Author: -N-

A Bunch of Naked Ladies (In Color, Too!)

Well, now that I got your attention, at least from the title, here are some truly lovely flowers!  These are commonly known as “naked ladies” because they flower first, lose their blooms, and then send out leaves.  It’s rather odd compared to most other plants!  These are also known as “amaryllis belladonna” which seems fitting as they are really beautiful flowers.

I got this roll of film back today.  I used my Nikon F3HP and Fuji Color 200.  The F3 was, I think, the first Nikon camera to have an autoexposure ability.  I set it on that and shot the entire roll of 36.  It did fine!  I was actually very pleased with both the film and the camera.  Scanned on a Pakon 135.

Getting Ready to Paint

Because of Ms. Fraggy (you know who you are!) I decided to pick up an adapter so I could use my Helios lens from the good old USSR.  I got one to fit my Nikon F-mount cameras.  Several years ago I bought the Praktica film camera, which I really don’t like, along with the Helios lens.  Rambling around the house and randomly taking pictures, I saw the sunlight through the plastic box in which my gouache paints live and liked the way it looked.  Baggies, paint tubes, plastic – modern life in B&W.

Two Boats

Every week I am trying to focus on a subject.  I guess for the next week it will be boats.  My drawing skills are not the best, and so focusing on how something is constructed will help.  What made me think about this is a very simple way of drawing and painting boats by an excellent watercolor YouTuber named Shibasaki.  Below is his demo on boats.

What makes this video so valuable is he shows you that a boat is a series of rectangles with a few curves.  Don’t believe me?  Check it out.  I’ve learned a lot from Shibasaki-san!

My palette here was limited to zinc white, ultramarine blue, a touch of gamboge, burnt sienna, and some left over colors on the palette from the sunset coast I painted the other day – a bit of teal and some red.

One thing I have always loved are sail boats and tug boats.  Those are on the agenda.  Stay tuned . . .

Delicious Dessert: Clafoutis!

I’m a sucker for summertime desserts, especially those involving fresh fruit.  Besides pies and crisps, clafoutis is a brilliant one – simple, not full of sugar, and very tasty.  Most ingredients are right on hand, too.  I made this one for people with gut problems (IBD), but put the non-gut-problem ingredients in ( ).

Clafoutis

  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1/2 c. almond milk (or regular milk, half and half, or cream)
  • 1/4 c. honey (white sugar)
  • 2 T. melted butter
  • zest of 1 lemon, more or less depending on taste
  • 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 c. oat flour (regular flour)
  • 2 c. fresh fruit – cherries are traditional – I used frozen (other fruits such as berries, stone fruits, etc.)
  • (1 – 2 T powdered sugar for garnish)

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Grease 9″ pan with butter or non-stick spray.

Beat together eggs, milk, honey, melted butter, lemon, salt, extract.  Mixture will be thick like cream, but not heavy batter.  Use a whisk – save some dish washing.  Whisk in flour gradually to keep a smooth batter.  Pour into pan.  Place fruit in pattern or randomly on top.

Bake on middle rack of oven 40-50 minutes, checking half way through to see if you need to rotate pan.

Remove from oven, cool.  If you want to add the powdered sugar for garnish, wait until clafoutis is cooled so it doesn’t melt.  Serve warm or cold.  Great for dessert or breakfast.

Devour!