Snail crossing the sidewalk

Saw this snail crossing the sidewalk, during my evening walk

Doesn't this remind you of a particular Belgian Chocolate?

☺

LEGO Porsche 911 GT3 RS

Get the pieces and build your LEGO Porsche 911 GT3 RS,

if you are a boy like me!

The Lilac and the Dove

As the last rays of the evening sun settle on the sweet-smelling lilac,

the mourning dove gets one more sip of water

Planting and caring for a Fuchsia

Planting and caring for a Fuchsia (pronounced Few - sha)

in anticipation of a hummingbird visit this year

Last year we saw a hummingbird in our backyard

More flowers here

You never know what you are missing, unless you try this North Atlantic fried Mackerel

Saw some really fresh fish in the market today, so decided to make fried fish.

Mix Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, salt and vinegar into a thick paste, and apply it well to the fish after washing and making slits (to enhance the marinating process)

After marinating for about 30 minutes, fry in hot oil till it looks like this

Even before I've finished frying, the pieces are disappearing!

This is just one quick way to make fried fish

♫ "In the darkness let the light shine thru" - John Illsley

Love this cool tune by John Illsley  (the bassist of Dire Straits)

Get "In the Darkness" from John Illsley's latest album Long Shadows on iTunes 

My first public exhibition of paintings in Canada at the MAC Arts Festival 2016

This was my first public exhibition of paintings in Canada!

A carload of paintings (78 of them)

And another carload of easels, 11 of them, thanks to DeSerres

20 degrees C and amazing weather at Celebration Square, Mississauga

Loved the musicians  

Dancers

Nice choice of food, from East to West

My friends! 

And guess who came by with her photographer

Thanks to The Mississauga Arts Council, and all the guests who visited,

it was an awesome MAC Arts Festival 2016!

Stretching a Leather Hat

Haven't been using this leather hat lately, so it has shrunk over time, and it won't fit me now.

(No I didn't make this hat)

With the weather changing, I thought it would be better to stretch this old faithful hat,

 than to get a new one.

So here is what I did.

I found a flexible plastic mixing bowl that would fit my head ☺

(like the ones used to mix dough for cookies and muffins).

Soaked the hat in boiling hot water, and stretched it to fit over the bowl,

and also filled the bowl with hot water

Made sure the hat was well stretched around the edges, then emptied the bowl

Hung it out to dry in the beautiful May sunshine!

The hat must be dried with the bowl still in it

Now I can use my 21 year old leather hat again

 

Have a great long weekend!

Long-tailed Duck

Beautiful day to see clouds by Lake Ontario!

As the crow flies, it is about 19 kilometres from where I'm standing to the CN Tower

Zoomed in, you can see the tower in the distance

The birds are having great fun, diving into the water, and across the lake

 

This bird is trying to figure out who i am, and i am still trying to figure out what bird this is!

Could it be a juvenile Baltimore Oriole?

But the highlight of the evening was finding this juvenile Long-tailed Duck (with winter plumage),

hidden out of sight from everyone, at the very edge of the rock face.

They breed in the tundra!

Take a deep breath the lilac has bloomed!

There is nothing more enchanting than the sweet-smelling fragrance of a lilac in the afternoon sun. And these flowers will only last for a few weeks in Spring

Here are a few lines I wrote a few years ago

Fragrance of the Lilac

I stepped out of the black of the night

Into the daylight shades of lavender and white

But before I give into the cadence of the meaningless track

I must stand back and take in the fragrance of the lilac

                                                                                  - John Koshy 23^rd May 2013

Waiting for a Table

(Painted in 2015)

Since I am no good at painting faces, 

I got my little girl (who is an expert with faces), to help with the outline of the faces 

This is my first painting where both of us have put paint to canvas!

☺ 

This is a scene outside a small restaurant in India

Taking a selfie while eagerly waiting for a table at lunch time

I cannot paint without listening to music 

Waiting for a Table

24"x36" Oil on canvas

When you know what is underneath Yellowstone, you get a deeper appreciation of the power of planet Earth!

The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the world's third largest hot spring, and one of the most beautiful places to experience nature in its raw and powerful form!

When light is passed through a prism it gets separated into red, orange, yellow, green and blue, which matches the colours of this spring - hence the name "Prismatic"

This is one place where I felt the insignificance of humanity, and the awesome power of nature.

Check out this interactive that shows what's underneath Yellowstone 

Robin with an Earthworm

Fascinating to watch how a robin finds its food, by tilting its head to one side as though it's listening to the ground, and then locates a worm using visual and auditory cues! 

 

This robin is feeding its chicks in the tree nearby. Not sure why it has one leg folded

More birds here