Halloween Tree?

Driving in Alexandria yesterday, I spotted this tree and it made me stop in my tracks. A Halloween tree or a Christmas tree? I guess it's a playful way to bring in the season -- whichever one that might be. Boo!

A Day at the National Gallery

Yesterday, a few gals and I headed up to Ottawa to the National Gallery of Canada. We wanted to see the Miller Brittain exhibit...


...and the First Nations artist Daphne Odjig.


The architecture is so much fun we stopped to take photos too.


We had lunch in the cafeteria. I had beef and barley soup and a tuna sandwich...


...while others in the group were more classy and had smoked salmon.


And just before we got in the car to call it a day, we stopped at the gift shop for a look-see. Well, more that a look-see I think!

Don Messer Tribute Fun

I thought I'd share some short video clips of some of the action at the Don Messer Tribute Jubilee last Friday night in Maxville, Ontario. Here are Lori MacMaster's Step Dancers accompanied by the talented Shelley Downing on violin.



And here are the terrific Glengarry Fiddlers fiddling up a storm.

Don Messer Jubilee Tribute

Last Friday night, Richard and I went to the Don Messer Jubliee Tribute held in Maxville, about a 10 minute drive from here. If he were alive today, Don Messer would be 100-years-old so the Glengarry Pioneer Museum decided to have a benefit concert to honour his memory. The TV show Don Messer's Jubliee was a staple for Canadians growing up in the 1960s and in its heyday had over 4 million viewers.


Johnny Forrest, the only remaining member of Don Messer's band was flown in from his home in Surrey, B.C. Here I am with him on the far left and Don Messer's road manager Ken Reynolds in the middle.


Lots of local talent performed throughout the 3 hour concert. There was fiddling, step-dancing and square dancing, "quiet time" with beautiful cello music, and just plain, old fashioned country music with slide guitars, singing and of course, Johnny's accordion playing.



Here's just a taste of the opening number which was the original theme song to Don Messer's Jubilee TV show. The incomparable Bobby Lalonde pitched in on fiddle.

Scenes from a Show

The show on Sunday in Toronto at Peter and Ron's house was just terrific.


Fine weather outside brought a lot of folks out to see the offerings.


There was stuff on the coffee table...


...and on the mantelpiece.


Lots of china everywhere it seemed.


And lots of friends too. Thanks Cori and Susan for dropping by! And to everyone else too who came over and said hello. It was a grand day!

Twenty Things to Make: ATCs

The good folks at Search Press sent me a neat little book entitled "Twenty Things to Make: Artist Trading Cards" and I thought it'd be fun to have a blog give-away. Here's what to do. Leave me a comment about why you like making artist trading cards (or why you'd like to start making them!) and I'll choose a name at random and send you the book. Deadline: post your comment before Oct. 31. I'll announce the winner on Nov. 1 so be sure to check back!

Art Show in Toronto

My show in Toronto is this Sunday, October 25th at my friends Peter & Ron's place. If you need directions, please e-mail me at ronna@mogelon.com. Should be a lot of fun!

Wild Things Redux

I received some photos from the nature walk that Peggi and I participated in a few weeks back and thought I'd share them.


We walked and talked about weeds and stuff...


...Peggi gave a talk about wild edibles.


It was a pretty big crowd of close to 20 folks.


After the talk, I did my morel soup demo.


Everyone had to gather around my little electric frying pan.


The mushrooms were a real hit.


The soup came out great and everyone loved it. Luckily I had made an extra batch the night before when I did a run-through, so there was enough for everyone.


Too bad I didn't think to grab this guy along the way. Frog legs anyone?

Dairy Freez, Barry's Bay

Richard and I headed up through Barry's Bay, Ontario last week and it was a fairly warm day..


...so we stopped in for an ice cream. Richard likes plain cones but I always go for the sugar cone. (Those waffle ones always seems just too big!)


What to choose, what to choose.


Okay, some of those colours should be in my paint box and not in ice cream. But that's just me.


Richard had the maple walnut. I just couldn't resist the Moose Tracks.


Vanilla ice cream with chocolate peanut butter cups swirled with Moose Tracks fudge. Hmmm...wonder what the heck Moose Track fudge is?


Whatever it is, it was delicious. Not as big as advertised...but big enough!

Last Supper

With all the heavy frost this week, my garden is finally done. But before the heavy frost I took in all manner of goodies: mini-zucchini and patty pans, carrots, tomatoes, mini-eggplants, and a few small onions...


...and I threw them all into a fry pan and gave them a quick fry up. Sesame seeds were not local.

Last Poutine of the Season

On the last nice sunny, warmish day a week or so back, Richard and I were drawn to stop at "Tami's Taters" in Renfrew, Ontario.


We figured it was a good time to end the poutine season.


Don't you love this folk-arty french fry container with the 2x4 fries?


We promised to obey all signs and not a seagull was in sight.





There were many things to tempt us on the menu but we stuck to our guns and ordered a medium poutine to share.



Isn't this a thing of beauty?


What cheesy goodness! Extra crisp fries which were still crisp by the time we got to the bottom of the melted cheesy, creamy bottom.


For the first time, we gave out a 5 curds out of a possible 5 curds. Congrats to Tami's Taters. And see ya next spring, poutine.

Bowl Two Ways

Richard's sister used a large serving bowl I gave her for dinner...


...and then again the next morning at breakfast.

Drawing in the Muskokas

On our visit to the Muskokas for Thanksgiving last weekend, I sketched a bouquet of orange-coloured chrysanthemums that were on the table inside.


Outside, I drew the beautiful scenery.


A small row boat came into view as I was drawing.


While I was sketching, Richard took this shot.