Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Pumpkin Patch, Chocolate Cake and Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I took this one in our neighbourhood.

And here is a fun one for you.
 

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  Here is my Pumpkin Patch ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in watercolour pencil.

For the dinner date I am showing my chocolate cake made with a Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge cake mix and a can of store bought icing.  It was so good!  Admittedly, I dislike making icing, cheese sauce and gravies.

Wednesday Memes

 

why chameleons can't play games

European cruise continued - Porto, Portugal

We all did the tour to Porto. The weather was very warm in Portugal as we were close to the Mediterranian, yes! The bus dropped us off near some shops where we got pastel de nata, the famous custard tart. It did not disappoint.  I would add that the tart crust is croissant-like.  I was expecting more of a pastry crust.  At this point daughter L and her husband decided to tour the other side of Porto as they had been there before. The bus took us to see the busy train station then we walked this steep path down to the Douro river. There we had some delicious sardines and fish cakes at a cafe.  Then it was time to rush back to the bus.  

In retrospect, husband M and I really liked Porto.

To be continued.

Douro river

 

sardines

fish cakes

pastel de nata

Europe trip continued - Cornwall

 Continuing our European cruise.

Our next was Falmouth in Cornwall.  It is a pretty port.

Falmouth port

We all had an excursion to the city of Truro.  There we enjoyed authentic cornish pasties and shopped at Marks and Spencer.  We used to have Marks and Spencer in Canada but the chain closed after awhile.

Cornish pasties

We had a day at sea to enjoy the facilities on the ship.  We enjoyed the Buffet restaurant on the ship although we had booked some delicious specialty dinners too.   We even did laundry on the ship because we could.  Husband M's sisters decided they were on vacation so no laundry for them! 

To be continued.

Sunday Smiles - Street Food

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

European cruise continued - London

 This is a continuation of our recent European cruise.

Our ship stopped at Plymouth, a port city in Devon, South West England.  M's sisters had chosen to do the Stonehenge tour.  

Stonehenge

Husband M and I, daughter L and her husband would go to London as we had never been there, maybe just a stopover at Heathrow airport over the years.  Son K decided to stay on the ship that day and enjoy the facilities.  He enjoyed all the action at the Plymouth port, lots of car deliveries and such.

The bus driver maneuvered us through busy London.  We stopped at Big Ben and did a walkabout.  We drove by Harrods, passed the London Eye, eventually stopping at Covent Garden.  There we went to a delicious fish and chip Tavern, of course we had to.  I was concerned about the sign I saw in the washroom, it said 'thieves operate in this area'.

For some reason, I thought Big Ben and the London Eye would be bigger.  Maybe things are on a different scale in North America.

Big Ben

London bus

Harrods

a glimpse of the London Eye

Covent Garden

Fish and Chips

malt vinegar

sign - 'Thieves operate in this area'

It was great to finally visit London.

To be continued.

Friday Art Day - African fish eagle and on retail theft

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is an African fish eagle ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in watercolour pencil.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

I was in my local Loblaws supermarket a few days ago, I had not been there in years and was surprised at all the changes, mostly anti-theft.  It is a large supermarket and was quite an open layout, you were free to wander in and out comfortably.  Now there are gates at all entrances and exits.  Retail theft is on the rise according to the news unfortunately.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Werewolf and Roasted Vegetables

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  The theme is Werewolf and this is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in alcohol markers.

For the Dinner Date, I made some roasted cauliflower and red peppers. 

3 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp paprika

1 tbs lemon juice

1 cauliflower cut into florets

1 red pepper sliced

Mix all ingredients on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.

Wed Memes

 

                  The importance of small steps

Europe Trip Continued - Port of Honfleur

 Continuing our European cruise, our next stop was the pretty port of Honfleur in northern France's Normandy region.

Daughter L and her husband did the Normandy and D-Day landings excursion.  It was very moving for them.

  Husband M's sisters chose to do a Paris on their own excursion where they did a Seine boat ride.  M and I did a tour of Monet's Giverny.  Son K stayed on the ship.  He said he attended a 'meet the crew' event there that he enjoyed.

These are my photos of our Giverny excursion.  It was a few hours drive to Giverny.  We did enjoy the drive through France.  We stopped off for a delicious farm to table lunch at a farm.  We had a chance to talk to some of the other cruise passengers.  There was a young woman sitting at our table travelling with her sister.  It seems her husband had a video game startup company that has done well, it enabled her to retire, and thus to afford to travel in style.  

The Giverny Monet museum was so crowded, it didn't help that it was a Saturday.  We waited a long time to enter his pink house and it was a slow walk through the lovely gardens.

farm to table meal

our farm to table dining area

Giverny lily pond

Giverny

Giverny pink house

Inside the Pink House

To be continued.

Bruges - Belgium

I am continuing my European cruise memories of this fall.

So there was a storm in the North Sea with 12 metre waves.  It caused us to miss our planned Amsterdam stop unfortunately.  Son K and I were seasick even wearing our anti nausea seabands,  Gravol helped, but we both were not ourselves for that day.  Note to remember Gravol if we ever go on another cruise.

From the ship, we saw this oil rig in the North Sea.  I think they are used for Marine research as well.

North Sea oil rig

Viking is a luxury line, so it offers free 24 hour room service.  Son K took advantage of this.  The stewards brought K and I lactose free milk as we are lactose intolerant. 

Room Service Cheese Platter

Room service fruit platter

Room Service Lactose free milk order

So our next port of call was Bruges, Belgium.

Bruges Port

 

Infinity pool on ship

Daughter L and her husband had booked a tour of Ypres and Flanders Field which they much enjoyed.

Husband M and I and his 2 sisters went on a tour of Bruges and its Canals.  Son K decided to stay on ship.  

Bruges was cold and rainy at times.  It was nice when the sun came out occasionally.  Here again the washrooms are not free.  They cost from .20 - 2.0 euro.  So after the canal cruise, M bought a burger at McDonald's and we got to use the washroom by showing our receipts.  Meanwhile M's sisters did a bit of shopping and because the washroom was 4 flights up, his older sister decided she didn't need to go.  His other sister brought some delicious Belgian chocolates as gifts and for eating.  She let me taste these orange rinds dipped in dark chocolate.  It was so good.  Soon it was time to meet our guide at the Simon Stevin Square.  I remember the guide telling us Stevin was a famed mathematician who introduced the decimal fraction to Europe.

Interestingly, a photo of the Bruges canal came up on my Window's laptop screensaver and I thought 'I was there and saw that spot!'  So these are the benefits of travel.

The guide continued his tour, and it was at this point that M and I lost the group.  It is so important to stay with your group, what a nightmare.  We ended up following another Viking tour group that I saw to the tour bus depot where we reconnected with our group. I had an emergency number to call, but...luckily did not end up using it.

Relating this story to a cousin, he told me his brother, another cousin went off on his own in a taxi to explore a cruise port.  Unfortunately the taxi dropped him back at the wrong location.  There was the captain of the ship waiting for his slightly delayed return to ship.  Whew!  He made it before departure.  Not to mention his brother's stress.

Bruges - Belgium

Bruges - Kid's playground at the square

 

fabulous meal at a specialty restaurant on ship

To be Continued.