Art Club, Poms and Dog Toys

Everyone was doing something unique last night at Art Club. Stamping cards, stitching owls, and making wooden collaged art for a show/sale. I made this card and worked on a paper collage in my workbook. I was more interested in talking.

I worked on three (four) new pomegranates since last time. The dark one you have seen before but now you can see how "dark" it really is. The upper right is the brush pen again with colored pencil. Lower left is brush pen without details as yet. Lower right is colored pencil and acrylic paint, so far. Even though this paper I purchased and am using here, says "watercolor" on the label, it isn't. I tried to paint another pom with my watercolors and the paper got all fuzzy. So that pom is in the garbage can.

Monkey contemplating the brown carpet thread used to sew his arm back on. All Riley's toys are now back in the toy basket. Spidey got his butt sewn closed, Beaver had his tummy sewn closed over new stuffing, Bunny had his entire midsection cut open, so I could stuff the squeaky tennis ball in, and then he was sewn back together and the unnamed bird (he was ripped apart pretty close to the time he arrived) is stuffed and ready to be chewed on again.

All this emergency medical attention was CLOSELY SUPERVISED by Riley. He sat and watched the progress of each stitch. Groaning and sighing when the repair seemed to take too long. At times, he stood by me and rested his head on my knee, to be closer to his beloved toys. And as each was completed, knotted and clipped, he would come over to take the toy from my hands and look them over. Toss them, give them a test chomp. His favorites (Spidey and Beaver) were taken to his dog bed and held tightly against his chest, between his front legs, with his chin resting on top. A deep sigh was his perfect expression of how much he missed these toys, which have been waiting for repairs for months. Bad Joanne.

G is back at work and I will be walking the dog today. It seems colder today but the sun is out. I have retired my thinner windbreakers to the hall closet and will be wearing the heavy thinsulate wind breaker from now on with various under layers. The down jacket being the warmest under layer and the new Orvis battleship gray sweatshirt being the medium layer. And gloves. And a scarf. And a hat. I have gloves, hat and scarf in different temperature levels, also. When it's 12 degrees, I sometimes wear everything. Two pair of gloves, for sure.

I am working on cooking stuff from the freezer again, so I can empty it. Tonight is Gas Betty. Really, it's Spaghetti with Meat Sauce but when my daughter was little, she called it Gas Betty, and that's been the "family" name for it ever since. I rarely make meat sauce anymore but it was a weekly item when I had children and teens living in the house. Last year, at this time, I had to try and remember some of these "family" recipes for my son, who requested written recipes as his Christmas gift. Godfather's Lasagna. Goulash with Spatzle. Gas Betty. Mexican Casserole. Meatloaf. Tuna Casserole with Potato Chips. Baked Meatballs. BBQ'ed Meatballs. Saturday Chicken. Parmesan Breaded Chicken Cutlets. Pierogi.

So, today's bowl will be filled with Gas Betty.

Note: This same daughter called a certain chicken "Chucky Fried".