in the aftermath

Christmas fruit cake just like my mother used to make - so good!



The post-Christmas eating to excess continues. I can't blame anyone but myself, there is noone holding me down and forcing me to eat chocolate or Christmas cake. I am the author of my own demise.

New Year usually brings a healthier start for me, but why oh why can't I make it easy on myself and not over-eat in the first place?

Sigh...

But it all tastes so good...

A few more trips up and down the stairs must surely burn off a little?

Today I am grateful for figs, nuts and rich fruit cake. 

post gift giving

Now I can reveal two little paintings that have safely made their way to Scotland and will be framed as soon as I can arrange it. Assembling images for the NZ one was easy, but the Scottish one had me scratching my head. In it you should be able to find the flag, Ben Nevis, a castle, a loch, two salmon, some heather and a thistle, two little Scottish dogs and some bagpipes. What the little dog is doing with the bagpipes is for you to imagine... 

Oh, and of course, there are two elusive creatures occasionally spotted in Bonny Scotland, Nessie... and a pale sun! 

Perhaps more obvious to most of my readers are the Kiwi buzzy bee, a Mary-Lou doll, two "real" kiwis, the TVNZ kiwi and his cat, (the kiwi with fishing rod and gumboots), a tiki on a skateboard and jandals on the beach. Some ferns complete the icons, and the blue sky and sunshine goes without saying... :-) 

Artistically the biggest challenge was uniting the two works. Both have circular (in fact, oval) compositions, but the spaces are used differently. The colours were disparate so the Goodnight Kiwi's jacket moved more toward Scottish colours and the bagpipes, Nessie, one little dog and incidental colour in the foreground picked up the reds and yellows of the NZ composition. 

Today I am grateful for gifts received and those given on my behalf. 

saint nic

Prayers and requests to St Nicholas in the church at Bari, in Puglia, Italy. To read more about St Nick follow the links on this earlier blog post. 

presepe and a Christmas carol

Each year dedicated people produce a different, and increasingly complex, nativity scene. The baby Jesus does not appear in the scene until midnight on Christmas Eve, and as that date approaches the three wise men are moved closer and closer to the waiting stable. 

For the last few years the lighting has become more complicated, and the viewer watches while the scene is bathed in moonlight, through to daylight. Moving parts include a mill and smoke comes from a chimney with a little help from the operator who tops up the hidden source. 

The website can be visited here, website of il Grande Presepe di Roccasecca. Click on previous editions to see other versions of the nativity scene. Many Italian nativity scenes place the manger in the stable within a cave setting rather than a building. 

An Italian Christmas carol talks of the baby Jesus lying in a stable in a cave. Here is (on youtube) "Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle". The word "grotta" is cave, but here is translated as manger. 

Tu scendi dalle stelle, O Re del Cielo, e vieni in una grotta, al freddo al gelo. O Bambino mio Divino Io ti vedo qui a tremar, O Dio Beato Ahi, quanto ti costò l'avermi amato! A te, che sei del mondo il Creatore, mancano panni e fuoco; O mio Signore! Caro eletto Pargoletto, Quanto questa povertà più mi innamora! Giacché ti fece amor povero ancora!

Today I am grateful for creative people. 

little gifts for little folk

Teddy is not quite finished, more shadow needed to make it more 3-D, and spiderman was still to have his spider added and a little shading done.

The spiderman picture was photographed in deceptive light so the paper looks more yellow than it really is.

Today I am grateful for a strong waterproof jacket.

doors

A chance conversation brought these two little sketches into being. They are really just purposeful diversions to keep my brush occupied while I am waiting for the paintings to dry. The one on the right is still wet so will dry a little paler. I am very happy with the random happenings on the left hand side door.

This evening I am grateful for tissues. 

simple is best

A Christmas theme with the simplest of ingredients.

Rosemary for remembrance, and the tomatoes and white bowl join it to make the colours of Christmas. 

I like the idea of a Christmas tree of rosemary. This was simply inside to go on the roasted vegetables, and unexpectedly formed a Christmas theme when I added the tomatoes to the bowl. Now I am looking at my very healthy rosamarina at the kitchen doorstep with new eyes and intent... 

Today I am grateful for family.