Monday 22 February 2021

Random Ramblings :: A Lockdown Valentines

Hi there everyone πŸ˜ƒ

For the last few years we’ve tried to do something special on Valentine’s Day. Last year we had a short break in Windsor, in 2019 we had a day out at Clumber Park and in 2018 we went out for lunch and did some antique shop mooching.

This year was a bit different ... with no excursions on the cards ... though we did have a go at something new.

Remember the Art Class in a Box I treated myself to with my Christmas money ...

Well ... last week I finally unboxed it all and had a good look at what was included ...

Then Martin and I had our first go at painting since leaving school many moons ago ... 
We completed a practice tutorial and both of us really enjoyed having a go ...

We didn’t have anything planned for Valentine’s Day other than a meal for two for £15 from Tesco. The weather was a bit rubbish so we decided to have a go at the first of the projects in the kit ...

It was a moonlit forest and we started with a colour washed sky, with a lifted moon ...

We then added a smattering of stars and a pine forest before finishing with a final colourwash in the foreground ...

After peeling away the Washi tape we were both quite impressed with our efforts, though they were a little different ...

I was so excited that I commandeered a frame from the lounge just to see what it looked like ...

I think I might just be a little bit hooked and am already imagining this year's Christmas cards.

We’d both really enjoyed having a go ... it was a really relaxing way to spend an hour or so and we are both really looking forward to having a go at the next project ... which looks a bit trickier. I couldn’t resist having another play though ... just with a simple graded wash background with some hydrangea flowers from the garden that I pressed last autumn ...

Our Tesco meal for two wasn’t quite as planned ... our starter, our main, one of our sides and our dessert were all substituted πŸ™ˆ. I have to say though ... whoever had been picking and packing didn’t do badly at all.

Our starter should have been a Smoked Salmon and Watercress Tartlet and we ended up with Smoked Salmon Sliced Crescents ...

Our main should have been Pesto & Parmigiana Breaded Chicken, accompanied by Leeks, Petit Pois & Cabbage and Dauphinoise Potatoes. We actually ended up with Chicken Parmigiana, Petit Pois, Leeks & Pancetta ... we did get the Dauphinoise ...

for dessert we should have been eating Millionaire’s Tarts ... we actually ended up with Chocolate & Orange Cake Slices ...

The prosecco was as it should have been.

Overall it was all very tasty and hardly any effort to put together at all.

We spent our evening watching Dancing on Ice, wondering what on Earth they will do if anyone else drops out, followed by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Oh ... and this little fella appeared ...

An all together fairly relaxing kind of day πŸ’œ

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2 comments:

  1. You both did well with your paintings & the background for your pressed hydrangea petals is just what they needed. Can't imagine getting a meal like that out here from a supermarket. They just have the frozen meals in the freezer aisle & anything delivered is only pizza etc. Dancing on Ice, something we've not been getting even on pay TV for years now & of course I love it, having been an ice skater myself. Thanks for sharing your Valentine's Day, take care & hugs.

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  2. Ah thank you ... we’ve had a go at the second project now so hopefully I will share that soon. I guess we are quite lucky then with our supermarket delivery options. Dancing on Ice resorted to a best of the last ten years show this week as they lost another skater, this time a pro, to an injury ... hopefully normal service will resume next weekend. Well done you on being an ice skater ... I can just about make it round a rink without falling over πŸ˜ƒ

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Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog. I love to hear what people think about what Martin and I have been up to.