A Baker's Dozen of Full Moons ~ 2013

This year will see 13 full moons between January 27th 2013 and January 16th 2014, hence the baker's dozen. The next full moon is known as the 'Wolf Moon' and will be on January 27th 2013.

The Wolf Moon - Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

Full Moons are a frequently researched event. Regardless of the audience, be it scientist, housewife or farmer, everyone wants to know the date so that they can take advantage of the energy of the night. Full Moons are intriguing, mysterious and, in many ways, like a beautiful sunny day, only at night. Moon energy is used for banishing unwanted influences in your life, protection magic and divination.

It is said that the best Full Moon magic can be conjured for seven days: the three days prior to the Full Moon, the night of the Full Moon itself, and three days after the Full Moon. Sometimes the results of Full Moon magic can take approximately one moon cycle to take hold and come to completion.


Drawing Down the Moon

The Full Moon is the time to invoke the Mother Goddess at the height of her glory, this is when the ceremony called "Drawing Down the Moon" is performed. During this ceremony the energy and essence of the Full Moon is drawn into oneself, when done properly you will feel a heightened trance state combined with a power surge that radiates through your whole body. Traditionally this is only done within a protective circle.

Huevos a la flamenco (Andalusian flamenco eggs)

This traditional Andalusian meal is bursting full of healthy tomatoes and peppers and only takes a few minutes to prepare. It's a winner on a cold winters night and needs only a few ingredients to create this wonderful taste of Spain.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 red peppers finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
500g fresh tomatoes grated on a cheese grater (or a carton of tomato pasada)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
8 eggs
8 slices of serrano ham
8 thin slices of chorizo
1 Cup of frozen peas (defrosted and drained)
Chopped parsley to taste
Salt and pepper

Method

Prep: 15 mins | Cook: 10 mins

Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6.

Make a ‘sofrito’ by frying the onion and peppers slowly in the olive oil, when they’re soft add the garlic. Continue to fry briefly until the garlic releases its aroma then add the tomatoes and smoked paprika and fry the sofrito gently for 15 minutes.
Season to taste.
Divide the sofrito into 4 ramekins, break 2 eggs on top of each and place 2 slices of ham, 2 slices of chorizo and a handful of peas on top.

Bake the ramekins for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are set but still runny.

Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

My latest painting, however, my first portrait - Faith

FAITH

Welcome back to my blog and a new year. I have a feeling that 2013 is going to be an 'Arty' one !!!

This painting of my niece was a Christmas present for my brother. I really set myself a challenge because  although I've painted on and off for 35 years, this is my first ever portrait. It took six consecutive Sundays to paint, which amalgamated, is less than a week, but this was because of the medium I used, ALKYD fast drying oil.

Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour offers the excellent advantage of faster drying times compared to traditional oil colours. This means that the traditional oil techniques of both impasto and glazing can be done in considerably less time and a painting can be completed in a single session.

Because alkyd resin has physical properties that differ slightly from those of traditional oils, the pigment load is somewhat different as well. Experienced painters will notice slightly greater transparency compared to Artists' Oil Colour.

The most outstanding advantage of the Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour is the speed of drying.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5



Week 6 - finished