Art Show Update

The show is now officially over BUT the gallery owner decided to keep my paintings longer & we moved my paintings to the window display. Soooooo....if you missed the show you can still catch a peek of my paintings in the window.

As for opening night, It went really well! Several friends came to cheer me on, which is always a really great thing. I met & talked to a lot of people I didn't know...got some really good feedback...and sold a painting. How cool is that? AND I've decided to give 10% of the proceeds of this series to Reaching Out, an organization that helps those living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia. I feel that is neccessary to pay it forward...that the blessings I recieve should carry on to someone else. So I have to say that it's been a very exciting experience in many many ways!

Now for the thank you's! A BIG thank you to Michele for believing in my work enough to give me a show & making a dream of mine come true! Also I have to thank my husband, Tony, for his love, support, & pacients. Tony helped with every little thing & put up with me! LOL Thank you to my daughter who cheered me on all along the way & to see her so proud of me meant the world to me. I can't forget my parents, my family & my friends...their encouragement & support has kept me going & has been so touching. They were just so excited...made me feel like a rockstar! LOL They make me feel like I can do anything! And of course, thank you to everyone who took the time to go check out my work! I feel so blessed! So thank you, thank you, thank you!

And here's a picture of me :)

More Raspberries!

This time it's muffins! Yum! I whip out one of my very first cook books....my trusty Betty Crocker's New Boys & Girls Cookbook...Yes, I stiil use it! After all, that's where the muffin recipe is. I've tweaked it a bit, but here it is:

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Put unbleached muffin cups in one of those muffin pans.

Stir dry ingredients in a bowl & set aside:
2 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 -1/2 cup organic sugar depending on how sweet you like it (since raspberries are kinda tart maybe put 1/4 cup sugar in the batter & then the other 1/4 cup sugar in the berries...I think I shoulda done that because my muffin's were not very sweet)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a completely different bowl, mix the wet indgredients:
1 organic egg
1 cup organic milk (soy milk, almond milk, etc.)
1/4 cup vegtable oil

Then take the mixed wet ingredients & pour them into the dry ingredients. Stir just until flour is moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Do not overmix (That's what it says...Do not overmix...I haven't the slightest clue why) Now put in several handfulls of raspberries & gently stir in. Fill muffin cups 2/3ish full. Bake 20 - 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

Al Gore's Challenge To America

Karny Family Day Trip: Coeur d'Alene River Area

Wednesday was family day. We took a little day trip up to the Coeur d'Alene River area. First stop was the Snakepit for breakfast. Once again it was super yummy & the staff was very friendly! Tony & I had the biscuits & gravey breakfast & our daughter had the veggie omlet. To top it off they gave us huckleberry ice cream again!

We went to Murray Idaho. It's been called a living ghost town. Murray was a big mining town back in the 1800's, but now the mining has stopped & the town is just one street. The buildings are still very charming though & you do kinda get the feel of the 'old days'. In Murray there is the Spragpole Inn & Museum. We were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat there, but I've heard the food is good & if we ever get back there I'm definately going to eat there. The museum is free, but there are donation boxes & can's here & there. There's a wooden chain that Walt Almquist carved from a single piece of wood. It is 120 feet long, has 903 links, & took him 20 years to finish. There's a collection of his carvings as well as many other collections such as: shells, minerals, cigarettes, dolls, old wisky jugs, bottles, spitoons, coins, blacksmithing tools, perfune bottles, buttons, keys, antlers & that's just a small portion. There is also historical information about Murray & the Silver Valley. More info can also be found here: http://silver-valley.com/sprag_pole/

Then we were off to find Shadow Falls & Fern Falls. It took awhile to get there...most of the road was paved, but the last 4 miles was all gravel. I'm glad we took the Durango because I don't think our car would have made it...there's these concrete 'slats' put together in area's that are close to the water...my guess is that's to keep the road from washing out...those are closer to the falls...they are pretty bumpy. The falls were really cool! They aren't so big that you can't get close to them. We saw people going behind & under the falls. More info on the falls can be found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/rec/activities/trails/cztrail513.html And you may want to call the Forest Service to get clearer directions.

If you look to the left on our blog, there's a section that says Karny Slideshows...that's where you can see a slideshow of our adventure. Enjoy!

Magic Raspberry Pie

We have so many raspberries that I tried my hand at making a raspberry pie. Of course I had no idea how to make a raspberry pie so I called Mom...Mom always knows how to make a pie. As you can see, it turned out looking yummy...I couldn't resist pokeing a star into it...& it tasted super yummy with ice cream. Now the magic is in the love I put into it & in the ready made pie crust from the store...which makes it pretty close to instant pie. Poof! It's magic pie! Here's how I did it, based on Mom's advice.

ready made pie crust from the market
about 3 cups raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
about a tablespoon of Smart Balance 'butter'

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Take out one ready made crust, unroll it & put in pie pan, set aside. Put raspberries in bowl. Put in sugar & gently stir. Put in flour & gently stir again. Raspberries will be coated with sugar & flour. Put berry mixture into pie crust, dot with butter. Unroll top crust & put on top of berries. Fold the edges under & then press with fork to seal. Poke holes in top of crust. Put in oven & bake on 400 for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 & bake another 15 minutes...check pie & bake another 5 minutes if it needs it.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream under a starry sky ;)

Baseball Night

Tonight we went to a baseball game...The Spokane Indians vs the Yakima Bears. It was a family event + Tony's buddy. The guys enjoyed watching the game...however, my daughter & I really don't know much about baseball...Sure we know what a strike is & a homerun & that we're supposed to jump up & down, clap, & get really excited when everyone else does. OH & it was free baseball hat night! I have a cool Spokane Indians baseball cap, which I actually like...& I'm not a baseball cap wearin' kind of girl, but I was last night :) To make things more interesting for me & my daughter we decided to see which player had the best butt & which player got the dirtiest. At the end of the night we decided that #1 was the winner of the best butt compitition & #4 was the winner of the most dirty boy. Then there was the team maskot, Otto...I think he's a dragon...I'm not quite sure. What do you think? In the end the score was Spokane Indians 6, Yakima Bears 3.

Raspberry Drop Scones

These scones are yummy anytime, but we especially love them with our morning coffee & tea!

3 1/4 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup organic sugar
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
6 Tablespoons regular butter (I used Smart Balance)
1 1/2 cups organic milk (or other milk: soy, almond, etc.)
several handfuls of fresh raspberries
cookie sheet
unbleached parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cream of tartar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two knives in a criss cross scissor fashion (a fork may work ok too) until all butter is mixed in & mixture is kinda crumbly looking. Mix in 1 cup of milk. Add remaining milk 1/4 cup at a time until all dry ingredients are wet & sticky. Now gently stir in raspberries. I used a fork. The raspberries will most likely not remain intact...unless you have special raspberry stirring powers! For the rest of us mortals, the raspberries will most likely fall apart...but the scones will taste just as yummy! Place medium spoon drops of scone batter on to an unbleached parchment paper covered cookie sheet. Unbleached parchment paper is most excellent in keeping bottom of scones from getting dark & sticking to cookie sheet. I love parchment paper when I bake. LOVE it. I got about 7 scones on a cookie sheet at one time. Pop into oven & bake for 10 minutes. Tops will be golden brown & when poked with a toothpick the toothpick will come out clean. Makes about 15 scones...at least that's how many I got out of the deal.

My family loved these just the way they are, but if you want 'em sweeter just drizzle some honey or agave syrup over the top. You could also use blueberries or blackberries...or if you're lucky enough, huckleberries would be really good! Another variation is walnuts & grated orange peel from one whole orange. Then make a fruit salad with the rest of the orange. Yum! Or get take a chance & get creative...add whatever sounds super yummy to you...An adventure right in your own kitchen! Live a little!

Goddess Room

Here's our latest home decorating project. This is our guest room. The wall is stenciled...took me four days, but I'd say it's worth it. Both the wall hanging & the painting are by Phoenix Springwater: phoenixspringwater.blogspot.com

First Harvest

Here's how it's going in the Karny Garden...Picked the first batch of raspberries...harvested apple mint & lemon balm & am now drying it for tea...& the veggie patch is growing. Mom told me that Grandpa said that if corn was "knee high by the 4th of July", you'd have ears of corn that could be eaten. Well my corn was perfectly knee high on the 4th of July so we'll see if my Grandpa's saying holds true.

Enaville Resort aka the Snakepit

A couple of weeks ago I was putting the final touches on things for my art show. The big task was writing descriptions for my paintings. It just seems so hard to put everything I was thinking & feeling when I was painting into words...Tony was telling to quit procrastinating & just get to it. I was on the last description...which of course was the hardest! What made it even worse was that is was a beautiful day out...I said, "I'd rather do something like go to the Snakepit & have a burger & fries!"I mean, I've lived in the area for most of my life & have never been to the Snakepit...Then Tony said that if I finished my description we could go. There's nothing like a little bribery to get the creative juices flowing! I was done in no time!

I had the best hamburger & fries ever! Really! The burger was huge & of course I had to get everything on it...the fries were perfect...golden crispy on the outside...not soggy...not hard & crunchy all the way through...beautiful fries done to perfection. Tony had the same thing & our daughter had chichen strips...which she says were the best ever. There were a few people in there. The waitress was super nice & running around like crazy...I think she was the only one waiting tables....but she wasn't frazzled or grouchy. Now that takes talent! There's no way I could do that job! Then an old timer came in...he had quite the beard going on...long & kinda separated into two. He sat at the table next to us...friendly guy with a big smile & he said, "Have you been in the water yet?" We said not yet & then he said, "I bet it's gotta be colder than sticking your butt in a 40 foot well in January!" Yep, that's what he said. We agreed with smiles on our faces...that's pretty funny. He proceeded to tell us all about the old logging days when it would only take one tree to make a load on a logging truck. And after we finished eating the waitress brought over huckleberry ice cream. We were stuffed, but how can you pass on free huckleberry ice cream? You can't...there's just no way...IT WAS AMAZING!

Here's a little history on the Enaville Resort aka the Snakepit: Enaville was named for a railroad crewman's wife, who was also the postmistress at the time. Her name was Ena. Enaville Resort, located in Enaville, was known over the years as the Snakepit, Josies, Clark Hotel, and many other 'unprintable' names. It has been a landmark for over 100 years. The Resort has served as a boomtown bar, railroad layover, hotel, house of ill repute, and starting point for loggers and miners of yesteryear. The owners started calling it the Enaville Resort in hopes of getting a liquor license. During the 1974 flood, they tied boats up at the foot of the steps since there was that much water and took pictures to send to Boise. They believed that if it appeared that they had lake frontage it would help in getting a liquor license.

And here's a good link: http://www.tylersterritory.com/travel/namerica/northern-rockies/idaho/kingston/kingston-02.html

My First Show! July 2008

This is the first showing of any of my work in about eight years. It is the first time I've done a series of paintings all at the same time. Visit my MoonWillow Studio blog to see all seven paintings, along with more of my work: http://moonwillowstudio.blogspot.com/

This series is titled, "New Beginnings". The images are based on my own personal experience of being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) & Fibromyalgia (FM)...finding the courage to live with it...& after 8 years, regaining enough wellness to finally feel alive again. Rather than focusing on the difficult times & dealing with the challenges of living with CFS & FM I chose to focus on courage, hope, & the power of positive thinking. The creative act of painting this series was also very helpful in my healing process.

Showing July 9-26, 2008 at The Artist's Tree Gallery, 828 W. Sprague Avenue, Downtown Spokane, WA, across the street from the Davenport Hotel.

I'm super excited! Stay tuned to see how it went!

(It is estimated that between 1 and 4 million Americans suffer from CFS & 6 to 8 million people in the United States suffer from FM. More information & resources for CFS & FM can be found at www.reaching-out.info)