Thursday Art Date: Harvest

Bugs Bunny's Pumpkin Harvest - Prismacolor Pencils

Hello Friends!

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date! Our theme today is Harvest. Although I always love having Bugs Bunny model for my drawings...it was really getting to me when he kept boasting about his HUGE pumpkin harvest! Ugh! What a terrible gardening season I've had! But there's always next year right? Dreams of heated greenhouses are dancing in my head! :)

I'll be harvesting this little sugar pumpkin (hopefully!) in a month or so. It's starting to turn orange. Just to give you an idea, this is the size of a large softball.

I found another tiny little pumpkin growing, I don't think it'll make it before the frost though!

Alien - Sharpies and Acrylic Gel Pen

Before I say anything...does anyone know why I chose an alien for this theme? Hollywood would have us believe that aliens come to earth to harvest humans...and apparently aliens all look like this! ;) I started this with a black Sharpie and a white acrylic gel pen, then decided to do a second alien with acrylic paints.

Alien - Acrylics

I have to say that I'm extremely happy with this painting! I really took my time doing it and did many layers of acrylic on it. (Can you tell I'm getting into the Halloween spirit lately with my art???) 🎃

The cherry tomatoes are finally starting to ripen! I cut these up and added some olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

Slim pickins for the potatoes this year! Mind you, I did plant a lot less, but they are so small!

This is it for the root veggies too. Beats, carrots and turnips. I was surprised how many turnips I got actually, I planted these in containers. With some of the potatoes, these will go into the slow cooker for a Harvest Stew. :)

I have three pots of green onions left, which is nice!

My green tomatoes.

Look what I forgot about! Chives, baby Romaine and Oregano! When I was cleaning up my window garden (now the cat sunbathing area)...I had put these starter pots on a little table outside near the pumpkin patches and really did forget about them. They're doing pretty well considering!

How is your harvest going? Better than mine?

I wanted to share this with you! Cinnamon Buns (From Leanna's Recipe). Oh my gosh these are so good! And the house smells terrific, just what an autumn cozy home should smell like! :)

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This is a watercolour I painted, then added salt for texture

September 19th: Next Thursday's theme is Texture. 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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Sunday Food and Pets

Hello Friends :)

How is your Sunday? Mine is quiet. It's raining cats and dogs so the weekenders are all gone, it's bliss! :) I've been making cheese again, this time I made a really nice goat cheese. It was delicious! It's a lot milder than the store-bought goat cheese. I'm definitely going to make this again! (I'll post the recipe in the next week or so on Rainy Day Cheese Making!)

Speaking of cats and dogs, look what I stumbled on one morning! Baby Oscar and Leo are getting some sun while I do my yoga!

I haven't been posting too much about food lately, so I thought I'd do that today.  I've been really busy re-doing my recipe page. I decided to make printable recipes available - like this one. It's a big undertaking but I think it'll keep me busy during the long winter months!! My recipe page is under construction, it's available but lots of recipes are missing, so if you're looking for something, please contact me! (I have a contact form on the right side bar!)

I made a really nice Oatmeal Maple Bread from a cookbook called The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

I told my friend Joyce that I was in desperate need of vegetarian recipes and she sent me this cookbook. Along with so many very nice gifts, my favourite are these:

She is such a sweet woman, go check out her blog Octoberfarm. She has so many delicious recipes on there and writes about her life and her two cute Chow Chow dogs Winnie and Willie! Thanks so much Joyce! 💛

Alex ordered his dream guitar a few months ago. He's been waiting for it to be shipped from California and it's been a long wait for him. We are supposed to get a phone call next week so we can go to the music store and pick it up. In the meantime I decided to make him a guitar cake.

Be gentle with your comments please lol...this was my first attempt at any kind of designer-ish cake! I made it with my Carrot Cake recipe and frosted it with my Brown Sugar and Cream Cheese Frosting. My hands were pretty shaky when I made the shapes - just out of melted chocolate. The strings are licorice. I think next time (and there WILL be a next time!) I make a designer cake, I'll use  a butter based frosting and I'll practice first! Alex loved it!

We had the cake with a few cocktails. A Vanilla Flip (made with brandy, an egg white and sugar) and an Old Fashioned (made with bourbon, simple syrup and some spices).

A few nights ago, I had pent up energy (it's all gone now!) so I made a Chinese food dinner. Sweet and Sour Cauliflower, Garlic Noodles and Stir Fried Rice. There were plenty of leftovers!

We have basically switched our diet to a vegetarian one with the occasional meat products like broths and some sauces. A great vegetarian meal is Mashed Potato Quesadillas.

Look at that potato and cheese all melty and yummy! :) I served this with my Homemade Salsa and Homemade Sour Cream.

And what food post would be complete without my Poutine? :) It's all about the cheese my friends!

My sciatica and piriformis pain flared up a little this week so I spent a few days in bed to recover. I get up for two minutes to get a snack and look what I come back to!!

I harvested my garlic yesterday. It's sitting outside curing for a few weeks. The harvest was quite poor this summer, but that's life! Speaking of Harvest, that's the theme for this Thursday's art date! See you then!

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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