Sylvia's Simple Shots

The first snow arrived this week.

It was not much but it is time if there will be snow to protect the plants and provide moisture in the spring.

The guy with the bike has been through.  With the snow he has left evidence of his passing.  I have seen him a couple of times but he goes by more often than I thought.

The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs is the book I finished this week. This novel is set in Chicago in the 1870s. The central historical event is the great fire of October 1871. 

Lucy Hathaway was at a party and decided to flirt with a married man. On her way home that night she could see a warm glow in the distance and as she gets closer she can see fire.  Chaos reigns as you can imagine. Many people died, buildings burned and countless people were left homeless.  As she passes at hotel, a baby is tossed from an upper window and Lucy catches it as it falls. The building those inside are lost.  When she approaches her home she sees that she has lost her home as well. 

Her mother, Lucy and the baby start over.  She sets up a bookstore and the child grows. The parents of the baby are distraught, the father is badly burned and hospitalized for a good while.  When he recovers his marriage has ended and his baby girl is gone! He must pick up the pieces and carry on.  

He does well in banking and five years later Lucy meets the man from the party as the bank manager who will decide about her bank loan. A photo on his desk of a baby girl makes her realize that this is the father of "her daughter".  The romantic plot is predictable.  Susan is a good author and it was a good read.

I did a lot of work on sorting out what neutrals I could use to paint furniture in my place.  I generally, prefer natural wood tones with clear finish or tung oil.  I have a bench that my Mom made for me which was painted pink for the place I had in the 1980s. Now I would like to change that color. 

These are the colors I have selected that would coordinate with the floor, the counter in the kitchen and the Queen Ann Lace paint on the walls. Love that color.

I have chosen Intellectual for the stool and will paint that when I have time in then next few months.  I have chosen BEHR brand because I can get it locally.

It was a good week at the thrift shops this week.  There are several I visit on a trip to the city.

I picked up this Stampin Up stamp set called Papillon Potpourri.  Papillon is butterfly in French.

With my commitment to butterfly cards for IWin this will add another piece to my options to make cards for this charity.

I do not have the butterfly punch that coordinates but stamping them on tags or circles or label punchies will work.

There also a good variety of sizes as well in the set.

I got rid of all my large plates from my turquoise dishes before I moved.  I knew I would have less space but I did not understand how small the lunch plates were.

I found this set of white glass dishes at MCC this week. Two of each dinner plate, luncheon plate and soup bowl and all stack nicely.  They fit nicely in the bit of space I had in the cupboard.

I have misplaced my timer for the grow light in the office to keep my plants alive in winter. 

In a bag of electrical things I found 2 Westinghouse timers which are way easier to use than the old push clip version.

I replaced both the one in the bedroom that turns on my Starry Night Light an hour in the evening.  The grow light comes on for 3 hours in the morning before it gets light outside.

I can leave my curtains open now that snow has accumulated next to the fence. We have snowbanks there now the the bike man is no longer going by.

The plants I hope will survive and eventually thrive.

I replaced the outlet extender in the living room which is designed to go behind furniture so the plugs can have a lower profile. 

With the new extender, I get 3 plugs, I can still plug something in the lower plugin, and I can use the front facing one for the vacuum. 

Very happy with these upgrades all for $5.

I found this cutting mat with something stuck to it. I was not sure I would be able to remove it but I took a chance.  It was likely white glue and with a bit of soaking it all came right off. 

Now I have a cutting mat for the craft room and I know where it goes back to.

I have been on the look out for a couple more cobalt blue water glasses and the fit the bill.

When I got them home though and washed them I see that they have some dishwasher damage on them. 

I will continue to look.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had been reminded on the Weather Network for days that it would appear so I did remember to aim the camera outside this week to capture the Hunter's Moon.

No, I did not wander outside at - 10C temperatures but I am fortunate to see it from my dining room window.  There was a little bit of cloud but just enough for interest and not enough to blur it out altogether.

On Monday, October 23 2023 we had our first snow fall.  As snowfall goes, it was quite light.

The temperatures have dropped considerably in just a few days so it is taking a bit of adjustment.

I had a eye appointment on Wednesday and it was a challenge to find the tuque, winter gloves and such to head on a trip to the north end of the city.

The streets were wonderful.

I am grateful to have had winter arrive not like a lion.

I have seen Halloweens in the past where we had 2 feet of snow and -20C where the kids were wearing parkas under their costumes.

I have discovered a new reality show from the UK. It is very good fun and a nice watch compared to what the US produces.

There are 16 series so I will have something decent to watch for the next while.

 

I have been watching FBI Files on the TV while I eat my supper since early October.

It does not bother me to watch crime, murder and such over my meal.

Again, there are years of the show and hopefully it does not disappear at the end of October but you never know.

I went to view the fall art show at St. Albert Place on Friday afternoon.  Some wonderful pieces of art to behold.

There was another very large Geode which I learned in the spring is done with styrofoam.

There is an artist there which produces very textured pieces and this fall I learned she uses a lot of recycled items to create the substructure of her trees etc.

It was an excellent art show.  Found out later that my aunt sold one of her paintings. Yeah!

I took a short walk along the Sturgeon River before I headed home.

There are still ducks on that cold water.  I guess their thermal systems allow for such madness.

The clouds were pretty heavy, the temperature quite cool, and the sun was just peeking through.

On Saturday, I dropped off my submissions for the Value of Color show and had visit with my aunt.  We spent some time working on getting pictures from her new phone to the computer.  When things change the process changes and needs some learning of new how tos.

I did fill the car with gas because it was 121.9 a liter.  It's been months since the price was that low.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

On November 1st I was out in fall coat, no boots, and dry roads to drive on.

November 2nd it snowed and turned cold. Temps in the -15C to -25C and the sky was overcast.

I can stand cold if the sun is shining.  

This was taken November 8th when the sun finally started shining.  

Today, is November 11 and finally it is -7C just after lunch.  I am heading out to enjoy it.

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor - It was great to reconnect with these characters. Dr. Barry Laverty and Dr. Fingal O'Reilly who run a general practice in Ballybucklebo in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The doctors see patients in the morning and make house calls in the afternoon.

Miss Kinkie Kincaid is still the housekeeper and chief cook for these hard working men. 

Dr. Barry has been at the surgery for about 6 months and is learning about a small medical practice, about the culture of a small village, and knows most of the patients he sees.  He is dating Patricia Spence a civil engineering student.

Barry had his medical competency questioned and is awaiting post- mortem results, Patricis is studying for a big exam which may change her next career move, Fingal meets an old classmate from years ago - Kitty O'Hallorhan, and the local pub the Black Swan maybe cease to be if the local councilor has anything to do with it.  Needless to say that tragedy must be avoided at all costs.  Totally enjoyed this book though it is earlier than some I have read so I know the outcomes of some of the situations in this story.

With the cold weather and the staying inside it was natural to turn on the oven and get some baking done.

I made Chocolate Bran Muffins for the first time in months and have resolved to have one a day.

They are chocolate and sweeten with applesauce, which contributes to a healthy snack or dessert.

I baked a roll of Chocolate Wafers which have been in the freezer for several months.  I should have rolled them out a bit more as these were pretty thick but really delicious.  I will have to make some more of Christmas.

The entry into the oven was a couple of chicken thighs roasted in my stoneware baker.

Here is supper that night with a good helping of coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, baked yams with some white rice.

Yummy and the house was warm from having the oven on from 2 - 5 pm.

Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber was a great read. Annie Marlow. a nurse, has been rocked by tragedy and is struggling to make sense of her new reality. She heads back to Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest to a cottage she spent summer by the sea with her family.

She rents the cottage, meets an artist who has lived all his life in sea side community, grows a garden, befriends her recluse landlady and enjoys her work at the medical clinic.  She learns to find peace and to trust again.  Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within to to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.  I would recommend this book.

I have started putting milled flax seed on my breakfast.   It is a healthy thing to do.

I buy the whole flax seeds and put 1 cup into the blender each week and store it in the refrigerator. I have put the extra bags in the freezer until I need them.

I always like to have a measure in the container for the things I use regularly. My rolled oats, my powdered milk, my Cheerios tupperware container so I was looking for a tablespoon measuring spoon for this jar of flax seed.  

The the thrift store a while back I found this gorgeous round stainless steel measuring spoon.  It is so cute and now I use it every day and it makes me happy!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

My aunt and I took a walk along the river with our cameras recently.

It was very nice temperature wise and the sun was shining.  A great time.

As you can see, though the river is frozen but we still have no snow.

Love the fall grasses in the foreground with the reflection of the sun on the river.

Gorgeous blue skies which are typical for Alberta.

We heard geese which I was surprised were still here despite the frozen water.  Who knows what they are thinking!

I joined another aunt for a visit to the Art Gallery.  The weather was still nice and I was tasked with driving us downtown and finding parking.  That went well.  It was really weird to be out and about.

First time, I used my vaccination record to visit a non essential place of business in 20 months.

There were 2 exhibitions I was interested which both featured colorful art.  Mostly abstract as well.

The blue and pink piece was about the how color can be dispatched to for social control.  The pink color which is used in institutional settings was studied in 1978 and was found to make inmates violent.  The barn is a piece about our abandoned farm buildings.  Love the abstracts.

Our first snow arrived on Sunday Nov 14th.  

It continued to come down for a few days in varying degrees.

I had to go out on Wednesday and the roads were like slushy soup as they had not been ploughed yet.  Yuck!

I had several places to stop and it was a bit harried but I managed to keep the car and myself intact.

I made roasted vegetables yesterday.  I used the large roaster so I could keep them to one layer.

Yams, red onions, brussel sprouts, rutabaga, turnip, garlic and carrots.  A bit of olive oil and seasonings.

I added fresh oregano in the last bit of its time in the oven.

They were yummy.

That means its time to head for groceries as I am completely out of veggies in the fridge.

An Irish Cottage by Patrick Taylor is the book I finished this week.

Love this author and his stories of a medical practice in rural Ireland in the 1960's.  

In this book the Donnelly's looks their cottage to fire and the community rallies to find the family a temporary place to live.   Then further efforts are made to rebuild the burned out cottage.

The civil unrest with north and south regions plays a part which I don't really understand well.  

Another theme is women's reproductive rights in the 60's where one women is not wanting another child and another woman desperately wants one and is having difficulty conceiving.

The doctors and their house keeper and neighbours provide wonderful stories!

The Perfect Christmas - Debbie Macomber revolves around a young woman who wants to be in a relationship.

She finally decides to hire a matchmaker for $30,000 to find the perfect match for her by Christmas.

The matchmaker gives her several tasks to prepare for her first date with John, her perfect match.  She stands outside a mall ringing bells to raise funds for a charity, dressing up as an elf with Santa at the mall, and prepare Christmas dinner for her neighbors in the apartment building.

Each of these provide opportunities to learn things about herself and ensures visits from the matchmaker to monitor her progress.

In the end, she finds the man of her dreams but it was not exactly as the matchmaker had planned.

It was okay for a light read.