Gimme Chock-o-late!!!!!!!

After lunch today, I got a BIG craving for chocolate. I have some dark chocolate in the freezer to make a Cake in a Mug. I got the recipe from Ruthie’s Cooking Corner on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ClaireMcjunkin. It was calling to me!

Ruthie happens to have been my mother’s best friend. Their friendship went back 60 years, until my mother passed away. Ruthie just recently celebrated her 91^st birthday. I remember Ruthie like yesterday. Seeing her on YouTube is a treat!

Her father was my surrogate grandfather. Not having known either of my grandfathers, I was attached to Grampa Bax like icing on cake! He had the best laugh and was always telling stories, and going sunbathing in the winter! He gave me a silver dollar for the day my daughter was born and I kept it for years until it quietly disappeared. I might not have the dollar, but I have my memories of Grandpa Bax.

Ruthie’s daughter, Claire, and I still keep in contact after all these years. Thank goodness for the Internet!

I got through my chocolate craving and didn’t eat the frozen goodie right out of the wrapper. I am, however, going to share with you Ruthie’s recipe for the Cake in a Mug. And tomorrow I’m going to share with you my mother’s Shortbread Cookies, which Ruthie shows on Episode 3. I was so proud to hear Ruthie mention my mother’s name - Mary Begle – and have made those cookies that I remember so well many times.

Enjoy!

PS--After many trials, I put the mug in the microwave for only 2.5 mins. That way, the chocolate comes out nice and gooey. Yum! Yum!

Check out our Sri Lankan wedding photography, travel photography, portrait photography, female photographers, commercial photography at our website at: http://www.shadetreeSL.com

© ShadeTree Productions

Saying Goodbye

When my friend Madhuri told me she and her family were leaving Sri Lanka to go live in the US, I burst out crying. Over time, Madhuri and I spoke 2-3 times a week. We’d go over to her apartment to play Xbox bowling with her 8-year-old son. She always cheered me up with her in-your-face laughter. Her husband, Pierre, cracked me up - always!

They left on Thursday and whatsapp’d this morning to say they had landed and that it was strange to be surrounded by people who had American accents. I’ll look forward to skyping with her and hearing about them finding a place to live, getting schools for the kids and dealing with grocery shopping in stores that have absolutely everything!

But I’ll miss her smiling face and Pierre’s, funny, weird remarks. The kids, too, I’ll miss. Lots!

Madhuri and me bonding, as always!

Madhuri's great smile!

Pierre and me. In a calm moment!

Louis (left). So cute!

Amaya climbing her Auntie Lucy!

Amaya, flirting!

Louis, goofing!

Check out our Sri Lankan wedding photography, travel photography, portrait photography, female photographers, commercial photography at our website at: http://www.shadetreeSL.com

© ShadeTree Productions

Night Action!

What a night last night! First it started out with Toby catching a baby mongoose in the garden and shaking it, then dropping it when Lipton yelled ‘NO!’

The mother mongoose was nearby, but she escaped under the garden gate. Toby was relegated to sitting on the veranda while Lipton kept checking the baby, who was turning in circles; confused, Lipton said.

Then two mocking birds made a loud fuss. And an owl lighted on the electricity wires and sat there, as if watching the melee below. It's the first time we've seen an owl here. So cool!

It was so dark that I couldn’t see a thing, but Lipton’s eyes are better than mine and he saw the mama mongoose sneak back into the garden to check on her baby. Minutes later, the two of them streaked out underneath the gate and were gone. The owl was still observing.

I wished that I had a night vision camera!

About 10 minutes later, 5 rather large polecats slunk along the garage rooftop toward Lipton’s room – or the roof just above it! Finally we had proof that it was polecats that make the racket in the ceiling at night. Drives Toby crazy!

Oh, and I forgot the bat. While the baby mongoose drama was going on, a bat flew into the house and Lipton (certainly not me!) had to whoosh it back out the front door and then quickly shut the door! Second night in a row for the bat!

I normally don’t sit outside at 7PM, and had no idea there was so much nighttime action going on in the garden. I think I’ll sit outside at that time more often. Much more entertaining than TV!

Polecat. Looks like a big rat to me!

Mongoose and Polecat photos are from the internet.

Check out our Sri Lankan wedding photography, travel photography, portrait photography, female photographers, commercial photography at our website at: http://www.shadetreeSL.com

© ShadeTree Productions

In Their Face – Portraits

My favorite photo to take is of a person. Landscape photography is gorgeous, yes, but to me, there is nothing as great as to see inside your subject and capture it in the camera.

Lipton Jayawickrama and I are such a good team when we take portraits. Sometimes he sees the best light, sometimes I do. Sometimes he can get the subject in the right mood, sometimes I do. I have a trick to bring out the inner secrets of my subjects. And only they know what that ‘trick’ is. I learned it from my voice coach when I was performing my poetry. He made me dig deep, deep, deep and be okay with showing it to him. Not all people are prepared to dig deep, especially for a photo shoot, but somehow I can make it happen. So can Lipton; but he has his own technique.

Sometimes it’s just a natural connection between photographer and subject. And trust. It’s magic.

That’s what I love about portrait photography.

Here are some of Lipton and my portraits. Enjoy!

Check out our Sri Lankan wedding photography, travel photography, portrait photography, female photographers, commercial photography at our website at: http://www.shadetreeSL.com

© ShadeTree Productions

Flowers Galore!

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to the Farmers’ Market, located at Water’s Edge. I love Farmers’ Markets. When I lived in California, I went to the Farmers’ Market every Friday. It got so I knew who grew organic veggies and fruit, and I came to know many of the farmers by name. So much nicer than going to the grocery store! This market, though, has mostly plants – like a huge plant nursery!

I went with Lipton and two of his female friends. As soon as we got there, the sky dumped a torrent of rain on us. We took refuge under one of the marques. As usual, a rain-burst in Sri Lanka only lasts a short time and soon I was out looking for the exact flowers for my garden. A sweet, short rainbow helped guide my way.

My garden is lovely, but full of green with just a small a dab of color. I want to see some big splashes of color and so I was drawn to some cheerful zinnias. I love zinnias. My mother had a coffee can full of zinnia seeds when we built the house I grew up in. She tossed the entire can to the wind out in the back of the house. Eventually the hillside was a blast of color. I loved her carefree gardening. I’m not so carefree, but I do love colors as she did.

So, arms loaded with new zinnia plants, we brought them home where they await the ‘perfect’ spot to be planted!

Yellow is such a cheerful colour!

Love these pink ones!

Check out our Sri Lankan wedding photography, travel photography, portrait photography, female photographers, commercial photography at our website at: http://www.shadetreeSL.com

© ShadeTree Productions