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One + Four = Life 16/52

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1. I went on a Goodwill Outlet field trip with my friend (who knows the way!) on the train.  I got a few bits and bobs including some snaps of the old St Louis Armory which stands next to the Goodwill building.  Of course I am the person that stands to get photos in a rather dodgy area of the city.  I couldn’t resist this great old building and I was quick!  St Louis seems to be chock full of old impressive buildings which are left to ruin, hopefully this one will be developed without destroying it. 2. While mowing my neighbor’s front grass – yes, it is that time again, mow mow mow – I smelt the lilac before I glanced up and spotted it.  So beautiful, I finished the mow and went home to get my camera to get a snap. 3. ‘Record Store Day’ was Saturday so we headed to The Grove in St Louis, for a coffee and a wander around and while we were wandering I spotted this amazing art …

One+Four=Life 15/52

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1. I got a little bit damp early this week when I got caught in a massive thunder storm on the way home from the gym. By the time I got to the covered area at the park, I was so wet, I decided to throw caution to the wind (and rain) and keep going to get home. My umbrella went unused because of the rampant lighting. I decided to take wet over fried! 2. I started The 100 Day Project this week and I am loving it, I hope it doesn’t become a chore when I get into double figures. I am only a week into it, but the ideas are flooding into my brain. For my 100 days, I decided to draw (and make) 100 mandalas. 3. The school held the Art Fair this week and it was a joy to see all of the art created by the kids in one place. 4. Birds on a Wire. I am joining Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for this week’s One+Four=Life.

Through The Lens Thursday #15. Baked.

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I may or may not have gone to the shops to get butter to bake brownies especially for this week’s prompt which is ‘baked’. Never mind that I ate a baked muffin for breakfast and I have some baked peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. Oh no, this called for fresh baked! Fresh baked brownies. In my defense my teen requested brownies and this recipe specifically, the Jamie Oliver ‘S’mores Brownie’ recipe minus the ‘S’mores’ bit! Bad news is I can’t find the darn recipe online, good news is, I am willing to type it out for you! Jamie Oliver’s S’mores Brownies without the S’mores… Oven 400F Line a 20cm square cake tin. 100g butter 200g chocolate (I used semi sweet chocolate chips) 4 eggs 250g sugar 100g flour 1tsp baking powder 30g cocoa powder Melt the butter and chocolate. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until pale. Fold the eggs and sugar into the chocolate which has cooled (we don’t want scrambled eggs!). Fold in the flour, cocoa …

Jumble sales. Rummage sales. Goodwill. Yard sales. I love them!

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I love a bargain and preferably a hunted down bargain.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like a good deal from a shop, with the magical layers of price tickets as the cost has been gradually reduced to a rock bottom ‘heck what a good deal’ price. Today I am talking about the second hand sales and all their wonder!  Whether it is someone’s front yard or a bun fight at the local village hall, I am all about the treasure hunt! Since I have lived in America, I have not been to a jumble sale which makes me sad.  Schools don’t hold them and there are no village halls to put a sale in. I think they are called rummage sales here, but I have not come across one of those either.  When I was younger, the guides, the scouts and the schools all had endless rounds of jumble sales to raise money for a canoeing trip or a new roof for the scout hut. I would help set them up with Mum and …

‘I Like’ Fridays Easter Special

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This weekend we will be egg hunting, cleaning up the local woods and creek, making easter nests and eating hot cross buns.  In the spirit of the Easter season and Spring generally, this is what I have been liking this week- I am waiting for my Hot Cross Buns to rise as I write this. As usual I got covered in flour and ended up in a mess trying to make nice neat ‘crosses’ on my buns! Even though the boys are getting bigger, we will still have an Easter Egg hunt in the garden.  It has rained all day today and the grass is about 7 feet high (ok, just a few inches..), but an egg hunt we shall have! I have the ingredients to make Easter egg nests using cereal (I use Trader Joe’s Shredded bite sized Wheats), chocolate and chocolate eggs.  This is another messy yummy project which is essential to our Easter weekend! I have made them with cornflakes and shredded wheat and we like the shredded wheat best as it looks …

Ideas for The 100 Day Project

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  Have you heard about The 100 Day Project?  It is a fab thing that The Great Discontent magazine and Elle Luna are hosting and it starts on April 6th.  You just have to make or do something every day for 100 days and record it with a hashtag of your choice on Instagram.  Sounds fun I think. I just need to decide what to do/draw/make/photo for 100 days which takes us right into July – phew!  That is a lot of doing the same thing every day, well not exactly the same thing but the same project over 100 days. I know I am not going to be doing something like dancing (although that would be worth it for the laughs), yoga poses (there will be no photos of me doing yoga anywhere, let alone every day on Instagram for over 3 months), there will be no food involved (I eat everyday and may not be inventing anything new or interesting in that department) and I won’t be recording my reading, knitting, crocheting or …

Weekly Photos 12/52. 2015

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1. It’s daffodil time!  We always grab a few bunches when we go shopping through Spring. 2. Bright walls and furniture at Yo My Goodness frozen yoghurt. 3. One of my daily lettering challenge pieces, I quite like this one.  Hopefully I am getting better! 4. The first tree on our street to start to bud and flower. 5. – 7. Yesterday we decided to line all of the cars up on the drive.  And a car loving dinosaur! I hope you had a good week and have a lovely week lined up.  We are on Spring Break for a week and it is supposed to be a week of sun, clouds, rain and thunder.  So we have some outdoor plans and some DVDs to watch including ‘Big Hero Six’ and ‘Night at the Museum-Secret of the Tomb’.  Best get some popcorn!  

Weekly Photos 11/52 2015

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1. The first flowers of Spring, I love the dew captured on the crocus petals. 2. Easter cards I made for family. 3. Cool lights at Crushed Red in Clayton, MO.  We went for a late lunch on Sunday to celebrate Mothering Sunday, lucky me! 4. Me, sitting on my ‘mental age’ bench at Powder Valley, MO in the sunshine! Ha! 5. I found a rock with a funny face. 6. Taking the direct route. 7. Powder Valley frog.  Very friendly and very large! It looks like Spring has sprung here in Missouri, the trees are budding and the bulbs are starting to flower.  Time to pull out the t shirts and put away the gloves and woolly scarves. Have a fab week!  

Weekly Photos 10/52 2015

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            1. A tree bud in the new snow. 2. My shadow in the snow mixed with a photo of trees using the Diana app. 3. ‘The Slot’ at Pickle Springs Natural Area, Missouri – a walk between rocks and in a temporary stream! 4. Cave detail with ice at Pickle Springs. 5. Hearts on a tree. 6. ‘The Double Arch’ rock formations at Pickle Springs. 7. This was my favourite rock formation of the day, he looks so serene, a sleepy rock. This weekend we went to explore a new hiking area called Pickle Springs and it has some great caves and rock formations.  It was pretty wet and sludgy, but that didn’t deter us! The snow has now melted here, and the temperatures are Springlike!  Hurrah!  I even spotted the crocuses popping out of the grass this afternoon. I hope you have a lovely week!