A Progression

I completed a painting a couple of days ago. A large one, 36 in X 48 in. I took several pictures of my progress and posted them on Instagram. I love, love, love Instagram! I thought I would show them here too.

Beginning:

Layer 1:

Layers 2, 3 & 4:

Layer 5 (black & white added):

Finished with a few extra touches of silver paint:

In the picture above, it is turned the way that I would hang it, but I think that is more about personal preference. I did not paint in with any sort of direction in mind. In fact, I turned the canvas multiple times while I was painting. I think I'm going to name it DK's Confusion for an issue that's been weighing heavily on my mind recently. It is acrylic on canvas. I enjoyed painting it and thought it would be fun to share.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Sandy

I'm thinking, today, about all of the people impacted by Sandy the super storm. Alex ans I both have immediate family in the northeast. Everyone is fine, thankfully. I know so many people are without power. I am hoping that everyone stays warm, safe, and dry.

We were without power for about 8 hours, yesterday. The strong winds knocked down a tree and the tree hit a power line. I was completely annoyed, especially because our neighbors on the next street had power. No Fair!!!!

Here are a few pics of our evening without electricity:

Sassy in her "jungle". We stayed outside until dark.

We ate fast food by lantern light. Yum Yum!

There was a fantastic moon, last night.

The power came back on around 10:30 pm. We were all safe & sound. I am very grateful that we didn't have any real issues. So... Again, I am thinking of those who were truly impacted by Sandy and wishing them well. Stay safe everyone!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

This crazy Frankenstorm has not brought us any rain (which we are in need of), but it has brought COLD temps!!!!!! The cold weather means that Sassy has to be bundled up to go outside. See below:

Oh the cuteness!!!!!

The cold weather has also made me want to cook, but I have been completely lacking food inspiration. I have something like writers block, only with food & cooking. It's very strange and frustrating. Yesterday, I actually wandered around the grocery store trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I even went to the magazine aisle looking for inspiration. CRAZY!!!!! I'm just in the mood for those slow simmered kinds of dishes. The ones that warm up your insides and the whole house. But... I don't have a taste for anything in particular. Finally, I decided on this:

Country fried steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, and yellow squash.

I must admit that it was much easier when I just cooked for myself, or one other person. trying to plan meals for multiple people, including a toddler, is tough!

Oh... I tried taking some pics of myself. I hate pictures of myself, because I just don't fell very photogenic these days. I thought this one was kind of fun:

That's about all that's been going on around here, other that shopping for junk. I will try to post picks of my favorite new finds.

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope everyone in the path of Frankenstorm stays safe and dry!!!!!

The Weekend

Most of my weekend was spent around the house. My mother and stepfather were in town. Alex and my stepfather played in a golf tournament ALL WEEKEND!!!!!!!!! Can I tell you how much I have learned to dislike golf? It takes FOREVER!!!!!!

Anyway... I spent most of the weekend hanging out with my mother & Sassy Pants. See below:

Yep! That's my child crawling across the back of the sofa, totally ignoring my demands that she get down.

My mother brought her a tambourine, a harmonica, and a recorder!!!!!! I just want to know what the heck she was thinking!!!!! My mother is a mother, OBVIOUSLY. Doesn't she remember how much noise toddlers make without those items???? Does she have any idea how much noise MY toddler can make before 9 am with those things??????  She (my mother) thinks it's funny! Is this some kind of retribution??????

Oh well, the noise makers make Sassy happy and I can't resist the cuteness. So I guess I will use earplugs and life will go on.

I did buy some good junk, over the weekend. I got a couple of tables and an old metal Tonka truck. I even spent some time painting one table black. I will have to share pics, but I didn't take a before photo (damn sleep deprived brain).

 I also put out more grass seed, yesterday. The grass is slowly growing and the backyard is turning green! I will show before and after pics of the backyard soon. I am optimistic that I won't have to deal with a mud pit, back there, all winter! (Fingers crossed everyone!)

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday from the zoo! (Did I mention that we had 6 dogs in the house over the weekend?)

Pecan Pie Y'all

I've done some baking the past couple of days, 2 loaves of banana bread and 2 pecan pies. I LOVE pecan pie. I have loved it since I was a child. It may be because I'm southern. I also say y'all (because I'm southern and I can't help it). Anyway, I baked the 2 pies, last night. One for a friend (because he said ti was his favorite) and one for me. Here they are:

The one I'm giving away is just your basic pecan pie, but the one I'm keeping is a chocolate pecan pie.

Here's my basic pecan pie recipe:

Pecan Pie
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
3 large eggs
2 cups pecan halves
1 unbaked pie crust (9-inch deep dish)


Preheat oven to 325*F. Combine the melted butter, corn syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir the mixture until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the eggs, stirring until they are fully incorporated. Be careful not to make the mixture foamy. Stir in the pecans. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake at 325 for 60-75 min, or until the middle of the pie is set. Cool the pie completely before cutting.

Then you have this:

And this:

If you like pecans and sugary goo, it really is so good!

The sliced pie, in the picture above, is the chocolate one. What's the secret to the chocolate pecan pie?????????

Wait for it..... You add chocolate!

I added about a cup of semi-sweet mini chips to this pie, but you could add a little more or a little less. If you want to be really fancy, you can chop any kind of chocolate you would like & add it. I would also like to mention that you don't have to use pecan halves. You can use pecan pieces. The pieces are a little more affordable, they taste the same (obviously), and they make a pie that is easier to slice.

Oh yeah... I don't make my own my crust. I don't currently have the time or patience (maybe one day). I just buy the frozen ones. They are super easy to use. (Go ahead... I won't tell.) The pie filling is the important part anyway.

On a healthier note... I bought the most delicious apples, yesterday. Seriously!

They are called Honey Crisp apples and they are fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I would rather be eating junk food (pie anyone?) but this was the best apple I have ever had.

Happy Eating!

A Night Off

Well... I didn't exactly have the night off. Alex was off having a boys night, so I was home with Sassy and the dogs. You know what I did?????? After Sassy went to bed, I sat around watching Love It Or List It on HGTV while eating chocolate chip cookies. I was super healthy & productive. Seriously though, watching anything other than toddler TV shows and boy TV (sports/news/poker) is a luxury for me.

After TV time, but before bed, I did manage to do some painting. Here's what I did:

This morning, I started playing around with my camera (the one I have had for a year and never really used) and took pics of a couple of other recent paintings. Here you go:

Oh yeah... Last night, after painting, I had to start dealing with the restlessly sleeping toddler. She was tossing and turning and making noises most if the night. I'm pretty sure that she has a cold. Ugh!!!!! I'm going to make some homemade chicken soup to try to get rid of this cold FAST!

Around These Parts

It is raining around these parts today. It may actually be pouring. This is the view from the bathroom window, this morning, looking onto our abysmal backyard. It's our patch of parched, barren earth (except for the patches of crazy green monkey grass). We are still trying to figure out how to get the monkey grass to take over the entire back yard, but until then, I am trying to get regular grass to grow. It's a project!

I put out some grass seed, after the last rain. Then, I tried using the the sprinkler to keep the ground moist. Ha ha ha!!!!! I'm hoping this rain will help and I'm going to put out TONS of seed tomorrow or the next day. Keep your fingers crossed that it works. I really don't want a mud pit, this fall/winter, with four dogs and a toddler.

Speaking of the toddler, here she is in her rain boots:

These are not just any boots, these are Hello Kitty boots!!!! They are also a couple of sizes to big, so it is HILARIOUS to watch her walk in them (as a parent you have to get your fun somewhere, especially since drinking & being irresponsible is pretty much out of the question). Oh yeah, can you tell that she dressed herself????? Also, the day she chose this ensemble, it wasn't raining.

So... I haven't posted in a while. Wanna know why????? Here's what happened the last time it rained (almost 2 weeks ago):

That's the rear side of my car, SMASHED. My car was hit, by a commercial delivery truck, while PARKED SAFELY in a parking lot. It got the bumper, the tail light, the fender, rear quarter panel, and the rear door.

What's the big deal, right????????  I wasn't too upset, at the time. I figured insurance would take care of it, no problem. Except, the company apparently didn't have insurance at the time of the accident! Can you believe it? And.... It took A WEEK to find that they didn't have coverage. I had to turn the claim over to my insurance to get it covered by my uninsured motorist coverage, but it is taking them FOREVER to verify that the company and/or driver didn't have insurance. In the meantime, I was going to take my car to get an estimate for the damage. The guy looked at it and said, "Oh shit." Then, he told me that it was not drivable because the tail light was broken. I asked if we could just replace the light, until the insurance issue is resolved. He laughed! Apparently, the car is so damaged that they would not be able to get a new light to fit, until it is repaired. He told me not to worry, that they would fix it & I would never know it had been damaged.

Great!!!! So how long it is going to take to fix?????? Try 22 business days!!!!! Why so long??????? Because, they have to basically saw my car in half and weld a new side on!!!!!!! (But I will never know it was wrecked!) I am just in shock that a car could get damaged this badly from being parked in a parking lot.

Thankfully, I have a rental car. It's not an SUV, so I cannot haul furniture or loads of junk around, but it is a car. I'm trying to be grateful, but it's tough. Expressing gratitude is not one of my strengths, and I still can't believe my bad luck.

I hope everyone has a happy Monday.  Wish me luck that I don't have any incidents in the rain!