poetryandart

Some of my earliest memories of childhood was of my mother and grandmother meeting at the "pub" and taking us with them to have a 'drink'.  They would buy us a lemonade or orange soda and a bag of crisps (chips in America), and if it was sunny outside place us by the big tree on a bench in the front garden or if it was raining and cold we would be able to go "inside" to the children's section where we could play darts or cards or something until the adults came to get us. Most meetings official or unofficial would be made to be at the local pub, also called a public house.  It's where people would feel comfortable and able to relax while discussing international or personal matters.  Friends would meet there after work to let down and be able to spend time together maybe over a beer and a steak and kidney pie. The pub is sort of a "hub" for the locals - a place to go to meet up with someone or gather with friends for an occasion.  Its...

There comes a time when I just have to have a yummy chocolate brownie with nuts in it.  Some people don't like nuts in them, like my son for example, and some people don't want raisins in the cinnamon rolls either -- but I have to have them or I don't really want to eat the cinnamon roll.  Picky huh? So, anyway back to my kitchen -- I don't really enjoy being in the kitchen I would rather be oil painting instead unless it is that I have an urge to make a dessert which I do enjoy doing.  Apple Pie is my signature dish well known in my family for being the best apple pie you can find in the West.   Its very simple really -- and I love to make them. They are not hard to make -- if you keep in mind that the trick is keeping everything very cold even your hands (I run them under the cold water faucet if they get warm).  First I get the flour pour that into the food processor, then cut up very cold butter and add that into the flour with a pinch of salt.  W...

Its April 18 2018. I would like to share about a new hobby I have taken up -- its modeling with play dough. Its been great fun and I think you might like it too if you are looking for a new hobby. They are paper weights made out of play dough and then dried and glazed. I tried two different glazes to see which one I liked better. One was a decoupage glaze and the other was a clear varnish and another was a spray varnish from the hardware store. I liked the effect of both of them for different textures to the finished project. I find that they are quite handy when wanting to "pin down" paper (which is what they are for), or for conversation pieces on the end table in the living room. I know crazy .. "you have too much time on your hands", I can hear some people saying. But its art and I love art and there is no bad art -- and haven't made play dough for years since my kids were young and we would make play dough teddy bears that were waxed and rib...

Just got back from my morning walk with Candy my dog and it is still very windy out there. In one sense, its good in that not a lot of people are out there. Oh, there are the die hards that are biking along the bike path (all ages) and some skate boarders listening to their IPhone music and dancing to it while they skate, and they manage to stay up and without falling over while they do it. Amazing... Lots of fresh air and Candy took a stop at the river's edge to see if there was anything in the water of interest that she could bring home and bury in the back yard. Not today though, there was nothing for her to find. Not much wants to be out there lol.

I wrote this article a few years ago at Purim. I am putting it up her on my blog because Purim just passed last month in 2018 in March. Its a fascinating story to me about Esther and Ashasurus in the book of Esther in the bible. Leave me any comments you may have I would be interested to read what you have to say about this article. The Book of Esther The book of Esther is a book about love. God's love for His people. Esther is a type of the church which God enjoins himself to in Holy matrimony. She is His first love and only love, and He gives His life for her. He loves her and says that she has 'doves eyes', and calls her away into His garden to be with him for ever and for ever. It is a love story: the greatest love story ever written. Esther is also a mirror of the gentile nation even though she was Jewish – a mirror for the reason in that we share an equal part with the Jewish people at the time when they were rejected and we had not yet been accepted....

Its another windy day here in south western Washington State. The wind blew all night is still blowing this morning. Here I thought I would like to post my latest oil painting. Its of Aylesbury Kent Uk of a bridge over water. It is near where my mother grew up in Ashford Kent. I remember Ashford because she took us there to visit our grandmother and great-grandmother when we were children. It was a quiet place with a park across from their house as I remember it. Anyway I decided to paint this as it was an image similar to my memories of my childhood. I was also taken with the composition of the image. Its done in soft tones and hues of grey, blue, lavender. I have it on my wall in the living room in my house. Its oil on canvas and 24" x 18 ". Email me if you are interested in it.

I actually have a dog. the first dog that I have ever owned. She is a lovely dog -- the vetenarian said that she is an Aussie Sheepdog miniature. Who knew, I would not have. I know or I did know nothing about dogs. I have been learning a lot though since acquiring my lovely sheepdog that I named Candy. She is sweet, and obedient, and is caring. You say 'caring'? Yes, I watched the way she was with a dog that I was dog-sitting for about a month, and she was incredibly kind to the other dog. She shared her bones, her bed, her toys everything. They played well together and she would kiss him a lot so I knew that she really liked him. But the thing that impressed me the most about the way she was with him -- was that the first night he was with us (he slept on the couch, his favorite place), she slept there also all night so that he wouldn't be all alone --when she usually slept in her dog bed next to my bed on the floor in my bedroom. She was and is a real ...

I am back -- after several moves some I wanted to take and some I definitely did not and after having to say goodbye to a few computers since the last blog... I am back. I hope to be able to get back into the swing of things here on blogger. I enjoy writing, I enjoy typing and it is a fun place to talk about poetry and art. Poetry and art is my life. It is extremely windy here in Washington where I live today... its incredible .. the wind is whistling through the crack in my front door, and it is blowing things down the street like my neighbors lovely pillows that she has just put on her bench in the front yard. I would like to put a poem here that I wrote a few years back probably about 4 years ago, which is unpublished at present, as today's wind reminded me of this. WIND OF CHANGE Can I bring a wind of my Spirit To change the times and seasons Of your life? Can I bring a tempest To test man to the Limit? To change your life? Can I send my Holy Spirit To cleanse and ...