Comfort food

I popped into Love,Me boutique yesterday and Chara, the owner, was eating her lunch. It looked yummy. I asked her about it and half and hour later I was across the street in Pete's Froutique buying the ingredients. Easy and yum! It is Chara's "go to" fall comfort food.

Chara's Sweet Potato, Black bean, Sausage Chili

Saute 1 chopped onion and some garlic for a few minutes.
Add 2-3 chopped sausages, I used Sweet Italian and Hot. (the flavour in this comes from the sausage used) Saute until cooked.
Add a chopped sweet potato. * I also added 1 tsp. cumin*
Add a can of chopped stewed tomatoes with juice. Simmer until sweet potato soft.
Add a can of drained rinsed black beans. Heat through.

Serve topped with grated cheese, or avocado, or cilantro or all three!

Really good, even better the second day as most things like this are. Can be frozen too.

Rainy day activities

So.......
Fresh canvas, clean brushes, paint at hand, rainy day. I have high hopes.
Lots to get done. The postcards I ordered arrived and they look lovely! I've got to figure out some cute packaging. I will be selling them in sets.

Just don't want to get distracted with this sort of thing....... so easy to do on a day like today. One of the perils of working from home.

Hope you weren't offended by yesterday's post. lol.
2011 Calendars available here.

Robbie Burns....

who knew?
Just happened to look up and admire him! His statue reminds me of Victor Noir's tomb effigy which I saw in Paris. A bit of a surprise.

I was at Word on the Street yesterday in Victoria Park. Lots of books and publishers and talks and events. Spent time in the "pitchers" tent. There were sessions for people to pitch the publisher ideas for books. I was interested in the children's session. I have an idea I have been working on, but at the last minute ran out of courage and did not step up to the microphone. It was really interesting to hear people's outlines and story ideas. I' guess I am more of a "one on one" kind of gal. I then crossed the street to take a stroll in the Halifax Public Gardens. Open since 1867.

It is a comfortable wee jewel of a park.

This time of year the gardens are winding down. In the summer they have concerts in this band stand every week.

Lovely statues and some grand fountains here, as well as a large pond for ducks. The resident swans have their own small pond too. Looks like a seagull has decided to try its hand at being a hat.

It was so relaxing to stroll about and admire the autumn flowers. Each time I visit I tell myself I should pop in more often! Right in the heart of the city. We are so lucky.

Also....if you haven't seen them yet, here are my calendars!

2011 Calendars!

I have been busy this weekend! It was great fun putting these together. To see each calendar, click on the picture and then underneath you will see a preview button. Click that to see the 12 months. These have been created through Lulu.com and you purchase them there. You can buy one and have them ship it to an address different than yours if it is for a gift. They will not be signed by me as the others were. I have priced them at $17.50 each because shipping is $6.99 to Canada, so the total will be $24.50 per calendar for Canadians and probably a wee bit less for Americans, not sure what shipping to the rest of the world is. Hope you enjoy them!
Cats, Create Art, Paris, Nova Scotia and Peggy's Cove

slurp

Doesn't this look refreshing? mmmm. This is iced tea. It came in a carafe as just chilled tea. The drinking glass was full of ice and lemon. There was also a small pitcher of "simple" syrup to add to your drink to make it the perfect level of sweetness. Loved it! Most iced teas are too sweet for me. Today was a warm and balmy sort of un-fall like day. Just right for iced tea.

always something

Futzing. Why is it that things ALWAYS take longer than you think they will? One task leads to another and then you get sidetracked but still on the same subject and then you are on to something else but still on track because it is related to task one.....which has yet to be finished and then you run out of time and have to get back to it later.
How is your day going?

just a few things...

Happy Autumn! It is almost here, will be at midnight. Tonight is the first time in 20 years that the equinox will fall on a full moon. The Super Harvest Moon.This picture was taken last week. Isn't it lovely. I think there is a message for us in it. Sunshine and storms contain rainbows. We just have to look for them.

The Sensational Snapshot Society starts on Friday! I am really excited to get going. We have participants from all over the world. It is so interesting to see the world through everyone's eyes. Please join us!

Also, my friend Sara has put together this year's Paws for Charity calendar and it looks great! Full of cat and dog, art and photography. I am featured in July! Yay. The proceeds go towards breast cancer research, a very worthwhile cause.

Remember the show I mentioned called Haven? Here is a link to all the episodes. (It starts with the most recent episode so look at the thumbnails below and scroll to episode 1) I have really been enjoying them. Quirky, with great casting. The supernatural bits are a bit hokey but if you get beyond that, the acting, writing, photography and direction are great. The scenery is all Nova Scotia and mainly Lunenburg and Chester. It has been fun picking out all the places and identifying them. Love it. Here's a peek from the first episode.

contrast

5th ave. Makes the head spin.

Art Day in Lunenburg

Yesterday was a lovely day! We headed out to support Zehava and her daughter Nicole, in their first "mother daughter"art show at Jenny's Jib. Left Halifax in the drizzle and arrived in Lunenburg to find the sun! Hooray.
This flower arrangement is beautiful. Can you see the Lunenburg "bump" outside the window?

Here they are, Nicole and Zehava! Nicole is a friend of my daughter's too.

This is one of Zehava's paintings. Love it!

There were delicious munchies and wine and a steady stream of interested fans.

This is one of Nicole's paintings.

Lunenburg is a Unesco World Heritage site and is known for the bright red buildings along the waterfront. I have recently started watching a great television series on Showcase that was filmed here called Haven. It is supposed to be in Maine but.........now you know. The scenery is gorgeous. You can watch episodes here They are coming back to shoot season 2 in the Spring. Based on a Stephen King book.

This is my daughter and another friend sitting having a chat. Look at their hair! The lady in the photo above, is the mom of pink!

A view out the window...see the blue sky? Yay! It stayed that way all day until we got back home.

Aren't they adorable! Well done gals!

art on Sunday

Headed here this afternoon for an art show. A mother & daughter collaboration by Zehava & Nicole Power. 1-3. If you are in Lunenburg and can make it, would love to meet you there:)
The daughter is a friend of my daughter and the mom is a new friend of mine:)

September sunshine

New Print in shop, Cat and Red House:)
Today is a day just like in this wee painting! Crisp and sunny and BEAUTIFUL!

Rollertown

Let's Boogie!

I tried to make this psychedelic. Photoshop skills poor. This is where I was on Monday! Rollertown is a low budget movie written by and starring the cast of Picnicface (a local comedy troupe) along with an eager group of support actors and extras. It is set in the 80's and promises to be an outlandish mix of drama, disco, action, costume and humour.

On this day the shooting was in Alderney Park in Dartmouth right next to the ferry terminal. I am sure passengers were startled to see the mob of colourfully clad roller skaters zoom past.

It was an odd day alternating between sun and dark cloud. Must have been a challenge for the director of photography. A motley crew indeed.

I spent a day on set waiting to be a pedestrian. Like most productions, things take longer than expected. Spent time chatting with a great gal. Always meet fun people on these things.

This is Mark Little, one of the Picnicface members. It was a crazy scene with a crazy guy!

Try to hear Funkytown in your head by the one hit wonders, Lipps Inc. Great song. It sets the tone. Actually, click on the link. I spent a fun few minutes mesmerized by the disco dancers. Really poor quality but it is 1980 and probably came off a tv set. Video with primitive special effects.

Hennessy Casting is still looking for volunteers to participate, the shoot continues for a couple of weeks.

a reminder:)

LOVE this! Part of an ad campaign by Scholz & Friends, Hamburg, Germany
for the German Olympic Sport Federation. Here's the real David

wow

Yesterday I was over in Dartmouth to be part of a crazy film called Rollertown when I got sidetracked while parking my car. Look at all this art!

My camera lens was dirty (at least I hope that's what it is) so excuse the soft blur at the top.

These were in the Dartmouth shipyard area along a deserted and somewhat derelict bit of waterfront. Such a great thing to find. Love the detail.

The colours really brighten up the place, a lot of work went into these. So pleased I get to share them with you. I love the way the Exit door was handled

Does anybody know the background to this art?

I really enjoyed poking around and having a good look before my day with this crazy movie