Birthday in Snow and Fire

My friend Vlasta celebrated his 60th birthday over the weekend with a big outdoor bash.


His wife Susan is a talented sculptor and she made a gigantic fire with a sort of snow sculpture bench around it, complete with flags on tall wooden sticks outside the circle.


It was a round bench seat, surrounded by igloo-like ice blocks.


We all sat or stood around the enourmous fire. It has been very warm this week and sitting outside in -1C temperatures and a roaring fire was almost like being down south. Er, well, sort of.


And chocolate birthday cake in the snow. What could be better? Happy birthday Vlasta!

Sketching Florida

I wonder why I generally only sketch my surroundings when I'm on vacation.


Florida was mighty windy in November with Hurricane Ida blowing through. You kind of get that idea from this drawing. Fun to look back at what I've doodled...

ATC Call for Entries: The Beatles

ATC Quarterly is looking for artist trading cards with the theme The Beatles for the spring issue's centrefold. You still have one month to do one! Cards: 2.5" x 3.5". Any medium. Deadline: Feb. 15, 2010. Please e-mail me a hi-rez (300 dpi) jpeg to: editor@atcquarterly.com or via snail mail to:
ATC Quarterly, 19698 County Rd. 24, Dunvegan, Ontario K0C 1J0 Canada
If you want it back, please include an SASE or $1 US

Winter Birds at my Feeder

I have a bird feeder pretty close to my window so it's easy to see the visitors. Here is an American Goldfinch. He's much brighter in summer with his yellow plumage.


The chickadees are my favourite because they're so friendly.


This year I got a peanut feeder which keeps the blue jays busy and distracted.


The mourning doves roost in the spruce tree behind them in this picture. I put seed on the ground for them because they don't use the feeder.


Today I saw a pair of male cardinals. These guys are usually pretty shy and come to eat at dusk but today they were here mid-day.


This northern shrike was last year's visitor and grabbed a mouse right out of the snow as I was watching from the window. When it appears, all the other birds scram!

Poutine in the News

This article by Sheryl Ubelacker entitled "It's all in the curds: Quebecois mainstay poutine making culinary inroads in U.S." is running in the Canadian Press and I'm quoted! To read the article click here.

Heat in a Can

It was bright and cold on the weekend -- the perfect time to take a walk in the woods and maybe pull in a few cut logs and fallen branches.


But what to make for lunch that would warm us up?


Then I remembered the can of conch (pronounced 'konk') chowder that I'd bought in a grocery store in Nassau in November.


I made sure to make it really nice and hot.


It warmed us up right away.


The soup was nicely spiced and warm and kept us that way for the rest of the day. After lunch: out to find more wood!

Dreaming About the Bahamas

Its FREEZING here so I was thinking about the gorgeous, hot weather that Richard and I enjoyed in the Bahamas last November.


The square we sat in had the most magnificent and odd tree. Have you ever seen such a thing?


I tried drawing it but I don't think I did it justice.


One of my favourite moments on our visit was sitting on the cement pier that ran to the beach and drawing the sea.


The turquoise of my watercolours doesn't even come close to how blue that water was. Ahhh. I wanna go back!

Crazy Food

I bought these candies at Chapter's because I just loved the packaging (and they were half price). Dark chocolate with a crunchy mint interior. What could be better?


For the retro supper of the year award, I baked Richard these Pillsbury crescent rolls with hot dogs. My mom used to make them for me in the late 60s or early 70s and I just loved them. You know what? They tasted exactly the same!

Winter Captions

"Gathering winter fuel..."


"I wish I had a river I could skate away on." Of course, it's not a river, but a stream through my property -- and it would need some clearing. But I would love to skate on it one day.


Honey, are you sure you closed up the cottage?

Odometer Readings

A few years back in my old Buick, I stopped for gas and noticed my unusual odometer reading. It just looked funny. 111,111 km.


And my Pontiac had a fun readout the other day: 123,456. Cool.

Update on the Kittens

Remember the teeny kittens that showed up in Richard's garden in September?


Well Millie and Percy are happy and growing like weeds...


...and making themselves at home.


Barney, the former barn cat usually takes his spot in front of the wood stove.


The senior cat in the house, Skanoo, will have very little to do with any of them and usually perches on the bed, away from all the kitten action.


And Barney?


He and Percy have become fast friends with lots of cleaning, playing and snuggling.


What a way to pass the winter...in the arms of a nice, warm kitty.

President's Choice Hors d’Oeuvres

The holidays seem to be hors d'oeuvres time. This year we tried two made by President's Choice, sold at the local grocery store. My fave from last year, fig and goat cheese in puff pastry blooms...


...are little, delightful bites.


New this year were mini-beef Wellingtons...


...which come in individually prepared pastry shells.


I stuck 'em both on a cookie sheet and baked them at the same time. They came out of the oven all golden and toasty.


Two thumbs up to the mini-beef Wellingtons. (The fig and goat cheese ones came out of the oven first and they were eaten before I remembered to photograph them.)

Still Snowing

The last few days have been very pleasant temperature-wise at about -2C. It's snowed about 4 cm on each of those days and today and tomorrow we're expecting the same. It sure is pretty around here, even if it means pulling out the snow shovel every now and then. Still, it beats freezing rain!

Here's another colour pencil drawing (along with my last post) in my winter series that I did a few years back. I realize that I'd never blogged them before.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends from here in snowy Dunvegan. Here's hoping that 2010 is a healthy and happy one. Cheers.