NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
When doing a tile backsplash in the kitchen, I like to take the tile all the way up...to the bottom of the uppercabinets and all the way to the ceiling behind an exposed hood...it makes the space seem much larger and quieter without so many broken up, horizontal lines.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:
Original Needlepoint Design
by Heide Browne
12 x 12
$95

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
Enjoy what you do.  The planning and thinking about all the design options can be most enjoyable.  And then call a designer to help you hone in on your vision and to help your vision become reality

STORY OF THE WEEK:

The Whitney Chronicles - Pumpkin Again, Part Two
by Beverly Anderson

I left you in this  pumpkin story  I was emailing to  my friend, when I was just beginning to make the crusted pumpkin wedges recipe. 
I mix the bread crumbs, spices, garlic to top the wedges...which are to be laid on parchment paper...of which I have none...foil will have to serve.  So I've covered the cookie sheets with foil and arranged the "slightly irregular, but almost cresent shaped wedges" in neat rows.  Now to brush them with olive oil...well, the second thing my kitchen lacks...a brush...and I don't think Heide will want me to fill one of her art brushes with olive oil??...so my fingers will have to serve.  I "brush" each slice after dipping my fingers in oil...then I sprinkle on the bread crumb mixture, pat it down as instructed and  get ready to place the two cookie sheets in the preheated to 375 degree oven...now to bake...but their is a slight amount...actually a rather large amount of smoke pouring out of the oven since in my flurry of activity this morning, I decided to clean the oven and now that film of oven spray is burning off...I wonder what those chemicals will do to the wedges?  Nevermind, I'll just let it burn off a little while, then slide in the trays of wedges.
Whew...That's done...and the kitchen is a wreck...cannisters on the table (which had to be moved from the island)...pumpkin seeds and stringly pulp everywhere...no dishrag to be found...they are all in the washer...no space on the kitchen table to sit down and enjoy a mug of coffee...no coffee...and all the mugs are in the sink soaking...since I decided that they too needed a thorough washing along with the glassware that is still in the dishwasher.  This dishwasher takes about 2 hours to complete it's cycle...and now it is to the drying stage...which means it is adding hot steamy spray to the overly warm and active kitchen...I'm going outside!...to check to see if I have any squirrels who might enjoy pumpkin pieces...and how small do I have to cut them for the squirrels to be able to cart them off?  I'm really getting tired of hacking on this pumpkin!  But the cooking wedges smell wonderful and they look wonderful, too...and they are almost ready to come out of the oven.   Ah...Delicious!...very delicious!...topped with sourcream mixed with dill...but I have a confession...pumpkin does not have much taste at all, it is the flavorful topping and the sourcream that taste good.   All those spices, garlic and lemon zest.  I should keep this topping recipe to go on some more worthwhile vegetable or meat...But I'll admit, these wedges are good enough to make another batch..the squirrels will just have to wait.  I must carve some more wedges...
Four hours later and the kitchen is almost cleaned up...the laundry is folded...the glassware is back on the shelves...the mugs are hanging on their hooks...and I have enough pumpkin wedges to feed an army...or maybe my bookclub..where are they?  I don't think these wedges will keep until our January meeting...how will Heide and I ever manage to eat all these wedges?   Ah ha!...Christmas Eve is only 2 days away...they'll keep...and off to my friend Ursula's they will go!  Sourcream with dill in hand!
Well I've had success with the pumpkin project for the second year...BUT it may be my last!  I'll save the recipe for you...and I wish I could teleport some wedges your way.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"American Indian"
by Heide Browne
pastel,   18 x 25
$200

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

I like to enjoy the holiday decorations as long as the fresh greens stay fresh.  Then when I take them out I redo some of my accessories instead of just putting things back where they were.  It gives a fresh start to the new year. 

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

Strauss "Gypsy Baron"
by: Heide Browne
mixed media
22X 28
$250

STORY OF THE WEEK:

THE WHITNEY CHRONICLES  -  "PUMPKIN AGAIN", PART ONE

Hi Glenda,
Happy Holidays!  Just wanted to share this year's pumpkin story with you.  Yesterday I got up determined that this would be the day I "dealt with the pumpkin"...Somehow this Halloween pumpkin dominates my life until I cook it...I can't seem to just throw it on the compost pile...it must be eaten!  And I have torn out a wonderful recipe from a design magazine...it's a complicated recipe (at least for me)...but the photo of "Crusted Pumpkin Wedges with Sour Cream" looks scrumptious...
now to turn a large, hard as a rock pumpkin into perfect wedges requires a power saw...but a serated knife with a threateningly large blade will have to do and as thoughts of a trip to the emergency room loom...I force  the tip of the blade into the pumpkin and try to cut it open.  It's not possible, the knife just stays stuck.  I heave it out and try again.  No luck.  But help is on the way, Heide comes into the kitchen with an offer of help, so we both arm ourselves with  knives ready and thrust  them into the pumpkin, trying to slice it open.  After much struggling, we get it open and split into  two big sections...not perfectly shaped, not symmetrical, not even halves...but open.   Then we begin to remove all the "gunk" of the seeds and strings that fill the middle...a real sticky mess.  Lots of scraping and pulling.  Now to try to make uniformly shaped "pumpkin wedges" that look like half-moons.     Not possible.  I try and try, and finally settle for any size slices that I can carve  that  resemble curved wedges.    This is very hard work, takes strong muscles and perseverance   and it is not made any easier by the fact that I "saved/stored" this pumpkin from Halloween until mid-December.  It is drying up, so the "wedges" do not look  like half moons, but rather brand New Moons... very slim "wedges".
And to backtrack, I forgot to tell you that since  I seem to be so worried about facing  this beast that looms over my head, rather than clearing the decks and planning nothing else to do on "pumpkin"  day except attack this pumpkin...instead I start a load of washing that needs to be tended, with slippers that have to be removed before the spin cycle...and I roll the kitchen island away from the wall by the stove, out into the middle of the room, remove everything that is stored on it's top and  shelves...and those cannisters,  the wok, pots and pans and mixing bowls fill the top of the kitchen table and half of the kitchen counters...so everything that was neatly tucked away has now escaped all over the kitchen.  Then I'm faced with cleaning the walls behind the island and the floor under the island...an unpleasant task as I try to determine what those green blobs are...(old spinach leaves)...I  then question my "thought I was a good housekeeper"  house cleaning capabilities.  Then I spy the dishwasher (which is blocked by the island and which we don't use on a daily basis) and decide to send through a load of glasses and vases, so they will sparkle for the holidays.  While removing them all from  the shelves above the sink and filling the dishwasher, I decide that the cups that hang from these shelves also need washing, so I fill the sink with hot soapy water and put all the cups into it.  Now the other side of the kitchen is completely  filled with a variety of  projects that will require my time and attention.   And I remember that last year when I "transformed" the pumpkin I chose to do it on the day when plumbers were installing a new hot water heater and I had no water during the "pumpkin process".  Deja vu...how have I managed to re-create another  almost impossible situation?  Heide walks into the kitchen,  and I know she is thinking "not again!".  But she lends a hand.
And I realize that maybe, just maybe the terror that this pumpkin causes me, spins me out of control and causes  me to try to distract myself...Not a good plan...Where is the motto "one thing at a time", which  especially should be applied  if the One Thing is a big one! Self-realization has come, but not before I have completed wrecked the kitchen. 
And  the pumpkin is slashed wide  open... so I must proceed ahead... the  crusted wedges must be conquered!

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

When I am hanging artwork I try to remember to install those small rubber bumpers on the bottom corners on the backs of the pictures.  Especially when I am hanging a large grouping, these little bumpers help keep the pictures from getting crooked.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"African Face"
(one in a series of three)
14 x 14
Pastel on suedecloth
$200

NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP:

When planning window treatments, I find it very helpful to study the antique, historical  window treatments, to understand the proportions.  Then I can tell  how best to adapt swags and valances to modern window sizes.  Many styles are hard to adapt since they were designed for single, tall windows and we have many wide, shorter  windows now ....but it is possible to design them with the grace and beauty intact.

STORY:

This Thanksgiving I made a very fast  trip to visit friends in Cincinnati and I had a wonderful time and I will write  the stories when I have recovered from the traveling!  The hardest thing about holidays is that we all still keep working hard right up to those holiday  and right after them.  Maybe our New Year's resolutions need to be made now...to make more time and space for ourselves during these holidays?!

PICTURE:

"Serene River"
oil pastel,  22 x 28
by Heide Browne

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:
Built-in bookcases around and over a doorway  can look wonderful and be very functional...or even forming a nook for the sofa...and a single shelf placed aprx 7 feet high, running around the entire room or on one wall,  really does create  a lot of space for books and  great space for displaying decorative collections.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

I promise to include two stories in an upcoming week's post.    A Thanksgiving trip  and a condiminium installation have completely filled my week....and I am thankful for both!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"String Theory"
22 x 28 metallic pen
by: Heide Browne
$500

WEEKLY NEWSCAST

DESIGN TIP OF THE WEEK:

I've just finished a second high-rise condominium project and I've found that when working in high rise buildings, paint colors change from one floor to the next.  A gray will look greener on the ground floor due to the trees and grass reflecting the light that comes into the windows and five  stories up the very same gray will look blue since the light is reflected from the sky with nothing but blue outside. 
And dark colors can appear darker since most buildings have covered balconies which lower the light levels in the rooms.  So it takes some adjusting from working in ground level homes.

STORY OF THE WEEK:

From "The Tales from Twin Chimneys"  written in the 90's when I lived out in the country with two other city girls.

"TALES FROM TWIN CHIMNEYS  - A THANKSGIVING ESSAY"
by:  Beverly Anderson

     What am I thankful for this year?...for my romantic nature and my survival skills.  I am a city girl and I moved to the country with two other city girls.  This farm is called "Twin Chimneys" because of  two large, two story high,  hand hewned stone chimneys.  The house is 200 years old and sits on twelve acres with two ponds, a gazebo, and a barn.  It is an idylic setting in rolling Tennesse hills.  A postcard kind of place.  Beauty and tranquility prevail...alas, so does a huge amount of grass mowing.
     So I am thankful for the gorgeous view, which I have enjoyed mainly from the seat of the John Deere riding mower.  I am eternally grateful for each time this ancient mower coughs its way around the yard. It is not so much the physical work I mind, but the enormous mental and emotional energy required to try to "will" this machine over these acres and keep air in all four of it's tires at the same time, to provide some cushion as I am jolted over these "gentle? rolling hills".
     I am also thankful for the far pasture where our neighbor keeps his cows and I am very grateful that he mows these acres himself.  The pasture also serves as a cemetery for a beloved fourteen year old Siberian husky, Tisha, and a cherished thirteen year old tortoise shell colored cat, Bear.
   I am thankfor for my friend's six year old grandson, Robert who sang at cat Bear's funeral...not a quiet, reverent "Jesus Loves Me", but a rousing rock version, self-composed, of "Bear was a Good Old Cat...SHEEE was the best cat we ever had."  This was fully choreographed with wild arm swinging and dancing.  Several verses were sung at the gravesite while our third roommate who was sick that day, watched through the closed kitchen window, no audio available.
   For all the remaining dogs, cats, fish, birds, cows and horses I am thankful.  I am NOT thankfull for the snakes.  I AM thankful that almost all of the holes in the old log walls have been plugged...snakes slithering along the entrance floor do not add to my piece of mind, nor do they increase the chances of my two friends continuing to live in this "idylic" countryside with me.
     I am thankfor for the pioneer spirit still alive in us modern American women, although we never planned to discover it.
     For all these happenings, for the space to experience them on this beautiful land, for the clear sunlight shining off the calm water in the pond and through the brilliantly colored fall leaves, I am thankful.
     I am blessed by it all.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

"Energy, Oil and Silver"
22x30
metallic pen, by Heide Browne
$450.00