Paint Party Friday - Snake Pattern

Here we are at the end of January already.

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I am sharing a piece I did for an Instagram 'patterned things' challenge for @alexandrasillos #patternedthingsbyalex. It is a colourful patterned snake in bold colours. Its head and tongue are orange and yellow, with dark blue eyes highlighted with turquoise. Its slithery body is patterned with orange, dark blue and turquoise scales. It has a green underside.  My snake is painted on lilac cardstock in permanent markers, and sharpie oil paint markers outlined with a PITT pen.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Glow

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date, the theme this week is 'Glow'. I chose to do yellow/White lightning bolts across textured deep red cardstock (6" x 6"). I also added extra 'glow' with orange highlights accenting the bolts of lightning. I used Sharpie oil paint markers.

I showed this piece on Instagram recently for @alexandrasillos #patternedthingsbyalex.

Spider's Web Pattern

This is my spider's web pattern I posted recently on Instagram for @alexandrasillos #patternsbyalex. I used my new alcohol ink markers which I love. I waited until the spider was away before I painted this haha. The piece is done on cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 /12"). I made the background sky blue. The delicate web is attached to a tree branch.

My Pine Cone Pattern and CPAP update

This is my pine cone pattern I showed recently on Instagram for @alexandrasillos #patternedthingsbyalex. It shows 2 pine cones angled across the page hanging from its branch of green fir leaves.

I recently bought my own CPAP sleep machine after about a month using a loaner machine.  It comes with lifetime remote monitoring for a $90 fee.  The sleep clinic keeps the reports I believe.  I am really happy getting 7-8 solid hours of sleep, I have even started dreaming again and remembering my dreams.  That would be my REM sleep that might have been compromised. I wake up looking fresh faced instead of  looking like a wreck in the morning.  Needless to say, I am one of the ones that are completely happy with the treatment.

Fragrant Pork Noodles

I made this fragrant pork noodle dish using this Marion Grasby video.
Her garlic shrimp udon noodle recipe is also very good. You can substitute different kinds of vegetables, noodles and meats with these simple recipes.

This is the way I have been making my dish.  Once I even left the noodles out of it.

2 7oz packets of pre-cooked udon noodles
3 tsp canola oil
1/4 shredded cabbage ( with a pinch of salt, 1 tbs light soy, 1/2 tsp sugar)
6 stems of yu choy Chinese greens finely chopped
2 green onions chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 small pkg of lean ground pork


sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4c oyster sauce
1 tbs dark soy sauce
2 tbs light soy sauce
2 tsp chili garlic oil

Place noodles into a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes until they soften and remove to a bowl.
Heat the oil, stir fry the cabbage with 1 tbs soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, and a pinch of salt until it starts to char and is nicely coloured.  Add garlic and stir fry for 20 seconds.  Add ground pork and stir fry until browned.  Mix in noodles, yu choy greens and sauce.  Add green onions.  The dish is done in a few minutes.

Shrimp versus Prawns

The meme above says 'Purchased a log home'. It has a photo of a pickup truck carrying a huge pile of logs. It finishes with '...from Ikea'.

This link explains the difference between shrimp and prawns. My sister from California shared it with me. I thought they were the same thing, how about you?  They are different creatures with different structures.  Prawns live in fresh water while shrimp live in both fresh and salt water.  Prawns are generally larger but they taste the same as shrimp.

Melt in your mouth goodness

The photos below show this delicious bar of Lindt 70% dark chocolate with what it describes as a smooth melting filling inside. It is to die for. Perhaps if you are not a fan of dark chocolate you may not even notice with that filling inside.  It was part of a gift basket we received over the holidays.