Greens and corn mash

This was quite tastey..it is an African dish.

I started by frying up a little bacon. I chose a cut that was mostly meat and cut off some of the thick fat. This bacon does not have any nitrates or perservatives in it.



I added a can of black eyed peas to the bacon when it was just about done and warmed the beans up. That was served on top of my greens and corn mash.



This garlic and onion I put in a big pot and sauteed for a few minutes with just a little olive oil. Then I added fresh yummy rainbow chard from the local farmers market. I added a couple of cups of water (you can add broth if you have it). Then stired those and cooked them on medium for 5-10 min. Then I added a cup of corn meal to the top of the dish. I did not stir but rather turned up the heat to a slight boil and covered the dish for 10 minutes. Then I opened it up and stired and cooked (lowering the heat to a simmer) until the greens and corn mash were cooked through. You might need to add more water as you cook.



This tastes WAY better than it looks. I am not a big fan of greens so I like to sneak them into dishes so they taste yummy.

Why buy pet toys?

Happy dogs!

I do have some art to show soon...really I do! I just haven't scanned it yet. My happy dogs will keep you entertained for a few more days while I get my act together.

Corn on the cob!

Garden update~July2

Everything in my garden is doing pretty well. My herbs are growing really fast so I think I am going to dry some this season. My veggies are doing pretty well too. The peppers look a little pitiful. I am not sure it is hot enough out here for them but they are hanging in there.

Dinner party for 2

Dinner party for 2? Why not.



I served all sorts of lovely vegital from the local Kingston Farmers Market. I also made a dip out of lowfat cottage cheese and fresh dill, tarragon, and chives from my garden...with a little lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Tiny Studio Progress~Foundation

We worked for several more hours on the foundation for the new tiny studio...although it doesn't look like we made much progress. It is ready for pavers and then some boards to keep it up off the ground for good air circulation. It is too damp where we live to set it right on the ground. We are all a bit tired this weekend so we think we will start the building of the studio over the 4th holiday.







This is how the shed arrived


This blue was no help at all


Nor was this one


And a cat help? Forget about it.

Alice in Wonderland~Cafe Press

Check out my cafe press shop! I have new work including most of my images that are steampunk Alice in Wonderland themed. I will be adding more new work in the next week! You will find tiles, tile boxes, mugs o' plenty and even a stein or two. I am also adding a few sweatshirts and even dog shirts!

Ho ho ho in June?

Wow the beagle is so not going to be happy about what is on her bed....I put this bed out in the rain to get a nice fresh clean smell. (Hard to do when you have an old sort of incontinent beagle). Look who decided to build a nice bed (hopefully for some babies!).

The tiny gallery foundation

I have been busy lately working on the foundation and parking area for my tiny studio/gallery. We moved almost all the rock ourselves. For the last few we had a neighborhood guy help us. We moved all the baby trees and either gave them away or replanted them...in the process we found 6 Torrent salamanders! We had a load of "gravel" delivered. If your looking for nice solid rocks? Don't order "minus"...we ended up getting a lot of dirt. Hopefully it will work ok.

My site manager


Structural Engineer


Site with house in view


The pile after a couple of days work


What was left of the pile when our backs hurt to much to move more


Two shots of the garden space

Pork Loin Roast...sort of.

Well...not everything I cook turns out. Those of you who know me know that I was sort of a vegitarian for years. I never cooked meat and rarely ate it. So I have little experience cooking it. This pork roast is beautiful but the time or temperature in the "Gourmet" recipe was off. So the dang thing was not done and we were hungry! So I ended up slicing thick slices off and pan frying them like pork chops. They turned out pretty good that way.

I started out with tons of garlic


Added dried oregano and course salt and fresh pepper (to this I later added orange juice and lime juice and marinaded the pork roast for several hours)


I pan fried the outside of the roast for a few minutes and then added it to the pot with all kinds of veggies including watermelon radish which are my current favorite.


Oops almost forgot the shitake! These are locally grown right out on the Olympic Peninsula




As a side I made a mexican skillet rice

We ROCK!

I have decided to open up a studio/art gallery in the upper section of my property near the road. There is not a lot of drive by traffic, but out in this area there are several artists with small studio spaces that they open up to the public from time to time.

I decided to put the studio right where we already had a BIG pile of rocks! I could not find my camera when we started the project...this is about halfway through. We are moving the rocks around the property so there will be a rock wall around the structure and places to park. There will also be a little rock area for more gardening space for me!









While we were moving the rocks we came across two salamanders! I think they might be torrent salamanders....maybe the cascade variety? I am not sure...We carefully moved them under the rock wall and out of harms way.







We also found a Rana aurora, Red-legged frog although she was moving too fast for a photo. Must have been in a hurry to get somewhere!

Camping at Fort Flagler~N's B-day

We went camping for N's birthday at Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island. This is the campsite and the amazing view!







Here we are at the beach at fort flagler with the studio on wheels

Kalli almost 5 months

Lil Miss Kallister is getting big! She is very loving and also very protective. She is still build like a semi truck. Her favorite game we call bumper dog...she runs around the house slamming into things...the dishwasher, the other dog, me etc. If she is outside she bumps off of bushes and the fence. Crazy girl.

Burgers?

A burger with sauteed mushrooms and red onions with melted organic mild cheddar and fresh rosemary. Served with fresh pea pods.

I also made a yummy drink with some bubbley wine I think it was called Moscato? It was from Italy. I used half wine and half fresh pressed apple juice. The little garnish is made from a rasberry and a sprig of lemon verbena from my garden.