Sylvia's Simple Shots

 My plants are doing well in temporary accommodations.  They still have an east window like they did at home. 

The African Violets bloomed so it was happy.

There was a good dining room light which kept them company.

It was bitterly cold this Sunday so I stayed in and watched TV.

I had access to Youtube so I was able to watch my regular Sunday posters.

The scope of work for the kitchen did not include anything other than the front of the cupboards.  

Of course, the bottom edges were brown to match the previous color.  Once the restoration project was finished I used the leftover paint to do the those edges to match the fronts.

Really helped the look of the kitchen.

The plumbers were in on Thursday to reconnect all the water related items.  Kitchen sink, dishwasher, bathroom sink, toilet, and the laundry center.

This was the message left by the plumbers.

Would I still be able to move home when I planned?  

This experience has taught me to roll with the punches and keep moving.  

I talked to the carpenter for his opinion, then my brother in law and then headed out to buy a new faucet. I then called our building plumbing company and I was able to get the faucet installed on Friday.  Yes. 

Bright and early the plumber was there to install the faucet.

At the same time the company hired by my insurance was there to put in place the fridge, stove, the freezer and the pine cabinets on either side.  Busy time!

I thought I would get the bathroom set up first and then at 11:30 am or so I opened the vanity in the bathroom to this!  A leak!

I called the was given a site visit in the next few hours.

What to do now?

I chose to be productive and painted the bottom of the cabinet under the sink.

It is just particle board and over the years it had lost it's finish.

I used semi gloss in the same color as the walls in the place.  

It really brighten up the space to match the rest of the kitchen.

The plumber returned about 1:30pm and gave the drain just a bit of a turn.   Then tested the drain with 3 full sinks of water and all was dry!

So at 2 pm it was confirmed that I could move home.  I brought most of my stuff back home but stayed one more night because check out time was 11 am and at that time I still did not know if everything was going to be okay to move back.

I was checked out by 8 am and headed home with my overnight bag and my back pack.

I started cleaning.

I headed out for brunch with my friend which I have not seen since the fall.

We had a great visit, great food, and a relaxing time.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 I took this at the St. Albert Botanic Park.  I just adjusted the contrast on this shot but I think it looks painterly.

The dahlias were in fine form with many, many blooms to photograph.

I took a visit to the Little Blue Fiber Studio that I learned about from my niece who heard about it from my sister.

I understand my sister took a needle felting class at the studio some time back.

It has yarn, roving, classes, knitting needles, felting needles, Sashiko thread, and books as well.

I did restrain myself and walked away with no purchase but I will return for roving when I solidify my idea for a future project.

My neice brought the matching chair for the yellow one I've had for quite a while.

I am happy to have a conversation corner in my living room with comfortable chairs.

A bit of light to read by if I choose and a table to hold my cup tea.

Thanks for bring the chair!

I have enjoyed African Violets all summer long.

Being in the east window has agreed with this plant.  I should get another one - just thought of that.

It also gets a grow light for a few hours in the morning.

This is the fountain pen I found at the ReUse Center last week.  It is by Creeks n Creeks and has "Les feminnins de Creeks" written on it's side. 

My research on line seems to indicate it is a  a small French school fountain pen from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

It averages about $50 on line so I am very happy with this find. It is a cartridge pen so I will have to check out where to find those.

I checked on line and found out it takes an international standard fountain pen ink cartridge.

Staples only sells these on line so I could order through the store have some brought in.  I checked with Delta Arts - they had no stock and have been working to get some in from Shaeffer but not been successful yet.  I will check back. 38mm or about 1.5 inches long.

I discovered that I could refill the empty cartridge so that is what I did.  I cleaned the cartridge and the nib thoroughly.  I had a bottle of ink I bought last year for my dip pens so I used that.  The syringe is leftover from dental surgery.  It all worked very well.

Love it!

I needed to put my metallic watercolors into a water proof container.  I found this chocolate box in my stash so I repurposed it.  I discovered that they live in full watercolor pans which is great.

They fit nicely in this box.  The domed lid makes it a bit bulky but for the time being it will do.

I used some large glue dots in the bottom of the box to keep the pans in place.

I have documented the colors here since I will recycle the cardboard box.

I don't think I will ever concern myself with the actual color names.

Seven Blessings by Ruchama King

Story of romantic relationships in the Jewish culture.  Follows several couples and their matchmakers.

Beth is the central character who is 39 years old and really wants to marry but is not finding a mate.

She is recommended several men and dating taking place but there are problems.

I confess that I don't know much about the Jewish culture.  I found the culture was very complicated and there are many rules.

Not a great read.  In the end there is still no marriage. Disappointing.

Happy Easter

 

I am so thrilled with my African Violet blooms.  

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter|

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The colors this fall are amazing.

Caught this vibrant orange maple leaf at the park on Friday.

It was perfect and the light was making it glow.  

We hardly ever get this kind of color in our fall leaves in the west of Canada.

I was thrilled to capture this one.  I did not even think to pick and press it.  I hope others enjoyed it because I chose to leave it behind.

The plants in the north window are doing so well. 

The spider plant is getting ready to produce flowers and propagate.  I expect these could become babies.

That must mean it is happy!  I am remembering to water it regularly and I gave all the plants fertilizer the other day.

I was given another African Violet by my sister.

I managed to get it to hang in the north window.  It is on the small hanger as the spider plant I just mentioned.

She gave it to me about a month ago now.   I do remember to water it from the bottom.  I will keep it away from the cold window in the winter.

I hope this one does better.

I used to able to grow these years ago and have flowers on them so that is what I am aiming for again.

I finished this book last week.  The Dance by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley.

Marilyn is married to Jim Anderson, a successful businessman. After 27 years of marriage, Marilyn has had enough of feeling unloved and neglected. She wants to experience some measure of happiness before she's too old to enjoy it, even signing up for dance lessons, something Jim would never do, not even on their wedding day.

The dance is a metaphor for the relationship she has with her husband and the physical dance she so would so much enjoy doing with him.

They both meet older and wiser mentors who help them negotiate this crossroads in their marriage. 

I was glad it was the first book in the Restoration Series so if I chose to follow the series I am at the beginning.  I will not be chasing down the next books but we will see if another shows up sometime.

I finished this book this weekend.  The Return by Nicholas Sparks.

The story of an injured Navy doctor -- and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. Having been injured in Afghanistan and having inherited his grandfathers cabin he decides it's as good a place as any to figure out his way forward.  It holds wonderful memories of his childhood.

Natalie Materson is the deputy sheriff and Callie is a quiet, hard working teenager who lives in the trailer park up the road from the cabin.

A crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined. In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began. 

I have been working on this project for several weeks.

I drew the original and did a test watercolor of it in this post.

Once I had decided which frame I was going to use I needed to enlarge it as well as make some design improvements.

Then it was suggested that I color the large one with the colors I planned to use in the final project.  That was completed this week.

I then had to transfer the design to the back of the glass.  You can check out this video for the instructions for Faux Stained Glass featuring Elmer's Glue.

The "leading" took less time to dry than I anticipated so I finished it yesterday and hung it with the hope of seeing the sun through it this morning.  Disappointed.  Overcast and cool all day so far.  Maybe tomorrow.

I hope to see the magic on the walls when the sun shines.

Progress is bring made on the Wall Christmas Tree as well.

I purchased a photo shelf for the space where the tree will hang.  The ring will be bolted to the shelf then the tree will hang from there.

I found the perfect s hooks at Ikea with one end bigger enough to go over the branches.

The star will also have to be painted gold because right now it is green.

Good thing I started in January. 

It will be ready to hang in early December.

The Flickr Macro Mondays Challenge this week was "smoke".  Steam was also allowed.  It was very challenging photographing something that just disappears so quickly.  

After check the group there are a few things that last a little longer - namely incense.

You can check out my Photostream (SMDPics)to see the shot I submitted.

Sylvia Simple Shots

Cold drinks are an absolute must in these temperatures.   We had 30C yesterday which is way too hot for me. 

Just ice balls with soda water in a double walled glass so it will stay as cold as possible!

I created a low key image to have the yellows stand out!

Staying hydrated in this weather is important and I don't need extra sugar so this works well for me.

I had 4 extra glasses of water yesterday. 

My African Violet is blooming!

I have such poor luck with plants so I am stoked to see blooms. As you can see they are a gorgeous deep purple color and there will be many it seems!

Yeah! Yeah!

The north window is working so well.  Now that it is hanging just above the sewing machine, it is great. I have plants in a couple of places in my home!

I believe this is a thistle bloom.   I love the jagged edges of the petals.

It has not rained in about a week here so I generally always carry my spray bottle to give my photos a bit of something extra when needed.

I love this shot!



I found a Lady Bug Hatchery! There was a lot of them in different stages of development.

The bug on the right is a Lady Bug Larvae becoming and developing it's wings.  Very cool!  It is interesting that the body under the hard wings looks very similar to the larvae but we hardly ever see it because it's flying when the body is exposed!

I worked on making more face masks. I tried a fitted one this time.  I like it.  Still hot in these temperatures but less fabric.

The features of this face mask are a draw string tie so you just pull to tighten.  I had found someone on line recommending putting a kleenex on the nose piece to help with glasses fog.  I decided to put a permanent layer of terry cloth which fills in the spaces around the nose and absorbs the moisture from your breath.  Works quite well.

This one also allows me to put a filter on the inside if I want to.  Never know what options I will need before this is all over.

Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week is Chocolate! Well I love this one!  I bought 5 different kinds because I wanted options for a good photo. Photographing chocolate up close is challenging because some of it is not pretty.  Do we really look at it before we put it into our mouths, I would suggest not!  I have Chocolate Chips here and check out my photostream SMDPics for the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #91
and
Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #251           Have a safe week!