Took some shots of the moon one night, impressed by the passing clouds. The cloud formations gives the appearance of a bright ball being tossed on the waves.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes
Photography
Enough With The Comfort Food Already!
This has been a long, hard winter for all of us. I am sick of the severe cold and all the shoveling and I’m sure most of you agree.
I lost my job, again, right before the holidays and my only sister soon after. It looks like I will be losing my home by the end of this year unless I find another job soon and I have to say I have not had the time nor the inclination to look under the circumstances.
Being snowed in and being depressed does not make for a healthy person mentally or physically when you decide to self-medicate with food. I do not drink or have any other vices and have found through the years what a great comfort food can really be. One of my overweight friends once explained to me “You cannot eat and cry at the same time.” I see what she is talking about now because for most of my life, I would lose my appetite if I was upset about anything. Now I become ravenous!
I am still working out regularly, but not happy with the fact that I had managed to lose over 20lbs last year and have now found myself putting that weight right back on again.
I have tried to take walks on several occasions only to start slipping and sliding on the mess that has continued for the last two months in my area so about the only time I am out is when I have to get supplies. I dig out if the snow is deep enough. For a couple of inches of snow I just drive right over it all. The unfortunate result of this is that snow becomes so compacted down that I am not able to shovel it at a later date because of the severely cold temperatures.
This comfort food actually comforts my stomach as well.
Po’ Girl’s Rice Pudding
Combine 2 cups cooked rice with 2 cups milk and 1/4 cup sugar. Cook on medium-low heat stirring regularly for approximately 20 minutes until thickened. Then add an additional 1/2 cup warm milk with one beaten egg (to temper egg), one teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder stirring continuously for an additional 10 minutes or so. I slowly added a few spoonfuls of the cooked pudding to the 1/2 cup with the egg before adding this to the hot pudding to prevent the egg from curdling.
This makes a very delicious, but not super sweet rice pudding that I much prefer to store-bought. Much better for your sugar levels. The following video gives you an idea of how thick the pudding becomes when it is almost done. Please stir enough to prevent scorching keeping your eye on the heat, adjusting as needed.
2014 Winter of Our Discontent
After a seemingly endless, brutal winter…
“I shall revenge myself in the cruelest way you can imagine. I shall forget it.” Perfect quote from John Steinbeck “The Winter of Our Discontent.”
Hearty Vegetarian Soup
Place the onion, carrots, turnip, potato and squash in the pot of water that covers the vegetables at least a couple inches and bring to a boil, turning down to a simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients bringing back to a boil. Turn heat to the lowest setting to simmer an additional 30 minutes or until the pasta gets soft which should only take an additional 15 minutes. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the ingredients and seasoning to your taste but this soup was delicious! The amount of the vegan bouillon or soup base depends on the amount of water you use and soup you end up with. This soup did not need any thickening due to some of the vegetables breaking down and the small amount of tomato paste.
Please see the following slide gallery for dessert!
Po’ Girl’s Peanut Butter Cookies
Weekly Photo Challenge: Juxtaposition
Noticed the contrast of the one beautiful living flower against the background of the dead ones and the cold stone.
The bright windows peaking out from behind the tree branch.
A reflection from ? looking like a cross appeared on the side of an old garage in my neighborhood a few years ago. A light against the grunge.
created after all the solar flare warnings. Fire and ice!
Using PhotoDraw cutout and filled with dry earth.
Glue Gun Art
I was fooling around with a glue gun tracing the leaf transfers that I adhered on canvas with acrylic medium. Canvas painted a very dark blue with the idea to manipulate pictures of leaves I had taken and scanned in the fall.
I thought about how the blowing leaves do not float down perfectly in the sky, but swirl and twirl all over the place before they land. First using Microsoft PhotoDraw, Distort Effect Twirl and fine tuning or adjusting the setting or the amount of the twirl of the leaf I applied it to each leaf separately to create the desired effect.
I verified the size leaves needed for the canvas size of 16 x 20. Wishing to show the effect of blowing leaves, but totally experimenting because I had not done these techniques before, I printed some of the leaves on regular printer paper, some on transfer paper and some on tracing paper just to see the finished look after fusing them to the canvas. I carefully cut each leaf out and auditioned them around for a while until I was satisfied. After the Liquitex Matte Medium dried thoroughly, I painted over each of the leaves with various shades of metallic harvest colors, enhancing the original color of the actual leaves. The actual transfer paper had the most pronounced leaf veins show through the paint, followed by the ones I printed on high quality printer paper. I actually preferred the effect that the tracing paper leaves had after painted. The base is so thin that the canvas outline came through in spots giving it a more textured appearance, which I preferred.
Looked boring so I decided to jazz it up by outlining it with a glue gun, painting over the glue ridges with the same shades of metallic paint and once completely dried, used metallic rub in a lighter shade of gold over the leaves and some of the canvas leaving streaks, enhancing the idea of blowing wind.
It’s ok, still have a lot to learn, but practice makes perfect. Please see the following slide show for more details.
The next gallery shows a few shots from some other collages I’m working on including one created for Christmas to reflect all the freaking snow we keep having this year!
Deer silhouette with snowflakes, enhanced with glue and painted.
The lighter green is crushed eggshell for texture effect. Spotting effect was created by dropping alcohol 91% proof.
Leaf shapes enhanced with glue and paint
Leaf
Another leaf.
8×10 practice canvas board.
Glue gun enhanced wood frame, painted for altered photo of violas.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Family
Families come in all sizes but one thing they have in common is they are usually annoying, lol!
Praising My Lord
Weekly Photo Challenge: Window
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning
How about beginning again.
I am officially retired, I guess. Lost both of my part-time jobs that I had in 2013 last month but just started collecting a not very substantial social security payment early.
I really am po’ now, but no longer a girl. I just liked the title. It sounds better than Po’ Woman Shines. It also seems better to be poor if you are younger. When you’re older it somehow screams that you have failed in life.
Thank God I don’t consider life pass or fail. It’s just life. I have had my ups and downs, good times and bad and I have never been a slave to money, though I have worked very long and hard in my life.
I still buy my lotto tickets and made sure to dig myself out of the 10″-12″ blowing and drifting snowfall that hit my area yesterday to purchase them.
So this is how I am beginning 2014. Unemployed and not able to make all the payments needed to stay in my home. I guess I can hang onto it for a while longer, but as soon as we get the spring thaw, I will begin to search for a place I can afford and have to let my super, duper upside down house go anyway they want it. If I can’t rent it out, it’s either signed back over to the bank or a short sale.
I have also promised myself now that I have more time, I can really beef up my website or forget about it.
Post or get off the site is my plan.
Below are some pictures of probably the same weather most of you are having.
Good Luck, God Bless and Happy New Year to Everyone!
Po' Girl Shines 
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