Not for the birds anymore!

Hello!

Our mandarin tree is currently bursting with sweet delicious fruit and for the past week we've been (reluctantly) sharing it with the birds: 

Not any longer though, a bit of netting does the trick:

... and they're all ours:

Oh bliss, they're such a treat!

I'd read once about making a cake with whole orange/s and am thinking I could do the same with mandarins so I shall do a bit of a search for a recipe. 
If anyone has a favourite, I'd really appreciate a link :D)

Thanks for popping in!

A little bloghousekeeping...

Because of recent changes made by Blogger, I've now turned Comment Moderation on permanently.
The reason is that now, when comments are left on my older posts, they're no longer being sent to my email address and there's a good chance I may miss seeing them. 

Oh dear, just realised that won't make a jot of difference so, back to the usual setup. 

Cheers and have a great rest of your week!

flowers every which way ~ Happy PPF !

Hello !

A little late but here are some abstracty kind of paintings as my entry for yesterday's Paint Party Friday - where the happiest of artists gather, and everyone's welcome:

#1 - digital art 

#2 - white pen on watercolour 

#3 - digital art 

The 2 digital art pieces were done on my tablet which I use while lying back in my comfy chair instead of sitting at a table or standing at an easel. 

Gosh I love technology!!

Click on this PPF Button below and you'll be taken to see a lovely gathering of gorgeous art:

Tinkering with a Recipe

Hello!
I had a thought to make us a tart for lunch.
It only needed some diced pumpkin to be roasted to start but I added some red onion and capsicum too:

add Fetta cheese... 80g in recipe but I added half the block (100g) and could have had even more!
4 eggs beaten in milk and poured over:

fork through some carmelised onion (from a jar - easy as!).  

Didn't have any Rosemary, so used a little Sage, Thyme and Garlic sprinkle instead:

I didn't have a proper sized tart pan, so a bit of a pinch together of each corner of the puff pastry on top of some baking paper should work:

... it did, some mixture escaped but, having being caught by the baking paper, cooked into some nice crunchies underneath:

Original Recipe from: https://bakeplaysmile.com/roasted-pumpkin-caramelised-onion-feta-tart/

Was yummy with a dab of homemade chutney (courtesy of our lovely neighbour):

The best thing was having the cold leftovers later on. 
For some reason, the flavours really come through when its cold ... even hubby agreed!

Taking Tea ~ Happy PPF !

Hello!

My goodness, it's Friday again! 

Here's my entry in this week's Paint Party Friday - where the happiest of artists gather, and everyone's welcome:

"Taking Tea" Acrylic and Watercolour on Card Stock

It was one of those paintings that I'd put aside... not sent to the person for whom it was originally intended but,  as life would have it, it became the perfect little acceptance card for an invitation to tea a year or so after it was exiled to the cupboard! 

Click on this PPF Button below and you'll be taken to see a lovely gathering of gorgeous art:

Chook Report

Hello!

Here's a special chook report on our girls.

While sharing comments with Debbie when she visited my last post, I'd mentioned our chooks were now in moult and were having a little break from egg laying.

They were all a bit unco-operative when I produced the camera, but I soon sweet-talked them into it.

This is how they're looking:

This hen earnt herself, when a youngster, the rather unfortunate name of "Stupid" but, turns out, she's pretty smart in many ways.
Anyway, as you can see, she's lost many feathers and looks patchy.

 Here's a close up of the new pin feathers that are starting to re-grow on her:

Those little brown nubby ends to the left of the photo are the fluffy starts to new feathers.

This is Alice.
Alice is not happy!
But once her beautiful plumage re-grows, she'll be happy again.

They wouldn't co-operate for photos, everyone went every which way.
Alice (still sulking) continued to mooch against the gate!

We have two hens who look exactly the same, only their personalities differed.  So, they were named Good Brenda and Bad Brenda.
Fortunately, their combs are each slightly different now that they've matured, so that helps in identification.
This is Good Brenda and her new paler feather patterns are emerging as she starts to come out of her moult.

"Whose breast feathers are these" I'm asking.
L to R Bad Brenda, Chookie (aka Henny Penny) and Good Brenda

Well, that's the current situation.  Thanks very much for your interest Debbie and I hope you enjoyed our chookyard news :D)

Getting back into the swing of things and a bit of painting ~ Happy PPF!

Hello!

I hope this finds everyone well and happy.

It's nice to be back.

I needed some time to 'gather my wits', as Mary Englebreit  demonstrates so beautifully in her painting which is a favourite of mine:

Source:  Artist Mary Englebreit via Pinterest

As happens in all our lives from time to time, these past few months in mine have been filled with ups and downs for one reason and another.
May I leave it at that and just say that it's a super special feeling to be back, and to bring out the paints and slide right back into blogging.

Oh yes and, as well, I've just recently turned 70, so you can now expect mature, sensible posts, full of wisdom and knowledge....  not!!!  lol ...

                      I still feel young at heart and as silly as... well, here's another picture that I enjoy:

Source: Artist Vince Colletta Studio via Pinterest

 Right, now I'm back into the swing, and would like to share some recent paintings as my entry in this week's Paint Party Friday - where the happiest of artists gather... and everyone's welcome:

"Just a Quick Pink"
Watercolour, Ink pen and Gel pen

"Random Bubble Blowing is Good for the Soul"
Watercolour, Acrylic, Ink Pen

"Feeling a Bit Mauve"
Watercolour and Acrylic
Lace Texture added digitally and sourced from
  Shadowhouse Creations  with thanks

"The Garden"
Watercolour, Pastel, Acrylic, Gel Pen
I've shown this previously but added some more flowers
to brighten things up!

Cheerio for now,  thanks for popping in, and I shall get around to everyone very soon! Sue xx