Painting Piper at Peggy's Cove

 It was a cloudy and windy day at Peggy's Cove

And the ruggedness of the landscape came alive

When the Piper started playing!

Once upon a time, Peggy's Cove was called Peggs Harbour

Did a couple of larger oil paintings of Peggy's Cove 

Which are now displayed in someone else's living rooms!

A Beautiful Couple at Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Back to the Piper

Piper at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

16"x20" oil painting on canvas

Listening to Mozart and painting 'On the way to Moraine Lake, Canadian Rockies'

 There's something about mountains that draws me to it

This is a scene of the majestic peaks 

When you drive from Lake Louise to Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies.

Have you been there?

I think Moraine Lake is more beautiful than the famous Lake Louise

Because of the grandeur of the mountain range and the turquoise blue colour of the water!

Here's a painting I did 7 years ago of Moraine Lake, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks

Back to my painting

I am mauved by mountains!

Mauve is the pale purple colour used in the mountains

Perfect music to listen to while painting mountains

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major K.622

On the way to Moraine Lake, Canadian Rockies

24"x36" oil painting on canvas

The Tamarind Seed

The best movies and songs, are the hardest to find these days.

This is my favourite Romance Spy Thriller

                                       

                                                    The Tamarind Seed has been one the hardest movies to find 

  Last watched this movie in VHS format from my dads collection about 35 years ago

Now finally available, and on Blu-ray

       Classic performance by Anthony Quayle, Julie Andrews & Omar Sharif

                            

And the unforgettable song Play It Again 

"Let's put some music on

Some half-forgotten melody,

The kind that takes you back and help revive a memory" - 

Wilma Reading

Performed by the amazing Australian artist Wilma Reading in 1974

I bet you'll play this song, again and again ...

Red Cabin by the Lake, Nova Scotia

 While driving on Highway 8 from Lunenburg to Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia

We stopped at a clearing by the roadside,

Maybe somewhere near Caledonia and Kejimkujik.

And ...

This is what we saw!

A Red Cabin by the Lake!

I did a similar painting in 2017,

Gave it away to friends who visited my home art gallery,

And have been missing this scene.

So painting it again!

Red Cabin by the Lake

16" x 20" oilpainting on canvas

Replacing the front brakes and completing the Takata airbag recall on the Audi A3

 Replaced the front brakes on the Audi A3 at 197,263 kilometres

The rear brakes were replaced at 190,699 kilometres.

But the front brakes still had a lot of life left at that time!

All set for winter!

Also completed the Takata airbag recall on the Audi A3 at 197,302 kilometres

Tastelize

Like painting, cooking is an art.

In order to get the desired results, 

you have to tastelize what the dish must taste like,

before you add spices into the pot! 

(yes if that word doesn't exist, you know what I mean by visualizing a taste :-))

Tonight, I'm cooking two dishes at the same time!

(I hereby request lexicographers to add the word  tastelize to the English dictionary). 

Thank you! 

😋

Beef with coconut, green chillies, potatoes, curry leaves, onions and black pepper.

It's all about temperature - 

heating the pan first to the right temperature,

then adding oil and heating it to the right temperature,

before adding the ingredients.

(No thermometer required, just experience!)

And so, nothing sticks to the pan, which by the way is not a non-stick pan!

Also cooking a beef stew with vegetables and coconut milk

While painting or cooking,

This particular ingredient is usually added to me, not to the dish.

😊😊

I know.... looks odd eh!

Glenmorangie in a Glenfiddich glencairn glass.

That's because the folks at Glenfiddich sent it to me as a compliment.

Have a great weekend!

Sparrows Feeding

 My job is to feed the sparrows,

And then they feed each other

After 11 years, replacing Continental Extreme Winter Contact with Michelin X-Ice winter tires

 After safely driving close to 100,000 kilometres on Continental Extreme Winter Contact winter tires,

it's time to change tires, and get new ones.

Kilometre reading as of now 196,218.

Theses were the first winter tires installed in October 2009 when the car was new.

It's 11 years today!!

 And I've done a lot of winter highway driving in dangerous conditions, snow and ice!

For a change I'm switching over to Michelin.

2 reasons: 

Continental Extreme Winter Contact tires are no longer available.

And I just want to see how good the Michelin's are in comparison :-)

These rims are the same ones from 2009, i just paint them every year!

Removing the all season tires ...

All set for winter!

No long drives planned this winter, but let's see how the Michelins compare with Continental

in the long run.

Listening to Gordon Lightfoot while painting Mount Robson

 At an elevation of 12,972 feet, Mount Robson is the highest peak

in the Canadian Rockies.

The Secwepemc were the first inhabitants of this area and they called the mountain

Yexyexescen which means striped rock. 

It is also known as the Mountain of the Spiral Road

This is a technique i love using sometimes instead of a brush or a palette knife

Back in the late '70's i used to listen to Gordon Lightfoot when I was a school boy in India.

I learnt so much about Canada from the song Canadian Railroad Trilogy

that I wanted to go and see the Canadian Rockies.

Never in my wildest dream did I imagine that it would happen.

While driving the winding roads of the Canadian rockies, you see lots of mountains, and lakes.

And you take a turn, and all of a sudden, you see this majestic peak ahead of you!

The experience is so exhilarating that you stop by the side of the road,

And enjoy the breathtaking view of Mount Robson!

Mount Robson

30"x40" oil painting on canvas