish.  I think my instructor would have liked me to do a little more work on it, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Here is a reminder of my original concept.

The completed painting.

Next week will be a blank canvas and the exciting beginning of a new painting.

Have a fantastic day,

Anne  xx

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE

Hi everyone.  I want to let you know that the 9th of August is the birthday of my good friend Louise from the blog Ramblings of a Roachling.

I met Louise just over a year ago when I started blogging.  Since then from following her blog, I have enjoyed some absolutely beautiful walks she has been on, in and around the area she lives.  I have learnt  historical facts about places she has visited, things about animals, birds and plants found in the U.K. which are unique to me being an Aussie.

Some of the things I've learnt about Louise are:

She loves flares.
Her favoured footware is either flip flops or wellingtons.
Loves walking in mud, in her wellingtons of course  :)
Loves going for exploratory walks.
Loves taking photos for her blog.
Is a vegetarian.
She and her boyfriend Dave, are big Dr. Who fans, and one winter made a Dalek snowman.....AWESOME!!!
Rolling down big steep hills is not only for kids.
 Works in the education industry and is on holidays now, the lucky duck.
Is glad to see the back of Wolverhampton.
She and Dave are FINALLY together after years of commuting to Woverhampton on the weekends.
Loves living in the country.
Loves the Roaches with a passion.
Is a FANTASTIC friend.


And she doesn't like birthdays....he, he and I've just told everyone about it!!!  :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE!!

I got in very early Louise because you  need a good few days to CELEBRATE.  One day just isn't enough!!

Wishing you a wonderful birthday and have loads and loads of fun whatever you do.
 
 Anne  xx

Giant choc chip cookie

Miss G., the quirky girl that she is, decided to make a giant choc chip cookie as part of a friend's 18th birthday gift.

An old pizza tray makes an excellent surface to bake a cookie this big!

Beautifully baked

With simple decoration.

 

 

I picked some of my neighbour's Japonica (she doesn't mind), and placed it in the entry.

The colour is a little washed out in this photo.

Better colour representation.

Loving these two colours together.

Have a lovely day everyone,

Anne  xx

Blossom and something yummy to eat

Hello everyone.  We are experiencing some winter sunshine and warm weather this week which is absolutely delightful.  We always get a warm spell in this neck of the woods about now which lulls us into thinking that spring and maybe even summer is around the corner.  I know that winter and crazy spring weather will come back with a blast in a few days, so I'm soaking up the sunshine as much as I can.  I put four loads of washing on the line this morning.  I love clothes, towels and sheets that smell of sunshine and fresh air.

As the weather has been so lovely, I've been out walking and took the following photos yesterday.

Flowering Cherry Plum

I love the pink of the blossom and brown of the branches against the vivid blue sky.

Wattle

Chaenomeles - japonica growing my neighbour's front garden.

I found a new recipe for a homemade muesli bar from this book The Thrifty Kitchen which I borrowed from the library.  This recipe is really rather easy and beats spending money on overly sweetened commercially made muesli bars and is much tastier too.  I've changed a few ingredients which I have noted below.

Here is a photo to tempt you to read on.

FRUITY MUESLI BARS

Makes 24

125g unsalted butter, ( I only had salted and it worked fine)

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup self raising flour

1 cup of sultanas or dried cranberries (craisins)  I used craisins because Miss G. hates sultanas

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans because I don't like the bitterness you sometimes get with walnuts)

1.  Preheat oven to 180C and butter and line a 20 cm x 30 cm lamington tin (line the base and the two long sides, making sure the paper overhangs the side by 2 cm.)

2.  Melt the butter with the sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir without letting it boil, until the sugar has dissolved.  Stir in all the remaining ingredients.

3.  Press the mixture firmly into the prepared tin and bake for about 30 minutes.  Leave to cool completely in the tin before lifting out and cutting into 5 cm squares.

My slice got a little bit overdone (I was out when the oven timer went off and Miss C. didn't hear it because she was dancing with her ipod on), but was still delicious.  I also cut my squares smaller than 5 cm otherwise it would be eaten in ten minutes.  I had a piece with a cup of tea this morning, delicious.

I hope the sun is shining on you today and you have something delicious to nibble on. 

Have a lovely day,

Anne  xx