Easters past...photo heavy...

 We are not doing a big Easter celebration this year as we just did a big celebration for my husband's birthday..

I miss making the cute things.:)

I have years of cute accumulation.. lamb molds, Easter cookie cutters, cupcake toppers ,banners.. the latter all Peter Rabbit.I love Peter Rabbit.

These littles tower over me.. All of them..They are young adults ,I am grateful that I still feel so close to these gentle giants.

Below..Lucas now 18:) Is twice as tall;)That jade plant is now a literal tree  in the sunroom..same growth spurt as Lucas and the rest..

Susan Branch's lamb cake

Favorite cookies:)

 Le menu..

Now tell me Easter isn't cute? All religious beliefs apart..Easter is the cutest.

I always grew grass:)

I loved painting cookies..

Or adorning cookies with home made chocolate bunnies..

Or edible wafer paper.

My fave cupcake toppers. 

We used to call Oli..Poodle:) 

Little things:)

So ..Happy Easter..All of you..It is but a few days away..

I miss all this..I wonder if they will remember:)

So many of my Easter photos are lost in space..

That glitch remember?

I have them on CDs ..etc..but to go through them all would lead me down a REAL rabbit hole.

So I gathered a few still visible on my past blog posts.

 

March marches on..

 

That lovely little cake was found here...

It's an easy marble cake with easy measurements..But what I loved was that she showed the consistency..like a ribbon..it does not break..Break would mean dry..I had to add milk in both the vanilla batter(that I added so much bio orange rind:) ) and the choco mix..Plus look how easy..a ladle of choco a ladle of the pale..etc etc until done.

For many reasons I shy away from sweets..but a sliver of this w/ a cup of coffee..Is comfort ..to me.

No big sweet icing desserts..if it looks light and lively..then good;)

And in moderation.

I think our name could be Monsieur and Madame Moderation..LOL

More of my back people:)I must admit I like them better with their stories on IG.

C'est la vie.

The stories bring them to life..

Funny story..not really..

If someone asks me to paint something..

I will start it over 4 times to get it right and it never looks right..

However when I see something..and am inspired ..it really takes less than 1 hour to sketch..add ink..watercolor AND a story.

100 yrs ago shopping x-border was exciting..our money was worth more..at par and once ,more..

And the variety and prices were formidable compared to here.

One place we used to go to because it was close..

we stopped because it is all but deserted now apart from Walmart and TJ..

Our Walmart had a fire and is being renovated..it will take a while..

Laugh if you wish.. since Covid we have been twice.My pharma is there..THE BEST..but they deliver RXs..

On our way to our old haunting place..we saw these on the road..

Curiously..I had spotted an Amish family in the store..and we smiled and greeted each other..

When we left we saw them letting their horses feed.

There is a feed station at that store.

Reason to go back:)

They also have an ALDI.. and their yogurt is stellar;)

Our dollar is worth.. $0.75 to the US dollar now..:(

Times have changed..

TV..

I am enjoying..

You may remember Eugene Levy from Shitt's Creek.

I find it informative.

And boy does he dress well:)

 And for 75 his energy is contagious.

New Look..Christian Dior..Coco Chanel..

Interesting.. good soundtrack..some may be miscast.

Had no idea Chanel was like that.I know it's a show..but some element of truth..

I really got into this:) I know..doesn't look like my kind of show..but yes.

Below..

NOT FOR ME

Call the Midwife is back..THAT..I love.

I am reading Spare..and I am bored I hope it gets better.

Re Princess Kate Middleton..all the conspiracy theories..Shame on them.

I wish her well and complete healing.

She is in the best of hands.

And her family needs her.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Citron/Lemon

 

I do enjoy tiktok ..as well as IG ..I find lovely recipes on both..

I enjoy lemon..in warm water..or mixed with ginger..in my green tea.. in cookies..bars..loaves.. and curd.

I came upon a beautiful recipe on TikTok..

It is more creamy..

I put the ings on this watercolor..

You juice your 3 lemons and put in a pot..add the sugar..the 3 eggs..mix and cook on low heat continuously whisking ..until  it all looks amalgamated and ready... then drop in the room temp butter..and incorporate very well..

This is the magic..put in a blender and blend blend blend..

I will add in the link for the visual:)

Here it is.. 

Then you can make little shortbread tarts and fill with the cream..

The shortbread tarts are made from a recipe I gleaned form Ann Thibault..  I then just put a dollop in the tart.. and some lavender pearls( totally  not necessary).This isn't the filling on Ann's post..this is the cream of lemon..softer that curd..different..Love it.

A sprig of mint will be pretty when it's coming out of my ears ;)

We have had mild weather with geese arriving and snow melting like an ice cube in warm water..but today with one hour lost..the snow has returned.. March is never steady.However we are way ahead of ourselves..

Meanwhile I have been painting bunnies..

A real copycat:)This first one I did a few years ago..

When you step into Le Louvre..I noticed some female artists at easels..copying great masters works..To me..this is an exercise in observation.And a charming way to spend a rainy afternoon.:)

Have a lovely week..hope the change in time doesn't affect you too too much:)

AI... Atificial Intelligence..

 

I'm still painting:) These are 2 of my daughters dear friends:) The 3 of them took a Sunday off from careers and families etc to do a little x-border shopping.

:) I was happy for them:)

So..AI..

Below is a tulip I painted freehand..

Unopened..I placed her on my art table and drew and painted her..

But look what quick Photoshop tricks can do..I had NOTHING to do with the two following images except a quick Photoshop Fill.

My original is there..but the other ..s..added artificially.

What will we be able to believe..

Already,homes..faces..landscapes..food ..belie the truth.

We are all being fooled to  an extent by what we see.

Computer manipulation with experts..is now at the hands of everyday Photoshop users..I have no experience..thus far I can only do small things..But rest assured this will create a lot of job losses.. etc..because AI does not only manipulate images..

It was different adding clipart etc..you could tell they were added..but AI makes it impossible in some cases to know.

There is an AI app ..for videos that immediately translates into any language what you are saying..Imagine.

Not AI generated..but definitely set up..staged;)

I have this old scale on an old dry sink in a corner of my kitchen..the backdrop is just a dollar store board that I painted and have used for yrs here..my walls in the kitchen are vanilla/pale yellow..this shows off the items better.

I took 3 photos..all looked the same.

I don't take 50 pics hooked up to a computer to jugge and jugge..I clic.I keep.

I do adjust brightness and contrast at times.And I add the font.Shorelines is my favorite.

All to say Quaker has recalled numerous products in Canada..Granola being one..

Here we are creatures of habit:)

One morning..we have green tea as our beverage..Greek yogurt with bran buds.. nuts..and granola..topped with fruit.J uses more granola than I do..but we do like it with the yogurt.

So with all the granola recalled..I made this one and it is very good.

Keeper.

Around 11 we have coffee:)

Curious? The next morning.. we have coffee and a bran muffin(me) J has the cereal yogurt mix with half a muffin.

Routine is de rigueur here lol.

And it begins again.

You would crack up w/ our routines..

50 yrs married can do this.

I love making crêpes..pancakes etc..but rarely.. rarely..do I:) Waffles..same.

If ever you want more of my routine..  and promise to not get excited by it..lol..

Only one person will recognize this scene:)

It's grey today..  I have never seen so little snow here in March.

I think I'll store the snowshoes;)

Have a great week..