Crayfish Creek Landscape, a Walk and a Thank you!

Well I worked very hard yesterday, on my painting of Crayfish Creek and some of last night, purely for touch ups and (I think) I have finally finished my very first landscape! Hooray!

Yesterday morning I had already painted the sky and later added the waves (which I did on pure whim and came to later regret)... the waves ended up changing the entire scene and the sky looked so wrong! You wouldn't think it but little changes really can impact a painting and I learnt that the hard way! So... I had to go back and redo the sky... I believe the waves were a blessing in disguise because I much prefer the horizon now. 

I'm still not positive on the waves though... I really believed I had completely ruined the painting after I had added them. When my Andi got home though he quite liked the waves and after a few touch ups to them I am happier.

You guys TOTALLY should leave a comment and tell me what you think! Is it good enough now, perfect or should I go back for more touch ups or butcher the whole thing?

On a totally unrelated note I thought I would share with you a couple of snaps I took while on my walk today... just because I loved the view!

Isn't it beautiful? No where near close enough to the water for my liking though. But I just love being able to catch snippets of it through the trees while being on the hill. Gorgeous.

I'd also like to say a big "HELLO" to all my followers and thank you sooo much for sticking around! As you all probably know I'm still very new to the blogging world and I'm just working out the place. So I thank you for thinking I'm awesome enough for your precious time.

But I will reiterate... please please please give me some feedback on my painting! I'd love to hear your thoughts whether they be big or small. Also... I have not received nearly enough advice on my last post as to what I should make let Andi by me for our anniversary... come on girls! Hop to it! What's on your wish list?

Thank you

Anniversary Gifts

Hello!!!

So I have had quite the busy but lovely weekend! On Saturday the 26th my man and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! YAY! We had a delicious lunch with a good friend and then Andi took me out to a special dinner. It was PERFECT! 

Now on Saturday we went into town to find me a present... but the gorgeous porcelain statue of the naked girl riding a bear (I know how that sounds, but it's beautiful trust me) had already been snatched up and the really old rustic and lovely Salter Scales in the other antique shop had also disappeared! 

During this trip Andi and I both came to the conclusion that if you want something you have to snatch it up fast! Especially when it comes to finds in antique shops, it's not like you can just go and find another one.

So now that both of my finds are gone I have no idea what I want... you know life is amazing when you can't think of anything that you want. Especially when it comes for free.

So I have a question for you What do I want!? or rather What would you want if you could have anything (within reason of course) for an anniversary present!? What is on your wishlist at the moment!? Anything goes! I want comments girls! Lots of comments! Pleeease!

Also I have finally purchased some more Titanium White oil paint and can now finish off the sky in my Crayfish Creek painting! I will post the finished product soon. Hope you're all as excited as I am!

Spam, Fleas and Duke's Bath

So last night I was reading a post over at The Lady Blogger's that was all about how we all love comments on our blogs! And we do! So comment your hearts out!

I learnt something from this post. That being, that when you comment on someone's blog saying "nice post" or  similar, they may dismiss you for a spammer! I was shocked! I have done this many a time. I thought that bloggers would like to know that I have read and enjoyed their post, even when I have nothing to add to it. So to any of you that I have done this to I am sorry. Now I don't usually comply to the etiquette rules of this or that situation, I manage to get by just fine using my common sense. However, I don't want to be thought of as spam either. I hate spam! Oh my... GOD! I just looked up spam and it's pork! DID YOU PEOPLE KNOW THIS!? I always thought spam was fish! Like tinned tuna or something! Hahaha... oh well.

Anyway on with the post! Today I thought I'd share with you all a recent escapade my guy, Andi and I had with our kitty, Duke. While visiting the family home, Duke and Indiana (the family cat) would go on glorious adventures together... in other words 'funny fights'.

After many days of funny fights Duke went home with (you got it) fleas! Noooo! The dreaded creatures! Now being a vegetarian I feel awfully bad about killing anything. I cried the other day when I had to kill an enormous spider that I could not just take out of the house (which is what I normally do, I assure you!)... anyway to end that tangent Andi and I decided to buy some flea shampoo and give Duke a bath.

Duke did wonderfully. I think he rather enjoyed it... How lucky we are to have such a brave little kitten! He didn't seem to mind the water much at all. Duke took it like a man! And the best part of all... the fleas are gone!

Of course Andi had to do all the hard work while I just stood there watching the cuteness and taking photos. God, I love being a woman!

The article over at The Lady Bloggers can be found here: http://www.theladybloggers.com/archives/1482

And if you want to read a hilarious story I suggest checking out Andi's blog at http://lookwhatgodjustdidtous.blogspot.com and reading The Cat Lady.

Una Passeggiata

Today I thought I'd be a good girl and go for a walk, for the sole purpose of going for a walk. Which is a lovely idea and I don't think people do it enough! (Meaning me).

This is the gorgeous view from the dirt track just up the street from my house. Tons of foliage and just that little snip of water to make things extra special! It also helps that there is wildlife everywhere you look here. The track is just above what used to be a small golf course, until it burnt down. Now it's just a hill with bike jumps the neighbours have made. I am very sad to say though that they are going to be developing the land for more houses to go up. Noooooo! Very upsetting but what can you do, save going nuts at a town meeting... unfortunately for me I don't think that would help either, otherwise I'd totally be there!

A leisurely walk just isn't complete without a bunch of teenagers racing past making you feel bad that you're not pounding the track in your little phys-ed shorts and tank top on a freezing cold day in the middle of winter. Maybe tomorrow I should turn my passeggiata into a run... maybe.... but probably not.

And to all those curious people out there the title of today's post is in reference to the Gilmore Girls characters, Morey and Babette Dell who take their cat, Cinnamon for walks in a little wagon. That's right, I'm that nerdy. 

Rory: Wow Cinnamon, riding in style.

Babette: Yeah, Morey made it.Cinnamon's not walking good these days but she still likes her passeggiatas. That's Italian for 'a nice walk.'

Morey: Passeggiata.

Babette: Oh god! He makes it sound so sexy!

Morey: Come on.

Loralai: (points to a little covering on the wagon) What's that?

Babette: Oh it's Cinnamon's private area. Sometimes she likes to be alone. She's just like Morey in that sense. (To Morey) Hey, say passeggiata again.

Morey: I can't do it on command Babs.

Babette: Oh he's blushin'. God I love a man that blushes! (Babette and Morey walk away, pulling the wagon).

Rory: Okay, our town is just weird!

Loralai: Thank god!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Yesterday I was planning on posting about my Nanna's wonderful Lemon Meringue Pie recipe, however along the way I ended up posting about something completely different. But the lovely Delcie over at http://delcie-teapartyland.blogspot.com left a nice comment about how I must get baking! So even without a gorgeous picture to convince you all that this is the best lemon meringue pie recipe ever, (you're just going to have to trust me on that) here it is:

Now as you can probably see, my Nanna, being the wonderful cook that she is has the same problem that many great cooks have. That being, their recipe's look more like an ingredients list than an actual recipe! So poor me is going to have to come up with the details and instructions instead.

Please don't fret! I know my instructions look long but that's just because I've tried to make it as detailed as possible to ensure that it is simple for you to cook!

Ingredients for the pastry:

1.1/2 cups of Self Raising Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ( 4 oz.) butter or cooking margarine

Now don't get me wrong, I love homemade pastry as much as the next person but buying frozen shortcrust pastry works great too and it's probably a lot easier! I have cooked this many times without making the pastry myself and I assure you it is delicious! So if you can't be bothered, don't bother basically. However if you really want the real thing and are short on time you can always make the pastry first, bake and freeze then thaw it out before you cook. I'm sure this method would be fine a week or more even in advance. Whatever works for you.

Ingredients for the filling:
1 tin Condensed Milk
Rind of 1 Lemon
Juice of 2 Lemons - or more if you want it more lemony
3 Egg Yolks 

Don't go throwing away those egg whites by the way, you'll need them later for the meringue. Put them in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge.

This recipe, I assure you is very easy so don't get scared off by the time. It truly doesn't take long in preparation or cooking time. You just need to remember to start in the morning (whenever) if you're serving for dessert, so that the filling mixture has enough time to set a little before being cooked (even if you only give it about 4 hours, that will be enough. The mixture comes out a little more runny then but some people may prefer that anyway). I really like breaking up the prep and cooking time like this actually, it makes the whole process seem really quick and simple.

 To make the pastry:

Mix the ingredients together until they look like fine breadcrumbs (by hand or mixer, whatever you prefer). Then add about 3 tablespoons of cold water and mix until it is a fairly dry dough.   Roll out on a floured board.

Line a greased pie dish with the pastry, prick the base, and blind bake it. (If you're using frozen shortcrust pastry, before cooking make sure you cover the inside with baking paper and weight using uncooked rice or anything else).
I start it in a fairly hot oven - about 200 deg.C for maybe 10 minutes and then turn the oven down to 180, and cook until the pastry is light brown and a bit crispy - maybe another 10 minutes - just keep checking.

And for all you Americans out there or wherever that use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, that's 392 deg.F and then turn down to 356 deg.F.

To make the filling:

Gently mix / fold, the lemon rind and juice into the condensed milk - I just use a plastic spatula and then gently do the same with the egg yolks. Now cover (so your pets don't eat it) and leave on the bench. (Make sure you get a big whiff of this as you're doing it, the smell can not be beaten!).

To make the meringue:

When the pastry is cold and the lemon mixture is set, beat the egg whites until they are stiff, adding a pinch of salt and some caster sugar, (or ordinary sugar), maybe about 3 teaspoons, gradually, beating all the time until light, fluffy, stiff and all the sugar is dissolved.

Pile the meringue on top of the pie and put back into a slow to moderate oven, 150 - 180 deg.C. (That's 300 deg.F - 356 deg.F.) Keep checking how the browning is going, turning the pie plate around to get it even. (Turning the plate is not something that is completely necessary depending on your oven, just check).

Now here comes the best part... SERVE AND EAT!

ENJOY!

Quilting

Happy Hello's this lovely sunny afternoon

This morning as I was contemplating what to write about next here in blogland all I could think of was showing all you lovely people my Nanna's lemon meringue pie recipe... which let me tell you, is fab-u-lous! Completely. Truly. However, I realised upon gathering up this idea that in order to get a photo of its greatness to convince you all how wonderful it really is.... that I would have to cook... and not be lazy. Sigh.

So instead of showing you all the best recipe in the world, I will showcase my lovely Nanna's talents in another way. By letting you see her sewing skills. 

When I was 19 we decided for my 21st birthday I would like a quilt. So we poured over many of her books and magazines and chose the absolute best quilt pattern known to man. After two years of waiting my "lazy cover" was finally complete! Talk about dedication to ones craft! And here it is:

By the way, I was playing the guitar and left it lying there before I took this snap... I swear I didn't intentionally put it there to make the photo prettier...lots of giggles.

This is another of her creations. It is completely enormous and hangs down the wall of the staircase. HUGE and super cute.

I'll leave you with one last snap of my kitten on the quilt... you know I have to. Any pictures of Duke must be uploaded!

Mummy loves you, Duke.

Oil on Canvas

So aside from taking photos and posting them up here in blogland I also love to paint! Oil painting is my main hobby at the moment however I still enjoy painting with other mediums too. I would love to get involved in water colour one day but for now my passion is oil!

So, my big brother's lady came over on Sunday night for a family dinner and we got talking about painting. She is a painter too (I'd say a lot more accomplished than me and she is studying art and teaching at University. Hello to the lovely Emma!), anyway while we were talking she mentioned that she has a couple of weeks off and around 12 hours per week to spend painting. I have about 24 hours everyday to spend painting... and I don't. She has twin boys, 2 years old... and she is still able to find the time to paint... and I don't? What is wrong with this picture? (no pun intended).

So I have pretty much come to the conclusion, that I need to hop off my lazy bum and get painting. It's what I love to do! So why not do it, right? Right?

Anyway, I thought I'd post some pictures of my recent paintings... here goes.

This is my portrait of Scully... or Gillian Anderson from the X-Files. Andi currently has this piece on his wall. Once again check him out over at http://lookwhatgodjustdidtous.blogspot.com. This shot must have been taken before it was officially complete as it is missing my signature. Oil on Canvas.

Excuse the poor quality of this one. I had to copy and paste off facebook. See above, right. This one was done a year ago for study purposes in a Visual Art course hence why it is on paper and done in acrylic in order to send in. I am planning to (hopefully) do a good copy one day of oil on canvas. Obviously it is in reference to Samuel L. in Pulp Fiction. As you have probably noticed a lot of my paintings have to do with Pop Culture. This one is rather pop-arty though, I don't know that the others are so much, perhaps only in reference to the "pop".

Mind the shininess of this one I think my flash or lighting made this one super glossy! A portrait of Master Chief made for my friend Chris, which resides with him. Prior to painting this, I do believe I had no notion of who Master Chief was. Sorry everyone. I know I'll be shunned after admitting to that. Oil on Canvas. Again missing my signature, I really should take the photos after their completion... Oh well.

This one is a work in progress, as you can see I have not yet finished the sky, and there are still a few touch ups to be made... everywhere. This is my first ever landscape painting! Hopefully it's so wonderful that you'll have trouble believing it. *Scoffs*. This one is of a photograph my guy took up at Crayfish Creek. Notice my gorgeous kitty Duke (name a reference to Hunter S. Thompson) up the top there being ever so naughty! As usual, trying to knock things off of high places, in order to watch them fall to the ground. One of his most favored past-times. Again this is oil on canvas but about double the size of the other two. I have also not attempted a painting this large before (yes I know, I'm quite the amateur).

So I'll leave you with one last shot. Hope you like!

Love This Place

 

Finally, after many busy days I am back for more!
Today my gorgeous guy and I took my family and visiting Grandmother to see the block of land that our home will (eventually) be built on. So much fun! Above is the beautiful view we will one day have from our home. Oh isn't it wonderful?

We went for a stroll down this track ^^ where we found some beautiful ducks. Unfortunately my camera died just as they swam over to us and flapped their wings. My man took a few snaps though so hopefully I will add them soon. However I did manage to take a few more photos along the way.

Many birds were seen frolicking in the water. This little guy was having a gay old time perching. 

Unfortunately when we came upon the sgaggle bevy of pretty black swans I couldn't get a snap at them! I did get many seagulls though! There's never a shortage around here of those.

The above is my favorite pic of the day! I love snaps of boats bobbing on the water. The sloping mountain and "high flyers" make this one complete... LOVE

"Love This Place"

Welcome!

Welcome to my nesting blog!

This is my place to tell you all a little something of my ideas for my soon to be home! My style, my ideas, my thoughts, my projects, my way! And hopefully it can be a place to find inspiration off my readers too! 

As an introduction I had better tell you a little something about myself. My name is Kirsty, I love animals and the environment and some of this blog will hopefully represent that! I am very into classic literature and old books... ooo the smell and the knowledge that someone has been here before... this usually does not extend to library books. Not the libraries I visit anyway. They use plastic covers... Plearghk!

I love love love coastal style cottages, all things wood (eco-friendly of course!) and white wash! I just lurve all of Sarah's stuff over at www.abeachcottage.com Gorgeous! Check it out. It has served me with much inspiration! And she lives in my neck of the woods!

As a little something to show and properly introduce myself with to all you lovely people taking the time to read this (I do so hope with a coffee in hand) I present my bedside table:

 This lamp is one of my most favourite things! My darling man, Andi (check him out over at www.lookwhatgodjustdidtous.blogspot.com) gave me! I had wanted one for ages! All stained glass with pretty dragonflies! Just like off Gilmore Girls... oh yeah I loove me some Gilmore! My photo, well no actually it's a postcard that I have framed that Andi sent me from Pari', my little Eiffel Tower there, very chic I know! A gorgeous little trinket box I was given when I was 13 by an old, dear friend and a couple of books I have on the go at the moment, Wuthering Heights and the Complete Plays of George Bernard Shaw.

And as you ponder over the many glorious things I have in my possession, I will leave you with the wise, wise words of  Mr. Bernard Shaw: "Think of the fierce energy concentrated in an acorn! You bury it in the ground, and it explodes into an oak! Bury a sheep, and nothing happens but decay."