Tuesday, 31 March 2020
Monday, 30 March 2020
Coconut Milk Rice Pudding
Classic rice pudding has been given a tropical twist with coconut milk !
INGREDIENTS:
330ml AYAM™ coconut milk
70ml of milk
150g round rice
70g of sugar
Cinnamon
METHOD:
Boil the milk in a saucepan.
When it boils, lower the heat and add the rice, sugar and cinnamon. Stir regularly. After 20 minutes, pour half of the coconut milk into the rice.
When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and pour in the remaining coconut milk.
Keep in the refrigerator to cool the preparation.
Sprinkle with cinnamon if you like it.
It's ready!
American Pit Bull Terrier
You made me what I am today, courage at its best.
You wanted me to know no fear, a cut above the rest.
Not only did I master that, I’ve thrown in loyalty, too.
Look past my eyes into my soul, you know I’d die for you.
I’ll watch your kids, I’ll watch your house. Your praise will be my crown,
ask what you will-I’ll do my best. I’ll even be your clown.
But some of you don’t like me, I’m sure I don’t know why.
The only thing I’m guilty of is courage, love, and try.
But still they want to see me go, they want my breed to end. Will I see you sitting idly by? You, whom I call a friend?
You made me what I am today, you never saw me waiver.
I’ve done my best to keep you safe. Won’t you please return the favor.
You wanted me to know no fear, a cut above the rest.
Not only did I master that, I’ve thrown in loyalty, too.
Look past my eyes into my soul, you know I’d die for you.
I’ll watch your kids, I’ll watch your house. Your praise will be my crown,
ask what you will-I’ll do my best. I’ll even be your clown.
But some of you don’t like me, I’m sure I don’t know why.
The only thing I’m guilty of is courage, love, and try.
But still they want to see me go, they want my breed to end. Will I see you sitting idly by? You, whom I call a friend?
You made me what I am today, you never saw me waiver.
I’ve done my best to keep you safe. Won’t you please return the favor.
Anonymous
Artist Carol Cavalaris
Artist Carol Cavalaris
The best museums to visit virtually from your sofa, and what to look at
AS THE COVID-19 outbreak forces the world to retreat indoors, museums and galleries are moving into the digital world to make sure their collections remain accessible to the public. The next few weeks or months of home quarantine needn’t be devoid of culture as, via the internet, art aficionados can now virtually visit collections and temporary exhibitions from the comfort of their homes.
Online access experiences can now take you from close-ups of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome to a five-hour marathon around the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Aside from a treat for the art enthusiast, these virtual tours might benefit parents looking to inject some culture into their children’s day, or those simply wanting to escape the constant barrage of news. Also, visiting museums has been proven to reduce stress levels, so this online access couldn’t come at a better time. Here are five of the best museums with digital resources.
1. The Louvre — Paris, France
The Louvre has digitized three tours of different parts of its galleries. The first tour takes visitors to see Egyptian Antiquities from the pharaonic period. The second tour allows you to explore the history of the building itself, the structure of which was once a fortress built by French king Philippe Auguste. In these two tours, a brief description of each room is provided and when you click on an exhibit, an information box appears with basic historical facts. As with Google street view, arrows show up on the ground which you can click to move into the next room.
The final tour is focused on the recently restored Galerie d’Apollon. The long gallery houses 41 paintings, 118 sculptures, and 28 tapestries. Various interactive tools allow you to learn more about the most important exhibits.
What to look at:
Aside from the “Great Sphinx of Tanis” that greets visitors to the Egyptian Antiquities collection, highlights of the first tour include the intricately carved royal tomb of Ramesses III in Room 13, and Room 14, filled with lavishly decorated sarcophagi. During the second tour, you can see parts of the moat, defense walls, and piers that supported the drawbridge of the original fortress’ construction.
In the Galerie d’Apollon, make sure you look at the ceiling, a homage to King Louis XIV, that was started by his court painter Charles Le Brun. The middle panel depicts “Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python” by Eugène Delacroix, a French artist widely regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.
2. Vatican Museums — Rome, Italy
Though it could never be a substitute for the real thing, the Vatican’s 360-degree virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel lets you see the iconic interior as you never could in real life — crowd-free. You can explore the whole chapel and zoom in to get extraordinary details of Michelangelo’s frescoes.
You can similarly view Raphael’s frescoes up close in the 360-degree tour of the Raphael Rooms. Visitors can also move through various museums in the complex, such as the Pio Clementino Museum, packed with ancient sculptures.
As there is no floor plan provided, it is quite easy to get lost wandering through the rooms, but by visiting the information pages for the various museums and rooms, you can find videos that guide you to the most famous exhibits.
What to look at:
When in the Sistine Chapel, take advantage of the fact that you can see the ceiling close up, something hard to do in real life. Zoom in as far as you can on Michelangelo’s fresco of “The Creation of Adam,” the iconic moment where God touches the fingertip of Adam, to bring him to life, and on the monumental Last Judgement scene above the altar. Within the gory scenes of hell, seek out the flayed body of St. Bartholomew, whose face is a self-portrait of Michelangelo.
3. Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum — Madrid, Spain
Some temporary exhibitions in progress or due to open in the near future have now been put online, including the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum’s “Rembrandt and Amsterdam Portraiture, 1590-1670” exhibition. You can now tour the entire exhibition virtually and view high-quality images of the paintings.
Although there is no information on exhibits included in the virtual tour, you can also flick through an interactive publication about the exhibition and watch an introductory video.
The museum has similarly provided access to other past exhibitions in the form of video introductions and virtual tours. You can visit the “Balenciaga and Spanish paintings” collection and the “Dalí and Surrealism in the ABANCA Art Collection” exhibition.
What to look at:
The intention of the Rembrandt exhibition is to place the 17th-century Dutch master in the context of his predecessors, his immediate competition in Amsterdam, and his followers. Try to follow the changing painting techniques and compositions throughout the rooms, reaching a climax with Rembrandt’s divergence from popular European style and move toward his characteristic rough brushwork and warm, dark tones. Don’t forget to look at Rembrandt’s etchings too.
4. Metropolitan Museum of Art — New York, USA
The Met has been developing a series of videos called the 360° Project which allows viewers to virtually visit different locations in its museums. The project concentrates particularly on giving viewers an unusual perspective on the gallery spaces.
The videos transport you slowly through the various spaces and rooms, but you can simultaneously use your mouse or move your smartphone to get a 360-degree view at all times. If you really want to escape quarantine, there’s also the option of popping on a VR headset and being completely immersed.
What to look at:
Watch the Met Cloisters video to take to the air and fly over the medieval-style buildings with views over the Hudson River and a soundtrack of chimes from the bell tower. In the video from the Met’s American Wing, you can peek over the shoulders of artists at work, and from the balcony, you can look down to see a timelapse of the crowd below. If you’re using a VR headset, don’t miss the fully immersive Temple of Dendur, dating from around 15 BCE, which captures the structure throughout the day, as the light from the vast glass windows of the gallery fades.
5. State Hermitage Museum — St. Petersburg, Russia
If social distancing is beginning to take its toll, it might be the right moment to take your mind away to Russia with this five-hour long video through the rooms of the State Hermitage Museum. With slow cinematic music and moments of curious contemporary dance, it’s a powerful mental distraction.
The extraordinary video journeys through 45 galleries, features 588 masterpieces, and includes live music and ballet performances. On the museum’s website itself, there is also the option to take a virtual tour through the gallery complex.
What to look at:
As helpfully recommended by the YouTube video, highlights of the video tour include the grandiose, gilded Jordan Staircase in the Winter Palace and details of the Raphael Loggias, which were built as a reproduction of those found in the Papal Palace in Vatican City. The video takes you close up to individual artworks too, such as a self-portrait by Rembrandt and “The Lute Player” by Caravaggio, an Italian master from the late 16th and early 17th century. 
Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.Maya Angelou
~
Beautiful.
Sunday, 29 March 2020
The fox and hound! Abandoned cub Rosie makes an unlikely duo with Maddy the dog after the furry pair became best of friends
- Rosie lives with Maddy the dog at home of Richard Bowler in Berwyn mountains near Corwen, North Wales
- Mr Bowler, 44, formerly in the building industry but moved from Bedfordshire for a change of lifestyle
- Rosie was abandoned after father killed most of her litter and she has bonded with Maddy, a Lakeland Patterdale cross
It could be a scene from Disney classic The Fox and the Hound.
But these furry characters have become real-life friends after Rosie the fox cub was left abandoned when her father killed most of her litter.
The fox has now bonded with new pal Maddy at the home of Richard Bowler in the Berwyn mountains near Corwen, North Wales.
These heart-warming pictures show them enjoying playing together at the five-acre small-holding where Rosie is being trained.
It could be a scene from Disney classic The Fox and the Hound. But these furry characters have become real-life friends at the home of Richard Bowler in the Berwyn mountains near Corwen, North Wales, after Rosie the fox cub was left abandoned when her father killed most of her litter
The 15-week-old fox has now bonded with new pal Maddy at the home of Richard Bowler in the Berwyn mountains near Corwen, North Wales
Mr Bowler, 44, was formerly in the building industry but last year moved from Bedfordshire with girlfriend Helen, 41, for a change of lifestyle
Heart-warming pictures show Maddie and Rosie enjoying playing together at the five-acre small-holding where Rosie is being trained
Mr Bowler, 44, was formerly in the building industry but last year moved from Bedfordshire with girlfriend Helen, 41, for a change of lifestyle.
They now run a holiday let in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Richard is developing a wildlife photography business.
He explains: 'Nothing is known about what happened to Rosie's mum. All we know is that her dad went rogue and she was the only survivor and was hand-reared before her eyes had even opened.
'We've now taken on Rosie to give her a home at our small-holding and she has bonded with Maddy, our Lakeland Patterdale cross.
'Rosie was slowly introduced to Maddy. Maddy has always been playful and it's a natural instinct for a fox cub to play so they get on great.
Mr Bowler and his wife now run a holiday let in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Richard is developing a wildlife photography business
He explains: 'Nothing is known about what happened to Rosie's mum. All we know is that her dad went rogue and she was the only survivor and was hand-reared before her eyes had even opened'
'We've now taken on Rosie to give her a home at our small-holding and she has bonded with Maddy, our Lakeland Patterdale cross'
'They have become best of friends, although we always supervise them playing together as Rosie is still quite small.
'They chase each other around and Rosie often dives on Maddy; the living room is usually a wreck after they have been playing.
'I feel it's important that Rosie has a good bond with Maddy as when it comes to training Maddy shows Rosie what is required. Rosie is very quick to pick things up though.
'I've been amazed at how clever she is, certainly quicker to pick up things than Maddy ever was. Her recall and sitting is 100 per cent and we're almost there with toilet training.
'It's important for Rosie to be as trained as best as we can so that she can enjoy our 5-acre small-holding as freely as possible.
'They don't sleep together, we have a large dog crate in the living room for Rosie that has her bed in it. We only put her in her crate at night and that's just to stop her chewing through the wires of the TV that she has an attraction to.
'Rosie was slowly introduced to Maddy. Maddy has always been playful and it's a natural instinct for a fox cub to play so they get on great'
'They have become best of friends, although we always supervise them playing together as Rosie is still quite small'
'They chase each other around and Rosie often dives on Maddy; the living room is usually a wreck after they have been playing'
'I feel it's important that Rosie has a good bond with Maddy as when it comes to training Maddy shows Rosie what is required. Rosie is very quick to pick things up though'
'When she's awake the door to the crate is open allowing her access to the living room, she also has access to our fenced in patio/veg garden while we train her.
'We will then start introducing her to our bottom paddock that we have fenced in with 2' chicken wire, this area is about an acre and we are developing it as an orchard and wildflower meadow so she will have a lovely area to run around in and play with Maddy.
'We don't feed Rosie and Maddy together but train them together with treats. We now have Rosie coming and sitting for a titbit.
'When Rosie gets bigger we hope that her and Maddy will sleep together at the moment though as soon as they are together it's just fun and games and destruction.'
'I've been amazed at how clever she is, certainly quicker to pick up things than Maddy ever was. Her recall and sitting is 100 per cent and we're almost there with toilet training'
'They don't sleep together, we have a large dog crate in the living room for Rosie that has her bed in it. We only put her in her crate at night and that's just to stop her chewing through the wires of the TV that she has an attraction to'
'When Rosie gets bigger we hope that her and Maddy will sleep together at the moment though as soon as they are together it's just fun and games and destruction'
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