WOYWW 351 - new material and lots of baking

Good Morning deskers! How are you all? Ready for a nosey bloghop? This is the bloghop where we all look at each other's desks to see what we are up to. 
(Want to know more? Goto Stamping Ground where Julia will explain it all).

This is part of my desk today.

It is the other side of my desk where my sewing machine is. I have bought some material recently and I have spread it out a bit for you to see. It is traditional Andalucian  curtain material that is used in caves for curtains  between rooms . (not all caves have doors to the rooms). I am going to use it to make a bag for my lace making cushion to replace the one that had been nibbled by mice. I really like the bright colors. I have a little bit of orange colored material I bought a few weeks back. I'll use that for the lining.The material is 2 m wide so I have enough left to do a cover for my sewing machine which is much needed as you can see. 

I've also been doing my jigsaw, which is now finished:

I love baking and I can't wait for my new kitchen to be ready so that I can use my new large oven to bake lots of nice things. This weekend I made a cake with fruits of the forest and cream. I had some cream which was nearing its use-by date so I found this recipe of a cake made with cream. 

It was nice but it didn't taste much different to a cake without cream (perhaps a bit heavier).
While I was at it I also made loads of muffins, also with the fruits of the forest. I had a whole pack of fruit in the freezer which I defrosted, so I had to use them up. (Well, that's my excuse...)

Has anyone heard of 'Farinata'? No, I hadn't either despite my years of living in Italy. It's a pizza without topping, made with chick pea flour (garbanzo flour). As I have a wheat intolerance, I'm experimenting with different flours to bake nice things. (I don't get to eat any of the cakes I make. I allow myself one bite to find out what it tastes like. That's it).
Here is the farinata I made. It was gorgeous:

 Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Sorry to have gone a bit off topic with my baking.... Is your mouth watering?

I'll leave it at that. Wishing you all happy WOYWW a good week ahead.

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard a Day - Saturday 3 Oct 2015

Good Morning! 

Happy weekend!

I am a happy bunny today as I have had some happy mail! My blogfriend in Australia, Bridget, has sent me a card with aboriginal art.

I think this is beautiful. It is a work of art. I can't stop looking at it. I'm going to find out a bit more about it, like what medium has she used. Paint? Nails? Stones? Beads?

To be honest, I don't know which way is up, but I like it this way. 

It's called 'Water Dreaming' (1998) by Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa. "Life-giving water is of great significance to artists in the arid country of the Central Desert. The painting explains a valuable soakage where water can always be found. Its significance is celebrated in song and painted design."

I found some info on Dinny Nolan: 

Born west of Mt. Allan near the present site of Yuendumu, Dinny Nolan worked as a stockman on many cattle stations in the Northern Territory. In the 1970’s he settled in Papunya.

He is a senior lawman and a recognized leader for Rainmaking and Water Dreaming ceremonies. Among one of the first men to put the traditional body paintings and sand drawings on canvas.

Dinny Nolan’s art is characterized by his predominant use of natural ochre colours, and the designs he utilizes are the same he paints on the bodies of men taking part in ceremonies.

When interviewed, Dinny said that he is a survivor of the Coniston massacre. (This was the last officially condoned massacre of Aboriginal people. About 70 Warlpiri men and women were murdered on Coniston Station in August 1928).

Bridget knew I like this sort of thing. She has sent me a card before with aboriginal art. (Not the same artist. This is by Loretta McDonald))

I loved it so much, I framed it and it is hanging on the wall behind me. Here I have taken it down to photograph it.

So thank you Bridget! You've made my day. If I can find the same frame again I'll hang them both next to each other.

The stamps on the card are absolutely stunning! Four different planets. Beautiful!

That's it from me today. I hope you will join me again tomorrow, when I have another postcard for you.

Enjoy your weekend,

Blessings,

Lisca

WOYWW 328 - total mess, totally tangled and some observatories on a mountain.

Good morning! 

Do you really want to see the mess on my desk? Well, if you insist....

On the left are two postcards I am writing, and there is one I have received with lots of writing on it. On the right, on top of my colorful laptop, is a little book about Zentangling by Sandy Steen Bartholomew, which arrived in the post today. Shoshi is having some of her art published in one of Sandy's books (not this one). I'm looking forward to trying out several tangles, as we are going away this afternoon in our campervan for a few days. I will have plenty of time (I hope).

Panning to the right... there is a layout I am working on. Next to my coffee cup are some blackboard stickers I got yesterday. And in the bottom right corner is a box with postcards, as I was writing postcards when I took the photo. I have to finish writing them as they need to be posted this morning. The piece of paper next to the mouse is info about solar water heaters to put on the roof. We need to buy one next week.

Last night we went to the Calar Alta observatories not far from here. My daughter and grandson, who are coming over soon, want to watch the red moon (at the end of the month) through our little telescope from the top of the mountain. We thought we'd take the campervan up for that occasion, but we have now seen that it is much too steep and long for the 'old girl'. So it will be  a car and a tent I suppose. (Note to self: buy tent on the way to the airport...)

There are five observatories plus laboratories and residential buildings etc. Quite a complex!

There is a modern sundial outside one of them. As we have summer time it is one hour 'out'. It was 7pm when we were there.

And the view was stunning!

The altitude is 2100m or 7000ft. I thought it would be cold and had brought my cardigan, but i didn't really need it. The weather was glorious.

Hope you enjoyed another little glimpse of my particular corner of Spain. And if you were wondering what all this desk peeking is all about, go to Julia's Stamping Ground and all will be explained.

Have a fantastic week everyone,

Blessings,

Lisca