Thursday, February 3, 2011

Beauty

How beautiful and sparkly when the sun shines on it.
Especially with the cold now it is just pristine.
I can't beat it so I might as well enjoy the small stuff.

Here is out the back on the pond.
I like the ripples of the snow from the wind.

11 days till spring training starts!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Drawing Lab #2

Blind Contours
This means that you don't look at your drawing.  You keep your eyes on the picture and draw, some very interesting things happen with your picture when you do this. 
I am in search of giraffes.

Comfort Food

Last weekend I made a big pot of vegetable soup.  It's a nice hearty soup for cold days.  Something I used different this time was a package of Krogers beef stew seasoning.  It made the broth very robust and yummy.

I also made pumpkin bread from scratch. 
It made two loaves and was gone in two days.

This also disappeared very fast.  Just a yellow cake mix with frosting and chocolate chips. 

Blizzard or Bust

I was a senior in high school during the blizzard of '78.  Now that was a blizzard, the winds howled for two days.  The drifts were huge and we listened to Bob Sievers on WOWO continuously.  It was a very exciting time.  The anticipation leading up to the time when the blizzard is supposed to start is also exciting. I find myself watching the weather channel continuously, where I finally have to tell myself "enough is enough!.
 This one had some howling winds (maybe for 6 hours), some decent amounts of snow, but I feel let down.  I am still waiting for the one that compares to the great Blizzard of '78.  Maybe it is a once in a lifetime thing??
A few pictures from our "blizzard".

Here is was just starting.  We had gotten some snow the day before also.

You can tell the wind is blowing.

The next day is was still snow some but the wind had stopped.

The shoveling out.

We are told we got 10 1/2 inches.  I can't tell which is the drift and which is the regular snowfall. 
Like I said, I am still waiting for the big one.  On a scale of 1 to 10...I give this one a 3. 

Marinade

I found this tasty marinade at the grocery.
I poured the whole bottle in a heavy ziplock bag and added two skirt steaks.
Put the bag on a plate and put in the refrigerator for 4 or 5 hours.
Tom then cooked the steaks on the grill and I then sliced them into narrow pieces.
I sauteed the slices with sliced green pepper and onions.
Warmed some tortillas, put some of the meat mixture in one with shredded cheese.
Made some yellow rice and had a nice easy supper of fajitas and rice. 
The skirt steaks were very tender and it was oh so good!

Sympathy Cards

Sadly I had to make three sympathy cards today.
I will share them.
For a gentleman's family who he passed away from cancer. 

You may be wondering about this one.
This elderly gentleman's occupation had been a veterinarian.


Just a very subtle card for the family of a 40 year old woman.


Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Drawing Lab #1 Finished

Back to finishing the drawing lab.
Here is another cat that I ended up liking.
My cats like to sit on the windowsill and stretch.
This one I felt deplicted that very well.



 The instructions then said to manipulate it on photoshop.
I will call it techincolor dreamcat.
This guy got colored in with pencils.
I will call him Wise Eyes.