THE VOICE OF THE SOUL

© After the concert....Watercolor, St.Germain

The voice of our soul is heard in music.
Just a snippet of how teachers have an enormous influence on the life of their students. In 5th grade, the teacher and the one of 4th grade teamed up to start a children's choir. I loved to sing, and in that choir I had my first public performance as a 10 year old with two other girls, who I became very good friends with. The voices as well as the instrumentalists who accompanied, were all 4 and 5th graders.

Music sparked so much inspiration that I not only learned to play the guitar and ukulele, but as a 14 year old began to compose songs. I sang these at public performances. My songs even got the attention to a performing artists - piano player -  who was studying for her doctorate in music.

I might have been ahead of others in my musical skills, but I was still a teen and needed to mature in some things. Unfortunately, my parents did not have the know-how to guide me in this.

One was about humility. I remember very well that I and a very talented friend both sang a song while she accompanied. (At 15 she gave adult recitals) We practiced half an hour, and received the second prize in a local competition. We told each other that we were not going to do this anymore, bcause it was too easy!

Something else I struggled with was that if one has a talent, others set that person apart. Suddenly one ends up having many friends who are not really friends.  I solved that problem by emotionally withdrawing while still being an outgoing person on the outside. Not a good solution!

Whenever I hear of someone young the public goes gaga over, I feel for them, for that very reason!

To pick back up my story line, I in turn influenced my brothers. They each play the guitar as well as another instrument.
Music brings people together. Music is one of the things my brothers and I always can talk about, even though our taste in music vastly differs. 
My brother did not let me go empty handed to the States. At that time he spent his yearly vacation in Spain and bought  several times a guitar there.  He gave me an Arita, which sound is comparable to the Yamaha. I love this guitar - it de-stressed me during my studies and gave me new energy.

Music is a torch to be passed onto the next generation. Since I know the power of music and how much joy it can bring in one's life, I made sure to take my children to their piano lessons,
even though I was always pressed for time during my grad. studies. It paid off. Both of my girls led a band at some point, and my son was is able to accompany singers.
The quick watercolor at the top of this post is one of my girls with her saxophone.

All that to say that I actually come from a musical family.
What about painting? That's just one of those unexpected quirks of life!

THE BEGINNINGS OF COLLECTIONS

The world is my playground. 

Little nothings coming from different parts 

of the globe turn into keep sakes for me.

I am known for my love for bags and purses.

So whenever they visit another country,

my friends bring something like this back,

to share their experience with me.

The left bag is from China and I may have to ask

one of my blog friends to decipher the characters.

This friend used to live in the USA, and is the daughter

of a university professor in China.

The right bag comes from Nepal from a friend

who traveled to different Asian countries.

Nepal is on my "list", because I would like to see

the Himalyas (not climb!) with my own eyes.

 On the left is a ring holder and on the right

a perfume jar. The latter (almost 3 inch high)

comes from Greece,

and I could not leave it in the store!

 

A top view. 

The ring holder (1 1/2 inch high)  was a gift 
from my then 8 year old daughter, 

who loves to collect small objects.

 

Two small mustard jars, blue (4 inches high)
and  the green one (3 1/2 inch high), including the lids.
Go and look on my ART NOTES (my second blog)
because it holds some of my tools.

Now my living space is almost slashed in half,
the designs of these sweet little nothings
seem much more intriguing.

THANKSGIVING JALAPENO CHILI (without beans)

 Before the chili recipe, I like to say, Happy Birthday, Hubby!
And I am posting here one of his photo experiments - the one he is most proud of, and has been published in a photo book of photographers.

Night Rose

If for one or another reason you 're not planning on the traditional turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day, you might want to consider this delicious comfort food for this day.


My oldest daughter got away with several first prizes on chili-cookouts with her own variant of this recipe.
Personally I like this recipe because one does not have to think about soaking the beans overnight. But if that is a must in your chili, you can easily add the beans. 

The only time I was ever on some kind of a diet was with the  Suzanne's Summer's recipes. She separates the carbohydrates from the proteins. That means, simplistically explained, meat combined with veggies, or carbohydrates combined with veggies.What I like about this diet is that you can have the portions as big as you want.

My favorite recipe is a variant of Summer's Jalapeno Chili (her books are in the local libraries). Her recipe is too spicy for me, so I leave out the Jalapeno pepper when I make it. Also, her recipe calls for 6 Tablespoons of chili, which I reduced to 3-4 Tablespoons.


Ingredients

1 lb each of hot and sweet sausages
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 cups of onions, chopped
6 cloves (3 Tablespoons) garlic
1/2 lb. hamburger meat
2 red bell peppers
2 green bell peppers
1-6 Jalapeno peppers (seeded)

35 oz. can of tomatoes, drained
1 cup of dry white wine
1 cup of fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 Tablespoons chili powder
3 Tablespoons cumin
2 Tablespoons oregano
1 Tablespoon basil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 Tablespoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 lb. fresh tomatoes 


If the recipe is made for 1 or 2 people, the first half of the ingredients can be halved. 
I don't scrimp on the spices!

Saute the sausage in olive oil: set aside. When cooled off cut in 1 inch pieces
Saute onions and garlic for about 5 minutes
Brown the hamburger meat
Add the bell peppers (and Jalapeno peppers)
Mix all ingredients up till now and cook for about 10 minutes.


Stir in all the spices.
At the end, stir in the fresh tomatoes

Serve with Jack cheese, sour cream and chopped green onions, if preferred. Of course cornbread to cool down the hot chili.



Serve another spoon of that chili, please!  
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving Day!

MIRRORED LIVES

Storyteller

Once there were two families whose lives were altered by national events. This is the setting that brought them together to the same house. Their lives looked like mirrored lives.

The mother of family Set wrote later to the mother of family Jet: 

When we saw your house for the first time, I told the realtor that I liked it so much. My teens loved it as well. I couldn't forget about the house, so after 2 weeks I asked if I could see it again. That time your hubby was there and we talked for a while.
I asked the realtor to send in an offer. I heard later that you had multiple offers that were much higher. I was a bit down at that time.
I went on to see many other estates, but came back to this house after a few months with a higher offer. By now, 50% of all real estate sales were foreclosures, which effected the prices of the other houses greatly. 

Fam. Jet took the offer, and when the two families met, an amazing scenario came to light.


Family Jet lived in one of the major cities of Indonesia. They had the Dutch nationality. At the time Jetty was 5 years old, life there became chaotic. Riots made the streets very unsafe. Inflation escalated to the point where one egg cost 50 cents (this was in the 1950ties). Jetty's parents decided to live in Holland, and escape the impending oppression of Islam. They went, as  thousands of others did, on big sea liners to Holland to begin a new life.

Pushing the button on fast forward, Jetty and her husband received their college degrees in the US and then went back to Holland. Nine years later they came back, with their three children to this country for the second time. 
After a decade she and her husband purchased a house in an all-American neighborhood. After many years, when faced with an empty nest, they thought it would be best to sell their house. You probably may have gathered by now that this part was my own story.

Family Set lived in one of the major cities of Indonesia as well. Twenty years before, they also lived in the United States. 
Life in Indonesia became very scary when she had to drive a long way to bring her kids to the Catholic school and riots of the Muslims began to make the streets unsafe. She never knew if one of those days she would make it (read: be alive) or not. 
So, even though her husband had a business there, she decided to move to the USA to escape Islam and have a safer life for her teens. After about a decade the economy in the US changed, and they were able to buy a house.


Isn't it amazing how after 50 real estate agents with their clients coming through one's house, and escrow falling through three times, that the buyer has similar life events happen to them as the seller?
How often does this happen?


PS don't forget to look at my new page ART NOTES

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INTRO TO MY SECOND BLOG PAGE & WHITE CHOC CHIP COOKIE

My need for a second page is to complement my art website.
For some time, I would have liked  to react right away to the comments made on my paintings, but  both of the web masters of my art website www(dot)stgermainart(dot)com are extremely busy.
Also, every change I like to make is going to cost me. That is not in my budget now.
AND.....I have you, who are already reading my stuff (thank you, you are much appreciated!!)

"Art Notes" will be more "off the cuff", telegram style, or like notes jotted down on a sticky note. Who knows it will grow into a book!
So, bloggie friend, click on the bottom of  "view my complete profile." There you will see my blogs  "Mysteries" and "Art Notes".
Click on  Art Notes. I have already posted something there.
I have not finished customizing the background, but that will come soon enough!

When the days turn shorter and colder, my cookie gene kicks in. It may have to do with my Dutch gene that says you can't have tea of coffee without a cookie.

My favorite holiday cookie is a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips in it. Whole wheat flower is less tasty with this cookie, so I use non-bleached flour. I always reduce the sugar amount a few teasoons than the original recipe here. The recipe makes about 45 mid- size cookies.

On ungreased sheet drop teaspoons full of batter. 
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius for 10-11 min. 
Edge is lightly browned. Cool for 2 min.


Ingredients

Combine and set aside: 

          2 1/4 cup flour

          2/3 cup cocoa 

          1/2 tsp. salt

          1 tsp. baking soda

 Beat  with combined ingredients (above) till creamy 
          1 cup of butter, softened
          3/4 cup sugar
          2/3 cup brown sugar.1 tsp vanilla
 Add slowly 
         2 eggs
 Stir in 
         1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Be careful not to get in chocolate shock!

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SCRIBBLE/DOODLE - The Same But Different MOODS

The same scene scene, with two different mediums. 
One is acrylic. One in watercolor. 
One scene with 2 different painting styles. 
The same scene displaying different times of the day. One is a night scene. The other is a day or Spring scene. 
In the Scribble/Doodle Window I changed this scene with Photoshop into an wild Fauvistic, expressionistic landscape.

I gave myself this exercise once as an illustration for a workshop I taught some years ago.

©Acrylic, Teneya Lake by Night, St.Germain

It is one thing to be able to draw well,  but better art displays a mood in the painting. Setting the mood is definitely what makes the painting "speak." How to set a mood? Colors and shadows more importantly, and then moving on to blurry or sharp edges (boundaries). The darker the color, the more it will have the effect of  a somber, night, serene, or mysterious place.

©  Watercolor, Teneya Lake in Spring, St.Germain

Light and bright colors express an uplifted mood.  A display of spring or summer, sunny, cheerful. Edges are often sharper, but do not need to be.

These are not the only possibilities for this or any landscape scene. 
Another mood would be fiery, or a late Fall with almost bare branches, or snow, or storm. A mood goes beyond weather conditions. One can make any kind of scene busy, or contemplative, or depressing. 
If I'm doing a little self-evaluation here, I've noticed that most of my landscapes exude a bright, sunny, or dreamy atmosphere, while the painting of angels and of revelation (on my web site) are more night and mysterious views.


In these scenes I did not deal with shadows, but they are another way to set the stage. That maybe for another time bloggie friends!

RELAXED WEEKEND - ramble

What a relaxed weekend. I needed that. Puttering around. No deadlines, schedules, or commitments.  I called my favorite nursery on a whim yesterday, to ask if they already had the Christmas cactus in stock. 

 And they did. Pink, white, and red.

So, I chose a big white one, and a small red one. 

I put them close together. 

 I have a weakness for African violets, so this one begged me to come home with me. 
Another orphan rescued:) Now I see this pic, I notice hubby has been doctoring with the settings. So, I don't feel bad taking it into Photoshop to get the effect I originally wanted.

Some people feel alive in the morning. Others in the afternoon. For me, I feel most alive in the evening. My inspiration for painting also comes in the evening. Never in the morning, unless I am waking up from a dream about it.  

This weekend we went out for coffee. Exploring our new neighborhood and night life, so to speak. This was a cozy, but well lit coffee shop. I like to see what I'm drinking. Nice interior, comfy chairs and not too small. We were astonished when at 9 pm they said they were closing. Is this Los Angeles?? Maybe we're in the wrong city! I had counted on 10:30 at least.

click on image for details

We met up with friends whom we had not seen in ages, and caught up on each others stories of the years we had not seen each other. Seems like all of California is on a roller coaster (a tad exaggerated). But when you hear that some of your friends are in an equal position, things do not seem so bad anymore. We all will survive this. And some of you out there, you will too, even though you have the feeling that you're hanging on by a thread.

BIRDS MIGRATING and other Things, SUNDAY PART 3

On a Wednesday in July, still in the middle of moving boxes, an email came that the head of the music department had voiced, "Why not painting every time we play music, instead of only at conferences?"
I was excited, so I signed up for the first Sunday.

How do you Know What to Paint?

The rest of that week, whenever a quiet moment came, I saw birds in my mind, flying in migrating patterns. This didn't seem  a particularly spiritual subject to me, but I have learned to go with whatever keeps coming to my mind, because that is often the inspiration I should go with.

When starting  I painted  in big letters Supernatural Turn. I had never done that  before. When the pastor came by to look, he said, "Supernatural turn, huh? I like it already." I painted at this location before, but he had never looked at what I painted. So, I politely thanked him.

It turns out that he was so taken with the concept of the supernatural turn, 
for it applied to 60% or more to his congregation. 
This is in one of the posh beach cities in California. According to the news California is one of the 10 states shortest on cash.
This painting gave him an image to refer to (in advertisement they call it "branding". 
When one sees the box with the detergent "Tide". every American knows what it means.)


Since August the painting has been used as a visual image 
in the meeting for business people. He talked about it at other times, 
let me come to the front to talk about it. 
Not that I talked that much, because there were so many who gave their own 
version how that image applied to them, that at times I was a bit 
uncomfortable with all that attention. As you can see I changed,  placing the words on the right as part of the cloud pattern. It's not quite finished yet, but I'll do that later.

© 24 x 30, Oil, St.Germain

Is the Effect always so Dramatic?

This painting of the birds is actually the first one that has been
so widely recognized and used so many occasions as an illustration. Half of the time it speaks only to a few people.
One time I painted a diamond, and the painting was mainly blue. Someone came in and her jaw dropped, because she had a blue diamond which she had inherited,
and she had been wondering if she should sell it,
because she was in a real jam at the time.

Does it Always come this Easy?

One time my musings about what to paint were finally answered on Sunday morning while packing up my painting gear. I had the strange feeling I should paint a bride.
A bride?? I muttered under my breath that I didn't like to paint that mushy stuff.
But then, a bride would be a symbol of the bride of Christ - the church. Even though I was still cringing at the thought, an assurance came over me
that I would make someone's day with it.

No time to make a sketch, so I went purely on my intuition and  included the Bridegroom
(for the Protestants it is a symbol of Jesus Christ).

© 24 x 30 Oil, St.Germain

After painting this almost iconic looking painting, while I'm cleaning up my things,
someone comes running up the steps to the platform, asking me if she can take a pic of the painting with her cell phone. I do not know her, but I nod. It seemed important to her.
This is part of her paraphrased email a week later (I have her permission).
It really touched me.

The painting effected her greatly, because she was a twenty-something woman who had a shady past. At times she imagines that in heaven God's son would want to dance with her.
Because she had been addicted to porn and other immorality, she feels awkward and unclean, even though she knows that the bride is a symbol for the bride of Christ,
and he has forgiven her what she did in the past.
When she sees me painting the bride, suddenly all her doubts about being forgiven
vanish, and could see herself as washed clean, and being able to dance with the bridegroom.

This painting was never finished, because the next time I painted
something else.  Maybe this unusual subject was only for this one young woman, but thoroughly worth the effort.
Most of the  time I finish a painting at home, and put them on my art website http://www.stgermainart.com/  -  click here*) or on one of my blogs.
Up till now, I have received feedback on every  Sunday painting (since 2004).
Now you can imagine why I love to paint on Sunday.


* NB - website is NOT updated, so my new paintings are not on there and prices on web site are negotiable for my followers on this site

MOMENTS - OUT OF LIFE OF ARTIST

My day always starts with tea. My son-in-law got into 

teas too. So he and my middle daughter took us to 

a tea store where a tea maker from Teawana is sold. 

One puts  the tealeaves on the bottom, and pours

the boiling water on top of it. Then the tea drips 

into one's teacup underneath. I couldn't resist 

trying a  white tea, called Snow Geisha. Delicieux!

Still cutting off roses from my old front yard...

in November! I know, I am spoiled living in California.

Roses make my day - I never can get enough of them.

In-between running errands, mostly for food,  
painting supplies, and this time of the year 
Christmas shopping.  Although I may look like 
a bag lady, my bags need to be nice 

or cute, like this little one my oldest daughter 

brought from the Philippines, but still big enough 
for my wallet, lotion and chapstick.

In the afternoon I often drink a cappuccino. To show you
how small my cappuccino maker is, I
put a pint of whipped cream carton next to it.
I'm mostly too much in a hurry to make the foam,
but its a treat with liquid whipped cream.

 
Often more of my day is spent on making preparations
to paint, than my time painting on canvas. It may be
in doing research on skeletal structure. And I actually
watched two movies for the movement of this horse.
This was the THIRD sketch I made for the painting
Night Riders(which I'll show you at another time).

As you can see, I give numbers to the values
(from light-1 to dark-3)
Often the success of a painting hinges on how much time
one wants to spend in preparation.
How far one comes, also often depends on
how disciplined the artist is.

 Always make time to see the sun setting or

to look at the clouds on my walk.
These clouds are like "pastels in the sky."

This was a first bracelet I made with directions

from a magazine. Some adjustments!

I exchanged big round ceramic beads for

smaller glass ones, because the first ones felt too heavy.

What size of wrists do they give instructions for??

I  made this with one flower less, and was still

too big for me, so I put the "oval "opening on the top

around the last flower when wearing it.

Since it's Fall you know that in-between and at night 

I am knitting hats, scarves, socks, or other things. 

I thrive on having multiple projects going on 
at the same time and drive everyone else crazy with it.

DOUBLE TAKE - Sunday Painter Part 2

 Have you ever done a double take? (for the ones who don't know: you see something, and it's so shocking that you can't believe what you saw, so you look again!) And horrors - it's true. You saw it right! That's a little how I felt becoming a Sunday painter.

 ©18 x 24 Watercolor, St.Germain

 How did you become a Sunday painter?

 Writers have called artists "prophets" because in a time of societal changes, the artists are the first to show it in their work Often this is seen in their style and approach to painting.

The whole decade of the nineties was a turnover, starting 2months before the new Year of 1990, with the fall of Communism and. culminating in Sept. 2001 as a monumental change.  Since then several levels of society have not been the same. 

In the nineties, my family went as well through some big changes.  Suddenly  my  small friendly watercolors changed from one day to another into working in oil on 24 x 30 inch canvas with sober and semi-abstract forms. The change was big because I had never ever painted with oil before!

That whole story is written on one of the pages of my website www.stgermainart.com

Seven years later (2004)I went to a mid size conference (about 1300 people attending). The day before, I knew that I knew that I knew that one of the speakers was going to speak about multiplication. 
Don' t ask me how I knew. I did not have a dream, or vision, nor did I hear I voice from heaven. 
I just knew!
In the course of the day I remembered that a long time ago I had painted 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. (its the story of the feeding of the 5000  where 5 loaves of bread were being multiplied, enough to feed 5000 men and their families).

I thought it was very strange, and never heard of people doing that,  but had decided to take that painting with me. Needless to say, I also felt conspicuous. It's rather difficult to hide a 24 x 30 inch painting under your coat or sweater!

© Five Loaves and Two Fish, 24 x 30, Oil, St Germain

The next evening, I was sitting on pins and needles, thinking what if you are wrong? Nevertheless, as soon as the speaker said that multiplication was going to come the coming year, I stepped out of my seat and brought it to the platform. To my astonishment  the speaker was not even surprised. 
He saw me coming and started laughing, saying, "Oh, I love those prophetic people." Then the people in the video booth, showed the painting on a big screen (about 8 x 10 feet) on the platform. And a ripple of  "Ooooh" went through the audience.

And that was how I became a Sunday painter.

Now I had passed this hurdle, I was more confident  and asked the pastors who were in charge of this conference if I could paint on Sunday, and they accepted. 
First I painted in Mott Auditorium, and then in the Ambassador Auditorium, both in Pasadena, CA.


Since the story will get too long, hold on curious ones, in the next part of the story I will come to that painting with the birds:)

SUNDAY PAINTER

You undoubtedly heard about Sunday drivers? The ones who only drive on Sunday and hold up traffic with their slooow driving. Well, there are also Sunday painters. I consider myself as one. Not because I only paint on Sunday, or that I paint slowly. But painting on Sunday has become my niche. More than my landscapes? Absolutely.

So what is different about painting on Sunday?
On a given Sunday I stand with my easel in front of, or on a platform of a  church, while nowadays some have incorporated other  branches of art, together with the usual music.  

So what is this about?
 From whatever angle I approach this, there is no theological proof or explanation, other than that God is the Creator, and He is the One who painted the sky and the grass, and everything else He made. 
So, if he wants to be worshiped, what better way to do it with art? 

Music has been the "tool" of worship throughout history. After the Reformation they made Luther out to be the one who viewed that any visual or three dimensional image is idolatry. But this does not seem to be true. I have talked to theology students from Fuller Theological Seminary, and they told me that Luther allowed painters to be part of the worship service. I was surprised, to say the least, and I know some of you might be too.

The pic above is my first painting stint for two years at what once used to be once the performing arts center, home of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Pasadena. This pic is taken after the service.

Here I'm painting on the platform at the same time the band is playing during the first part of the church service. Very well known people like Bing Crosby, Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Arthur Rubinstein, and others have performed on this platform.

Do they tell you what to paint? They give me complete freedom to paint what I think I should paint. I take this freedom very seriously, because most people cannot remember a whole sermon, but they do remember a visual image. So, I spend "some time" in preparation.

I have had staggering comments of people having dreams that same week, or conversations with others about the painted image, or the painting providing a solution for what they were seeking. I'll tell another time about an experience I'll never forget.

 In  the next part of this story, I'll tell you how I came to do this kind of painting, and eventually I'll talk about this painting, which was a total surprise to me.

©  24 x 30, Oil, St.Germain

***************

SCRIBBLE/DOODLE WINDOW AND RAMBLE

Hands and feet always have been a fascinating subject to draw. They say as much as one's face. 

In my first year of graduate training I learned quite a bit more about hands. We would be video-ed weekly, and got plenty of comments of our supervisors how we came over, the sitting positions, hands, feet, face. Everything had to look  as "neutral" as possible. One of my favorite hand positions for the counseling room is to fold my hands into each other.

In my  life outside that room my hands are seldom at rest. A reminder came some weeks ago, when my brother emailed me "...it made me think of you when you were drawing so much in your teens..."
I thought he should see me now! My hands are busier than ever, not only with drawing, but also painting, knitting, crocheting, making jewelry, and so on.


This mixed media work was done about 12 years ago, when "oversized anything" was in vogue. Notice the wedding ring on the left hand? When  living in Holland, I wore the ring on my right hand, because that's where Protestant people who are married, wear their wedding ring. 
If one was Catholic, one wore it on the opposite side. (Commonly, the engagement ring moved to the other hand when one got married.)

So the more subtle question to ask if you wanted to know if someone was married or not, was to inquire, "Are you Protestant or Catholic?"


In the seventies most women in the Netherlands had a simple wedding band. Sometimes with a tiny diamond in it, but never the extravagant two rings fitting into each other, now common in the USA. 
Two years ago, I noticed to my chagrin that in the new church we attended, people were looking at my ring. At first I reasoned that I had been living more than fifteen years in the States, and was not planning to change anything on my appearance. 

But as time went by, these looks from men as well as women became too distracting.  I could see their pondering or confusion. Hmm, she keeps coming with the same guy. But why doesn't she have a wedding ring on?
So, one time I had enough of it, and told to my husband, "I need a ring." 
Not, I want a ring, or I like a ring for my birthday.  No, "I need..."
I know that was not very romantic!!

Hubby looked very surprised, so I told him why.
He did not say anything that I can remember. 


A few weeks later, we were visiting one of our kids, and we were shopping in Old Town.
When we passed a Russian jewelry store, I suddenly remembered my conversation with hubby. Because the ring in itself was not an important thing to me, I had forgotten all about it!
I saw a ring I liked, but I did not expect hubby to like it, or to immediately give in to an extravagant expense.

My jaw dropped when all he said was, "okay," and went to the cash register to pay for it! Without any protest, or joke "that is then your birthday gift" (it was not near by birthday).
I was so dumbfounded and confused that when leaving the store, I carried the little handbag with the box in it. My daughter demanded, "Aren't you going to wear it?" 

(Sorry, it's not very visible that these are two rings, but if you want "proof" then click on the image to enlarge.)


"Uh, uh..mmm....I have to get used to the idea."
" Well, you get used to the idea, by wearing it!" said little Smarty Pants, and had a big grin on her face, when in the middle of the street, I finally opened the box and put "it" on.


"It" is a pain to wear, or rather, all the times you have to take it off, when you wash the dishes, when I paint, or when I knit, my yarn gets stuck in it, and so on, and so forth. 
Can't I just go back to my simple wedding ring? Don't tell me...
I remember now why I started wearing it.

BLOG BIRTHDAY

Last year November I made a last ditch effort to get my blog at this site going. I had started it in March, but could not figure out how to get to other blogs, and if I'm not mistaken (I'm Miss Forgetful) the follow feature was not there yet, only the blogs of note. 

These blogs get tiresome pretty quickly, while some have a strange world view, and others have a real attitude! It probably has to do with my taste, but for half of them, I could not see why they were a blog of note! So escaped to Myspace and made about a hundred friends there. One of them, also had a blog here, Tadn'Tina, and I am very thankful that she explained to me how the system goes here! 

Since last November I've met all of you and make this month my blog birthday! 
There are 3 other birthdays in my family: my oldest daughter, my brother, and hubby.


No birthday without a cake. In Holland, where I I am originally from, it is the birthday girl or boy who provide the refreshments. So I'm posting a cake from friends in Holland. Anneke Super and her hubby  were a big support when we made a big transition from one to two children. After this, the third baby was a piece of cake!


APPLE CAKE
The  original recipe is actually the double amount of this one, and it's easy to make some favorite additions, such as almonds, or other nuts, berries, or flavors. 


In a baking pan 11 x 8 inch, the baking time is approx. 50 min. at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or 180 degrees Celsius, or no. 4 for oven. 
Butter and flour the pan before putting in the batter.

When the recipe is doubled, put the batter in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and, the baking time becomes 1 hour and 10 min. for most ovens.

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
pinch of salt (optional)
2 eggs
1/2 cup & 1 Tablespoon milk
1 3/4 cup of flour
1 /34 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 apples (almost any type of apple)

cinnamon


Mix sugar and butter till creamy
Add eggs one by one.
Stir in the milk (don't worry if it looks like the milk is spoilt)
 Mix the flour and baking powder and add to above ingredients
 Put batter in baking pan
Arrange peeled and cored apple slices on top of batter 
Sprinkle with cinnamon (I like a lot!)



Have a slice!