Easter Egg Hunt

How many Easter Eggs can you count?

Wishing you an abundance of health and happiness.

Happy Easter

Gina

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

When the Barometer falls

So do the Lambs.

Sheep have been sheared.

Our Farmer friend watches each Yew carefully.

Most of his sheep will give birth in the next 2 weeks.

Some have come early.  Mostly triplets. 

Yews and their Lambs all wear the same red numbers for a little while.  Yews sometimes have to be convinced that they can take care of  twins and even triplets. 

A few years ago Mr G and I were asked to do the lambing for only one day.  It was hard work.  We're  not standing in line to sign up for the job.

This little fellow is very happy receiving a little extra care.  Our Farmer friend knows how to hold them just so.  They are perfectly comfortable being tucked under his arm with their little feet dangling in the air.

Soon they will all go up to the mountains where they will spend the summer 
in the high alpine meadows. 

Have a wonderful weekend my dear 
Blogging Friends,

Gina 

Been Painting

Simple and clean.

Painting to get ready for Heritage Days.

May 2013.

Have a great remainder of the week my dear 

Blogging Friends, 

Gina 

Horseradish

You can't have Corned Beef and Cabbage

without horseradish sauce.

Horseradish roots, not so pretty are they?

This is what they look like this time of year.  They are just beginning to show new growth.  

In the Summer, the large horseradish leaves serve as a cushion for flowers along the rim of my water jug.  

The horseradish plant is quite invasive.  Encircle the plant with a ring of rocks or plant into a container.

Back to making Horseradish Sauce.  

Clean and peel roots and cut into small pieces.  Soak in Rice Vinegar to prevent them from turning brown.  Grind in blender.  Add coarse salt, rice vinegar and honey to taste.  

Have some homemade Mayonnaise on hand if horseradish sauce is too hot.

Mix to taste. 

Horseradish mixed with Rice Vinegar, Mayonnaise, salt and honey.

For the strong at heart nothing else will do but straight horseradish ground up and served as is. 

The broken tips will be replanted right away. 

 Back into the ground.

In no time the roots will grow again and even surprise you with  pretty flowers.

  

Now, to go along with your Reuben Sandwich, which you will fix yourself on the day after St. Patrick's Day, you did make some Sauerkraut last Fall, didn't you? 

Have a great week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina   

It's St Patrick's Day

Will be cooking Corned Beef and Cabbage today.

Have to see if  

 the Horseradish roots are ready to harvest.

Snowdrops were brave enough to poke their little heads through the snow. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day my dear 

Blogging Friends,

Gina 

Darn the Torpedoes, Full speed ahead!

How long has it been 

Since you have eaten a Torpedo Egg?  

What do you think?  Does this Torpedo Egg have a yolk?  And, if so, is the egg yolk round or is it oblong?

A new Plaque in my Etsy Shop.

Actually, two new plaques in my Etsy Shop.

Enjoy the rest of the week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina 





Caution!

Use one of the other doors.

Snow from the roof is coming down.

Going, Going!

And down in one big loud crash. 

Only a little snow left today.

Still plenty of snow out in the fields.

I can tell that the days are getting longer.  

 Our chickens laid 10 eggs yesterday!

And my greenhouse is coming alive. 

Have a great week my dear 

Blogging Friends.

Gina

Instead of Flowers

I'm sending you a book

Not just any old book.

But a book you have chosen.

From a stack of books.

Merisi, Rosemary, Anna,  Mark, Georgianna, Mary and Detail
Congratulations!



Gina

You may

Want one of these.

All you have to do.

Is tell me why.

And what project they might help you with. 

All you have to do is comment. 

Please comment before Friday, the 8th of March. 

A panel of judges is standing by.  

I cannot ship overseas. I'm sorry. 

Have a great week and good luck my dear 

Blogging Friends,

Gina 

Easy Textures you can do

With materials from the Home Improvement Store

This lonely little kitchen corner, in our Guest Cottage,  needed a bit of "interest".

This lonely little walk into my cellar needed a little humph.

My kitchen walls needed texture.  Straw from a nearby field was the ticket. 

The hall fireplace needed a textured chimney piece.

The entrance hall needed a stone wall. 

Empty spaces above windows needed a trumeau.

The "Fresco" to the Cellar.


In a hallway of the Castello Estense, Ferrara, Italy, you can admire an ancient Fresco at close quarters. 


What a surprise!  Except for the image, my frescoes have the same texture and appearance as those that I have painted and have shared with my students at our local college workshop.

All of the above examples I have created with dry wall compound  and builders sand.  

Here is how to paint a fresco swag.

Mix 12 cups of builders sand with one box of dry wall compound.

Apply with trowel in broad strokes (not circles). 

Let dry, draw design onto wall with acrylic paints.

Note: You can use a stencil if you're not sure of your success in free hand painting.

When dry, cover (yes) your art work with a thin layer of your dry wall mixture. Let dry. Wet an ordinary kitchen sponge and scrub across the parts you want to reveal or " bring out".  

Last layer, mix dark beer with colorant (artist gouache, universal tints, or dirty paint water) and with large soft brush, cover the entire surface.  Use colors such as burnt umber and burnt sienna for an antique look. 

See what you can do?  

Have a wonderful weekend my dear 

Blogging Friends,

Gina