Thursday Art Date: History

Hello Friends!

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date! Our theme today is History. Once again I stumped myself picking this theme. I was struggling...but then it came to me! I was born in 1968 so I thought I'd create a few pieces that celebrate pop culture history of that year. :)

Roy Jacuzzi invented the first self-contained, fully integrated whirlpool bath, and named it the Jacuzzi in 1968. Yosemite Sam is cooling his jets after a long day of chasing varmints...little does he know Bugs isn't about to let him rest just yet! Alex asked me why Yosemite Sam has his clothes on...honestly I figured he might be too shy to take them off in front of everyone lol!

In 1968, the first Big Mac went on sale at McDonald's, costing 49 cents. Does anyone remember Officer Big Mac? When I was a kid, my grandfather always took us to McDonald's for lunch on Sundays. A few times each season, one of the McDonald-Land mascots would be at the restaurant and it was fun to see them! Those were nice memories!

I always preferred a cheeseburger over a Big Mac. I loved Mayor McCheese too! (RO this is for you!) 

In April of 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey was number one at the box office. I only watched it recently in its entirety, it's nearly 3 hours long! Interesting fact: I read that people were calling this film "Twenty-oh-one". The director, Stanley Kubrick, asked journalists to refer to the film as "Two thousand and one" in order to try to influence people to change how they referred to that year and the movie.

And finally in pop culture news, in February of 1968, a little gal named Rain was born. Curious how close I am to the wine glasses... 😋

This last week was a lot of fun for me. I made two more wheels of cheese - both of them Italian Fontina. I made the wheels back to back, each with different bacterial cultures so that when they're ready, we'll be able to do a taste test to see which culture suits the cheese better. I'm become more courageous in my cheese making this year! By the way, if anyone is interested in cheese making, please visit my blog Rainy Day Cheese Making. I've revamped the look of it and I'm adding lots of content every week!

Remember those career aptitude tests they made you do in high school? Did you do one? My chosen profession was "farmer". I remember being relentlessly ridiculed by the snobby rich girls in my school - their life goals were to be better than everyone else - I HATED that school! And I couldn't stand that crowd at all - I never fit in. I was such an outcast but I'm happy for my education. I guess "cheese maker" wasn't on that test! But I think that "farmer" is close enough to my chosen lifestyle! :)

Alex finished up my standing desk! He used an old side table for the top and sanded down the 70's looking yellow pine colour; and added legs to it so it would hold my new laptop stand at the right height for when I'm standing up. It's so solid and didn't cost a penny. It stops me from sitting too long and it's helping with my sciatica and piriformis pain!

I got these measuring spoons this week. In cheese making, sometimes a recipe will call for 1/64th of a teaspoon...aack...what's a girl to do??? These are called "mini" measuring spoons with old-time labels on them.

Tad = 1/4 tsp
Dash = 1/8 tsp
Pinch = 1/16 tsp
Smidgen = 1/32 tsp
Drop = 1/64 tsp

Cool huh? :)

I've been getting more interested in food photography lately! I made some Pumpkin Spice Muffins and was going to take a photo of one on a plate with a pat of butter, then I decided to add some orange zest...then Alex suggested some fall greenery. This was pretty fun to do, and the muffins are delicious to eat!!

Jack and Marlene - snoozing butt to butt!

It's funny how the summer goes...I looked at my Blogger dashboard and for the last 5 weeks, I've only posted once a week here. I used to post 2-3 times a week! I guess winter will afford me more computer time!

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Just one pumpkin this year sigh...I planted 30 seeds!!!

September 12th: Next Thursday's theme is Harvest. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! :)

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please don't include a link unless you participate in the art date!

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Thursday Art Date: One

Hello Friends! :)

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date! Our theme today is One. Bugs Bunny is playing the role of Rapunzel today. Poor Rapunzel, so alone, one young princess, dreaming of her prince charming and happily ever after! Sigh...💓

I decided on something a little different today! I did a painting in acrylics, but I was inspired to write a poem to describe it. :)

The One 

by Rain Frances

Late an August moonlit night,

In woods so dark, my fear takes flight. 

Hints of whispers in my ear,

Shadows rise and disappear.

Lost for hours, weak and frail,

Or is it days? My memory fails.

Darkened terror left me drained,

Succumbing cold, my heart is pained.

So sudden, light appears ahead,

Clearing fields, and hope a thread.

I run with legs so sore and weakened,
Lonely house, so black a beacon.

Windows glow, the wraith appears,

Breath so shallow, I will myself near.

Behind me the woods laugh as I run,

As I enter the house, the only, the One.

The ONE and only red cherry tomato. My tomatoes are still green this late in the season, but I did find this little one hiding in the middle of the greenhouse!

All of the canning is done! 80 pounds of tomatoes and 12 pints of strawberries that became strawberry jam. I love seeing the bright colours of jars in my pantry!

I managed to find some more fresh sweet cherries and made a Cherry Pie Filling (I finally did it Cathy!) But...as you can see, I overfilled!

It was so delicious though! I topped my piece of pie with Cheddar cheese, broiled it a bit and added some ice cream on the side for extra nourishment! :)

I decided it was time to clean the deep freezer, so most of these meals were a result of that!

Broccoli Stir Fry

Corn on the cob with fried Basa filet

Linguine Puttanesca

Basa filet foil-baked with white wine and tomatoes - Cheddar cheese broiled on top

 Asparagus and Fontina Tart with Leek and Potato Soup

The deep freezer is clean and empty now except for a little old box of baking soda! Time to fill it again! :)

Here is Leo playing with a tennis ball. He plays like this for hours!

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I painted this last October. It's the story of Mary Gallagher - the most famous ghost of Montreal - a part of our history!

Mary Gallagher was brutally murdered and beheaded in a Griffintown tenement on June 27, 1879 on the corner of William and Murray streets. The case shocked Montrealers, especially when Mary’s best friend, Suzy Kennedy, was sentenced to hang for the gruesome crime. Since then, Mary’s headless ghost is said to return every 7 years on the anniversary of her death, still searching for her head.

September 5th: Next Thursday's theme is History. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! :)

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please don't include a link unless you participate in the art date!

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Thursday Art Date: Comics/Cartoons

Hello Friends! :)

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date! Our theme today is Comics/Cartoons. This is a theme that is close to my heart! The Looney Tunes have been the subject of many of my art pieces and I have a lot of fun drawing them. Today I decided to give tribute to some very famous paintings and painters. I'm not much into comics and comic books, and admittedly steered clear of that subject, shame on me for not challenging myself! :)

Above: Edvard Munch's The Scream featuring Tweety Bird. This was mixed media: pastels, Prismacolor Pencils and Sharpies. I love this painting and I've done a few different renditions in the past:

I did the original Scream in pastels. That was a bit of a turning point for me in my art. It was easy for a change, that's when I knew that I was comfortable calling myself an "artist"....or as J.J. Walker said in the 70's sitcom "Good Times"... "I'm an arteest". I couldn't find a video of him saying that, but here's a throwback for those who saw the sitcom in the 70's where his signature phrase was "DYNOMITE"!! :) The Snowman Scream was born on a very cold day in April of last year when we had yet another dump of a snowstorm!

Bugs Bunny posed for Whistler's Mother by James McNeill Whistler. It was hard getting Bugs to sit still for this painting, because he is such a stinker and he had mischief on the brain...plus, he knew who was in the next studio...

Daffy Duck doing his best impression of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. I was lucky enough to visit Paris, France when I was 16 years old, and I saw the original Mona Lisa at the Louvre museum along with many other beautiful works of art. I think that visit sparked an art passion in me!

I was fooling around with some photo software and found the "comic" setting...I guess this is what I'd look like in comic form!

Cauliflower is in season right now so I got a lot of it! I put most of it in the freezer, and kept a few heads out for dinners. I made a Cauliflower and Cheddar Quiche one night. It was so good!

In an effort to make more vegetarian delights, I made Cauliflower Burgers. They were actually really tasty, though I had my doubts! I served them with fries and some really sweet corn on the cob.

I had my first disappointing cheese fail of 2019. Mozzarella. Yeah, that again. Some of you may remember that I attempted to make Traditional Mozzarella SIX times in 2017 and failed each time. The seventh time I succeeded. I tried twice this year and both times failed...so I'm taking Traditional Mozzarella off the rotation for another year or so until I have the motivation to try again! It's such a hard cheese to make!!!

I'm happy to say that I did have a cheese success in the last week - American Cheese (a.k.a. homemade Velveeta). This is SO GOOD and so easy to make! I'm trying to come up with a type of "Cheese Whiz" with my American Cheese...it's a fun and delicious process! :)

I went to the market on Tuesday to take advantage of great prices and was supposed to spend all day yesterday canning...but we had thunderstorms and lost power most of the day! We also spent about 48 hours without water when one of our plumbing fixtures burst. We found a great plumber though and now all is well! I'll be spending the next few days making jam and canning tomatoes!

The thunderstorms though, were bad news for poor Marlene who is terrified of loud noises....

Just the other day she was sitting in the shade and enjoying being outside. Yesterday though, we had to really coax her to go outside just so she could pee!

We have to put a box top on the bathroom garbage can so that one of the cats doesn't go after the garbage...I don't know how Leo manages to balance himself and be comfy on there!

The days are hot and humid, the nights are chilly. From the garden: a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers and Geraniums. Seeing these beautiful flowers makes me appreciate all of the beauty of summer. Our winters last 7-8 months and I have to say I'm not looking forward to another long one here in Quebec! I'm spending as much time outdoors as I can. I hope you are enjoying your summer my friends! (Serena, I hope you're enjoying winter!!!) :)

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One Great Blue Heron in Malpeque P.E.I. (2010)

August 29th: Next Thursday's theme is One. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! :)

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please don't include a link unless you participate in the art date!

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Thursday Art Date: Moon, Sun and Stars

"That's one small step for (a) rabbit...one giant leap for leporidae"

Hello Friends! :)

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date! Our theme today is Moon, Sun and Stars. I love to paint night scenes. There is something about a night sky that I find so beautiful and there are so many ways to paint them!

I think Bugs Bunny is the first of his kind on the Moon! I did this painting in acrylics.

Actually Alex got an action shot of me painting it!

Watercolour Sun. The sunny days are still with us here in the mountains, though the nights are really starting to get chilly. Fall seems to be so close and my tomatoes are still green! Eek!

An acrylic starry sky. :) I painted the Pisces Constellation, which represents my Zodiac sign. Do you sky watch? One of these days I'd love to get myself a really good telescope. Maybe I'll discover the Rain Comet! :)

I just wanted to share a little of the Nature that is all around me - it's so beautiful in the mountains!

Ham and Jarlsberg sandwiches with fries...so delicious with a honey Dijon mustard!

This dish is so fresh and so easy to make: Tomato Bocconcini Pasta. I made the Bocconcini myself and it pairs so well with tomatoes. We didn't have any basil, which I usually use, so I substituted fresh from the garden green onions instead.

Meatless Cheese Enchiladas with homemade Sour Cream!!

Recipe Notes: I'm spending some time over the next few months - maybe throughout the winter - to re-write my recipes on the Rain's Recipes Page and include a printable version of them. This might mean that links won't work so if you are looking for something, please send me a note (Contact Form on the sidebar) or leave me a comment!

That goes for Rainy Day Cheese Making as well. I totally re-designed that web site last week and it looks pretty good! Cheese recipes may be missing as well, so again, let me know if you can't find something!!

Jack - waiting for a snack. Such a beautiful hound dog! :)

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My first cartoon drawing in January of 2018

August 22nd: Next Thursday's theme is Comics/Cartoons. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! :)

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes.

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please don't include a link unless you participate in the art date!

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