Industrial Espionage

I love looking at cakes. I just can't help myself. There is a terrific cake display at one of our local grocery stores and I decided to photograph it. (But blue roses...honestly, yuck!)


They had a fun set of Canada Day cupcakes covered with maple leaf shaped candy confetti. When asked, the confetti was unavailable for sale; I guess they want you to buy the cupcakes.


Many places don't like you shooting their cakes, thinking that you're working for the "other guy" and taking away trade secrets. (I generally ask permission at most bakeries, by the way, but that particluar day it just seemed too complicated. And I didn't want the gal to have to call the manager and all that...)


So there I was with my mini-camera, crouching down and shooting these when the lady behind the counter says, "Can I help you?"


Richard took off to the bread aisle, fearing the lights dimming and a spotlight shining on me, the culprit.


Instead I stood up and said I was just looking. She turned away and I continued on my important mission.


To show my blog readers as many cakes as possible. Wherever and whenever. Cake spy...that's me.
And hey, these cakes look pretty darn good, don't they?

Painting Ceramics

I've been painting quite a lot lately, trying to get ready for some fall shows I have lined up.


It seems odd to be painting like a fiend when fall seems so far away.


But we all know how fast the seasons seem to creep up on us.


So paint, paint, paint for me.


I love this large cheese server, about 14" across, made as a request for a friend who wanted something that looked like the aftermath of a great party. Cheese crumbs.

Springborne

My friend Nancy from Portland, Oregon is part of a group of poets who needed an invitation to a reading. My friend Peter in Toronto came up with this invite and used my drawing of a lawn chair entitled "Summer Evening." He manipulated it in Photoshop so it looks kind of dreamy. Nice, eh?

Blue Jay

My chipmunk feeder has had a new visitor lately.


A blue jay has discovered it and feeds from it regularly.


When Richard and I are throwing peanuts to the chippies, Mr. Blue Jay is there and grabs the peanuts from them. To see a great photo of that jay, go to Richard's blog.

Poutine Chronicles 2009 #2

Okay, so the healthy, grilled fish of Sunday night's supper was brought on by the bad, bad, bad-for-you-lunch we shared that day. A medium poutine at the local greasy spoon.


But there was some nostaliga to the whole thing. Herb's Travel Plaza and Restaurant, right off Highway 417 (at the Vankleek Hill exit), was the place Richard and I had our first date over five years ago. And we shared our poutine at a picnic table in the warm sun. How romantic is that?

Fish Tales

Richard and I had stayed inside during a rainy Saturday and watched cooking shows on TV. One of them featured a grilled rainbow trout. So we thought, "Why don't we try that?"


We decided to stuff it with garlic scapes...


...the curly, green fronds that grow from the top of a garlic plants.


We also wanted it to be full of parsley and lemony flavours.


So we stuffed the sucker with those three things.


I tied it up, thinking we'd lose some ingredients in the barbecue...


...but cleverly, Richard bought a fish cage, so it didn't need the twine.


The first line of copy on the fishy cage-thing said, "Use our hinged fish-shaped basket on your grill and avoid the inevitable fish-turning disaster."


And it delivered the goods. No fish-turning disaster for us.


Within 12 minutes, Mr. Fish was cooked and ready to eat.


I also made a red potato mash (with milk, butter and parsley) and a sort of puttanesca tomato sauce by simmering onions, garlic, diced ripe tomatoes, capers and olives and cooked them for about as long as the fish took to grill.

Famous Chicken

Mrs. Chicken, an acrylic on wood painting I did last winter, was chosen to illustrate an entry of an intriguing website called Nature Works. At its helm is Doug Subbiondo, a gardener, landscaper and personal vegan chef. To see more click here.

Strawberry Time

Richard and I picked strawberries at a pick-your-own spot about 15 km west of here.


Pretty easy to spot a ripe one.


Richard is an old pro at it.


The sun seemed to be spotlighting the ripest berries.


Time to take 'em home and make strawberry shortcake.

Happy Birthday

Here's what a bunch of folks look like celebrating Canada's birthday.


Fun!

Happy Canada Day!

Today is Canada's birthday -- 142 years old. If you want to see a fun video from Expo '67, Canada's centennial, click here. It brought back lots of memories for me.
And if you grew up in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s, click here for something that will take you waaaay back in time.
Happy Canada Day!

Cat Tiles

I got an order for some 6" x 6" painted tiles with cats on them.


Each one has four felt feet on the bottom so it doesn't scratch surfaces.


They're perfect for a pot of tea or bowl of hot veggies.


I have a couple of them on my table and use them every day and they always make me smile.

Party Time!

Our monthly artist trading card (ATC) meeting was held last Saturday at our local recreation hall. Here we are setting up cards and getting them ready to trade.


Since our December trade had freezing rain, our party was limited to folks who could skate over, so we decided to have a Christmas in June party.


We also decided to hold a swap meet where folks could bring whatever they wanted to give away and also take whatever they wanted. In the spirit of ATC, no money changed hands. There was some great stuff: a fax machine, phone, back pack, DVDs and CDs, hand-made ceramics...folks who said they didn't want to bring anything home still managed to find things to take back with them.


After a busy time of trading cards and swapping, it was time to eat.


Here's our summer gang. It seemed a good portion of folks were away this weekend and couldn't make it...so we'll see them for the next photo op in December.


Natalie brought this cake which says it all: ATC Rocks!

Lupin ATCs

These artist trading cards, done for today's trade at our monthly meeting, were inspired by the combination of my wonderful lupins and painting them on my ceramics. Except instead of portraying them on china, I used watercolours and ink on heavy mat board.

Flower Power

My garden has blooming blue lupins and a cup and saucer in mid-air that fills with rain water. A four foot rod attaches onto the bottom of the saucer and suspends it, looking like it's the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.


Speaking of mad, I'm just crazy about this salmon pink Oriental Poppy.


I love this burnt orange "Devil's Paintbrush" that blooms in ditches all over the countryside this time of year. Kind of matches my hair?


I bought a package of seeds in Oregon in 2003 and these cheerful flowers now bloom every year in my front garden. Does anyone know what kind of flower this is?