Well, I can't believe that it's been 2 weeks already since I went up on the weekend of Feb. 17 (2012) to  see Travis and Emory up in Williamsburg. The Virginia Museum of Fine Art was slammed the day after Thanksgiving last year, and I really, really wanted to see the Mummy Exhibit before it left (even tho' I had seen them whilst in London at the British Museum). Therefore, I made the jaunt up there. Trav had to work a lot for the Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court (his externship), but I actually got to see him more than I had planned : ) Em and I went to Richmond for the aforementioned exhibit- absolutely phenominal- the British Museum is so inundated with the sarcophaguses that I don't recall much else. This time- how amazing to see papyrus 2-4000 yrs old, looking as though it were written only yesterday. Same with the still brilliant paint on the wood boxes (still in great condition) and the mummy cases- and 3 foot tall slabs of limestone covered with lines of 100's, or is it 1000's, of hierglyphics. The lighting was superb, but , alas, I only got one shot off (and of a cat mummy, of all things) before being told that because this museum did not own the exhibit, photos were NOT allowed). I was devastated, but whatcha goin' to do : (  It was still so marvelous to view, though. Then Em took me to the Can Can restaurant where I had a chicken crepe (will definitely order that again) in a most fun, art-deco, can my eyes take everything in? eatery. Then across the street to the Amour Wine Bistro- a teeny, quaint French restaurant- to have my first creme brulee. It has surely spoiled me for any others in my future= dark, creamy chocolate, drizzled with caramel with a sprinkling of sea salt. To die for. Movies, take out, conversation and not to forget, Emory's beef and yorkshire pudding with roasted asparagus.

And, then it snowed Sunday night!!!!!!!! It looked so pretty, tho' in the back of my mind I was hoping my flight would not delayed in the morning. And, it was early morning= a  6:30am departure, bless Trav for taking me so early. The plane was de-iced (and we flew between 2 layers of clouds!) but, instead of an hour layover in Atlanta, I got to my gate just 2 minutes before boarding commenced. Not quite the leisurely pace of the flight going to W'msburg. Then, I was able to enjoy breakfast while watching the sun rise and planes land. I realized that I really enjoy flying. And, the energy of airports. Love airports. And, love spending time with the kids.

Black and White Zebra Stripes With a Pop of Red




a GoodWill find

 

Sanded, primed, pattern drawn

























Arlie helping to paint



Arlie loves this chair





















Gotta love zebra stripes!



And, a pop of red!




















A New Year's Resolution = get those projects done! For one thing, I need to make room in the garage so I can clean and organize it. For another, I'd like to get some stuff on Craig's List to sell. The chairs only cost about $8 apiece at the GoodWill store and they are real comfortable for sitting. Animal prints seem to never go out of style, so, fingers crossed, they will go quickly. I have finished one, and have one more to go for a pair. Then I have only one chair of this particular style and one other kind left. What I shall paint on those is a mystery to me. I can paint ANYTHING! That's the problem! haha I will come up with something. At the same time, I have finished a blue heron commission and have begun the white egret meant to go along with it. I also want to be up on Etsy before the first quarter of the year is over. Here's to resolutions and keeping them!

Christmas - red and green of course!

This was it for Christmas photos!!! Can you believe?!?!?! I had my camera with me the whole time, but perhaps all the pics taken so recently at Thanksgiving made the urgency of getting shots of the kids (as well as everyone else) less so. Thanks to my brother, Jeff, for snapping this one. Or, perhaps it was just being so in the moment of reveling and basking in the joy of BEING with the kids that made everything else simply slip from my mind. I love sharing Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Jack and Page, but savor the time alone I get with the kids at my place opening gifts (a tradition we started when they were dating), then the Christmas movie (Sherlock Holmes 2 this year) followed by the homage to our English/Scottish ancestory of a standing rib roast and Yorkshire pudding. Time is growing short to when I get to make my move to Richmond where the kids plan to roost. I LOVE change and can't wait - received a Richmond Tourist Guide 2011 and the stuff in and around that city is amazing! I told Trav and Em that they would have to make an appointment to see me! haha. Seriously - I am so inspired and enthused about attaining my art goals- I think I work better under stress, for the next 2 to 2 1/2 years are going to fly by if this past year is any indication, so I have to get my butt in gear. Focus, focus, focus - on one project at a time, lest I get overwhelmed. Also, I have a brilliant idea. I have never wanted a store, but this idea has crept (and grown) into my mind. I am going to have a shop (or shoppe) called Calvin Artworks Emporium. Just a little place, with cool things around and my various and sundry art filling up the place.(and, of course, a kitschy painting of Calvin). It can house the items that I'm going to place on Etsy - won't have to come up with a different line for each place. But, right now it would be terribly empty, so painting an inventory is a primary focus. And, on that note, I gotta run work on those chairs I'm revamping to put on Craig's List!

Walnut brown, orange zest and more cranberry red

It's that time again= baking Christmas cookies. And, after lo these many years, I couldn't get out of it if I tried. I've made these Swedish Teacakes since high school. For some reason, they always remind me of my Grandma Nordrum. She was my mum's mother, only 4 feet 11 inches tall with a Norwegian accent bigger than she was. Probably just the Scandanavian tie between where she was from and the cookie's name. Unfortunately, I didn't know her or my Grandpa Nordrum very well - they lived in British Columbia and didn't visit very often at all. For the recipe:

SWEDISH TEACAKES   

1/2 (1 stick) butter, room temp            1 cup all-purpose flour                       

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar            chopped walnuts or pecans                      

1 egg yolk, slightly beaten                      egg white              

 currant jelly

1-  Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2-  Cream together butter and sugar

3-  add egg yolk, then flour, mixing well

4-  Roll into 1-inch balls, then dip in egg

     white, followed by nuts

5-  Push down centers of each cookie

6-  Bake for 5 minutes, then push down centers again

7-  Bake for another 15minutes.

  

I actually make smaller balls and the cookies are still a really good size - in fact, I get 1&1/2 dozen. I do decrease the 2nd cooking time from 15 mins down to 11 minutes.

(Haven't figured out how to get my writing in the right place all the time, so sometimes it's kinda wonky, but I can do my photos now, so I'm not going to complain.)

Onto Cranberry Bread :

 

* 1 pkg fresh cranberries cut in 1/2's and 1/3's                       * 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 2 tablespoons grated orange peel (I use 1 orange)               * 4 tablespoons shortening

* 4 cups all-purpose flour                                                      * 1&1/2 cups orange juice

* 2 cups sugar                                                                       * 2 well-beaten eggs

* 1 tablespoon baking powder

* 2 teaspoons salt

1-   Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2-   Prepare berries and peel- set aside

3-  Grease and flour (2) 9x5x3 loaf pans

4-  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda

5-  Cut in shortening

6-  Stir in orange juice and eggs - mix just to moisten

7-  Fold in cranberries and peel

8-  Spoon into loaf pans and bake 60 minutes

9-  Cool 15 minutes before removing pans

10-Cool completely before wrapping / storing

And, those are the 2 items that I bake every year, that people were asking about back before Thanksgiving. Makes me happy that I can give folks something to look forward to......

Cranberry red, asparagus green, purple potatoes- oh,my!

Thanksgiving, November 24, 2011 in Williamsburg, Virginia. I HUGGED Travis and Emory! Skype is great, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing like being WITH them - talking, laughing, and HUGS! And, Page and Jack were there as well = what a simply fabulous time. I cannot wait until I live much, much closer to them. But, all good things in time.

Firstly - I flew up there. I really enjoy flying - not so much the landing this time, with gusty winds making the plane fish-tail its way in on the runway, but no harm done. And, busy airports like the one in Atlanta are the best - so much LIFE!!!!! It reminds me of a beehive, all that activity and bustling about. Emory is a fantastic cook- period. The turkey was perfect, home made cranberry sauce, roasted asparagus and potatoes (some of which were actually purple!), bread dressing and the pièce de résistance, pumpkin cheesecake. She outdid herself much to our tummies' delight. She even made stuffed mushrooms and a baked brie appetizer. Trav helped as well, finishing trussing up the turkey (not an easy task, let me tell you) , carving the turkey, then cleaning up everything afterwards. And, thanks to the trusty little timer on my camera, I was able to get a group photo!

Secondly - on Friday morning, whilst everyone else was being "silly" at the stores for Black Friday, we all went and watched The Muppet movie - no crowds here! LOVED the movie. Then, Emory, Page and I drove to Richmond (about an hour away) to see the Mummy exhibit at the Virginia Fine Art Museum. Ironically, they are on loan from the British Museum, so we all actually have already seen them, ahem, but we didn't know this. Besides, being a smaller display, hopefully we can have a better view (and photo op). We won't know, however, until another time. The next viewing wasn't until an hour and a half  later after we arrived, which would put us back home a bit late. No problem. I plan on returning before the exhibit's Mar 2012 departure and we turned our attention to Cary Street  - Emory's favorite street so far in Richmond. It's full of boutiques and vintage shops, and toy stores and cool places to eat. Definitely want to give it a good look next time. But, this visit wasn't so shabby - Em flourished a peacock clip in my hair the second we entered one vintage shop - the same one where I found an adorable pair of gloves and a double string of "pearls." The toy store was quite the delight and offered such treasures as an adorable bat and a pink, glass owl ornament for my Christmas tree. It was a perfect day for walking about - the row houses, what can I say? I want one- haha. We came across a plaque, from way back when, that depicted a fireman- a plaque was placed on your home if you had paid your fire dues, in which case, they would put out a fire and save your house, if not, then, oh,well.... And, all the camelias were in bloom. All of this inspired Emory to decorate for Christmas, which she did straight away when we got home.

 

Thirdly, and lastly, Saturday morning arrived. Unfortunately, Page and Jack were heading back to Mount Pleasant and left early, so they were unable to join Trav, Em and I for breakfast at the Blue Talon (French bistro). I've eaten there before and it is soooo delicious.Then we hit up the Peanut Shoppe - yummy! After that we headed back to the kids' place for Christmas photos. Dori, the cat that they've had for about 3 years now, is still getting use to their new cat, Pan. Dori decided that she was too close for comfort and started hissing,etc at Pan. The picture is priceless. And, then, it was time for me to return to Mt P as well. Beautiful sunset skies followed by twinkling lights from the cities below. What a fantastic Thanksgiving, but it's always good to be back home. The dogs and cats are happy to see me, too. Guess it's time to get my Christmas tree up - the kids will be here in less than a month! (YAY!!!)