Puppies!

Song - Dog Days Are Over - Florence & The Machine

During this SIP order I have to admit that my mind has wandered around and into the possibility of getting a dog.  But then reality hits and I know it wouldn't be fair to get a dog right now.  We hope to travel again and until we are no longer able to do big extended trips....no puppies for now.  

Above are our last two much loved West Highland White Terriers - Mika and Max

Pre-Boo

Song - Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon

Every Halloween Mr. B and I enjoy coming up with a design and carving our pumpkins.  For the last few years we have made it into a small party with family.  So on Sunday night........

The table was set with parsnip & carrot noses, carving tools and designing tools as well as gut buckets.  Andy even got out the power drill (behind the "noses").

As we began to work our magic everyone got quieter and quieter.......until.......

...Buddy showed up in his Lion costume and we all cracked up as he was so proud of his new look!

Ashley finished her pumpkin fast so she could have some cuddling time with Buddy-the-Lion.

After that Jack-O-Lanterns started popping out all over the place!

And the winner of this years event was Walter's sideways scary pumpkin!

Yikes!!!

 Then we all settled down for some delicious Tortilla Soup & Corn Bread.......

.......with our Jack-O-Lanterns lighting the night.

 As guests were leaving, we found Monica had sprouted fangs and Tyler forgot to go to the dentist....yuck!!!

As the night was winding down, Chewy fell promptly to sleep.

All of this monster stuff was too much for the little guy!!!

And Mr. B and I joined him shortly.

"When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,

may luck be yours on Halloween"

--Anonymous

Learning to Fly - Part Quatre

Song -  Smile by Madeleine Peyroux

Paris is an amazing place to people watch.  I always travel with my camera that has a great zoom lens so that people usually don't realize they are being photographed.  I use these photo's for reference when I am painting.  I did ask the woman in the photo above if it was OK to take her photo making crepes.  She very happily said "oui" as do most people when I ask.

Waiters and people at cafes are always favorites of mine.

Hot chestnuts cooking on the back of this motorcycle.

 Sometimes it's not until I return home from my trip and check out my photos on my computer screen that I realize that I may have gotten more than I bargained for!!

ooh..la la....Paris is the city of love.......even the angels that are holding onto the fountain are giving these two a double take.

The men playing petanque in the Luxemboug gardens are fun to watch as they are very passionate about their game.

The open air markets are fun for several reasons - people, food and flowers!

Young love.....what can I say?

And a more mature kind of admiration....

Doggie love is everywhere in Paris.

They also love their cheese - don't forget to look in shop windows.  

This cheese monger is trying to find the perfect fromage for his customer.

Look at the expression of this little guy looking at statues in the Musee Rodin.

Remember there are colorful characters where ever you go!

And you might just be one yourself!
 

(And no it was not Halloween but Springtime)

"If everyone would look for that uniqueness 

then we would have a very colorful world."

--Michael Schenker

Where Have You Been?

Song - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan

Where have you been my darling young one?

I'm a bad, bad blogger.....I forgot November and December!

Well I didn't really forget them.  It was more like they bowled me over!!!

 I babysat my son's sweet pup Chewy. What a cutie!

We had 22 guests for Turkey Day!

I completed two commissions and started a new painting.

This was from our Spring trip to Scotland - a piper greeted us in the Highlands near Glencoe.

My mom and I had some downtime at Lake Tahoe.

We had a great cousin's reunion which I did a lot of family tree work for.

David, Timmy & myself

And then Christmas just blew by......

And I was sick the entire time (3 months) with some kind of 

flu-bronchitis-pneumonia-cold-cough thingy! UGGG!

And being stubborn - I never went to the doctors.

Lucky for me, my husband and my boys all cook as well do their loveys, so I had plenty of help.

I hope you will forgive my absence for the last two months.

I'm still here!

As a treat I am going to share two special yummy recipes 

Pumpkin Bread a la Monica

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

1 ½ c. flour

½ tsp. salt

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. pumpkin puree

½ c. vegetable oil (I sometimes use ¼ c. water and ¼ c. oil)

2 eggs, beaten

¼ c. water

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. allspice

¼ tsp. cloves

½ c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, salt, sugar, & baking soda together. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, & spices. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients & mix until all are combined. Stir in the nuts. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3-in. loaf pan, bake 50-60 minutes until done in the middle. Remove from pan, cool on a rack.

 

Jacque's Delicious Cranberry Honey Butter

 1/4 c. honey
1 c. butter
1/4 - 1/2 c. chopped dried cranberries
& orange zest to taste

Jacque placed the butter in small canning jars with handmade labels. 

“And now let us welcome the New Year —full of things that have never been.”

—RAINER MARIA RILKE

TBT

Song - Vivaldi's Winter - The Piano Guys

My cousin Susan with Missy and myself with Molly at the family cabin in Lake Tahoe - c. 1965

A snowlady that I made with my friend Jill on the same deck as upper photo - c. 2012

"I want to become acutely aware of all I have taken for granted" – Sylvia Plath