Zentangle.......

I bought a little black drawing book. It turned out to be not what I was needing. Not good at all for watercolour. So.....what to do. I had wanted to try Zentangle. At first I could not see the point to it, but then once I tried I enjoyed the experience. Zen is the key word.....it is really just a relaxing way of working with "tangles" or doodles for want of a better word. I find its simple to do and enjoyable, no preconceived ideas or expectations. Just let the work begin..........here are a few I have done so far. Some simple, some more complicated. I go back to them over and over and add to them when the urge arrises.



This one was fun

This was my first



They don't show up very well, none of my pictures do. I use my camera to get a shot of them but its usually distorted and faded. Not at all what I expect it to look like. Anyway........I wont bore us with any more, its more fun to do than to look at. I have bought a couple of books on the subject (of course I did) and enjoy the experimenting. I will fill the one book and leave it at that. I had Reina over here the other day and she really enjoyed doing it too. SHe is 7

I love Pink........

I never thought I would say that I love pink. When I was a kid I hated the colour, there were shades of pepto bismal and that horrible yucky pink, same with red. It was a horrible colour. Post box red was about it. Now, with the better dyes they have such beautiful shades of pink. Even flowers, roses are in pretty shades of pink. So I will dedicate this post to Pink...............

Fabrics and flowers.....rooms and china. All can be beautiful.

In fact I am thinking that I will do my downstairs bedroom in pink and blue. Yummy.

I think it will be fun to do a bedroom in pink, right now it was patriotic red white and blue and I am so tired of the dark colours. So........

I wont be needing to look for too many things to decorate with because I have plenty around. Yes........thats the colour I will do. My other room down there is a beautiful blue, but Dan is in that room and right now its a total mess. He likes it that way. When he leaves then I will redo it the same colour it is now.
Sharing with Mosaic Monday at the little red House
Also linking with Pink Saturday at How Sweet the sound

more pictures..........

This first picture I did several times. I had done this one and did one for a friend.

I did this one a couple of times too.


Laura has this picture in her dining room.........perspective a bit off but otherwise ok.

A friends cat

The geranium came out quite well.

Point Betsy lighthouse. A bit flat.....I may try this one again.

The barn came out OK. and the puddle was good, that does not show well in this picture.

The camera flashed in the glass. Its a pity I didnt take them out from under glass but there ya go.......lazy me.

This one did not go well, but parts of it were ok.....I am very critical of anything I do. I do not have this on display.

The robin is a very old painting I did on regular paper, not watercolour paper.

Trillium, this one actually came out quite well even though it didn't photo well

View from Mums bedroom window

Some simple ones


more boats



Linking up with Flamingo Toes

Bread Box............

Among the things I got the other day (while looking through thrift shops) was a bread box. I didn't want to use it as a bread box though. I just loved the way it looked and wanted it in my kitchen. I love old things.

When I first saw the bread box I wanted it......it was not what I was looking for though. I went to this resale shop looking for things for the garden. To make garden ornaments. The bread box was sitting there in the entrance, I mean I walked in the door and saw it sitting there. There was also a lovely old watering can. I decided against it......we walked around the store. As I paid for my things the bread box called to me. I could not resist. Well it came home with me. I wanted it to put my flour in........and here she is.

I think its a great place for my flour, don't you?

In the same place I found this pitcher and I love it.........as yet I can not figure out what to do with it.

Well there we are.........just a couple of my latest finds. I cleaned up the kitchen counter in the process. Part of my ongoing attempt to simplify.

Bread.................

My cousin Robin has been giving me tips on making bread and pastry. My first attempt was a failure. It was my own fault. I had decided to empty my baking cupboards and get rid of all my old stuff. I didnt want to just throw stuff out so I prepared to use up what I could. The bread turned out looking lovely and tasting horrible. Well it does not pay to use expired things when it comes to baking. Oh the yeast rose ok but the taste of the bread was stale. So...........Robin to the rescue. He taught me about the different flours, and how they worked. Mine apparently had lost its umpfffff.
So.....everything in the trash. A lesson learned and new products in the cupboard.
To day I chose two simple recipes. A white bread, sandwich bread and a French bread.
lafugimama had a simple white sandwich bread that looked good and simple
First of all to get myself in the mood I made a loaf from a mix. Just so I had one success at least.


This is an herbal bread, smells divine and was quite good. So then while that was baking I made the next batch. Here it is, the French bread dough sitting on the stove top where it's warm rising its little heart out.

This was a French style bread. I made this as instructed. I didn't do the egg wash on top because I wanted to see what it should look like. I prefer the crunchy crust so next time I will do that and also add some seeds.
I was happy to see them in the oven baking away

They came out looking quite nice, if somewhat pale.

It really did look nice inside.

The next one I made while that was rising and got the white bread started. Here that one is rising. Both recipes had different times for rising and baking just to make it more fun.

After all the punching and rising the white dough is finally in the pan
Naomi Cakes a blog about sugar and spice and everything nice

This one bakes for a whole hour, but it came out looking sweet enough and if next time I brush it with the egg wash it will look even better.

I cut it before it was cool, heck it was still hot.........I had to taste it.

It tastes so good when it warm from the oven and yes, made with non stale products..........we wont be doing that again haha.
I am linking this with Create with Joy at Inspire me Monday
Also linking with Cottage Style Party

Snack time...........

My friend Edna made these for me at Christmas. I looked up the recipe on google. They are awesome.
I always make a double batch so when you have tried them you probably will too.

Here's what you need:
1/4 cup Canola Oil
1 Packet of Ranch Dressing Mix (dry)
1 Teaspoon Dried Dill Weed
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
Bag or Box of Oyster Crackers

Heat oven to 250 degrees.

Mix the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Then add the Oyster Crackers and stir to coat well.
Cook on a baking sheet and they say to turn them over every five minutes. Cook for 15 mins until toasty. Remove and let cool before storing in an air tight container.
I just use them to snack on but they are awesome with soup. Tomato and Clam Chowder.

Another very easy snack that Tristen just loved..........I tried it on the kids first.



String cheese chopped into bite size pieces, dipped in milk and bread crumbs, baked at 425 for 8-10 minutes- serve with marinara sauce! I used some flavoured bread crumbs and that made it more yummy. I also added an egg to the milk to make the crumbs stick better.
By the way, when I first made these I had some left over chicken from a rotisserie chicken. I cut that up into bite size pieces and dipped that in the breadcrumbs too. The kids thought it was the best lunch ever.
Anyone who likes a more spicy snack try this link to another post on this blog

Sharing with Create with joy Inspire me Monday
also with Flamingo Toes