Cousins..........

Watercolour paintings.............

Above is one of my favourite paintings that I did in watercolour. What I like about the medium is the unexpected results I sometimes get. That is also the worst thing about it too. You can not always control the results. One thing I really enjoy is doing the sky. In this next picture I was practicing clouds. The circle you see is a reflection of my camera, I didn't take the pictures out from under glass but I think you can see the effect of the wet on wet technique in the sky. Then by scraping across the sky it looks like rain (I think?).......It is supposed to be an Autumn scene. Below is another Autumn scene, brisk and windy. I will share a few more paintings in my other blogs, I normally only show them in the Pretty Things blog. I will be sharing this with Make it Pretty Monday at the Dedicated house.

Thank you................

In the Bleak Midwinter.......

Text: Christina G. Rossetti, 1830-1894 Music: Gustav Holst, 1874-1934 The bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957 according to schedule, despite the many hazards of marine construction over the turbulent Straits of Mackinac. The last of the Mackinac Bridge bonds were retired July 1, 1986. Fare revenues are now used to operate and maintain the Bridge and repay the State of Michigan for monies advanced to the Authority since the facility opened to traffic in 1957.... The bridge is 5 miles long. Before that cars had to go by ferry to St Ignace or over to Mackinaw Island. The Grand Hotel is on the island and the business was very limited without the all around traffic. No cars are allowed on the Island by the way. This is the entry to the upper peninsula. The good old UP. The first verse of one of my favourite hymns reminds me of the UP in winter. In case you did not see the connection between the hymn and the rest of the post. Winter up the in "God's Country" is awesome. Wolves and Moose and Elk. Its beautiful. The above picture is a typical winter in the UP. Although I must say The last few winters have been far from typical. I do not know who's home this is but my neighbour Bud, well he has a cottage in the UP near Marquette. He says some years they had to get out the bedroom window. So this picture made me think of him. My son and daughter in law live in Baraga and my granddaughter lives in Ishpeming. So we are often in the UP. Not as often as I would like though. The land of the Snowshoe Priest............wish you could see it. I am linking up with I love to participate and read all the links and finding more new friends.

Snow Today...........

It's snowing. The joy? the beauty, the anticipation. Well I could really have lived all winter without it but here it is. I suppose I should be happy its held off thus far, and it will be nice to have a white christmas. I mean, after all this is Michigan. Friends have already taken off to ski in other states (as we had none) so for our local economy its a must have. I don't drive now. I think come summer I will try to do more but after being sick I have sort of lost my equilibrium somewhat. I was just getting used to driving a couple of blocks to pick up Tristen at school. Gave me back some confidence. Now with snow I dare not risk that. Anyway..........I will be putting out more food for the birds and squirrels keep my little friends happy. It is beautiful that's for sure. Especially here where we live. Although Northern Michigan, the Upper Peninsula is even more beautiful and they get a lot of snow. (The above is the river at Calumet) I will be glad to get out and get some of my own pictures............I don't have any at the moment on my computer. I may have some somewhere on disc but it would be better to just get new ones. No idea who took the ones I have found on the web but I am grateful to the photographers for some lovely pictures. As beautiful as it is, snow can also be a hazard to drive in. I am glad that I no longer need to be on the roads when we have storms. I can enjoy it from home, or when it stops and the roads are clear I can venture forth and take pictures. Till then..........enjoy these ones.

Countdown.............

It will soon be here. Soon be time for Christmas. Jason is coming home Christmas Eve and leaving Boxing Day. He doesn't want to leave his cats too long because Cole is new and Dexter has still got to settle down after loosing Chewy. That means there will probably be Laura and Robert, Reina and Jason, Tristen and me and Gerry for dinner. I am thinking of a ham for a change from turkey and maybe an English beef roast with Yorkshire pudding. I found a cheesy mashed potato recipe I want to do with the ham. I will do roast potatoes for the beef. I love to have left overs. I used to get a set of Christmas crackers to have with dinner. I am not sure if I will find any this year as its rather late. I have a lot of shopping to do and I have been sick. I have to spend money now on the poodle Bijou who just had surgery so it will be a really pared back Christmas for us this year. Each year I have been trying to cut back. I have been used to spending what ever I wanted and I love giving gifts. I did better last year but this year will be even more of a challenge. That's OK too..............time to remember the reason for the season. I want to emphasize to Tristen that it's Jesus birthday celebration and why we will celebrate His birth. He will hear Christmas music and movies. We agreed he could have Christmas Eve with his Auntie Laura and go around the Commin's family but he is to be home Christmas morning to have Christmas with us. This weekend I am hoping to put up a tree. This I know is not a part of the real meaning of Christmas but I do love the glitter and beauty and even though these things have roots in pagan practices, I think they have evolved so far now as to be nothing but a symbol of Christmas. I can accept that. I try to be careful when it comes to my Faith. I find that the Love and family and giving at Christmas is a worth while thing. I keep Santa out of the equation. Oh I don't mind little kids seeing Santa in the Mall and telling stories as long as they know it's fantasy. Like fairies. I prefer to dwell on the Angels singing to the shepherds and the wise men from the east. All a part of Christmas but really none of them were there at Christ's birth. We have lumped it all together in one glorious day. I can deal with that and explain that later when the children are older. People may think of all that as fantasy, but I do not. I believe it all happened. Just not at Christmas as we know it. I love to decorate. I am hoping I will be able to decorate this weekend. Tristen is 3 this Christmas, he will understand a little more than last year. I want to be sure its not all about the gifts this time around. Maybe take him shopping to get "Granddad" a gift and one for Uncle Jason so that he can learn to give as well as recieve. We shall see. No matter what we will have a good Christmas and try to get back to the real meaning of the season.

December Dawn.........

Thatched Cottages,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

While I am sure there are thatched cottages all over Europe, they seem to be the essence of Engishness. When I think of Scotland I think of stone crofts rather than quaint cottages with straw roofs. It's not accurate by any means but its my own impression. When we were home once for a holiday we got to see some roof thatch being repaired. It's not a dying art. There are still very many thatched roofs in the British Isles. There are as many patterns and designs as there are cottages. Wikipedia says this......... Good quality straw thatch can last for more than 50 years when applied by a skilled thatcher. Traditionally, a new layer of straw was simply applied over the weathered surface, and this ‘spar coating’ tradition has created accumulations of thatch over 7’ (2.1 m) thick on very old buildings. Over 250 roofs in Southern England have base coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago, providing direct evidence of the types of materials that were used for thatching in the medieval period. Almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat, rye, or a 'maslin' mixture of both. Medieval wheat grew to almost 6 feet (1.8 m) tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof and grain for baking bread. Can you imagine the insulation that a thatch roof gives?. Each straw is hollow so it would be hot in winter, holding in the heat, and cool in summer. The stone walls would be cool yet hold the heat. Maybe we could learn a lot from the ancient ways? and, it just had to be "green".... Here are some pretty cottages to give you some inspiration. Don't worry about birds or vermin because the thatch wears a hairnet of sorts that will keep all the critters at bay. Whatever else it is, the English thatched cottage will always inspire romantic pictures of tranquility and the past, even though they are very much modern and thriving today.

Sunday Dinner................

Sunday was always the day......Sunday dinner. Roasts in ovens all over England. (probably the rest of the British Isles as well, but I can only speak for England). It meant family dinner. During the week both parents worked at my house. Saturday my dad would do garden chores and mum would clean the house. Sunday then was the time to relax, go for a Sunday drive and have Sunday dinner. When I was a child roast beef was the cheapest meal, as opposed to lamb or chicken or pork. That's what we usually had. We did sometimes have a leg of lamb. I was not so fond of that but it was still a wonderful meal. My mother did like to cook. It seems now she didn't really get a day off but that's life when you are in a family. Sometimes my Grandparents would come over but usually it was just us. Sunday dinner..........Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, Brussel sprouts, roast potatoes and gravy. The best meal ever and the only one now to compare is our Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinners. Every week was a variation of that theme. Neighbours would pop in for a cup of tea and mum would say " have you got your roast in" and that would begin a discussion on what Mr Pratt the butcher had worked out for them. Back then you went into the butcher shop and asked for a roast for the number of people you wanted to serve. He would then take a fresh joint of meat and cut it to the size required. It was rolled and held together with metal skewers and held tight with string. With the roast would be roasted potatoes tasting extra good cooked with the beef roast. The Yorkshire pudding was at one time a "filler" just flour and eggs mainly but when cooked with the roast it is just awesome. Its a real shame that now people go out to eat more and more. A lot of pubs do a traditional English Sunday roast, but its not really the same is it. It was more the fact that before all the cell phones, the ipads and even daytime TV families would do something together after Sunday lunch, the roast would be in and the house smelled heavenly and a game of dominoes or scrabble maybe................snakes and ladders for me if I could get Dad to play. Sigh those were the days

A Dusting of snow.........

Wow, its good to be back. I have been so sick that I can't remember what it felt like to be normal. Actually I think I can put the blame square on the antibiotic for most of it. The cure being worse than the illness. Each day an adventure. The doctor put me on Bactrin. For a week prior I was sick with a cough and cold but let that go. I believe I got a sinus infection from that. The real problem was a UTI .........well the worse part was the fevers. All I did was sleep. Things got better, nausea, cold sweats, and a wonderful rash or two. My UTI is gone I think and 3 pills left to go. Today's prize was giddiness/vertigo. .......anyway enough of my misery............one good thing was the last couple of days I could actually function and have enjoyed doing some reading and drawing. Cant do much else. I mean I wasn't even on the computer can you imagine?...................... Well here we are into December and things begin to turn to Christmas. I will be a quiet one this year. I normally decorate the house the weekend after Thanksgiving. Well I missed that and decorating was not on the cards this weekend either. So............rather than drag all the ornaments and tree out of the basement for just a few weeks, I am going to forget that. I am going to try to buy a couple of pre-lit table top trees instead. They will serve well another year. I know that Tristen would be into everything anyway and so best to avoid it. This will work and everyone will be happy and no nagging the three year old. The sun has been shining today in Northern Michigan. We had but a dusting of snow. Fine by me but most people who live in the north want snow. They ski or snowmobile or have sled dogs. They cross country ski and ice fish. Not me, I stay inside. The good news for them is that its been really cold. That means the snow machines work for the ski slopes and they can work on the trails. A compromise but probably not as nice as seeing the sparkling wilderness. So now the countdown. I can't afford many gifts so I will have to spend my money wisely. I have thought of a few for Tristen and will buy for the small grandkids. The older ones may get a small gift and then if I still can I will get small things for the adults. I have always been rather over the top when buying gifts. I love it......well time to rope in my enthusiasm and get back into the real world. Money is not coming in and so I must watch what goes out. That will be a challenge and so will also be fun. Right!!!!! If I feel better by next week there are a couple of places I want to go to shop. A local antique shop and Pier 1 I love that shop. It will be good to get out of the house.