Rain, some creativity, and more rain...........

It is raining. It is 2C. It feels like mid winter.

The dogs survived the fireworks, although there was a time when Dougal, the little one, was treating the house as a race track and hurtling around bouncing off furniture and the walls. This was with the TV up loud, all the curtains closed and the CD playing in the kitchen at the same time. Humph just sat calmly next to me and behaved. I do believe the thunder jacket idea which several friends have mentioned would be a good route to follow for future years.

Anyway, about an hour after the big display down at the bottom of the village, over the road and far away, the heavens opened and no-one bothered to go outside and let off any more fireworks. Usually they go off for hours afterwards. So peace reigned, and I could untangle myself from the 8 doggy legs and crochet some stars.

Missy wants stars for her bedroom. "PINK, Moreglanny!!" I had to go and check how I made the last ones. The Grandma Twinkle tutorial is a delight, and so easy to follow. So out came the crochet hook and the balls of wool and off I went. I made quite a lot. About 40 actually. Then I decided that maybe other colours apart from the PINK, yellow and green would be better, so I have unearthed a white, lilac and blue collection to add depth to the string. I will string them on a long line, and then they can go above her bed. Or somewhere. I will need to see how many she needs, but it won't be anywhere near 40+. More like 10 perhaps. There will be an abundance of stars here - a Milky Way.

So this afternoon, as the rain buckets down, the dogs and I will crochet. Well, they will watch me.

My camera is there and I am here, or you would have some photos to go with this post. I will add some tomorrow. Once they are all done and ends woven in, I will pin them to a towel on the floor and starch them with spray starch. And then they will be ready.

I found my old camera so here we are with some photos at least!

A work in progress - I am playing with the little wooden shapes i found yesterday

I just walked through my workshop kitchen, and saw my tomatoes. I need to cook them today or they will have to be thrown out. So I will have to revert to the "kitchen" mode, not the carpentry one. Every surface is covered with stuff to create - anything but food, that is.

See? The counters are covered with non-kitchen stuff. And sawdust. And tools. And more works in progress.

Red and White..... I think they will all be red and white. I love the simplicity.

And even my chair is otherwise occupied. Nothing, may I add, is remotely near the finish stage. Paint the shapes, drill the holes, do the writing, spray varnish them all.....There is a lot still to do. And it takes time, because for some bits, I have to stand, and we don't do a great deal of standing here now, do we. 

Right. I have been to church, we have finished Job, and the word is "humble". So I am wet. And humble. And off to play with the dogs. Have a warm and happy Sunday!

Time for fireworks...................

It is fireworks time, even though it is not the 5th November and Guy Fawkes yet. Tonight is the village bonfire and firework display. So I am on my friend's computer with 2 dogs on my lap. I did say I would post every day!

The firework CD is still playing and it is on loud, and they are quite used to it now, but that makes zero difference when they see lights in the sky and hear bangs outside. And they needed to go out into the garden to relieve themselves, so were a trifle traumatised by that little expedition.

It is going to be a loooooooooooooooooooooooong night.

I was up and out early this morning to go to the Women's breakfast at the village church hall. Today the speaker was a delightful lady from Birmingham, who has a jewellery business, and her work has led to a ministry around the world, empowering women otherwise in bondage to start lives of their own. Amazing stuff. And she has started a charity which seems to grow every day as well. It is amazing where life in faith can take you.

So the hall was packed and it was a great way to start the day. Jean and I then headed over to the craft warehouse I told you about. I could not believe that she had never been there before. She has now and was so excited to find all the amazing things for card making etc. I got the pen I needed and some wooden shapes too. Bliss. And some ribbon.

Saturdays can be wonderful days.

It has been so cold, and there has been a biting wind today, but we are warm and toasty here in the dogs' house, and another friend popped round  for coffee this afternoon, and to collect coats for the travellers as they return from 30C temps to our mid winter ones. Annette and her husband are collecting them early on Tuesday morning and then it will be back to normal for me.

This is a really lovely laptop I am working on. I seem to remember encouraging Glynis to buy this model. I was particularly clever, it seems. It is a delight.

Where was I...........

I popped over to Jean's for an early supper. She happened to have a huge pot of chili and I was more than happy to help her dispose of it, but I had to race back to go and drop some things at home and then settle the boys before the bangs and wooshes and crackles started. The TV is up loud. The CD is on. This house is very noisy. |And still Doug is running around the place.

Time for curling up on the couch with them.

If you are in the UK, enjoy the fireworks!

Clothing a doll without a pattern is a challenging lark ............

Well, hello there......

Autumn continues to barrel along at pace here. The winds have almost stripped the trees of their leaves and, as I have said before, it is dark by 5pm, if we are lucky. Mostly earlier. Jean and I declared today was an "Out to coffee somewhere different" day, so we went across the valley to a little tea shop where we had wonderful coffee and free refills for £1, can you believe, and a breakfast baguette. Bacon and egg on a baguette. Paradise is across the valley.

There is a little interesting gift shop next door, so we wandered in to look at everything, and I got chatting with the delightful lady who owns it. We discussed bunting. It transpired that she is also a wedding planner and already has 6 weddings booked for next year. This could be interesting. And then I asked her if she was on Pinterest. What is that, she said.

Hah.

When we left 20 minutes later, she was signed up and browsing and the shop was running itself. She was SO excited. She may not be doing much else this weekend.

Now. Doll's clothes. I have no patterns but decided, how hard can it be. So I cut a pattern to fit a large doll and zapped it up roughly to see if the sizing was right.

You have no idea how deformed dolls are.

And how huge their hands and feet are.

Or the fact that their feet are at weird angles which require more space.

Or how out of proportion their heads are. The heads over which the pjs have to pass.

Effort #1 may have been a trifle large for Barbie.

So I cut a bigger pattern and made that up roughly. It looked huge.

The legs will not go on. The doll has FAT LEGS and feet which do not move.

So I made it even bigger. Put it on a table next to the doll and you think, oh, that is ridiculous.

No, it is not.

 It fits. The only trouble is that it fits the small doll I have here (with some room to spare in the pants department) and I believe Billy is larger. And obviously will have a larger head too. And I can't find any ribbing small enough to use in the stash, so I just made a large neckline. This pattern will require some modification, which will be including velcro fastenings down the front of the pj top. It will fit better if it does not have to contend with a massive cranium.

The ridiculously large pattern does not, however fit the large doll in residence. Even though the pattern looks huge enough to stuff a toddler into it with room to spare. All of a sudden, the very pricey doll's clothes in the shops are beginning to look like bargains, I tell you. I am better left making blankets. Or sleeping bags. Or things which do not require tiny hands to manipulate the fabric.

However, we are relaxing in the knowledge that Molly (aka the small one with the huge head and short fat legs) is now warm and toasty in the crib here at Moreglanny's house, and that half a newspaper has been used to make 3 sets of patterns which will need to be altered when Billy arrives, no doubt.

Life is all about having fun.

The boys do like snoozing....................

November arrives and NaBloPoMo begins.........

The aqua teacher came to find me in the changing rooms to see if I was OK today. Why? I was too quiet. I have lost my voice and can only croak. She would notice this because I am part of the noisy corner, you see. We have to screech and sing and make a noise as we dance in the water - multi-tasking on a mammoth scale, people.

Anyway, our corner was a little subdued today without me yelling "yeeha" at all available opportunities.

I feel as if a truck has run over me.

But I danced in the water albeit a little slower than usual, and now I want to curl up in a ball and have a nap. But I popped home to slap another coat of paint on the birds, and have a coffee and just be at home. And I have discovered that I have a hair appointment this afternoon. Perfect. Heaven knows I could do with a little pampering today.

I am old.

I am creaking.

Last night, we had an unbelievable rainstorm. I am used to rain. But this was something else. I thought the conservatory roof was going top be smashed to smithereens. You have no idea how much rain fell. You couldn't see anything. And it came and went for a while. The dogs were not thrilled. Neither was I. Jean was out in her car and she said she couldn't see the road ahead, even going at 15miles an hour.

However, it was just rain, and nothing like the weather the north east of the USA had to contend with when Sandy arrived. I have seen the photos and video footage. And that is really unbelievable. As my friend in NZ said, the storm was bigger than New Zealand. It would have wiped them all out. So to all of you who are cleaning up the mess, and trying to start rebuilding, I am sending an extra hug, because you will have heard enough platitudes by now. As long as you are safe, everything else can be taken care of. (A platitude, I know.)

I am waiting for the paint to dry so the final coat can go on. So help me, I have painted and sanded so much now - I need to do the decorating.

Can you believe it is already November? How did that happen? This is the month I usually try to do the NaBloPoMo thing and write every day. Hmmm. My 31 intentions sort of drifted. I may well manage something every day for November. Maybe I will give it a go. Now where is that badge thingy - hang on.....

Here we go. You can go here and get the link if you would like to join in. 

Missy called me a few days ago - "Moreglanny, I need your HELP! Billy needs pyjamas and he is cold and I NEED to make some on your sewing machine"....Ah, it is in the genes, my friends. My granddaughter wants to sew. Right. We can do this. I just need to make a quick patter and try it out before Missy barrels in the door with her cold dolly. It is not as big as Baby Annabelle and not as small as her other dolls. Hmmmm. Oh well. It will have elastic in the essential parts so who cares if the size is a tad big. I need to go and draw and cut. Forget the painting. This is MUCH more fun!

I will be back. Tomorrow. I have to. It is NaBloPoMo, don't forget!

31: Rudolph is not looking too good..............

We have had COLD weather, and that made me think of the coming months with a great deal of dread. I loathe the clocks going back and the early darkness, and I count down the days till December and the instant the days start getting longer again. And our clocks went back in the early hours of this morning. I could think in terms of a longer lie-in in bed, of course. However, the dogs have yet to learn to tell the time, so it was before dawn when I stumbled to the door to the garden to let them out. Sleep was illusive after that. 

I was planning to have a day on the couch today, because I found a quilt I made years ago, all pinned and ready to quilt, but then I realised I needed to get some food, or at least some ingredients to make a meal or 7 from home, so here I am. I will be heading back to the warmth very soon, believe me,. This house is not cosy right now. 

But while I was here, I added a coat to some of the things I have been making from wood. These are my first attempts at cutting out words. They are a little wonky, but I am rather pleased with myself, I have to say. 

I have also been trying to draw a very basic Rudolph face to put on the tags for the kids in Jackie's class. 

Well.

Hmmm

Maybe I will do stars instead. Even my simple snowflake looked like an incorrect geometry problem. So I painted those tags red. I can change my mind. Red is good too. And it hides all sorts of problems. So then I ended up on Pinterest looking for how to pages. 

And then I gave up and made coffee. 

You can see the problem. 

So, I think I will go and quilt and ignore the pile of tags awaiting my attention. It is Sunday. A day of rest, after all.

I hope you are all warm and cosy in your homes, and to my friends in the path of the megastorm - keep safe.

31: Creating, creation...........

It took a while, but just look at the lovely trees at the top of the road!I walked round the corner yesterday with my camera, because we are due to have strong winds and arctic temps this weekend, and I know all the leaves will be gone in a flash. Oh, how I love the colours!

Just SO beautiful. And I want to focus on something beautiful in this moment, because today is the day the hospitals have to respond to my case. I have just had a call from the lawyers to say the response crash landed on their desk with 51 minutes to spare from the deadline set by the judge. They will speak to me next week when they have had time to assess it all. So many prayers would be a huge blessing for me, if you are so inclined. (I wrote this on Friday and then forgot to post it! )

I was so tempted to kick the leaves and make them swirl around, but they looked like a golden carpet, and I just let my eyes drink it all in.

Each leaf has its own story. 

I wonder what it is. Was. 

Isn't this tapestry that nature created here for me to see an example of what one day we will see? All our lives, so individual, a part of the plan God has? Every unique leaf, every single person, part of a divine plan? I have this vision of a huge patchwork quilt, or a tapestry, or a puzzle, with every stitch made by different people, and individually not very special, but together, something of unspeakable beauty. Something which will take our breath away. One day. We will all slot into our assigned places. 

I am so curious, though. 

A Creator made the heavens and the earth. The ultimate example of creativity. The Father of all Creation. 

How can anyone beat that? 

I created life when I gave birth to my three children. Well, not me alone, of course, but I gave birth to my sons and daughter. I carried them for 9 months. And in their births, I survived the pain (without meds or epidurals in those days)(there was much breathing and walking)(and muttering), and out of that pain came the greatest joys of my life.  I have loved and cherished them. I guided and supported them. And then I watched them fly. I still watch. My greatest creations. How could a quilt or anything my hands put together compare to something which was knitted together inside my body? Miracles. 3 of them. 

And each of them takes their place somewhere in that tapestry the Creator is working on as I speak.

When you start thinking about creating something, it is amazing where your thoughts wander, isn't it?

31: Creativity...............

I have been thinking about creativity. Warning: philosophical post ahead......................

You know, without a creative spirit, we cannot function in any sphere. Everything we do every day involves creativity.

We rise from a bed, in a room, in a home where the furniture is arranged how we like it to be. The walls are painted the colours we have chosen.

We choose our clothes for the day and accessorise them so we look good, or appropriate for what we are going to be doing. (Believe me, I am not looking good when I crawl into the gym. No make-up, hair on end. Groan. I do, however, look better when I emerge. And I am usually red in the face too. An artistic extra.)

We think about and make meals which are put together with great creativity. Especially when one forgets to defrost anything..

We wash and clean our clothes and home. And ourselves. Bubble bath? A creative choice.

We plant a garden and tend it.

We shop for essentials (and non-essentials)

We work at jobs which, in all spheres, require initiative.

Initiative. Another word for creativity.

We entertain in homes with candles and set tables and cushions arranged on a sofa the way we like them.

We arrange stick flowers in a vase.

We entertain our toddlers.

We encourage our kids.

We suggest paths for our teens, we support our students choices.

We then help to arrange weddings, we embrace and play with our grandkids.

We write letters.

We plan Christmas.

We play sport.

We make snow angels.

We go on diets.

We balance finances. Or not.

We sing in church.

We bake cakes.

We write........

See? Everything we do, automatic or not, requires our creative spirit to be exercised.

I know people who say "Oh, you are so lucky you are talented. I am not at all creative." And that is what set this train of thought in motion. You ARE creative, even if you think you are not. We have all been given talents of one sort or another, and you see, this is where it is important to realise that none of those talents, be they speaking, doing, running, whatever, can happen without creativity. And a lot more, of course, like grit, determination, and a whole lot of acquired knowledge. But creativity is key.

Choices. Options. Decisions. All involve creativity. Sure, I spend a lot of my time making things. A hobby, born of necessity and then fed by the desire to give things made by me to my family and friends. A personal touch. I am not an expert, as I said in the beginning of this series. I keep things simple, and that is how I like it. I discovered something that filled me with delight, and that is what I like about playing with fabric, wool and wood. Jack of all trades. I can do a little of everything. I try, you see. I like to try new things. To find out if I get that wonderful sense of satisfaction when they work out. Euphoria, at times. Just ask my Mum what I was like when I made the "Warm and Cosy" gifts last year. I was on a real high, and the laughter that engendered was wonderful.

But sometimes they don't work out. I make a creative choice to abandon a project. Then I move on to new pastures.

Some people can't read maps. So they buy a satnav. A creative solution to a problem. All day, every day, we are confronted with things which need us to make choices, to find solutions. To be creative, only we don't realise that creative element. Fear, of course, gets in the way at times. Fear of failure. But if you don't try, you will never know what might have been.

Often, when people pop in for coffee, they spend ages taking in the seasonal changes here. It is fun for me to see, and they seem to delight in it. There are always smiles. Sometimes, they may think I have gone a trifle overboard, (or that I am crackers) but in general they all love it. And sometimes, they go away and start looking for little touches to add to their own homes. And that creative section of the brain goes into overdrive. But it is more than just "stuff", you see. It is the atmosphere I have tried to create, which is important. Atmosphere is how we get to feel comfortable in our homes, and that feeling wraps itself around people who walk in the door.

It is not about spending money or stuff. It is all about how we make great use of the creativity we are born with. How we embrace the fact that we ARE creative. We CAN learn more. We CAN do things. Big things. Small things. Using gifts we may not yet have fully discovered.

Last night, it was house group here at my home, and one of the girls arrived early, and nothing could have pleased me more than when she made a nest among the cushions, tossed off her shoes, curled up on the couch and wrapped a blanket over her legs. She was comfortable. At home. And yes, I DID SWITCH ON THE HEATING! So it wasn't because she was cold.

I asked.

For the past 6+ years, I have been creative in ways I would never have known or learned about without the train of events that happened, happening. Every sphere of my life has been challenged. I have acquired skills I never knew I may need.  Some I never wanted to acquire at all. I have made choices, good and bad, with good and bad outcomes. I have kept learning, oh, Lord, have I ever kept learning. Kept trying. Kept grinning. Kept on going. Even when the challenges have been overwhelming. Just trying. Hey, I even learned how to crochet, remember! And it has been so hard at times, and yet, looking back, so immensely rewarding, because, so far, I have always emerged from out of the maelstrom. So far.

Find a way out. Find a solution., Find  help, if necessary. Make plans. Break plans. Hurt and be hurt. Love and keep loving. Make something out of nothing. Believe. Keep faith. Hope.

We are studying Job at church, and it has been a wonderful time of learning. Today, for some reason, I have kept singing "It is well with my soul" constantly. Oh. how I love that hymn. So I went to Youtube to find a version I could sing with and found this one. (I have been singing it loudly ever since.) I read the words under the video, which led me here and I thought about the waves which had washed over Horatio Spafford, how like Job he had been, and the word HOPE is the one which keeps sitting front and centre of my mind. My soul.

Hope.

With hope, we keep alive. We keep moving. We keep doing. And in the doing, we are being unconsciously creative. I am used to saying  "I will make a plan." I will find a way. I will make it happen. I can do it. If I can, you can. (I wish you could hear me belting out that hymn as I tap away on the keyboard here. It speaks for my soul.)

I am just grinning at the thought that my epitaph could read - "I will make a plan". Hmmm. Creative till the end. (Not that I am planning an end in the next few decades, I hasten to add.)

So, enough of the philosophising for the moment, although I may yet return to the subject. So far, this has taken hours to put together. So who knows. Maybe I will go and be creative now and start drawing some patterns to paint on all those tags awaiting my artistic endeavours in the kitchen. After I feed the dogs.

31: More painting and more garden hacking.....

It is another grey day here in Middle England, and I am just back from aquazumba and about to start on another coat of paint. I unearthed some of the tags I made for Christmas 2006 and here they are.

I neatly wrote "Christmas 2006" on the back of them, so I can't give them away, so I suspect the whole lot will be on the tree this year. That will get them out of my wood cupboard! And they will be cheery additions to the overloaded tree. Remember when I launched myself onto the tree last year? We will not be having a repeat performance this year. Sigh. I do love Christmas decorations. I have not decided what design the 26 for Jackie will be yet. I will check what she wants. That would be an excellent place to start.

I had to shift all the tomatoes out of the way - these are the last of this year's crop and when they are ripe enough, they will be cooked and frozen too. Not long to wait. I need the counter space! And I will worry about freezer space when Glynis comes home.

It is amazing how much space wet paint on wooden things needs. And, after putting them down on newspaper and having it stick to the tags, I have used greaseproof paper for the second coat and it works well. No sticking. I sanded them all after the first coat, and will again, after the second, because it leaves a lovely smooth finish, which makes decorating and writing that much easier.

I don't think I showed you the autumn bunting on the screen at the front door, did I? It always makes things cheerful, and heaven knows we need cheering up in the greyness which surrounds us. It is not that cold. Just grey. Miserable.

My pink dahlias have mutated into white and pink dahlias. So pretty, and they certainly brighten things up a great deal.

I cannot for the life of me, get my printer to work. The new one. I plugged it in after the endless trouble with the wireless feature that I told you about, and still nothing makes it go. I will have to get a techy friend to do something to it. SO frustrating. You know, I am quite sure I could fix it, but I am at the stage where I just don't want to. Can't. Feeble. Yes. I know. This is superwoman speaking. I have lost the super powers at the moment and I think they only come out with the sun. And the sun is AWOL.

I suddenly remembered that today is the last collection day for the garden waste until spring, so I have been hacking and yanking away in the garden. The bin is now so full and heavy that it hardly moves. And the garden still has a lot to be done in it, but that can go in the composter or sit until spring. I am done. It is cold out there. I haven't cut back the lavender yet - I must check with Jean about what to do with it. She has the most amazing lavender hedge. Well, it is a row of enormous bushes and just stunning. But right now she is somewhere in Turkey exploring.

I am now off to iron another 5 metre length of binding. More bunting. Ros and I were saying that we could go into business - our bunting is superb.

Happy Thursday to you all!

31: Christmas (fruit) cakes...........

Fruit Cake recipe

Here you go, ladies - this is the Christmas cake recipe I make. When I make one. There are other really gorgeous cake recipes where you buy the fruit separately and I remember my mother laying trays of fruit out in the sun to dry, but I love this one.

1 and a half pounds of mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants etc)
I lb dates (chopped and stoned)
half lb cherries
half lb walnuts
half lb butter (I use marge)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 heaped cups flour -plain
4 eggs
1 teasp bicarb (baking soda)
2 teasp mixed spice
half teasp ground ginger
quarter teasp cinnamon
quarter teasp nutmeg
quarter teasp cloves (ground)

Cook all the fruit except the cherries and nuts with butter and sugar and 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. In very large pot (I mix the whole cake in this pot)
Allow to cool.
Add cherries and nuts.
Dissolve bicarb in one cup water.
Sift all dry ingredients.
Add eggs to mix, then bicarb, then dry ingredients.
Mix well and pour into greased lined pan.
I roll up newspaper and tie it around the outside of the cake tin as well.
Bake at 180C (350F) for half an hour, then drop the temp to 160C (320F) for about 2 and a half hours.

Once the cake is out of the oven, and still warm, poke holes in the top of it with a skewer, and drizzle/pour brandy over it to soak in. You can do this every now and then from now till Christmas.

And nearer Christmas, out comes the marzipan and fondant and flood icing and creative stuff, and you decorate the whole thins. I used to make royal icing and using a wet palette knife, slap it on around the sides, so it made peaks, like snow.

Here is some more info

Christmas cake

And here is another recipe I use. Actually, I combine the two sometimes.

Double this recipe at Christmas.

1lb mixed fruit
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
quarter lb marge
1 teaspoon bicarb (baking soda)
1 teasp mixed spice
dash cinnamon

Mix all the above in a large pot and boil for 10 mins

Add 2 cups flour - plain
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 beaten eggs
cherries
2 pieces of chopped glace pineapple
2 pieces of chopped glace fig
chopped walnuts.

Greased, lined pan + newspaper and string around.
Bake at 180 (350F) for quarter of an hour and then 160C (320F) for 1 and a quarter hours.

Okay. I hope that makes sense. Try it - and enjoy!

31: A grey day.........

Today is grey. Damp. Foggy. Yuk. There is no horizon - just murk, and I am not at my best in murk. Glynis's washing line is approaching the Miss Haversham look - remember Charles Dickens? Cobwebs? Yes. That. The spiders have gone crazy out in the garden, and the washing line is a work of art.

It is much more impressive in real life - especially at night, but my feeble attempts at photographing it failed miserably, so you will have to use your imagination. The webs extend all the way to the plants behind it. Amazing. And just as well spiders don't bother me!

Everywhere you look, there are webs. Everywhere. Spiders are a creative lot, aren't they!

These are some of the leaves just outside my church. They definitely do their bit to brighten grey days, and we have been under the murk for 3 days now.

Anyway, last night, I sat with the green tray on my lap and watched TV with the dogs and sanded all 36 tags. Some are not as straight as one would wish, so I may do some trimming tomorrow, but they are all sanded. My right hand nearly fell off from all the exercise.

And today, after aqua - it was better today and I do still love our teacher, I started on the base coats of paint, so my kitchen is now decorated with an array of painting stuff.

This is a little stand for wet brushes which I think I got on a sale in Switzerland, and it is absolutely wonderful. No more tipping over of the yogurt pots, and once I start on a multitude of colours, I will need it to be secure and to hold all the brushes, so I am really pleased with it. A Bargain. And that is my plastic pot in it, instead of the strainer, because I didn't want to get the strainer dirty and the plastic pot won't fall over. I am prattling here, aren't I.......

The first coat is now done on one side, and maybe, when I get this finished, I will go and do the other side, if they are dry. And if I feel like it.

It is the fog. I blame that. I seem to move slower, do things more slowly and the spirits seem grey too. Do you feel the same in grey foggy weather? It just seems as though the world has lost most of its colour, and I don't like that.

Perhaps I should start painting something red. That would dispel the murk. I will put on the jolly music tomorrow when I come back to paint. And pick some of the yellow dahlias. And switch on the lights. That may work.

Paintbrush, brace yourself - here I come for Round 2..............