Friday, December 03, 2010

something artsy....

Wow! The fall just flew by and now it is winter here in Canada! I am kind of wondering what happened to November, because December is here and I just don't feel ready for it yet! I have no Christmas shopping done, nor do I have decorations up! i did make some pretty tasty mandarin orange marmalade with my mom yesterday, which felt pretty Christmasy.

Anyways, I haven't posted anything artistic on here lately, so here are some little art tidbits to tide you over~

The little raccoon is a watercolour card that I made for a friend, when she was going away to school. We worked together over the summer and sometimes dealt with baby raccoons and other wonderful wildlife.




The next one is a little pen and ink sketch. I like tofu, especially the custard flavoured dessert tofu, but I always get flack for it when people catch me eating it. I get a response like, "Eeeewww... that's disgusting!"
Well Mr. Tofu has something to say to you!



Enjoy December and just try some dessert tofu, would ya!?

Monday, October 11, 2010

dog day

Olive was pretty impressed by Jasper the dog's blog by a dog and she decided that she wanted to do a guest post on Knit Fish:

"Today mum and I went out into the world! We went to a place called Mount Doug.





I saw that a mountain is a thing what is full of nature and goes up and more up! I don't know who is doug, but he has BIG mountain!



At the top we could see the WHOLE WORLD I think!




I was so happy to see the world. It is bigger than I thought.



That is me beside the world. There is railing so we dont fall off doug's mountain and onto the world.



Sometimes on mountains there are sticks. This is very good stick!




This stick is good to chew. It has nice mountain smells.



I'm bring it, okay?



Leaving already? Lets see more world soon!"

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Fall imagery



Still no knitting... sorry, but my wrist is still battling with tendonitis or carpal tunnel or whatever you call it when your wrist gets all sore easily. But I have been playing with my new Canon Rebel DSLR camera and capturing some fall imagery.



Here on the West coast, we are enjoying some gorgeous fall weather. Warm sunshine, with just that little bit of crispness in the air.



The little puppy has grown into a big puppy, but we think she's still pretty cute ;-)



Hope you are all enjoying the loveliness that is fall!

Saturday, August 07, 2010

one more baby saved!



The SPCA paws for a cause fundraiser is coming up soon! This event is a major source of funds for the BCSPCA Wild Ark rescue, which helps rehabilitate cuties like this who have lost their moms as well as injured wildlife here on Vancouver Island.
The event is happening in 36 locations across British Columbia and supports the BCSPCA and its affiliates. Think about donating, or get some sponsors and be a part of the walk for a cause!

Monday, June 28, 2010

You asked for it!

Back by popular demand! The Wild Ark animal pics!



The other night we had a veritable zoo in the isolation room! This tubby little seal was amongst the overnight visitors. We love his fat little chin rolls. He was sleeping with his face up against the corner of the kennel he was in, so you can't see his eyes. The craziest thing was that he smelled exactly like the ocean: all fishy!



I don't want to spoil you with too many pics at once, so more to come another time :-) You can check out the SPCA Wild Ark website at www.wildark.com to learn more!!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

homemade is always better.... and not just knitting...



I love homemade pizza. I love it so much that I prefer it to take-out pizza any day! I've spent almost a decade perfecting my homemade pizza recipe and it is pretty awesome if I do say so myself! (and I do)
So I thought that some of you would perhaps like to try out my recipe for pizza success! NOTE: I use my breadmaker for the dough. If you don't have a breadmaker, you may want to try another recipe. OR you could try this one made by hand... I've never done it, so I can't vouch for it. You will want to check out other recipes for the basic dough making instructions. It takes the breadmaker 2 hours to prepare the dough, and it has a double rise. If making by hand, always *proof* the yeast for 5 minutes in warm water prior to adding to the dough, it should become nice and bubbly. If not, you need new yeast.


Nessa's Delicious Pizza Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
1. 1 1/2 cups beer (I prefer a nice amber or brown ale for a fuller flavour, but lager works too)
2. 1 1/2 tsp salt
3. 1 tbsp sugar
4. 2 tbsp olive oil margarine (or regular marg, but NOT oil)
5. 4 1/4 cups white flour (Health foodies won't like this, but after years of experimenting with both white and whole wheat crusts, we prefer white flour. It gives a lighter, fluffier crust than whole wheat)
6. 2 tsp yeast
7. A sprinking (maybe 1/2 tsp? herbes des provence)

Put all ingredients, in order of listing, into breadmaker. Choose dough setting and hit start. Remove dough after 2 hours (when dough is finished) and cut into three peices (We make 3 8.5"X8.5" pizzas with 6 slices each, you can also probably get two med-lrg pizzas out of this). Roll pieces into balls and cover with a light coating of olive oil. To do this, I put a bit of oil into the palm of my hand and rub it over my palms. I then rub the dough ball with my hands to lightly coat it. Place the dough into a large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Take the first dough ball and roll out thin (~1/2 cm) cover pan with 1 1/2 cm over hang of dough. Roll dough back onto itself to create a puffed up edge. You can also fill this with thin strips of cheese for a stuffed crust! YUM! Repeat the rolling process for all three.

Nice amber or brown ales add a full bodied flavour to the dough. Enjoy the rest of the bottle with dinner!

TOPPING:
Pizza sauce, I use spaghetti sauce for this, amount is dictated by preference really. I use about 1/4 large can of Hunt's four cheese tomato sauce. You can use whatever sauce you love. Layer bottom of pie with sauce, then a layer of chopped up fresh basil leaves. Top with whatever you like! For the top pizza, I did brown mushrooms, followed by some mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and yellow peppers, and a sprinkling of white Aged Canadian cheddar for extra flavour. The top was lightly sprinkled in Herbes des Provence before baking. I like to let my pizza sit for 15-20 minutes before baking them to get a nice fluffy crust. If you prefer a thinner crust, bake immediately after topping. Bake for ~25 mins in a 350 degree oven, broil two minutes until your cheese has nice golden flecks. Let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.

OTHER AWESOME TOPPINGS:
- diced onions on the sauce layer
- portabella mushrooms
- broccoli tops cut small
- veggie ground round (seriously, sooo good!)
- pepperoni (Jeff's fave, always put on top with a tiny sprinkle of cheese to get crispy pepperoni)
- olives
- sundried tomatoes
- feta cheese
- spinach (cut into small pieces and placed apart from each other)
- salami (see pepperoni instructions)
- all kinds of peppers (put them in the top layer, under a sprinkle of cheese to prevent soggy dough)
- artichoke hearts (under layer one of cheese)
- anything else you love!


Veggie ground round is delicious under a sharp white cheddar topping.

Monday, June 21, 2010

wild ark

another reason why I love my job...



The vet hospital that I work at is a drop off point for Wild Ark, an SPCA affiliated wildlife rescue foundation. So, we often get cute injured or orphaned wild life brought here until the lovely people at Wild Ark can pick them up. Here is a cutie that was brought in today. At first he was a bit sick looking, but perked up by the time Wild Ark got him. This little bird will be cared for until he is healthy enough to be released back into the environment.

Today is the first day I remembered to bring my camera, I will try to do it more often, because many photo opp's have been missed! We've had baby racoons, baby deer, ducklings, a baby heron, baby squirrels and injured seagulls to name a few...

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Don't you love Olives?




So for all of you who are a bit worried that this blog will turn into an "aren't my pets so precious??" type of blog... don't fear. I just haven't had much blog material lately, since the carpal tunnel in my hand keeps me from knitting and I have had my hands pretty full with the puppy, so drawing has fallen by the wayside. I will update with more art later, when I get time to make more art. The end of the art hiatus is in site...Olive is getting bigger, more well behaved and generally calmer. Tomorrow is her 2 week anniversary with us, or perhaps her 10 week birthday (we only have a guess as to which day she was born...) We are thinking she might have been born on, or very near, our anniversary, April 6th! This is kind of weird, because our cat, Roo, was also born on or near our anniversary. Completely unintentionally of course :-)



Anyways, I can't believe how much she has grown! When we got her she was so little that she could walk under the coffee table with ease; now she is about head level to the top of it, so she can check out what's on top with ease (note to self: do not leave knitting on the coffee table). Last week when I took her to the vet, she weighed 10 lbs, when we got her at 8 weeks, she was 6 lbs. I know she weighs more now... I wonder if it is four more pounds again? This week she has gained heel, leave-it, let-go, off, gentle and stay to her repertoire of skills. I think she is doing fabulously well, especially considering she is a puppy!




One of her favourite things is getting scratches all over. I love her fur! Her head fur is so soft and silky and her body fur is scrunchy and wooly. It is like sinking your fingers into a recently shorn lambs wool: so satisfying. You knitters out there will understand what I mean ;-)
She's lovely.

Friday, June 04, 2010

money can't buy me love?

Sorry John, you forgot about this...



This is Olive. She is our new 8 week old loveable mutt baby.
After almost a month of waiting and wading through the slow adoption process, not to mention about a years worth of pining for doggy love, we have finally welcomed a new puppy into our lives.



We got her through Rest Haven Rescue in Victoria BC. For those of you who are looking for a new bundle of love, she has about 8 brothers and sisters (some of whom are gone now, but I'm sure some are still available). The process is a bit involved, requiring an adoption application with previous pet history, a home visit to assess suitability and a good match, meeting the dog, then filling out the adoption agreement and payment and finally you can take home your bundle of furry love. Although the process can seem tedious, it shows that the wonderful people at Rest Haven really care about the animals they save and want to make sure they are going to the best forever home possible.




Olive is a love bug! She tries really hard to be a good puppy and we've already taught her to come, sit, and lets go (heel). She loves to chew but is learning which toys are acceptable and which are not (to her credit, she's only been with us for 2 days!!). She also has learned to have no separation anxiety. I am using Jan Fennell's book, The dog listener + 30 day guidewhich is amazingly simple, gentle and effective.

And just so Roo doesn't get jealous, yes, we love you too roo!



Tuesday, May 18, 2010

the owl and the pussycat giveaway contest!



The WINNER is ......

AMY!!!

Thanks to all who participated in this contest! I will probably do more in the future.
Amy please leave me your email addy in the comments and I will email you regarding your mailing addy.

~Nessa

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

random reminiscing



I've been thinking a lot about pets lately....
It could have something to do with the fact that I am working in a Veterinary hospital now... I'm around animals all day long. And not just animals, family pets, little furry family members. Some days are happy, like the day I came in to find a litter of puppies had been born in the night. Some days are sad, like when a sick animal dies.
It has made me appreciate my little furry baby so much more.



Love you Roo.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Win a fine art print!



Hey all!

In celebration of summer, end of term and finishing my program, I am pleased to announce my first ever contest!
If you leave your name in the comments and tell me why you like the Knit Fish blog, you will be entered to win a signed print of "the owl and the pussycat"!
The contest ends Sunday, May 16th.

The print is approximately 8.5" x 9.5" and is printed on premium quality glossy photo paper. The original was done in watercolours and black ink.

ALSO~ visit my online shop at coy1.etsy.com and recieve a 15% discount on all merchandise until May 16th, just write KNITFISHBLOG in the comments to seller and don't pay right away so I can add on the discount.



happy contesting!
~Nessa

Sunday, April 25, 2010

the owl and the pussycat



The owl and the pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea green boat.



This is an illustration I did for a good friend's 25th birthday. She loves the owl and the pussycat poem by Edward Lear.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Presenting Percy!



Percival thinks he's all that and a jar of Grey Poupon.



He can't stand commoners & prefers the company of other sophisticates, like Lady Fluffington VII.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Siamese Tea or Cafe au lait



Yet another one of my watercolours for the tea cards *NOW AVAILABLE* at Janet's Special Teas in Sidney BC!! I am also selling prints of this in my etsy shop.



Here is the caption:
"Oscar loves all things Parisien. He especially loves sitting in a cafe by Le Champs Elysees and sipping a cup of cafe au lait."

However, I'm sure Oscar could also be enjoying un tasse de thé.

I brought the cards to Janet's shop yesterday and before I had even left the shop, she had already sold one!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Dark Magnolia fine art print



One of my favourite paintings! Now available as a fine art print at my etsy shop

Check out the listing for more photos and some closeups of details.

Tea Cards & Fine Art Prints



Today I got a belated birthday present... a new all-in-one hp printer!!! I am so stoked! I immediately put it to good use.



I am now selling fine art prints inmy etsy shop!

These prints are of some watercolour and ink paintings I did. I have made them into cards which are also for sale at Janet's Special Teas shop in Sidney BC (well, they are going to be available there as of next week).





There are 6 tea designs in total (I'll post more later). I've also done some prints in the theme "gentle monster" which I will also post about later.



~enjoy

Saturday, April 10, 2010

happy 5!



On April 6th, J & I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that it has been five years already :-)
Here's the card I made for him. It is ink and watercolour on paper. It is supposed to be us, but he claims I am "too tall" in the picture and wanted to know why he was wearing an "orange thing" on his head. Um... dear... that's your hair and beard. Oh. Right.
However, all confusion aside, he absolutely loved it and it put a big grin on his whiskery mug, which really is what it's all about!

~V