Thanksgiving Blessings

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For hearth and food

For love and friends,

For everything Thy grace sends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. We are having a lovely cool weekend in Southern California - perfect Fall weather to attend the Vintage Flea Market in Old Town Tustin. Let's have a cup of tea in my garden and take Bentley, my studio assistant, to Tustin to the Vintage Flea Market and look for inspiration for Fall flowers to paint along the way.

Old Town Tustin is a delightful little town located in the midst of urban California. The homes are adorable cottages located on large lots with wonderful gardens. Lots of the homes have carts in front filled with flowers, fruits and vegetables for sale. Everything is on the "honor system" - customers leave money in a basket or jar and pay for the purchase. The basket with persimmons "for sale" caught my eye. Note the jar on the bench filled with quarters.



Finding Inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . . .




There . . . .






Everywhere . . . .

I was so inspired by the colorful fall colors and the persimmons for sale that I pulled out my sketch pad and watercolors and painted the little wheelbarrow filled with Fall flowers. It was located next to the bench with the basket of persimmons. I am sorry that I forgot to take a photo of the wheel barrow to show you.

It turned out that the Flea Market was not until Sunday. . . . . let's head back home to bake pumpkin bread and as promised I will share my recipe with you.

Warm pumpkin bread and a cup of hot tea are wonderful refreshments for a relaxing time with family and friends before the holiday rush.

I think that you will find this recipe for pumpkin bread easy and delicious and it makes two yummy loaves so you will have one to share with family or friends. I am a creative cook and tend to tweak recipes - you may want to stick with the traditional recipe the first time around .

Pumpkin Bread

1 (15 ounce )can pumpkin

2/3 cup water ( I use apple juice)

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

3 1/3 cups all purpose flower

3 cups of sugar ( I use l cup of brown and 2 cups of white for a spicy flavor)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Spray or butter 2 8X5 loaf pans.

Beat pumpkin, oil, water and eggs until smooth.

In separate bowl sift flour, sugar soda and spices. Add to pumpkin mixture - add nuts and mix well. Pour into pans and bake 55 minutes - one hour until wooden pick comes out clean.

P.S. I also add 1/2 cup raisins along with the nuts.

Relax and Enjoy!

Wishing you and your family a Peaceful and Blessed Thanksgiving and may this lovely Moravian Blessing say it all:

Come, Lord Jesus, our guest to be

And Bless these gifts

Bestowed by Thee

And Bless our loved ones everywhere,

And keep them in Your loving care.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, comments and those who follow my blog. If you would like to see me paint something special or have any questions, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

P.S. Next week we will decorate for the Christmas Holidays and will paint together a little door greeter sign for Christmas.

Whimsical Rooster Inspirations

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. We are having another glorious Fall day in Southern California - sunny and in the 60's - just the perfect day to sip a nice cup of tea while looking for whimsical Rooster inspirations. I am painting Christmas gifts for family and friends and have several requests for "whimsical Rooster paintings". I poured you a cup of tea so you can join me and Bentley, my Studio Assistant, looking for inspiration.

Looks like Bentley is ready to go.

Oh goodness - looks like Bentley is sleeping on the job.

Let's wake him up and go into the garden first to see if we can find any Roosters.

Finding Inspiration . . . . . .

Here . . . . .

We found a few Roosters in the garden - now let's go in my kitchen to see what we can find.



As you can see, I have just a few Roosters in my kitchen.

The blue mirror over my sink reflects the little garden window.



There . . . .

An artist friend of mine made the large white Rooster which was the first Rooster in my collection.


Everywhere . . . . .

I found the Rooster mosaic tray at a tag sale years ago. The colors are perfect for my kitchen with blue and white check curtains and yellow accents.

I found these delightful glass jars with Rooster tops at a tag sale for $1.00 each. The clear glass is perfect for storing Bentley's dog biscuits.

I love my blue Rooster plates and decided to try my hand at painting a blue Rooster.

This little painting is not finished - I decided the Rooster needs to be all blue and will paint his face and comb all blue. He also needs a little white eye.

My friend has a black Rooster rug in her kitchen and wanted me to paint her Christmas gift Roosters with black feathers to match her rug.

This one is more whimsical wtih the black check border.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate that you have taken time to visit me, follow my blog and leave me a comment. If you would like to see me paint something special, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin

Fall Blue and White Inspiration

Welcome. I am so glad that you stopped by. We are having a beautiful fall day in Southern California- cool nights and warm days in the high 60's near the ocean. Just perfect weather for you to join me and Bentley, my helpful Studio Assistant, in the garden for a cup of hot tea while we look for Blue and White Fall inspirations.

My neighbors' Maple tree is just starting to turn fall colors.




It is cool enough for me to grab a jacket to wear. Off we go . . . . . . . .

Bentley is already to go. One of my customers' saw a Welcome Sunflower door sign on my website http://thepaintedgarden.net/ and asked me to paint her a sign with sunflowers in a blue and white bucket. She collects blue and white china and wanted something that would welcome guests to her home that would represent her love for all things blue and white.

Finding Inspiration . . . . .

Here . . . . .

I also collect blue and white china and did not have any problem finding blue and white china for inspiration. I store extra pieces in my old blue cubbard .

There . . . .

Everywhere . . . . .

Looks like Bentley found some Sunflower inspiration.

Now that we found our blue and white and sunflower inspirations, Bentley is ready to show you the finished Welcome sing.

The sign can be hung on a front gate, picket fence of front door.

Thank you for stopping by. I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate that you have taken time to visit, leave me a comment and follow my blog. If you would like to see me paint something special, please leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.

Have a lovely week. Blessings, Erin