Saturday, 14 November 2009

The Big Squat - Pink Christmas Trees – Something Completely Different


Over on something completely different – the challenge this week is pink with a Christmas tree. As I mentioned before I give people back part of the card they gave me the year before and donate to charity. This year's charity is water aid and they are currently promoting World Toilet Day; part of which is the Big Squat. Only one card had a Pink Christmas Tree on it, so I added a few more using my 1960's cookie cutter set Christmas tree as a template. The pink sparkly tree is from the original card; so Sue if you are reading this you'll know what's coming to you.

Unbalanced – Illustration Friday


The topic for this week's Illustration Friday is unbalanced, so here we have an ewe 'U' and a hen 'N' perfectly balanced (but they wouldn't be).

Thursday, 12 November 2009

Lemon Squash




A little recipe invented the other evening. First take one butternut squash, wash the exterior, cut into wedges and cut out the seeds but do not peel. Heat a roasting pan to moderately high approx 180c in my oven. Once hot, pour in some olive oil – I used lemon olive oil, toss the squash wedges well to ensure well coated add some ground black pepper. Rinse some preserved ie salted lemon in fresh water and cut into pieces, add to the dish and put into the oven to cook until the squash is nice and soft to the touch and slightly caramelised. If your lemon starts to catch or scorch add some water to the bottom of the dish for the remainder of the cooking time. Eat as an accompaniment to meats or as a main course vegetarian dish, any leftovers are great added to couscous for salad the next day with a little more oil if required.

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Speaking Melsh or Something Completely Different - The History of the World according to Twitter


In a previous post called "What has Twitter ever done for you?" I had an opportunity for some thank-yous. Now it is time for some more. Many thanks to @MsClara who by way of a Twitter tipoff said that it was possible to win a copy of a book written by her other half @Mitch Benn and @Jon Holmes. Guess what – I won one; a signed copy of the book The History of the World through Twitter. You can safely add this to your Christmas stocking filler list if you like a quick read where you won't necessarily learn anything new but where you will occasionally laugh out loud. I am very grateful to @carltonbooks for sending the book so swiftly; by the way they currently have U2 books on give away if their follower numbers increase; tell them I sent you.


The second big prize recently was a fantastic collection of crafting stuff from the lovely Mel at I Speak Melsh, follow the link; I really did receive all of that and a bar of chocolate. I should add a thank-you to the hamster at this point. I am not quite sure how it happened but I seem to have crept into the world of arts, crafts and scrap booking. For the last few years I have been recycling Christmas cards by sending people back part of the card they sent me the year before and donating the difference in cost to a charity. This year my charity of choice is Water Aid. Above is the first of the cards, using some of the items in the giveaway. It is also my entry for Something Completely Different. This week they have moved away from inchies and on to Christmas Cards, with the colours Red, Green and Gold and the theme Holly and the Ivy. The little mouse has on his holly pjs. In the background is an attempt to print from an Ivy leaf, it didn't work that well. – Ohh well plenty more to tax me whilst I try to improve my skills.

Sunday, 8 November 2009

Remembrance – Illustration Friday - Blur


The subject for this week's Illustration Friday is 'Blur' and here in the UK today is Remembrance Sunday, you can find out more about this at the Royal British Legion website. This small illustration is me taking a few minutes to remember all of those impacted by war, whether in the act of conflict or in the preparation and training or in the aftermath, the people themselves and their families and friends.  Created in Brushes on iphone