Sepia Tones & Exotic Fare

Late afternoon as we passed Sorrento's golf course on our way to get our walk in, it was still snowing.   I tried to capture the soft hazy glow through the trees of where the sky meets the ocean. 

Here's the town landing, where we park and begin our walk.   With daylight fading I liked how the lit tree stood out against the fresh cover of white.  Henri reminded me it was snowing and not good for the camera. 

As we continued on our walk I sheltered my camera inside my coat from the falling snow and when Henri wasn't looking I quickly pulled it out to try and capture a scene or two.  On this image, I used a sepia tone effect which I think helps to highlight the falling snow. 

One more that I took.  I couldn't help it.  Don't tell Henri though.  He keeps telling me how bad moisture is for a camera.  But in my defense, the snow let up for this one.   

So anyway, back at home, Henri knew he was in store for a treat.  This is a "care package" of sorts that his Mother sent, because I mentioned to her the other day he was craving Indonesian food.  Henri was born in Djakarta, Indonesia.  I was born in Maine, yet I was craving it too. 

This is his Mother's recipe of Nasi Kuning (yellow rice) and some of the ingredients that I used to make it for him. 

Lucky for me, my rice cooker makes cooking it a breeze. 

Suet for the woodpeckers outside. 

Inside, Nasi Kuning covered with stinky, salty fish for us. 

The fish really are stinky too.  For the first 15 years of our marriage I would make Henri eat them outside, until one day I got the nerve to try them and I couldn't believe what I had been missing!  Besides it's just way too cold to eat outside this time of year. 

We Eat, Therefore We Walk.

 So far this year we're getting our daily walk in.  Mostly at sunset. 

5 down, 360 to go.  At least that's the plan. 

 Sometimes after walking we just get in the truck and drive around to take more pictures.

Like this evening.   But we really should concentrate more on our walking. 

Do you know how easy it is for us to get side tracked while out walking around here? 

Like when we run into someone else out for their daily walk. 

Hi Jake.  Paw.

Because mostly when we're not out walking, we're usually eating.  This is what happens when you get a new diversion, like say, a new cookie stamp. 

 It's already my 2nd batch this year.  Oh dear. 

And then there's our evening cup of hot cocoa too. 

Our new resolution:  No walkie, no eatie. 

We Just Wanted To Wish You A Happy New Year From Sorrento Maine

But I didn't realize I was that short. 

I have long arms though.    [See Henri's glasses for details.]

Winter Whites

 

Today's weather reached a high of 40 degrees and this is what's left of the snow that blanketed our area a few days ago. 

Although right in the midst of clearing the first round, I'm not sure Henri was really enjoying himself.  

But today during our walk,  see,  the snow is almost all gone!

The day after the storm, sunny blue skies.

And everywhere you looked, a beautiful blanket of snow.   

This time of year, we have a habit of ending the day with a hot cup of cocoa. 

So tonight I just got through whirring up a little white fluff with my favorite kitchen machine. 

Home made marshmallows.   Here's the recipe.  They are so easy to make too.  Ready in a couple hours. 

Just in time for our New Year's Eve cup of cocoa tomorrow night.  And truth be known, that's as wild as we ever get on New Year's Eve.  I hope you enjoy yours too! 

Visions of Sugar Plums

We have freshly fallen snow here on the coast. 

And a few pretty sea urchins that I collected from the shore. 

 

I just added a little gold leaf to glam them up a bit. 

Stacked up in hues of sea washed greens and soft plums they are tiny gifts from the ocean.

 Inspired, I head into the kitchen to bake up a batch of cookies that I could perhaps decorate in the same colors.    Although laden with sprinkles, my freshly baked sugar cookies looked more like sea urchin wannabees, rather than the lovely vision of sea urchin confections still dancing in my head. 

However, they do pack quite a sugary punch and I like the way they sparkle. 

Yesterday's snow was an all day event. 

 

A mesmerizing, swirling pattern of motion.   

Contented to stay inside and wrap packages,  I made pom-poms out of white tissue paper and hand stamped birdies on plain manila tags. 

 

Simplicity became my mantra. 

And I enjoyed my day immensely.   

And just so you know, there are plum colored sprinkles all over my floors.  Merry Christmas y'all! 

A Bit of My Christmas Decor

Not sure if this is netting from a local fisherman, but it was set out for trash this past summer when I scooped it up and stapled it to the back of an empty old frame I had.  Then I found some winter inspired bits of jewelry to add to it. 

I found several boxes of recycled ornaments at the thrift store to make this wreath I had been wanting to make ever since I saw this gorgeous one on a post by Heather Bullard. 

 I just used one of those thin single wire wreath rings and snipped it apart at the top and started stringing my ornaments, alternating between sizes.

Then I got out a can of faux snow and did several bursts of spray to tone it down a bit. 

This is my favorite Christmas tree holder ever.  I found it a local closeout store and it actually has a place to hold your tree inside.  It's heavy and the finish is a beautiful aged pale chippy pink.  I added some aqua tulle over the top, and a hand stamped Merry Christmas tag. 

 Here's the tree I put inside, a small faux evergreen with pine cones. 

Here it is with the pale pink and clear garland I found to wrap it up with.  

Since I still had more ornaments I made another wreath. 

I had another tree that I wanted to add some snow to, but my snow spray was not thick enough.  I found out that I could make the thicker snow with Ivory soap. 

I just used an old grater and then added some warm water and some spray starch until I got a paste that I could paint on.

It was a bit messy, but it worked out.  It wasn't the look I was going for, I wanted it all to be white, but this works too. 

We had our first snow right after Thanksgiving, it was barely a dusting but I captured this little butterball eating leftovers. 

Here are some of all the others that kept Henri filling the bird feeders that day. 

And what is more beautiful than having a bit of live Christmas decor outside, courtesy of our  little feathered friends!