The quiet wonders

Hi Everybody!

Today is T Stands for Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog,

so a big welcome to all of the T gang -

and of course to everybody who visits today.

For Art Journal Journey, Gill's lovely theme of 'Nature's wonders', I

have another hybrid piece. The background is a very loose landscape painting I made with acrylics, just trying to give the impression without drawing or painting in details. I added Mr Umbrella Man, who like me, enjoys just standing somewhere watching what's going on. The birds were added with a stencil, and the horses, ship and fairy tale castle are digital add ons. The castle is a free image from June

And a quick reminder here that you still have a week to link your creations using book pages at TIOT

My drink today is - need I say? - cappuccino from one of my thrift shop mugs.

These are the spice bars I made last week, I have just eaten the last one - they keep well in a tin. (If you don't eat them beforehand!) Some people asked for the recipe, so here it is. I don't usually measure or weigh, so these measurements are all more or less!

400 grams flour

100-150 grams sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

I teaspoon of bourbon vanilla

1/2 - 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a good pinch of ground ginger

200 grams butter

1 egg

I pinch of salt.

Rub all the ingredients together, or mix them with a dough hook till they resemble breadcrumbs. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and press 2/3 of the crumbs onto it. Spread on a layer of jam (I used homemade apple, almond and cinnamon jam). You can also sprinkle some chopped or ground nuts onto it. If you like it spicy, sprinkle some more cinnamon and ginger over it.

Cover with the remaining crumbs, and bake at 180° for about 20-25 minutes. Decorate with dark chocolate melted and squeezed through a piping bag. Cut into bars when cold.

Enjoy!

I sometimes make a variation where I put a layer of crunchy peanut butter under the jam. This can lead to addictions!

I always enjoy my coffee on market day:

The market place is dominated by this bronze. Elizabeth thought recently it should perhaps be x-rated....

....so today I decided to show his other side - not bad, either!

We had a rainy weekend, with several rainbows in the course of the evening:

I enjoyed seeing the glistening spiders' webs today:

Thanks to those who sent get well wishes, I have a bronchitis just now, so need to take things easy for a few days.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks  a lot for coming by!