Pretty Pathetic Picture of the Eclipse

My camera wasn't up to the task of capturing last night's lunar eclipse, but at least I it will be a reminder of the real thing.  I imagine Thom got some good pictures, which I will find on Facebook and copy.  Right now I'm late and have to go.  I'll be back later.

I'm still here...

Man, I have had so many computer problems I haven't been able to write for quite some time.  I bought a new computer, after which I realized I also needed a new keyboard and mouse.  It took a long time for them both to get here.  Once I installed Picasa and Blogger, I am delighted to say I am back in the blog business.

The painting I've posted is a large version of a small one I did before.  It is almost as tall as I am (which is shrinking to less than 5 feet).I had fun with it thanks to encouragement from my old friend Elizabeth.  We talk every few weeks and she always inspires me to be more experimental, the way I used to be when we were both in school.....as adults in the 80's and 90's. She suggested that I make the brush strokes tell the story of the image. It's hard to see in the photo, but I splashed paint all over this, let it run, painted on it upside down and sideways.  Certainly it doesn't look as experimental as it ought to, considering how much I played with it.  I like it, though, and certainly had a good time doing it

Afterwards, I tried doing the same type of image in watercolor.  I'm quite happy with this one, too, mostly just because I was able to get some interesting watercolor effects without making everything muddy.

The dancers look happy.  Next time I think I'll forget the yellow stripes.  I meant them to stabilize the chaos of the other brush marks, but they really don't work.  One thing about watercolor, though.  You pretty much have to live with your mistakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Made Pasta

I haven't made pasta for awhile, but I saw a recipe in the paper this morning that  I thought I would make for Carrie and me while she visits.  Since it is a pasta dish, I decided to go all out and make my own.  This is whole wheat pasta, but I also made some with regular flour.  As usual, the task turned out to be much more work than I anticipated.  First I had to find my pasta machine, which I haven't used for about twenty years.  Then I had to clean the thing.  Then I had to look into the recesses of my mind to remember the procedure.  Luckily it involves only flour, eggs, and salt.  My first batch was a little dry, though It was fine when cooked.  Of course it would be, since it is cooked in water, so I needn't have worried.  The white batch was so successful that I made twice as much dough for the whole wheat......a decision I regretted about two hours later while I was still cranking the dough through the machine. 

Comic relief came as I was cleaning up and spotted Patrick taking an overly active interest in the drying noodles.  He managed to snag one, and then I tempted him with another in order to take a picture.  He is such an adorable boy.

Golden Glow

Two years ago Elizabeth sent me these plants.  She had never heard of them, but my mother used to have them.  When we moved to our first house as a married couple on Parkview Avenue, I transplanted some of hers.  After a few more moves, I lost them and hadn't been able to find any since.  I don't remember how it came up, but Elizabeth ended up researching them on the web.  She found some and sent me four little plants.  Probably I wrote about this before.  Nevertheless, these flowers mean so much to me that the story bears repeating, at least in my view.  Sometimes such a small, unexpected, and seemingly somewhat insignificant event can end up being the source of lasting pleasure.  The circumstances that conspired to get these plants to me gave them a special, complicated and a little obscure meaning to me.  I'm so glad I have them.