Beans, Bears, and Peanuckles... oh my!

Oh my… weeks sure do go by quickly! Here’s a super quick look at the highlights… 

I enjoy messing around with recipes and adding my own little twists. This week I wanted to use the last half of the bag of Royal Corona beans I had left from my last Rancho Gordo purchase. (Rancho Gordo is a purveyor of Heirloom beans… each variety that I have tried has been AMAZING! Definitely not your grocery store dried bean.) The Royal Cordona is a HUGE bean that is so yummy and creamy once cooked. I initially used this recipe (with minor adjustments) when I cooked a batch a couple of months ago. Now it was time to relook at the recipe and make a few changes that I had made note of the last time I made it, plus use some extra ingredients I had in the fridge. It’s fairly quick to put together… especially if you have an Instant Pot to cook the beans in! (I posted my version of the recipe in my recipe box for easy printing.) It was a FANTASTIC meal!

Shrimp with White Beans, Sausage, & Arugula

About mid week I got VERY HAPPY mail… I finally received my “reward” for a Kickstarter that I supported… BEARS vs. BABIES!!! I backed another fabulous game a couple of years ago by the same creators, called Exploding Kittens. I know this new game is going to be a big hit too. I coerced Norm to play a round with me, and even on the very first try it was a blast. I’m looking forward to playing in a couple of days with both of my daughters when they’re home for a brief visit! 

Fun in progress!

I was hoping to work on a LOT more art than I actually got to this week… but at least I took some time to work on the Diva Challenge #325 by guest blogger, Jessica Davies. She challenged us to play with the tangle, Peanuckle, by Molly Hollibaugh. This is a tangle that I have only used a couple of times, and I wanted to explore using it a bit differently than I had previously. I really enjoyed "Peanuckling aRound" with this exercise… Thank you, Jessica!

Diva Challenge #325, "Peanuckling aRound"

I used a Tombow Mono Drawing Pen for this tile that I received from Tombow to test. WOW! I used the 01 and boy did I love the feel of the tip as it tickled the tile... easily transitioning from very fine to slightly bolder lines as you can see in the texture of my tile. The pen weight felt a little lighter in my hand than the Micron. The ink is a deep black, and dries quickly to avoid smudging and streaking. The ink flowed steadily and it made it easy to achieve crisp, precise lines. I really like that the top of the pen (the cap) has the nib size embossed on it. I'll still be able to quickly see the size at a glance, even after months of use. I've always loved my Microns and Copic MultiLiners... now there is a NEW pen to add to the group of favorites!

I’m looking forward to the week ahead! I hope that your week brings you happy moments and time to create.