Sylvia's Simple Shots

It is that time of year!

December 1st. 

The star wreath went up on the front door.  This is the same one as last year.

That wonderful carved pine cone was done by an artist at the Allied Arts Council.  I purchased it last year at the Christmas Store.

I had a bit of a visit with my neighbour and he was waiting a bit to put up his Christmas decor.  It was a busy day with stuff going on at the building along with my prep for my family get together.

Another tradition for me is to put on one of my many yule log videos in the DVD and enjoy the crackling fire with Christmas carols being sung.

I always do this while I am making my Caramel Popcorn gifts.

It was 4 batches this year to make enough for family and friends.

I have been making this every year since about 1980.

About 43 years that is.  Amazing how that happens.  

There were years when I sold it to coworkers and I did 12 or 14 batches.

The cost of ingredients keeps going up so it is a precious commodity.

I had several folks ask if I was making it again this year!  It was a resounding YES!  They were happy.

Not all things stay the same.  The Glad Storage bags that I have used for years are not longer available.  I used the last of them last year so I had to try and source new ones.   I need food grade plastic so that was a bit harder to find.  I bought these at Michaels but they are pretty short but did okay in the pinch that was this year.

I met my aunt at the Allied Arts Christmas Store that opened this week.  She had been not feeling well and was on the upside and want to get out.

We had 16 tables I believed filled with wonderful art.  It was fun to look through the fiber art, the watercolor, the jewelery, and much more.

I bought this little composite stone bird.  It is made by Lisa Douziech.  It is so metallic and sparkly.  Beautiful color and shine on the resin.

@lisadouziech

We went over the Perks around the corner for coffee and a visit.

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is a sequel to the book a read recently.  This is again by Garth Nix.  

The story continues with Susan and Merlin and the rest of the magical entourage.  This one starts with a sorcerous map which Merlin gets sucked into and has to be rescued.  Susan has discovered her magical heritage and her powers with stone came in handy during this rescue.

An Ancient Sovereign is running amock in the underworld and needs to be stopped to ensure the safety of human and magical folk alike.

Another great book.

Some of my family got together again this week for a Christmas lunch.  It was organized by one of my sisters and hosted by another.

Tourtiere was on the menu with a great salad.  Then strawberry bavarian for dessert.  I bought caramel popcorn, another brought a cheese ball, there was nibbles and goodies to munch on all afternoon.

This is my sisters tree which rotates and sparkles like crazy!  It was December 2nd and I am glad she made the effort to have it up for your time together as family.

Check out the bling on her tree!  It was wonderful.  With Mom and Dad both gone now we have to navigate what family gatherings will look like going forward.  With our get together in October and this lunch it is looking good!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

As we wait in the dark through the long night things can feel lonely, sad and discouraging.

We must remember that dawn does come.

Christmas can only be found.  

Christmas can not be bought.

Fill your heart with the hope an light that is coming.

I put up the tree this week as I was going to be hosting some teas for Christmas visits.

This is my wall tree that I made last year.  I still love it!

This year I decided to put some narrow green garland around the edge which nicely defines it.

I placed a couple of TV tables below it to allow me to hide the cord and put any other seasonal decorations I wanted.  Nice lacy tablecloth and one of my several Nativity sets as the main one is packed.  

I did not put all the ornaments I have on this year as I was up against a deadline.

It provides beautiful light to the living room.

Thank goodness the temperature warmed up a little this week and having friends over was possible.

I pulled out the red table cloth and the plaid Christmas place mats. 

A bit of healthy veggies and brie cheese with whole grain crackers were prepared.

Some clementines as there were not Mandarin oranges when I was shopping.  Supply chain issues.  I was grateful to get most of the food I was looking forward to.

I used my white Ikea dishes and mugs on the first tea and my White Regency for the second tea. 

A bit porcelain teapot of tea and a couple of hours of catching up and visiting with friends.

The Christmas Candle I received from my sister when she was in Germany.  It comes out every year. I have added a flameless candle to it in recent years.

I spent a day with my aunt making our traditional tourtieres (meat pies).  

We made a few small ones and a big one.  She is the one who makes the pastry so she decided that she was not making another batch so we just froze the meat in containers to eat in the next months.

The frozen filling may become pies or just eaten with pea and carrots which is my traditional way of eating tourtiere.

This tea with my friend featured just a few snacks.  Chocolate almonds, Ferrero Rocher and some cranberry and almond cookies.

Still a bit big pot of herbal tea and clementines.

I so enjoyed having a few people over this year for Christmas.

I set up one of several of my fireplace DVDs and just had the crackling fire for sound.  

It makes the whole living room feel very warm and cozy and festive.

The fireplace DVDs allow me the option of just fire, fire and crackle, or fire, crackle and music.  Some feature traditional Christmas carols and hymns.

I have one that features Christmas songs by Boney M. and another with nature sounds that I use after the Christmas season.

It works well for me.

I was given this book by a friend who enjoyed and thought that I would enjoy it too.

Miracles from Heaven by Christy Wilson Beam is a true story of the miraculous healing.  Christy and Kevin Beam traveled a journey of faith by putting one foot in front of the other. Their daughter Anna was diagnosed with an incurable, life threatening disorder.  The family endured through years with Anna suffering pain, invasive testing and treatments. Travelling many hours for specialized care, managing the care of their other children, the cost of treatments were part of their lives during this time.

When Anna suffered an accident that nearly took her life they thought it would makes Anna's life even worse.  In the days that followed her rescue she shared her stunning experience of heaven.

Anna was well following this experience. God is good!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The fruit trees are all in bloom.  The crab apples, choke cherry, apple and cherry trees are sporting great colors this week.  Deep pink, light pink, white and some shades in between.

It is feeling like summer.  I was out for my 1.5 hour walk this morning and visiting my favorite park and garden for the first time this year.

Can't beat those Alberta blue skies.

I heard then saw red winged black birds at Paul Kane park this morning.  I have not seen these birds so far into the city.  The pool was filled with water so that may have made the difference.  Generally, the city is later in filling the pool.

There was a male and female so I expect there was a nest in the dry bullrushes. This is so exciting!

There were Canada Geese, Mallards, House Finches, and magpies all making an appearance.

I received a bouquet of flowers yesterday.   It was really nice to get flowers on the remembrance of my Dad's passing on May 12th.  We celebrated his life on May 24th.  He was 92 and passed quietly in his sleep which is exactly what he wanted.

It was a couple of weeks of funeral arrangements, visits with Mom, and the first in person funeral in 2 years for the funeral home.  I pray that everyone remains well following that get together.

Mom and Dad celebrated 68 years of marriage the day Dad passed.  He had tested positive for COVID so it was in full PPE no less.  At least they were together as Mom had been in isolation earlier, had brain surgery and had not be able to see him regularly.

I brought Mom some purple pansies this week.  She has been given a raised flower bed at the lodge so she will have pansies, tomatoes and  Osteospermum - African Daisies in her bed.

Unfortunately, she will not be able to see them from her room so she will see them when she goes into the dining room 3 times a day.

It will be good for her to have something to tend to now that Dad has passed.

She is gaining strength every day following her surgery.   She was thinking about sewing again when I saw her on Monday.  That is a very good sign.

I found these at the community garden.

I found an Aquarium BluRay DVD the other day at the thrift store.

I am enjoying the sights and sounds on the TV when there is not too much else that is very good on.

There are about 6 different scenes and well as quite a few fish swimming around.

It's like putting on the fireplace at Christmas time.

I finished this book this week.  P is for Peril - Sue Grafton.

Kinsey Millhone is hired by Fiona, the first wife of Dr. Dowan Purcell, to move along the stalled investigation by police of his disappearance. He disappeared nine weeks earlier. The first wife is more concerned than present wife Crystal. Fiona, embittered by the breakdown of her marriage, is convinced that Dow has engineered his own disappearance, as she alleges Crystal is having an affair and admits that Dow has gone missing a couple of times before. In support of this, his passport and thirty thousand dollars seem to be missing. In contrast, Crystal, a former stripper Dow met on a trip to Las Vegas, is convinced he is dead. Not impressed either with Fiona's haughty personality or the chances of turning up something on a cold trail, Kinsey accepts the case with misgivings.  Kinsey ends up finding the Dr., having a brush with some really bad characters and is trying to find new office space.

I found this book a little slow but it may have been the distractions in my life the last couple of weeks more than the book itself.

Check this duck out on the small pool at Paul Kane.  It is a Greater Scaup - a diving duck.  The male and female where casually swimming the water.   

It was so great to see them there.  There were about 10 mallard males just sitting in the sun.   I have seen this before so I am not sure where they have left Momma and the ducklings.   There is not a lot of water nearby.

Wishing you a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I have joined a 52 Week Photo Challenge hosted by Kevin.  

This week's challenge was Nature.  I was out yesterday morning for my walk with good temperatures.  Unfortunately, not much sun.

I captured this Scotch Pine Bough which is nature.  I love the soft background of snow but it is beautiful out of focus.  

 

 

 

I finally got myself a new pair of jeans at the thrift store this week.  I was swimming in my old ones because I have lost 22 pounds in 2020.

I could not try them on because of COVID restrictions so they are not as great as I would have liked but much better than what I have been wearing.  I even had a belt in my cupboard that matched.

I did have to hem them.  One pair of pants I can wear out in public that fit well, not that I am going out except for groceries and prescriptions. This was my 2nd thrift store visit since August. 

This book Ruby by Cynthia Bond was very multi layered. Ruby is a young girl of color raised in the 1950s in the state of New York.  It is a story of survival with love, sisterhood among women, and brutality.

I found it hard at times to keep the characters straight because of the interrelationships.  Ruby is the main character and the man who loves her, Ephram.  There is a lot of sadness, pain, growth, and extraction of demons from her past. 

I am glad I read the book despite it being difficult at times.  It was good to know what growing up black is like.

I made some improvements to the photo studio.  Consistent lighting was really necessary.  Now with all daylight LED bulbs it is low energy consumption and good light.

The power bar allows me to shut off all the lights at once.  When I take the camera to review the shots then come back and adjust my composition, etc. Having light from above is also great when trying to eliminate shadows.

Also I am not running cords across my walking space which was a tripping hazard.

When I picked up this book I thought it was about Maud Lewis the artist but it is about Lucy Maud Montgomery the author.  Maud by Harry Bruce.  

A young girl growing up on Prince Edward Island in Canada in the late 1800s when women were not given many opportunities to have independent lives.  She becomes a teacher while constantly writing. She does not let rejection letter dissuade her.   She slowly gets more and more writing published, then getting paid for the stories being published.  She is the author of the well known Anne of Green Gables.

I picked up the 5 DVD set of the TV series Anne of Green Gables at the thrift store the other day. I had just finished the Maud book so the story was fresh on my mind. There are times where there is not much wholesome on TV so this will give me something to watch.

I have decided to install photo shelves in my place so that I can change out the art and photography at will instead of making new holes in the walls. 

I bought 2 last fall sometime but my life took a bit of turn health wise so they were never put up.  This week I had a plan as to where I would put them but it turns out there is cement behind the drywall so I could not sink the anchors far enough in.

Change of plan.  I have put one up in the kitchen which holds the art from my niece and her trip to Italy and the vase of sunflowers.

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week is "beverage".  A bit challenging with a 3" limit.  To the right is a small cup which is filled with eggnog and cinnamon. You can check out my Flickr photo stream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #113 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #274.

Recent Photos

I treated myself to a new tea cup last week.  Sunflowers are my favorite and this cup has a scalloped edge which was great.

The mark says Sixth Kiln Royal Collection but there is not much on line to document it.  The trademark was registered in Australia in 2011 and lapsed in 2012. They manufactured porcelain and bone china. I have found several flowers in the collection.

I believe it is bone china but cannot be sure.  The white raised dots adds dimension and texture to the pieces which is very unusual for china.

Loving it!


I finished this book Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy one of my favorite authors.
I enjoyed the book about young people as they start their lives by going on to higher learning or working in the family business.  Takes place between Dublin and Knockglen small Irish town.

It took me to the last few pages to be reminded that I may have read this one before.  Enjoyed it again.

I went to visit my sister on the weekend.  We attended the fish fry fundraiser in the evening.  I knew that snow was in the forecast but I was not ready to see the amount on Saturday morning.

I decided to stay an extra night was was great to have more visiting time.  We played games each night.  There was even a pancake breakfast after church Sunday morning.

We cut die cuts as we borrowed dies from each other.  May as well share rather than duplicate sets.

I was able to drive home in glorious sunshine Sunday afternoon with dry highways but the ditches were full of new snow.  They received about 8" of snow.

I tend to eat my meals in bowls rather than plates so I was looking for a couple more.  I found these in the perfect colors of navy and yellow.

Ironstone made in Italy - Pagnossin.  There wide and shallow so stack nicely with the others I have on the shelf.

It is important that they live within the space I have.

Loving them.

I will have to a declutter of stuff again and sent stuff off to new homes.

I have a new to me set of Nike runners for exercise.  I have been doing walking videos 5 days a week since January!  It has become a habit.

I started out slow but I am now at 2 miles a day which is about 40 minutes.  They always have great warm ups and cool downs.  I have been including a bit of muscle building and stretching as well.

I really needed a new pair and these worked out well.

Boredom is one of the challenges with my exercises.  I have my favorite Leslie Sansone which I have blogged before.  It will let me grow to 5 miles if I want.

I decided to get some more of her videos as folks are dumping videos for streaming apps.  My eagle eyed sister found this trio of DVDs during our visit to the local thrift store.  Yeah!  I was so happy and the cost of $3.00 was excellent.

I will have a great variety of miles to last me for a while.  Now with another 5 mile option it will stand me in good stead for keeping up with this activity through the summer and fall.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #70 at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.





The challenge at Flickr Macro Monday was cutter which provided a lot of options for subject.  Knives, scissors, wire cutters, rotary cutters, paper punches, cookie cutters and lot more!

You can check out my Flickr photo stream to see what I submitted.  I did photograph about 5 different cutters.

You can check out what others photographed at this link for Flickr Macro Mondays.

Have a great week.

Recently at My Place

We had a great BBQ on Sunday as a fund raiser to send kids to music camp.

The spread of food was wonderful.  The salads were delicious with great variety.

The meat in forms of burgers and hot dogs was well done.

As you can see I had a plate full which was delicious.

I finished this book last week.  I did not connect as much with this one as I do with the One Thousand Gifts.  We are all broken in some way and how we use that to connect with others serves us well.

I borrowed it from a friend a while back.

I returned it this week with a few Nifty Note cards as a thank you.

I found this DVD series of all 4 seasons at the second hand store a while ago.  I have seen some of the shows on PBS TV several years ago but did not get to watch it in an orderly fashion.

I absolutely loved this shows.  The story is set in 1860s. The main character Laura Timmins raised in the poor hamlet of Larkrise moves to the post office in the market town of Candleford.  She works for her mother's cousin Dorcas Lane who has inherited the post office from her father. It is very unusual for women to own businesses in this time.  There is a couple of sister who own a dress making shop in Candleford as well.
 
It included stories of love, heart ache, being responsible, working hard, learning big and little life lessons.

I have been to the wetlands often.

In the top left is a Red Neck Grebe, a Barn Swallow on the right top.

This little bird with fuzzy edges I believe is a fledgling Robin.  It sat very very still and I think it was scared stiff.  I hope it got the courage to move.

The American White Pelicans are also at the Beaumaris Lake in the north end.  I heard someone saw a Loon there.





This is one of the images I prepared for the Macro Monday Challenge - Hand Tool.  I am starting to be able create a bokeh background regularly.  This my jewelry wire cutters with a bit of gold wire.



I am sharing with Mosaic Monday #87 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Mersad who hosts Thru My Lens #147 at Mersad Photography.

Share Your Cup - Work Out

I've been walking inside for a while because the winter weather just does not make easy to do outside.  It's time well spent to keep me healthy and active.  I find it starts my day on a good note.  I'm looking forward to being outside again.

I have several DVDs I rotate to keep it interesting.  I found this one yesterday and it is completely customizable.  I choose the warm up, how many miles I want to walk from several options and then a cool down.  It offers me the flexibility I've been looking for in an exercise video. 

I start with a large glass of room temperature water which I am fortunate in that I can just guzzle it down.  On with the shoes, set up the work out, add some stretchy band for toning and another big glass of water at the end.  I've had 2 of my 8 glasses of water for the day and I head to the shower.

I'm very happy!!!

Sharing at Sharing Your Cup hosted by Carol at Art & Sand.