HOMESCHOOLING: Cooking

Once a month or so the Boys Take Over the kitchen and cook the family a meal. They get to choose what they cook and I assist with information but they do the whole thing. Today it was Roast Chicken and Vegetables and it was delicious..... served with a creamy herb butter sauce. No mishaps... nothing burnt and a  good lesson in paying close attention to time and the order in which to cook things. It was fun and practical and empowering. They are becoming quite adept in the kitchen. 

SPRING IS ON MY MIND

So this is a cheer myself up with images and garden photo's to remind me that the monotone white and grey landscape of Winter is on it's last legs and green really WILL poke through again and the hummingbirds will return and the blue sky will be back.

ahh that is better......... Spring comes soon enough i know..... but I am ready!!!!

REDREAMING ANTIPODES: REDUX

Night version of the same paintings.....

Close up detail.......

The paintings hold their glow about 10 hours plus.......so overnight. Next day they charge up again and continue.

Redreaming Antipodes

Redreaming Antipodes ….. the journey across half way around the world from one home to another to create a new sanctuary of home. There are some things that create a sense of belonging and for us the Willow Tree in both homes is representative of that and as such is represented in this painting and the wide open spaces and rolling green hills.

More photo's to come once i get the night version...... 

SACCHI ONLINE

I rarely bother with my Sacchi Profile and just recently rediscovered it and updated my information on there....and uploaded a photograph.... I had originally kept that site paintings only. After doing so was curious about what the *Sacchi audience/viewer* would think of my photo..... *In your Hands* as a way of gauging it's appeal. So i entered it into the current Showdown....... of which there are some 5,700 or so entries...... 

So if you like the work i would appreciate a VOTE.... i rarely have asked for votes but in this instance thought it worth while..... it is entirely optional but i can say without any attention from me the piece is doing fairly well..... and i would just be happy to make it past the preliminary round..... so

HOW to VOTE?

To vote, you must sign up for Saatchi Online. You can sign up as a new member through Saatchi Online or connect through your Facebook account at

http://www.saatchionline.com/sign-in.

Preliminary Rounds

All entries will be displayed two at a time, where visitors can come and vote by clicking on the one they like most. Your artwork will go up against multiple entries and will be given an equal number of chances to be voted on during the course of the preliminary rounds. As the preliminary rounds progress and entries are whittled down to the highest ranked, Saatchi Online will announce the top 128. At this point, the Showdown Tournament begins and will become a basic single elimination bracket of the top 128 artworks. If you lose, you're out.

THIS is a direct link to my entry.

http://www.saatchionline.com/showdown/match/showdown/4/artist/5267/art/438058

PLEASE VOTE!!!! THIS is the image! "In Your Hands

and thank you.......

Redreaming Spring..... or Winter Wondering's

So i am itching to get things in the garden.... a couple of warm days at this time of year tends to do that to you and encourages a forward thinking about growing and dirt and seeds and outside time. But being the snowbanks are still very high...... i content myself with reading and planning and organizing what i will grow and what i learned last year and the changes i will make in the garden this year.

There is always something new to learn and read about.

Here are some links to things i have been reading about this week.

The Integral Urban House.... so many good ideas here!...... and it is from 1976! BRILLIANT read.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1976-11-01/The-Integral-Urban-House.aspx?page=2

I have ordered some seed potatoes this week too...... from HERE  and and relocating potato growing this year closer to the rain barrels for any extra water they might need.....

This is pretty much the method i will use to grow potatoes....

http://www.seismologik.com/journal/2011/1/5/4-simple-steps-to-grow-a-hundred-pounds-of-potatoes-in-a-bar.html

But will also do some hills.... I prefer to grow things a couple of different ways to make sure we get a result.... Potatoes are really pretty simple to grow and also store....and an excellent source of calories.

I can dream..... because soon the day's will lengthen and i can get my hands dirty again!

Kitty love on Valentine's Day

So raw video of two of our cat's Sky (the tabby) and Artex the blue with white paws...... both male's and both spoiled rotten (i haven't met a cat yet that wasn't to be honest)......

They want to be wherever I am..... so if I am outside they want out.....and if I am inside they too want in.... especially if the weather is nasty.... But really they are great companions and very amusing to live with. Just thought i would share a fragment of life in the fingerlakes.Sorry about the blank black spot in the middle... persevere past it.... LOL!

Nacreous clouds/ Rainbow clouds.

Click the images to see them larger.

These are fire rainbows/rainbow clouds - the rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena.The clouds needed for these rare events have to be cirrus and at least 20,000 feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals.The sun also has to hit the clouds at precisely 58 degrees.

These clouds are caused by light passing through wispy, high-altitude cirrus clouds and the ice crystals must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground.When light enters through a vertical side face of such an ice crystal and leaves from the bottom face, it refracts, or bends, in the same way that light passes through a prism. If a cirrus's crystals are aligned just right, the whole cloud lights up in a spectrum of colours just like it did today for me on the way home!The phenomenon is quite rare because the ice crystals must be aligned horizontally to refract the high sun.these another thing to note in these spectacular events is that they can be very short-lived, rarely surviving beyond half an hour, simply because all of the factors involved must be just so before it can happen. Just look up.

IMBOLC

Rustling through some old papers........

 I came across a couple of my poems i shared on Redbubble..... but since to me the poetry is also all about listening to the words i decided to have a go at making a sound file and discovered a site that makes it easy here is two i created have a listen.

TRANSMIGRATION

THE BOOK

Dinner is Served the Drew and Jye way!

Today the boys were in charge of cooking the family a whole meal.... and from the beginning had to do the entire thing themselves. It was a chance to make all the menu decisions and actually co-ordinate the cooking to understand the process of timing the different elements and of course work together and serve the food.

First thing in the morning preparing the chicken pieces with honey mustard for later on.

Getting ready to put the chicken in the oven......

A little olive oil.

Setting the table.

Eating!

Best result of all.... cleared plates!

Chicken smells..... what can I say? More guests?

I have to admit not only did they cook a great meal but it was low stress and done in a very responsible matter of fact and fun way. The salad was particularly wonderful including walnuts and grated carrot..... It was delicious!

Drew's Latest project

Check out Drew's latest self directed computer video project.... I have no clue how to do this but i have to say it is pretty cool.....I do recognize it is a many step production and this is the first of many steps to understand how to do video after effects.

SNOW CANVAS

So for our art lesson today and taking into account the inclement weather due later on in the morning we started our homeschool lessons off outside in snow overalls jackets and boots armed with four spray bottles of water and food colouring...... actually I requisitioned some recycled bottles i had washed and stashed away...... and armed with four colours we hit the snow.

Curious to see what happened when one tried to spray on snow.... we really had NO idea as we have not done something like this before and as far as i am concerned the possibilities are endless. Thank you to Sarah for giving me the idea and as we went we adapted in place... some photos:

We REALLY liked the effect and it was great fun. Next time... we choose a slightly smaller snow pile..... as it is important to be able to reach... and of course you don't want to stand on any painted sections... so we learned a lot just doing it... great opportunity to play outside and leave a colourful mark.... i did have thoughts of drive by snow on lawn painting..... blue spotted snow anyone? Using food dye means to negative environmental impacts....and of course it is covered up by the very next snow shower.....and you can start again... camera in hand. 

SEED CATALOG TIME OF YEAR

Browsing the catalogs and making lists checking it twice time... you have your seed orders ready to go yet? I have to admit this year is harder because i have to make sure i cover all bases.... what are you ordering? Below are some useful sites I can recommend as being best of the best.

Fedco Co-operative Garden Seeds:

Baker Creek Heirlooms:
Missouri seed company that maintains a huge stock of Open Pollinated varieties, including many varieties brought to the USA for the first time. I have personally ordered seeds from them and their service is second to none. 

Johnny's Selected Seeds: 

Forest Farms: 

Abundant Life Seed Foundation: 

Seed Savers Exchange:

Their physical catalog is delectable in its images and information.

Face of the Earth Seed Company:

Hudson Valley Seed Library:

St. Lawrence Nursery:

Horizon Herbs:

Pinetree Garden Seeds: 

Badgersett Woody Agriculture:

Site hasn't been updated since May... maybe give them a call?

RH Shumway, Seedsman: 

Richters Herbs:

Sand Hill Preservation Center:

Hope you find the links both useful and perhaps if you have not started a food garden before will take the plunge this year. Happy browsing.

Winter and Staying Fit

So part of my new routine is to go to the gym four times a week for an hour just to get me more conscious of my fitness specifically during winter and also to work some muscles to make sure my weight doesn't balloon with some of the limitations I find during winter. Not saying for a moment that one needs to do it but it allows me some alone time and some girl time with friends and get's me some time where i can focus specifically on myself.

So it also allows me time to get out of the house every single day during the school week which with home schooling is IMPORTANT. I already am finding it both fun and motivating and it is something i haven't done before.. so it is also a bit of an experiment. I am very active but there is a difference between activity and targetted exercise and that is for me the main idea! I want to reduce my % of body fat (2%) and trim up and drop some pounds!

SCRIBBLER TOO!

Is my new addiction...... be warned.... it is VERY VERY VERY ADDICTIVE... especially if you like to doodle.......  But it is a wonderful fun drawing tool!

Christmas and New Year