A Step Forward

Once upon a time I belonged to an arts guild. I was their only photographer, and the painters all insisted that I should try to paint since, they said, I already had a good eye.  After much protesting about not being able to draw, and hearing the time old expression that you don't have to be able to draw to paint, I thought I'd prove them wrong and give it a try. I was, however, surprised that what I produced that day was actually recognizable, and so I set about finding someone who could teach me the basics about handling a brush.
For a time I painted from books, using traceable patterns and following the written instructions. Every once in a while I'd dig out a photo of my own, and try to paint that, with less success.  After a while, I came to the conclusion that the problem wasn't all in my brush skills. I mentioned to my teacher something about how not all great photos make good paintings, and she agreed, but didn't tell me why that was true.  Not even a hint.

This weekend I started a free online course through Wet Canvas, with Johannes Vloothuis, that is all about how to convert photos into good paintings.  After several years of frustration, this man may take the mystery out of what I've been doing wrong.   I spent 2 hours on both Saturday and Sunday taking in what he had to say as I watched while he moved lines and instantly improved pictures. This was just the first of the 12 week program, and already I'm excited, and will be looking at my photos with fresh eyes. I may become an artist yet.

Mother Knows Best

I remember my mother used to like to read the funny papers in the newspaper when I was a child. She often said, "You can get an education reading the comics."  I guess I thought she was just making up excuses.

This week there was a story in the newspaper to warn us of a new scam. It seems people are phoning to warn you of a possible problem with your computer. They say they are representing Windows and will help you check to see if your computer is vulnerable to this new threat.  They will lead you though a step by step process that will actually end up giving them remote access to your computer. 

A day after I read about this, I got the phone call.  The person started out saying she wanted to check on my computer. I had a malware problem recently and, at first, I thought it might be someone checking to see how that problem had turned out.  But at the first mention of Windows, I knew it was one of these scam artists, and hung up without being conned into turning my computer on. 

I have an adult autistic son, who lives independently in another town. He loves his computer, so I thought I'd better warn him.  I sent him an e-mail while he was at work yesterday and he phoned this morning to tell me he got the message.  He said they were a bunch of con artists. Then he mentioned his room mate, who also has autism, didn't even know what a con man was.  My son then said, "I know what con men are because I used to read Richie Rich." 

Apparently my mother was correct.  You can get an education reading the comics.

Use It Or Lose It

Something strange is happening. 

I don't drive, so I walk everywhere. I always have and I enjoy that. I've lived in this house for more than 34 years and everyday I walk downtown for the mail. That just takes 20 minutes to get there and get back home.  Some days I even do it twice.  No big deal.  I expected to continue to do that for many years to come. All of a sudden everyone seems to want to give me a ride.

I had a phone call Sunday night. A kind friend asked if I had a ride to our Red Hat breakfast the next morning. I laughed and said it was just down the street.  She told me it was going to be the coldest night of the year, and I asked how cold it would be. When she answered that it was going down to minus 23 Celsius, I thought, well, that's not cold for this time of year. I figure everyone is just spoiled with all single digits this year. Anyway, she insisted that she would pick me up, so I agreed.

Then, after the breakfast she was prepared to drive me home again. I said I could go home with my neighbour, who had also decided to drive that morning.  Only after she confirmed that my neighbour would indeed drive me home was she willing to leave without me.  I reminded the two of them that I would be walking over to the medical centre later in the day, and that was even further. 

When I got home, I noticed there was a phone message for me.  When I go to the medical centre, I often stop to visit a friend in that area on the way home.  I had called the night before, to make sure she was available.  The message was from her.  She wanted to know if I needed a ride to my appointment.  I let her know I would be walking and that I'd see her later.  And I did, but then she drove me home. 

This morning I was going to a social gathering downtown again, and my neighbour once again decided to drive me there.  Now, this is becoming a bad habit as it's not just the past couple of days that this has been going on.  It's been happening the past couple of weeks.  I'm wondering, did all these people read my blog entry about falling down, and decide to protect me from any more falls? 

Or maybe the fact that I recently let my hair grow out to it's natural silver makes them realize I'm older than they thought.  I don't know, but if I don't start walking again soon, I likely won't be able to.  Thanks for all your consideration people. There are time when I do indeed need and appreciate a ride someplace, but really, I can still make it downtown under my own power.

Us vs the Kids: Product Denouncement

Us vs the Kids: Product Denouncement

We grandmothers are always looking for ways to spoil, or help look after the newest generation. They are precious to us and when we see a problem, it's really hard not to jump in with both feet and try to solve the problem. My oldest grandson has eczema. This is not something I have any experience with but I've recently heard of a good cream that is recommended for it. However, upon seeing this blog by someone I follow, I'm rethinking this purchase. If little girls don't like special creams, then probably boys don't either.
Do follow the link back and have a look at the picture they had their mother take for their granny.

Kitchen Experience

Some of you are waiting for a report on how the test recipes turned out.  I mentioned the first one in Working in an Official Capacity and you heard about my troubles getting my hands on the proper pan for the tart. As I was afraid I might not get that pan before the deadline,  I purchased ingredients for another recipe as well.  Chatelaine requires me to report on two of the nine recipes they send, but I could do more if I wanted to.  The third one was Chicken and Dumplings.

I couldn't get the skinless, boneless chicken thighs called for in the recipe and you are not allowed to make substitutions.  I went online and watched a video on how to debone a chicken thigh, as any previous attempts at this procedure didn't work for me at all.  I already knew how to remove the skin. 

Now, deboning requires a very sharp knife and I'm a known klutz in the kitchen when it comes to anything sharp or hot.  I enlisted my hubby to help. But after seeing the video, it looked so easy, I wanted to try it myself.  It wasn't nearly as easy as the video made it look.  But then, my hubby pointed out, the guy in the video probably did it all the time, and practice makes perfect.  Anyway, between the two of us, we got the job done. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again either, even though The deboning process turn out to be the most difficult part of the recipe. 

I also purchased fresh dill for this dish.  I've never had that in the house before either.  The meal was excellent and I'll definitely make it again.

The tart, on the other hand, proved not to be good enough to entice me to buy a special pan so I could repeat the recipe.  It was easier to make than a traditional lemon pie, even a packaged one, but it didn't have as much flavour or wow factor. Maybe I just like meringue too much. 

I do hope my reports to Chatelaine were good enough for them to keep me on as I really did enjoy the experience of making these recipes. I learned a few things along the way, like how to debone a chicken thigh, and how to get a tart out of a bottomless pan, and onto a plate all in one piece.  It's definitely a worthwhile experience, and I'm glad I volunteered for the job.

Year One.... A Summary

A year ago I decided to start this new blog. I had one before, but it was all about my geocaching adventures. I felt that sometimes I'd like to tell you about other places I go, or things I happen to be thinking about, so that's why I called this blog Other Rambles.  I tried to link them together, but was not successful, and I think, now that this one gets so much more traffic, I'll just plop the geocaching adventures into this one too, in the upcoming year.

Blogging has been an interesting adventure for me.  This entry will be the 76th of the year.  I've had 82 comments so far, and I seem to have a following not only from all over North America, but also quite a bit from Russia, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom.  Various other have wandered in from Sweden, Hungary, Iran and South Korea, among other places. I can't imagine what I've said to attract such far away readers, but I do hope I can hold onto them as I continue to ramble on.

Not surprisingly, the most popular post so far was the one called Nothing Natural about Art. I say this was not surprising as I was taking an online course with with Johannes Vloothuis and at least a thousand other people at the time, and I mentioned the blog in a forum connected with that.  The second most popular one was called Girls Just Want to Have Fun!  Since this was about Red Hatters and Elvis impersonators, I'm sure it popped up well in the search engines. The third most popular entry is my own personal favourite, In Case You Didn't Know. I just felt I had to tell the world why it is that I'm always passing along unasked for, and probably unwanted information and advise.  After those, the next 3 most popular entries were all about food, whether it was because I was testing some recipes for Chatelaine magazine, or simply trying out the 17 Day Diet.

As I mentioned, there have been a number of comments through out the year. Most of these have come from people I don't know.  I love that.  Not only does it let me know that I'm not just spouting off for my own benefit, it lets me know what others think.  I often follow the links back to these readers own blogs, and sometimes leave comments there too.  I actually feel like I've made a couple of new online friends this past year. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lovely hand made Christmas card from one of them by snail mail recently.

I closely followed the adventures of one family as they adopted 3 little girls from the Philippines, adding them to the 4 children they already had and continued on with life, trying to make things as normal as possible for everyone in the family.  And I got some good giggles as a mother told stories of her twinnies and their younger sister....and occasionally her hubby, who , like many men, is often like another child in the family.  I also follow a few artistic blogs, where I pick up all kinds of new ideas and techniques.

It's been a great year, both reading and writing, and I'm looking forward to sharing more of my life, and taking a peek at yours.  Go ahead and comment so I can  find you!

What's Stopping You?

Once upon a time I belonged to an arts guild. I was the only photographer in the group, and several of the painters there kept saying I needed to learn to paint. Actually that mostly happened if I turned my camera towards them, which means they didn't like that much, I guess. Anyway, I never could draw and I told them that. They insisted, as artists always do, that you don't need to be able to draw to paint.

One day, when I was home alone, I decided to paint something, just to prove them wrong.  The problem was, I ended up surprising myself, and the resulting painting was more recognizable than I expected. So, I looked around for someone who could teach me how to work with brushes and I found a decorative artist within walking distance of my house.

I painted patterns from books with acrylics, and every once in a while I would bring in a photograph, and try to copy it.  The paintings never turned out the way I intended, so I'd say, "not yet" and go back to the patterns and the instructions in the books.  As time went on though, I did notice some improvement.

Then one day I was  introduced to watercolour and my world changed.  I still tried to trace around what I wanted to paint, but my paintings had more freedom. I was no longer trying to make the paintings look like the photographs. 

 Recently I decided to try painting without drawing any lines on the paper first.  Once again, I amazed myself.  You just never know what you can do until you quit worrying about failing and just try. 

I'm still no great artist, but I do love to paint, and I know I've come a long way.