Sylvia's Simple Shots

The temperatures have improved a lot.  It means the snow is melting and freezing at night into ice.  

It means the highways improved enough for me to travel to see Mom and Dad since I did not see them for Christmas.

Mom is settling in to her room at the lodge since her move in late December.

Living with a bunch of people takes some adjustment and getting the food she needs requires that she just keep asking.  Talking to the nutritionist last week has helped a lot.

Most residents has something they like hanging on their door at the lodge.  Mom indicated she would like something as well.  She had found a couple of photos she liked but had nothing to support them.

I found a metal plaque with a wire hanging in my stash.   I spray painted it gold because Mom does not like brown which was it's original color. 

I brought some card stock, the paper cutter and some adhesive so we could put something together for her.

She chose this Goldfinch photo which I trimmed to the width of the plaque.  I trimmed the green card stock to be the size of the plaque.  We adhered the picture to the green then pinned that to the plaque so it can easily be changed when she would like something different.  She is happy with her choice.

Dad cannot participate in his pre-fall activities which included making rosaries and doing puzzles.  He right arm is healed but very weak.  They are working with exercises to make that better.

To keep boredom at bay I decided to make him a Picture Book.  Mom suggested nature photos and family pics in a fairly large size.  The family photos I kept the people to about three per photo and got them printed to 8.5 x 11.  Easy to recognize the faces.

I include 14 nature photographs from my collection.  I put the color copies in page protectors in a .5 binder.  This is light enough for him to handle himself and allows any of us to switch up the photos to keep it interesting.

I hope that it motivates him to use him right arm and lets him know he is not forgotten.

Here are photos of a Lesser Yellow Legs water fowl bird and a dragonfly.

I finished this book as week - Rutland Place by Anne Perry.

The time in which the story takes place is Victorian era in England.  Charlotte Pitt is a bit of a problem solver along with her police officer husband Thomas.  Her mother lives in the housing complex of Rutland Place which holds residences of the well to do.  

Her mother has lost a locket or has she just misplaced it?  Servants are the first to be suspected then eliminated. Neighbors as well have had items go missing.  A mystery for sure so Charlotte is asked to investigate discreetly because calling the police would not look good in the neighbourhood. 

When a friend and neighbor is found dead then the police are officially involved.  Thomas interviews, asks uncomfortable questions, and tracks down leads. Charlotte has her opinions about things as well. 

The ending was not what I was expecting at all but the secrets where unearthed.  It was interesting to read a story from the point of view of the privileged members of society during that time.  I think I prefer to have stories from the downstairs group of people.

I am working on de-cluttering and cleaning areas in my place so everything has a home.

I have a running list of things that I have gone missing - it is a mystery that I can lose track of stuff in such a small place.

I tackled the die cutting area last week because I generally leave scraps and bits sitting on the left hand side of the big shot until it is stacked and I cannot see bottom.  I had "lost" one of  my square thinlits and I am glad to say that it has returned to it's mates in their appropriate package.

This is the cushions on my sofa/couch/chesterfield.  I bought it secondhand from my sister in 2008 I think.  The cushion covers are wearing so I need to do something to extend it's life.

I decided to buy microfiber fabric in a deep dark teal color which works well with the pattern on the couch.  In this picture it is just tucked in but I will be making one large cushion cover with 3 pockets with a fold over closure.

I was very happy to find such a great match to background color of the couch.

I bought myself a new phone system with a built in answering machine to replace the one I bought in 2002 when I got layed off work and would be needing a reliable machine during my job search.

I was glad to find this system includes a cordless unit as well.  It will be helpful when I need to get something while I am on the phone.  I will be able to move around without saying "Please hold on!".

When I decided it turned out it was on sale as well so I was very happy with it.

I recently finished this book - The Map of Salt and Stars
by Zeyn Joukhadar.   I really enjoyed this book and it was really easy to read.

It follows 2 young ladies who lived years apart. Nour lives in New York with her parents and sisters when her father passes away. Her mother, a map maker, decides to move them back to Syria. Things don't go well and they embark on very long journey.

Rawiya 800 years earlier leaves her mother and aims to be apprenticed as a map maker but must disguise herself to get the position. 

Their stories are connected. Nour and her family come to be where Rawiya was living so much earlier.  Amazing to live in a country and area with so much history.   I would highly recommend this book.

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays was Currency.  This is one of the shots I took for the challenge.   This is a coin from Thailand.  I have no idea when I got it.

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to check out the one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday#165 and Mersad who host Through My Lens # 323

Have a great week!