Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: December 2014

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Christmas Eve Eve!

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's Christmas Eve Eve here in Raleigh and I've got lots on my plate as I finish getting ready for Christmas.  I thought I'd share a bit with you all about my life lately as I prep things.

Bryan and I have one stubborn gift left to get (for that one person on our list who's ever so hard to shop for of course!), and over half of our gifts left to wrap still.  However, we went to Richmond for a Thanksmas weekend with my family over December 12-14.  A lovely ham dinner, plus our gift exchange, and lots of time to just relax with family.  My dad and I got to catch up while doing some shopping and taking the dog out for a walk.  I tried to help my mom with the cooking, but she had picked some really easy dishes and barely needed me!  My parents are working on moving to Richmond in the near future and there were boxes stacked in my uncle's living room from it, but they disguised them as presents.  I have to say it made things very festive!


Other than that I've been busy with several commission pieces two watercolors, and four collages plus trying to fit in bits of other new work as I get the ideas.  I've been decorating here at my own home, and doing domestic things.  Here are a couple shots of my own tree:


I decided to go with a more rustic theme this year, last year I did all cool colors with more modern ornaments.  I shopped for a bunch of this year's ornaments while I was visiting with my parents some in November to help a bit with prepping their house for moving.  My mom and I took a trip to Ikea, and also found some of the ornaments at Kmart (the deer and white frosty bulb ornaments), and Cracker Barrel (the burlap banner with the Cardinal design and the heart ornaments).  Plus Bryan and I have been collecting ornaments on some of our little vacations, so we have things from St. Augustine, Florida, Epcot Center, The Smithsonian Museum, and I'm sure others I can't think of too!  And I made the bow for the tree myself.

Bryan and I have kept busy socially, between going to Raleigh's First Friday Art Walk (where I had a couple of pieces in a show this month!), checking out the Boylan Heights Art Walk (an amazing annual juried show that hosts artists on porches and yards in the downtown neighborhood of the same name), exploring Durham (we'll be moving there this coming spring to be closer to Bryan's new job), and going to the Pittsboro Christmas parade with family.  We've been spending most of our free time with family honestly, whether we're playing games, going to the movies, or just hanging out.  But I've ramped things up with work between the commissions and becoming more involved with the arts community on Tsu (Seriously, it's worth checking out!  There are loads of great artists, crafters, and photographers there, and you earn rewards for simply posting the content you make.  Join using my link here if you'd like.), so I haven't had a ton of free time beyond all that which hasn't been sucked up by things I've already mentioned.  Including spending time with out new little family member Scarlet, a Mini Rex rabbit.  Here's a little photo collage summing up all these things.




So, now I've got to run, groceries to get, presents to wrap, paperwork to finish, cleaning to do, gifts to finish making, and then a break from blogging for the rest of this week as I celebrate Christmas with family.  I can't wait for dinner and the Christmas Eve service with Bryan's family tomorrow night, and then be enjoying each others company for the next few days.  I hope you all will be having a very merry Christmas with your families too.  And look forward to seeing you again soon!

With love this holiday season,
Lydia

Sunday, December 21, 2014

My Mom's Chili Recipe

Hey folks,

So this weekend I made chili for Bryan and I, and I wanted to share the recipe with you all.  It's ridiculously easy to make and always a crowd pleaser.  I got the recipe from my mom, and then changed it a bit to suit our tastes.


Here's what you'll need:

1 can Pinto Beans
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 can Petite Diced (Peeled optional) Tomatoes
1 can Corn (We like Sweet White, but it's harder to find)
1 packet of your chosen chili seasoning (We use Kroger's mild variety)
a 1lb package of Regular/Mild Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean, or whatever brand you like)
1 1/2 cups water

Optional ingredients/condiments
1/8 cup sugar
1 diced onion
1 box Ritz Crackers
8 oz Sour Cream
2-4 cups Shredded Cheese (We usually get a Mexican style blend, but Colby Jack would do well too.)

You can make your chili spicier by using hot seasoning and sausage, or add the sugar to make a more savory chili.

Don't drain the beans, corn, or tomatoes, their juices are part of the chili too.  The skin on the dark red kidney beans tends to be thicker than Bryan likes, so we often put them in a chopper long enough to break the skin and split most of the beans, allowing the beans to soften as they cook.  But this is not necessary.

We don't care for onion, but my mom originally put it in her chili if I remember correctly.  So for those who like onion it's great.  My own addition to this chili is corn, which adds just a bit of flavor on the savory side.

Brown the meat (drain off fat if needed), then put all the ingredients in a crock pot set to high for at least 5 hours stirring occasionally.  By that time it should thicken up nicely, and once it's thickened it's ready to serve.  You can let everyone eating add crackers, sour cream and shredded cheese as they see fit.

The recipe serves 4-5 people, and is quite hearty.  However, you may find folks go back for seconds, if so you can double the recipe.  Though it won't fit in a standard crock pot if you do, to get around this I usually set a bit of each ingredient aside in a bowl.

Feel free to add more ingredients to make this recipe your own!

Love,
Lydia

Friday, December 19, 2014

National Park Adventures Part 3

Hey folks,

So here's the second installment about the trip Bryan and I took down the Blue Ridge Parkway in September.  The weather was much more cooperative this day, so I managed to get better shots of the stretch between the Museum of NC minerals and Asheville.

For starters we made a stop at the museum, which sounded pretty great, but turned out rather disappointing because the museum was a bit rundown.  It looked like it had been updated about 10 years ago, but had bits that were broken or badly maintained and some outdated science thrown in for good measure.  Though Bryan was the one who spotted that bit, not me.  Bryan and I were both feeling under the weather, having caught a nice cold.  We decided we'd start on the parkway and see how we felt, which like the weather got a bit better.  Neither of us had the energy for the planned stop at Mt Mitchell, however, which was a bit of a letdown after how much I'd read about the unique environment there.

Mt Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 ft high.  Because of the elevation there the climate is more like Canada than North Carolina.  If you visit there are many dead tree skeletons, Fraser Firs, which have been killed by a combination of acid rain, air pollution, and possibly invasive insects as well.  We stopped often to catch views of Mt Mitchell as we climbed our way up to Craggy Gardens, our next stop.


All these shots are from various overlooks along the way, with my husband, Bryan in the one on the bottom there.  The views at each stop were spectacular.  The beetle is from one of the stops just as we were getting into Craggy Gardens; there were picnic tables nearby and he was happily taking in a bit of sun.  I believe it's an Oil Beetle - Meloe Impressus, probably a male because he has a kink in his antennae. Here's a closer cropped version -


As we approached Craggy Gardens I knew there would be a lot more rhododendron bushes present, but I really didn't realize there were incredible open meadows and very little tree cover.  The name for these open areas are balds.  They are generally believed to occur naturally, though some experts theorize they were created by Native Americans as areas to aid hunting practices.  Most balds present in the Blue Ridge Mountains have been vanishing over the last century, taken over by woodlands again.  In any case, Craggy Gardens still hosts many impressive balds, which took my breath away.  In some ways they reminded me of the Irish countryside, especially that of the Burren and Connemara where there is also little tree cover and the rocks jut up from the sides of the low mountainsides.  Additionally, the elevation was still quite high at Craggy Gardens, and there were Juncos present singing and flitting between the rhododendron bushes.  It was a happy little surprise for Bryan and I since they're one of his favorite birds, which is only present in Raleigh during the winter.  Below are a couple views of Craggy Gardens plus the sunset along I-40 on the way home.



After Craggy Gardens we descended in elevation growing closer to Asheville.  Our next stop was the Folk Art Center at milepost 382.  I was blown away by it, as it's really more of a museum in some ways with a huge craft store alongside.  Most of the work was truly art, made in both the traditional styles of the mountain culture and in more modern forms as well.  They boast 3 galleries over 2 stories, with beautiful architecture throughout.  The artists in these galleries are members of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild, and some of the same artist's work was available at Moses H. Cone.  The mushrooms pictured below were on the lawn outside the building.  We completed out trip with a visit to the headquarters of the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 384, it was no standout, but had a couple of fun activities and displays for kids.  Then we head back east to Raleigh, having seen the first few fall leaves of the year, and carrying a bit of art back home with us.



I've been quite busy with commissions, new art pieces, and preparing for the holidays this past month and regret that I didn't finish this post sooner.  However, I've got more posts on the way, and I'm looking forward to a new project for the new year.  I plan to be exploring a Pinterest pin every day of the next year and blogging about my experiences.  I'll be covering all kinds of pins from food, art techniques, cleaning tips, beauty tutorials, and more.  I promise there'll be something for everyone, and I'll be taking you readers along with me each step of the way!  It's going to be a big year!

Til next time - Love,
Lydia