"Spine" By Stuart John Wallace

 

Stuart Wallace is never one to let a large piece of canvas go unused...he turned this piece into roughly 128" x 62." The title is "Spine" the medium is mixed paint, and the piece is stretched over a wooden frame. It was displayed at the BloBack Gallery in Pueblo for months approximately two years ago, along with several other artists. 

Large pieces of Stuart's work are not unusual to find. Some years ago, he was commissioned to paint a large piece for Starbucks Coffee for use in one of their coffee shops. For that painting...he never used paint of any kind instead chosing Starbucks coffee brewed and cooled and then painted it directly onto the  canvas. He used various strengths of coffee from dark to blond, often leaving the background white to indicate the swirls of cream. A photograph of that particular artwork will be posted soon. Or you can go to his site below.

          To see more of Stuart Wallace's artwork, please go to Instagram: @Stu_art_wall_ace

 

The Sacred Return: When Life Remembers Itself

The Sacred Return: When Life Remembers Itself is a contemplative poetry collection that invites readers into stillness, presence, and inner awakening. Through spacious, reflective verse, Linda Hildebrant offers not instruction, but a gentle remembering—that the sacred has never been separate from who we are.  She is also the creator of the website SacredBeyondWords.com which displays more of her writings.

https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=IUOiJxnhReVY60djLmb4Tlnc7QQrtl6U5jhL45byB5q

Toad in the Hole

I know it's a strange title and I haven't any idea how it got it's name, but it's delish. I make it quite often with either pork chops or Bratwurst. It's a fun thing to serve to my American friends who look at it and are mystified; they've never seen such a dish before. I serve it with lots of mashed postatoes, fresh veggies and gravy. Basically, it's a Yorkshire pudding batter but used differently. 

Ingredients  

Four pork chops (boned) or 5-6 Bratwurst

1 cup all-purpose flour

pinch salt

1 egg beaten

Two cups milk/iced water.

Method

Set oven to 350 and place chops or sausages in a 9 x 12 pan with salt/pepper/oil and roast for approx. 20 minutes so they're half cooked. In the meantime make the batter. Put flour and salt in a bowl and whisk about half the egg and milk/water mixture to a paste. Put it in the fridge to keep cool. 

After about 15 minutes, whisk in the rest of the liquid into the batter and place back in the fridge. Now set the oven temperature to 450 degrees. It will need to be really hot! When the oven reaches temperature, take the chops/sausages out and pour the batter over them immediately. Place back in the oven for approxmately 30 minutes until golden brown. 

The Ancient Art of Pollarding/Coppicing

 

Pollarding is an ancient pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree enabling a longer life and controlling the shape. It was first mentioned by Propertius in the 1^st century, BCE. It has been a common practice throughout medieval times and still used today as we can see from this photo I took recently in England.

Homemade Vegan Bread

 

• 

A very close friend of mine recently bought a bread maker and made these wonderful vegan loaves for me. I am not vegan myself, but we have a dinner party soon, and one of our guests (who is vegan) will be bringing her own Beef Wellington and no doubt other dishes too. Our guest never wants us to "make a fuss over  her" but instead discreetly places her own food on the table alongside everything else. When I mentioned this to my friend (the bread maker) she promptly made us these vegan loaves; one using wheat and the other using white flour. Not that my friend stops there, she's also made me Black Russian and saffron and raisin bread too. That's the kind of friend we all want!

Grab a Granny!

I saw the title "Grab a Granny" years and years ago on the front of a textile shop in England. It was such a wonderful outreach program that is both beneficial to grannies and younger children for obvious reasons. As a child growing up in England, girls and boys learned to knit in primary school (when we weren't poking each other with the needles) but learning the art of knitting is good for dexterity, following instructions, concentration, etc. How many times have we heard the expression: I wish I'd taken more interest when my grandmother (or mother) tried to show me how to knit? I understand from the news that adult women are learning to knit in an effort to calm their nerves after a long day at work instead of having a glass of wine. Of course, you can do that too! It's just a matter of taste. 

I found the above free pattern (as well as many others) by typing my request on the Internet. Lots pop up, so good luck. Give it a try and go to your grannies and ask for their help. I bet you'd be surprised at what they know.   

Big Bear Baked Potatoes

I had the pleasure of visiting Big Bear Baked Potatoes last week with two girlfriends...and what a treat! The potato was baked to perfection and the toppings were wonderful. Great food for the price and delivered by the boss, Eddy. He knows what he's doing--- and he does it really well. He's been open just over a year, but you wouldn't know it by the constant stream of customers. Most of the potatoes he uses are locally grown, but he also buys from around the country too. Good luck, Eddy.

Tel: 720-970-2327 Closed on Sunday and Monday.