Cupboard and art

The two words in the subject heading are totally unrelated to each other, but I thought I'd share with you our next small project and my arty Sunday.

Arty Sunday life-drawing session

The crack in the cupboard

We have a built-in broom cupboard at one end of our sun room next to the bathroom. It has one top shelf which hosts the bath towels and below is space to put the vacuum cleaner, ironing board and broom.

The cupboard is starting to crack apart - the vjs are splitting quite visibly. The door clasp has long disappeared and it closes with a dodgy hook and eye contraption. It really is in a sad state and Jason is coming to its rescue...

It is only a small job - hopefully Jason can save it before it falls down completely. He will also attempt to put in an additional shelf or two, so we have extra linen storage (we currently have none).

And to change the subject completely, my life-drawing session on Sunday was great (the experience more so than the art I produced). Such a pleasant way to unwind for a few hours! Chris and Susan organised the session at their house with ten people sketching or painting the life-model. The bonus was the delicious lunch provided to the artists and model!

My attempt is in the fore-ground

I adored all our different interpretations of the same subject. It amazes me how individual we all are.

The collection of art from one sitting

What's the plan, Stan?

Vintage framed stations of the cross

The aftermath of the dust storm means a weekend of cleaning the house and cars.

The prolific bindi in the front lawn will also need attention. I dislike spraying but may have to resort to that if it is not too windy.

I plan to re-hang the artwork on the walls because it looks too haphazard. Jason hung a couple of our old art gallery prints from our overseas travels in the kitchen and they look good. Now we need to hang up the collection of canvases and framed work - thank God for VJ walls because they are very forgiving to the fickle hanger.

On Sunday I'm going to a life-drawing session so I need to look for my cartridge pad, graphite and charcoal sticks. It's been a while since I did some drawing, so it will be interesting to see how my perception has changed.

Jason is having a break from the painting - for now. Last week he experimented with casement window stays (brass ones - he won the brass vs chrome battle) and that turned out very well.

Anyway, here's to a productive weekend!

La poussiere

I spent a few days at my Mum's place with the three boys. My Mum is French Polynesian and speaks French fluently. I speak French too but not so fluently - it gets me by, but I do not attempt to intellectualise (not that I do so in English).

After a few days with my Mum and her Franglais, I came back home this afternoon thinking more in French. And the first word that came to mind when I entered our home was la poussiere. The dust.

The poor Sow's Ear is shrouded in a coating of fine dust from yesterday's enormous dust storm. Oh dear. I'm looking at it as I write. Hoping it will blow back to where it came from...to no avail.

Gee, I hate mopping.

Super deluxe monster cooker

Almond butter biscuits and jam drops cooling

Roast beef cooking evenly on the rotisserie

I have never had a new oven before, let alone this super deluxe monster cooker which is gleaming ever so brightly in our renovated kitchen. With all sorts of knobs and buttons, I was a little daunted by it...

But that is all over, after spending Saturday morning at the free cooking course which explains how to use my Ilve oven. What a revelation! I did not realise how advanced cooking technology has become. This oven can turn itself on and off, clean itself, defrost as well as cook. Now, if I can just harness that energy into food preparation, menu planning and grocery shopping I will have it made...

It was well worth the effort to attend, and especially motivating after weeks without a kitchen. I am fairly confident with all the features and know that I am using the oven correctly. Since Saturday, I have made pizza, a rotisserie chicken (stuffed with lemon and garlic), rotisserie beef (with a rosemary and mustard glaze) and two batches of biscuits.

I'm in kitchen heaven.

Mornings

Most mornings at the Sow's Ear, we sit down to have our breakfast on the back deck. It is still a bit brisk at this time of the year, particularly at 6 am when the sun is just making its entrance.

Jason prepares our coffee while I prepare the food. Nothing too fancy, but the shot of caffeine is a great kick-start to the day.



The outlook we have, although mainly suburban, is very serene and we can see one forest reserve. If we are lucky, during the week we see the hot air balloons floating effortlessly across our vista.

The two small specks are the hot air balloons

A nice way to begin the day.