Roadtrip and Art

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. Life has been a little busy with family visiting and then taking a road trip to Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee for our niece's wedding.

I had never been to Nashville and had so much fun! It is THE place to visit for country music fans, but even if you aren't (which I am not for the most part), there is so much to see and do.

One of the places we visited was Leiper's Fork, a small art community that is still quite rural and very beautiful.

And then there was the wedding, which was just beautiful and so happy! We loved being there for it!

Back home I haven't done a lot of art. Somehow I got out of the rhythm and haven't quite found it again. But I will! I did play some more with charcoal and gesso and refined this drawing a little more. I'm glad I didn't stop where it was in my last blog post.

This below was a quick 30-minute drawing. I love the mood of it.

And then with this drawing below I covered the paper with oil bar and then drew on it with charcoal. It gives it a very different look. I also used some gesso for the highlights.

All of this black and white drawing reminded me of this amazing moth I found on our front steps a couple of weeks ago. It was big! And I found out it's called the giant leopard moth. I've never seen one before. What a beauty!

And, of course, there has to be color in my life. Lots of it! I finally finished this little cow painting a couple of days ago and it's already on the way to it's new home in California. Apparently the grass is greener there... :)

Speaking of color, I'm loving my new crochet project. It makes me happy!

Our weather has been gorgeous and our garden is exploding with color. I might have to do a blog post just with garden photos. In our climate, things bloom pretty much all year round, but never as beautifully and lusciously as in the spring.

Linking this to the fabulous creativity of Paint Party Friday. Go visit for more amazing art!!

Warm wishes for a sunny week for you!

❧ Silke

Happy First Day of Fall!

Fall is here and I'm doing the happy dance! And - like a miracle here in the warm south - we are having a truly fall-like day.

It is cloudy and slightly rainy, blustery and cool. I cannot describe to you how giddy that makes me...

And outward signs of fall are here as well. Just look at our fig tree below. It's almost bare! It starts losing its leaves in August when we are still sweating profusely. Every year I think it must be sick or confused, but it always turns out to be right on fig-tree-time getting ready for winter.

Our crepe myrtle leaves turn the prettiest colors before they fall.

And the crepe myrtle tree is also starting to look bare. Both the fig tree and this one look beautiful all winter long without leaves and their gorgeous branch structures showing.

Fall also means that the berries on our beauty berry bushes are turning their bright bright pink color. Don't they look unreal? And guess who likes to eat them? The mockingbirds. We never see them in our backyard unless these berries are ripe. I recently read that you can make really tasty jelly from the berries and that the whole bush has serious mosquito repellent action. I might have to sew some clothes from the leaves for me for next summer...  Seriously considering it!

Tucker, one of our outdoor kitties is happy as well that it's getting cooler. Ok, you can see it's not really cold yet - I'm still barefoot and wearing flip-flops, but it's cool enough to know that summer is on the way out! That's good enough for me. And Tucker.

Fall is my "favoritest" (to quote Derek from the wonderful Netflix series by that same name) season. It holds the promise of all that I love: Knitting and crocheting soft and warm goodies. (These beauties are in my Etsy shop just waiting for you!)

Baking! Oh, how I love to bake! I've now made these delicious and good-for-you blueberry muffins a couple of times and they are yummy. You can find the recipe by clicking here.  I substituted coconut palm sugar for the brown sugar, left out the cinnamon on the second batch and used frozen wild blueberries. The muffins freeze great to have on hand for a little snack now and then. In fact, I might need one right now!

And soup! I could eat soup every day!! And this one is particularly easy and delicious. So delicious that I'll share the recipe with you!  (The bread is the Swedish Limpa Bread - excellent!! -  from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. If you want to make hassle free breads, check out their website. They also have all kinds of gluten-free recipes for those of you who need to watch your gluten intake.)

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Green Chile Cream
from Dinner at the Authentic Cafe

One 2-pound butternut squash
3 T olive oil
2 medium-size shallots, minced (2 T)
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground white pepper
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup mild honey, such as orange
2 t kosher salt (I use sea salt)

1. Preheat oven to 400℉.

2. Rub the squash with 1 T of the oil, place it in a small shallow baking pan, and roast until the skin splits and the squash is tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Let the squash cool slightly, then peel it, cut it in half, and remove the seeds and the inner membranes to which the seeds are connected. Mash the pulp. You should have about 3 cups.

3. Heat a large, nonreactive saucepan over low heat. Add the remaining oil and heat it, about 1 minute. Cook the shallots, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 1 minute, then add the spices and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

4. Place the squash pulp in the same pan and cook it, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, for 2 minutes. Add the water and bring the soup to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and add the honey and salt.

5. Simmer the soup, stirring often to keep it from sticking, for 30 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender, food processor or in the pan using a hand-held blender.

6. Ladle the soup into bowls and place a dollop of Green Chile Cream on top. Serve immediately.


Green Chile Cream

1 medium-size poblano chile
1 medium-size jalapeño chile
1 t olive oil
1 1/2 T sour cream or crème fraîche
1/2 t kosher salt
pinch ground white pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400℉. Rub the chilies with the oil and place them in a small shallow baking pan. Roast them until the skin begins to blister, about 20 minutes. This may be done at the same time you are roasting the butternut squash for the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. Do not overcook the chile or the flesh will become to fragile to handle. Place the chilies in a small, nonreactive bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let them "sweat" for 5 minutes. Peel the outer skin from the chilies and remove the stems and seeds.

2. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor (I cut everything up quite small and then use my hand-held blender to blend it) until very smooth (we personally don't mind it a little chunky).

***********************
This may look involved, but it really isn't. If you roast the chilies along with the squash, then that's all done at the same time. The rest is easy peasy. And so good! The soup is almost sweet and the chile cream has a nice kick - a perfect combo!

I hope you are having at least as good a day as I am having!! Enjoy this Autumnal Equinox with it's balance between night and day, light and dark.

With much love and fall-giddiness,

❧ Silke

P.S. I can still tell that I had a clerical job for many years - I typed up that recipe like the wind! The wind!! I totally rock. ;-)

Blanket Finished!!

It's done! Done!! That was a long project, but quite relaxing to make. 

I love the little border around it - that pulled it all together nicely.

And I was brave and just chucked it into the washing machine like the yarn label said and also the dryer. I figured I might as well. And it came out beautiful and soft and all the colors intact!

And because this was such a meditative project to do, I have already started on the next one. This one in a ripple pattern (click here to see), which is a little more involved, but only for the first row or so. After that it's smooth sailing, just as the granny stripe blanket was.

I think tomorrow I might have more art to share with you. I'm staring at a new painting while typing this and am not sure it's done yet.

I hope you are having a cozy day. Our weather has been cool (almost cold) and super windy. Makes me want to sit on the couch wrapped in my new blanket...

Wednesday Mishmash

This morning, I have a few things to share with you that make me super happy these days ... and one question. But we'll get to that later...

Last week, I bought a beautiful crocheted necklace from my friend Deb and I just love it! It's different from what I usually wear and just what I needed for the spring and summer. Deb's blog is wonderful (The Wug's Backyard Blogspot) and well worth visiting. There you can also find a link to her Etsy shop. Her work is great! 

Now, let me introduce you to my new favorite dessert. Some time ago, my friend Vicki (her blog is 2 Bags Full) and her wonderful husband came through Savannah and we had a fun lunch together. They brought us a bottle of this amazing chocolate balsamic vinegar. I've been eating it drizzled on sliced strawberries - absolutely delicious!! I can't get enough of it! Make sure you visit her blog - she is giving away one of her incredible nests. I own two already and I'm hoping I'll win a third...

Ok, here is my question for you yarn people out there. I am almost done with my soft and cozy blanket and am wondering about two things.

I'd like to wash and block it. The yarn says it's machine washable, but I'll wash it by hand in cold water. I'm nervous about all the colors together. Do any of you have any advice on that first washing?

Also, the yarn I used is a super soft, mercerized cotton and somewhat slippery. Do you have any tricks on how to keep the ends that I worked into the blanket from slipping out and showing?

Thank you!!

And last, but not least, last night as I was checking my e-mail one last time, I saw that Fiona had sold. Such a great surprise. I'm always so pleased when my art sells and still somewhat stunned - I guess that comes with being a new artist. Fiona decided to go live in New York! Happy dance, happy dance!!

In my next post, I'll share the Orange Salmon and Asparagus recipe with you.

And for today, I wish you a beautiful day. We are expecting rain and looking forward to it. Our garden needs it!

I'm off to package up the painting (yeah!) and run a bunch of errands. It's that kind of day... I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

What I made yesterday

My etching class is off to a great start - because we don't really have to learn many more techniques, every class will pretty much be a work period where we get to work one-on-one with the professor. We are only six students in this intermediate class and it'll be FUN!

Our first print is due on Tuesday, so I'll be spending some time in the print studio tomorrow and Monday. Last year, that would have felt daunting, but this time around I'm looking forward to getting to work immediately. My professor is excited about the style I want to work in (with multiple plates for each print and color) as am I! I'll keep you updated...

Now to the baby booties - I love making them. They are such a quick little project and so sweet when they are finished. These are crocheted. You know, I used to be a knitter primarily, but I am really starting to love crocheting - there's something so calming about it. These cute little shoes are for friends of ours who had a little baby boy in December.

This is going to be a busy and creative weekend and I am looking forward to checking in with some of your blogs over the next few days. In the meantime, I wish you a most beautiful weekend!

More Flower Love...

My love for these little loopy flower brooches has not waned! It's so much fun laying out some of the fibers I have and deciding which ones to combine to create a little jewel...

And sometimes, like with the pin above made of sari silk, I don't add anything else to it.

And with others I combine two or three yarns.

I love the one below and wish those were my colors!

And this last one is so delicate in it's colors that are all contained in this beautiful felted yarn. There's even a little sparkle of silver...

This is just a small sampling. If you want to see the entire colorful garden of these flower pins, click here to go to my Etsy shop!

Color Explosion

Remember how in my last post I said I was craving color? Well, it's pouring out of me, but not through the paint brush (yet), but through my crochet hook.

I'm in a flower frenzy and I can't stop!! Nor do I really want to...

All of these flowers laying around, made me think I needed to reopen my Etsy shop, so I started taking pictures of all my knitted and crocheted creations I had made in the last few months.

I couldn't believe how much there was! Working with my hands like that calms me, but strangely enough the things I make are rarely for me.

I love making scarves, yet I hardly ever wear any myself.

I love knitting hats, yet again - I'm not usually a hat person.

And I love crocheting embellishments like the colorful flowers above, yet I wouldn't use them in anything I make - they bring me joy but are just not my style.

Strange, isn't it?

So, because I want to keep making things, I reopened my Etsy shop a couple of days ago and already sold one of my favorite scarves - a deep turquoise one knitted entirely of recycled sari silk yarn. It was stunning, even if I say so myself!

I've been combining fun yarns and trying new patterns - all for the sheer joy of making things.

You can take a look if you'd like. Simply click here!

Hopefully, soon I will get that same color explosion as I get back to my studio and one of my portraits. I have missed them!!

Wishing you all a color- and peaceful Sunday!