Hello England!

We arrived yesterday to a sunny forecast...which is always welcoming. Dad came to meet us at the airport...he looked well...a little tired, but said he felt better.

On Tuesday he'll go in for a scope and a biopsy to double/triple check everything and then get a date for his op.

I'm sure he's a little scared...it's wonderful to get to hug him and tell him how much we love him...the girls gave him big hugs too...it's been a year since we saw all my family...way too long.

I met Morton(my sister's little baby) for the first time...he's SO adorable. I'll get some pics of him up soon.

AND my brother's little Tristan and Olivia...they're so sweet. The girls just loved having another playmate to have fun with all afternoon.

I'm trying to upload a photo, I've been working on my *Fayre* box of goodies which I'll be displaying at a local Christmas Fair later today.The Internet connection here is so SLOW(how I appreciate back home)...as we're in the sticks...but OH...it's just finished uploading...yay!(that's my box of goodies above!)

I'll will be at The Ightham School PTA **Christmas Fayre** today, November 6th from 1-4pm...if you're in the neighbourhood, come by and say hello!!!**

My sister will be there too, which will be wonderful, so we can catch up on a whole year!!!!

We saw the Sun again today...raining out as I write but it's supposed to clear in the morning.

Although I saw the Sun, it barely rose above the tallest trees here...quite a different feel to the day.I will take lots of photos because there is definitely a moodiness about the days here in the UK...

The girls are loving seeing their cousins and all the horses, little miss J is impatient and WANTS to ride Hammi the Horse...Ash is quite content playing with our old Lego which Mormor(Grandma in Danish) so kindly dug out for them! See it pays to be a pack rat!

It's SO wonderful to be around my Mum, she's such a wonderful easy going person...who's Birthday is TOMORROW!

Boo and I are cooking her dinner.

Mushroom Risotto with Stuffed Chicken wrapped in Prosciutto with green beans and a delicious Salad...which I have to find a recipe for...

So...I am going to try and get into a routine...this will be my posting time from now on...unless the little ones are at a play date without me(hahaha...not likely!).

I will try and pass by your blogs too...as I have been SO awful and have been neglecting you all(not willingly)but have been thinking about you all and hoping that your start to December has been a good one...and hoping that you all enjoyed your Thanks Giving...if that was part of your Calendar.

I know time will fly by whilst we are here...so I will treasure each day.

Thank for visiting...

I'll be back soon.

HUGS

Char,ON

P.S. ANY ideas for a delicious salad???

Come and see....I finished it today!!!

Well, it's been 5 days of sketching,painting and executing this fairy mural... I could have spent another 4 days on details but the budget was what it was...and so I willed myself to put the paintbrush down and called it "finished".

Don't you just love finishing a project? It's so satisfying...

We counted the fairies...there are 18 of them, each one different from the other.

I love this one maybe the best, as well as the little guy sitting on the cherries reading a book.

This client was a dream...she took care of the girls all week, and was so easy...she adores the finished mural...yay...aren't I lucky!

Oh, I like these two too, sitting on the swing catching up on the days happenings.

Even fairies have to go to school!

Bunnies and cats...and sleeping fairies.

I really enjoyed painting these cherries...is this a sign I should maybe paint some still life's?

Oh and here's the little guy reading his book.

Maybe I'll get more commissions from this piece...I'm very pleased how it turned out.

Hope you sleep well Olivia in your new bedroom...sweet dreams.

Until tomorrow everyone...I am SO exhausted, even after drinking and XLarge Earl Grey from Tim Hortons!

Char,Ontario

Finishing Friday....

I hope to finish today...but may not...I still have lots to do. Yesterday I added shadows to everything...and finished the sunflowers(which are looking not SO much like sunflowers because of the very long petals, but I like them)

I have all the fairies still to paint, but I'm happy how the Olivia turned out...

Working on the arch of the window took away a couple of hours yesterday...and I added all the climbing roses...which give a pop of colour(not that there isn't enough! lol)

I'm in a rush again to get out of the house...I finished my taxes last night...phew...now I have other paperwork to do...sorry I haven't been visiting all of you recently...this week has been SO busy,just look at how our girls were last night when we came home. They have been with me at the clients house...she has a 5 year old...so they were entertained all day! Thank you great client...you made the week SO much easier.

Hey, pass by tomorrow...I may have pics of the finished Fairy Mural.

Have a lovely Friday.

Char,Ontario

Thursdays thoughts...

This is where I left it yesterday afternoon after having painted for 7 hours straight ...I was completely pooched, I fell asleep at 9.30pm after dinner, we were supposed to head out for a run but that never happened...I'm working on the sunflowers today.

In between the little girls night-table and her dresser is a 2ft span of wall that we decided(the client and I) that it would be a nice idea to place a little section of grass and flowers with a couple of butterflies fluttering around.

I'm working on finishing the tree today,the arch of the window and would like to get Olivia's name finished too...we'll see...

Check back tomorrow to see how much I have progressed. I can't wait to start painting the fairies...

Have a good Thursday...it's REALLY raining here today, so it's a full day of crafts for the girls -Ash will be in her element today...

Char,Ontario

Wednesday wishes...

Firstly...just quickly, because I told all of you I would tell you how we did in the race...we came in 17th out of 450 teams on Saturday's City Chase. We didn't have to eat anything which was just by chance because we chose a different route which had other chasepoints like: dressing up in a Velcro suit and throwing yourself onto a Velcro wall, OR playing blind croquet, OR strip Jenga, OR being locked in an old Jail cell and trying to find a key in complete darkness to unlock the door(there were 8 keys in total in the cell)...we had a lot of fun, and our next race is on August 15th in Toronto.
Yesterday I spent the day working on the Fairy Mural...and this is what I accomplished. I feel like I'm in "My Little Pony" land, which is a good thing because the client wanted bright and cheerful. My wishes for today are that I finish the tree,flowers and the Olivia name...I only have 2 more days so I have lots of work to do.

Well, I was out with a girlfriend last week and we walked into a store hoping they would have a Tagine which I could cook in...because as some of you may recall I received one for my anniversary gift...but due to it being painted and glazed...I could only use it as a serving dish.

Above is my new Tagine, I love it.

I cooked chicken and vegetables last night...it's so quick to use, sear your meat-place a layer of carrots on the bottom of the tagine,place your meat on top of the carrots and layer all the other veggies on top.

I have only cooked with it twice but am amazed at how after it cooking for 1 and a half hours...the carrots are still al dente and the meat is so succulent...love it!

This was just before closing it up and placing it in the oven to cook....no oil and very little salt...and still super tasty!

I took the girls to the Toronto Zoo on Monday...

Always a great place for taking pics of animals as reference for my painting.

I love the little butterfly sanctuary they have...you can walk amongst the butterflies fluttering above your heads. Jordan was a little scared, but Ash held her hand and assured her everything would be o.k....very sweet.

I love this picture I took ...sorry, I haven't had a chance to look up the name of it.

Ok...I'm off to work...

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday!

Char,Ontario

Bunnies and fairies...

Slowly getting closer to actually painting this on the walls...we'll see...I had been working on it over the past few days and delivered it this afternoon.(hopefully it got there-I dropped off the originals in the client's mailbox-I know...I know...)

Here's the before...

And here's the after with colour...she loves rainbows and fairies, they also have a tabbie-cat.I'll be adding lots more butterflies and fairies flying from one mural to the next.

Here's the door mural, VERY excited about doing this one...I love the sweetness about everything in this one and all the fun the fairies are having in the tree and with the bunny. I hope they love this one too.

I will be using acrylics and hope to keep the colours more like the watercolour sketch I did above of the Bunny and Bird...

The client was going to call this evening, but that's probably not going to happen...so,I will be going for a run with my DH, my father in-law is listening out for the girls(still all quiet on that front-thank goodness!)

Oh...we went to one of the parks I promised the girls today too...another check off the long list of to do's.

Thanks for passing by...sorry I haven't been visiting recently.

I promise to make time tomorrow.

Have a good evening.

Char,Ontario

Fairy and Meadow Murals...

This is the final idea I have draughted for the Fairy Mural. There's no other place to put their daughter's Bed, so I am planning around it. It's almost like a scene seen through windows of a castle bedroom...lots of meadows with animals and fairies, rainbows and butterflies...dragonflies and bunnies...

Sketch 1:: Bunny hoping away...about to tell the others(of the meadow) that there are Big people watching them!

Bunny Sketch 2:: Big Bunny soaking in the Sunny Rays amongst the blades of new grasses...

This is the style of Fairy which will be used throughout the Mural...

And this one too...

A few little Fairy details...friends of all animals and flora...

I'm still deciding on the actual size of the fairies...I'd like to be able to give enough facial detail to them all, giving them each a unique look...

The frogs will be more for the Meadow Mural which I posted pics of in a previous blog...but I may add one on a toadstool in the Fairy Mural too...

Dragonflies and Butterflies for both murals...

This was one idea for the Fairy Mural...we had to work around the bed not being able to move around and the wall spaces which are encompassing it. I like the ideas of the trees being the homes for some of the fairies...and the meadows in the distance with the castles...so I'll use some features from this sketch...

Here was another idea, I like the trees how they become the homes of some of the fairies and I love the meadows and the castles, so I'll take some elements and incorporate them in the designs I create for the end sketch.

It's raining here today...I love rainy days in the Summer...fresh air to follow...natural methods of watering the lawns and flowers, curly hair and clean windows!

Have a lovely Thursday...

Char, Ontario