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Thursday 30 March 2017

An Un-named Cat And A Yummy Recipe!

 I recently received a box in the mail, filled with all kinds of goodies, sent from Lorraine M in NJ!  (Thank you Lorraine!) These 5x3 cards were one of the items in the box - the rest of the goodies I will share with you later.  The cards are lined on one side and I chose to draw on the blank side.
I have yet to name the cat, but she is kind and wise.  She is full of wisdom for living a happy peaceful life!
I saw a similar looking cat somewhere on the internet and decided to draw my own.  Once I have drawn each cat I laminate the card.  I observe my own two Purritos for inspiration and then draw my perception.  
So far, as of today, I have drawn 23 of these cats.  As I do more I will post them.   Okay, now here's a recipe I came across and liked!  It is for Caramel Custard and it is very quick and easy.  This is a microwave recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons of custard powder
1/2 a cup of lightly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons of butter or margarine
1 cup of milk
1 egg.

Mix the custard powder and sugar in a microwaveable bowl/jug.
Add the milk and stir well.
Place in microwave for four minutes.
At the TWO minute mark, take the jug/bowl 
out and add the butter and the egg.  Mix well with a whisk.
Continue to cook in microwave for another TWO minutes.
When the two minutes is up take the bowl out and whisk well.
Serve with ice cream or fresh fruit.
Yumm!  I just made some of this before blogging and it is soooo yummy!  I didn't pack the brown sugar down too much as the custard is fairly sweet.
Enjoy and thank you for dropping by today!  I have been back in hospital again the other day so I am just taking life easy for now.  Once I feel better I can get back into card making.  For now I am enjoying drawing my cat!
{HUGS} from me to YOU:-

Monday 13 March 2017

West Auckland Major Flooding. 12-3-2017

"Dangerous Dave"!
On Sunday we had major  flooding here and in local areas. Within a very short space of time, my garage, driveway, carport and under the house was 10 inches deep in water. Flooding closed my road and others close by were all flooded and no traffic could get through.
Above is "Dangerous Dave", so he told me! He was one of the many clean-up people cleaning up after the flood.  I told him I would make him "famous" by putting his photo on my blog!  So here he is!  I just hope I got his name right because I was in shock by what I had just seen with the floods etc that I'm not 100% sure that is who he said he was!
Above is the huge machine he was driving to get rid of silt and mud.  Well, I think that's what he was doing?!
Above is a photo from yesterday when everything was flooded.  A huge chunk of the footpath has fallen away, exposing under ground pipes etc.  Below is a photo I took today when  the water had subsided.

It's a big deep hole and the footpath will be out of use for some time.
Below is the creek that is flooded and is normally about 30 feet BELOW this level and about 2 foot wide and the same deep!  This is just below the footpath level in this photo! Scary stuff.

There is a large chunk of footpath (below) that has been washed out by the deluge of rain we had, plus the fact that the creek flooded across the road.  In places it was about 3 foot deep.  I just wonder how safe the road and footpath after the foods.  Big chunks of the pavement have been broken and shifted around.  

Below is a big pile of crushed sea shell that was once on a pathway that run beside a large building.  It was all over the foot path as well as the road.

 This is the machine that "Dangerous Dave" was loading onto his truck.  I was most impressed with the precision in which  he manouvered the machine onto the truck with the wheels in the EXACT place so the machine didn't tip off the edge!
I am a huge fan of "Outback Truckers" on TV and am amazed at how those guys load huge machines onto their trucks with just a millimeter to spare.
This is a local park which was also flooded on Sunday.  The photo above shows where the path (beside the wooden seat) disappears into the water!  The path is under about 3 feet of water now.
The photo below should be covered in grass, not three feet of muddy brown water.  The path that disappeared under the water used to go across where the water is and through the bush in the center of this photo.

This is another [art of the huge lake that has appeared.  The ducks and the frogs are enjoying it, that's for sure!  The frogs were so loud I thought it was a chainsaw!  Two weeks ago the usual ONE  pond that is here, was dry.  Hard to believe when you see it now.

Ok that's all for today.  Thanks for dropping by!  {HUGS} from me to YOU:-) 



                                         

Thursday 9 March 2017

Asters, "Bella-Rosa," and A Calendar Stamp!

I planted these Asters about 7-8 weeks ago. They were totally out of season, but luckily they grew well!
Because the seedlings were a bit fragile, I planted them in a big pot so I could make sure they were ok.  A few weeks later these are the flowers I got!  I just love the vibrant colours of them!

And below is "Bella-Rosa" getting 'cheek to beak' with"Pinkie the Pelican" who happens to be a large garden ornament! 
I think she was saying, "You scratch my chin and I'll polish your beak!"  "Pinkie" was happy to oblige!

Below are some of the pale pink Asters. They have been flowering for a few weeks now.  I was given a huge bunch of Asters for my birthday in December and I saved all the heads and dried them.  Now I have a big container of Aster seeds and have planted some in a large pot.  It's out of season for them to grow, but who knows they may just take!  If not, I have plenty left and will sow them in the early Spring.

Ok, now for the Calendar bit!  I am trying (with not much luck so far!) to buy a calendar rubber stamp.  I just want the numbers 1-31. No border or anything, just the numbers and months. I recently bought one online only to discover it wasn't one stamp but each number was a separate stamp!  31 TINY stamps!   Trying to attach each number onto a clear block AND get each line straight almost drove me insane!  (It was about then I thought maybe it was time I gave up stamping as it was bad for my mental health!!) It was a Kaisercraft Stamp.  It looked like it was one stamp until I tried to peel it off the plastic - then each number came off separately:-(  
Does anyone know who makes calendar stamps??  Can you email me here if you can help, please!  I prefer clear stamps, but I will look at anything.  Thank you in advance!
Thanks for dropping by, {HUGS} from me to YOU:-)