No. 7 done & dusted

This picture seemed appropriate as I set out on an awfully big adventure.
Will blog when I return...till then...cheers

green is a really nice color...

I really get into wearing green on St. Patricks Day. As a matter of fact...I am slipping on green earrings, or wearing a green sweater or my shamrock pin for at least a week or so before March 17th. Cause I love the color green.  Green is life. Abundant in nature, green signifies growth, renewal, health, and environment. Green is so Spring...and that is what has finally arrived here in LA...

I found this photo I took last year of the road into Kinsale, Ireland... and it brought back some wonderful memories...Believe it or not...the countryside of Ireland really is This Green...it's amazing...and beautiful... and enchanting.
So even if you're not Irish...I hope you will carry the spirit of green with you this St. Patrick's Day...

I had some COLCANNON the other day...Traditionally, this dish was served exclusively at Halloween. But nowadays, with the Irish casting aside the shackles of their past, there is a new sense of adventure and a willingness to embrace exciting new ideas. Some Irish have even gone so far as to eat colcannon in April!

Now I have not made this recipe but it's from my book "The feckin' book of everything Irish", (which my friend Judith Ann, who loves all things Irish, gave me) and it's written by 2 guys whose names are Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea...so I think they probably got it right:

Ingredients:

1 lb. kale, or green cabbage

1/2 pt water

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 lb potatoes peeled and quarters

1 medium carrot, cut into chunks

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup milk

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 oz butter melted

METHOD:

Simmer kale or cabbage in water and oil for 10 minutes

Drain thoroughly and chop finely

Boil potatoes and carrot in same pot until tender

Put milk and onion in a saucepan and cook lightly

Drain the potatoes and carrot and mash together

Add the onion and its milk and the cooked kale to the potato/carrot mash and mix together well

Season with salt and pepper

Transfer to a serving dish, make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter.

Garnish with parsley

Serves 4

Beanneacht!

have you met us?

Meet Augusta and Margarite.
Oh so charming articulated companions looking for a home...
Cage dolls and angels too...

Check them out here

a perspective

Did you ever wonder how we fit into the big picture...?
this should help...

No. 6 done & dusted

This old Oscar pic seemed the right one to post for this Sundays event...
Don't ask what I am pointing at or whispering...I can't remember...

and I am not sure I want to...

Check this out for Oscar night over at a Daily Cup Of Jo   an easy Boeuf Bourguignon recipe that would make Julia proud. If you are vegetarian...I have nothing for you...

Need a printable Oscar ballot? Get the official one here.

end the day with a good zentangle...

Zentangle's are my new found passion...at night when I sit down to unwind...I have been making a zentangle or two.   It's a whole new zentangly world...full of strings and tangles...very meditative...very therapeutic and very fun...Warning: it is also very addictive in a good way...  I discovered it all last week and I got my zentangle kit about three days ago...and here are my first 3 zentangles.

I've got some ideas percolating on how I will incorporate these in my art...but I have alot more to make and discover first...you know how I love illustration...but it seems just the ticket to zip up that journal...send as a love note...or wallpaper a room.

You don't have to buy a kit to get started...but it does have everything you need all in one place in a wonderful little zentangle box.  If you decide to plunge in and go it alone...use a quality pen (they suggest pigma .o1) and a high quality paper (In the kit they send 100% cotton, heavy-weight fine artists' paper with a beautiful vellum surface finish...they call these 3-1/2 inch square papers... tiles.) I think this size is really great to start with because it doesn't feel overwhelming...and you can finish a piece in like 15 or 20 minutes...Also use a good soft shading pencil cause it really ties all the tangles together when you finish...
Did I mention you also get a A Zentangle Legend™ with 20 numbered and named Tangles? Suggested Strings, though it's easy to make your own...AND a icosahedron...that's right...you know you want one..!!!

Zentangleits (I just made that up) also have a free newsletter to sign up for and past issues are available to puruse. And the site is just plain interesting to read.

Hope you will try it out...it may look complicated...but it's really not.  You get a mini dvd when you buy the kit to follow along with...but there are some little films I found on YouTube that can get you going...like this tutorial below by Milliande (I think she has 4 free tutorials in her zendoodling series)...so give it a go...cause you know you want to. 

Why...even people that say they can't draw can do zentangles...no excuses anymore...and the way things are going...a zentangle every night is a good thing...

after the rain....

What's going on...

 

after the rain in the garden...

my new little orange tree is so happy...and my potager garden is starting to bloom...

 

There has also been a visit to Stampington where art pal Connie Freedman and I checked out Stampington's new digs and met the new Editor-In-Chief and Director of Publishing, Christen Olivarez and associate editor Beth Livesay. Some new art projects underway you'll be seeing in future issues of Somerset Studio, Art Doll and Sew Somerset. My unruly hair is as unruly as my art...

Anyone watching Jack save the world for the 8th season?
just wondering...