Sylvia's Simple Shots

A morning walk around Beaumaris Lake.  

The babies are showing up.  There were goslings and ducklings.  Beautiful yellow fluffy beings.

The Japanese Anemone is a beautiful white perennial flower which was growing on this side of the fence.

The Common Grackles are back.  These beautiful birds with great colors.  Gorgeous blue head, wonderful color on the wings, and a bright yellow eye.

A flash of red in the trees.  Be patient and then getting a few shots capturing that wonderful color.

Ruddy Ducks are at the Lake.  I have not seen them here in years before. I just love that gorgeous blue bill. 

The Alberta Rose is starting to bloom.  These are the wonderful June flowers.  A simple elegant pink flower.  Soon there will be an abundance of them.

It was a great morning.

I started this series - The Angelic Letters Series - Pewter Angels by Henry K. Ripplinger.  My sister and I bought these books for Mom for Christmas 2021.  She was on book 4 when she passed in Jan 2023. My sister has finished the series and another sister is reading and then passing them on to me. Set in Saskatchewan Canada and written by a Canadian.

The main characters 15 year olds - Henry Pederson, Jenny Sarsky, and Mr. Engelmann are living in Regina Saskatchewan in 1956. 

Jenny has moved from BC into the house 3 doors down from Henry. Mr. Engelmann and his wife Anna owns the neighborhood grocery store on the corner.

Henry works at the grocery store during the summer holidays. He is smitten with Jenny when he meets her on July 6, 1956. They spend a wonderful summer.  Henry has deep conversations with Mr. Englemann on the crates out back of the store.  Henry starts making improvements to the store.  The customers notice. 

Suddenly, Jenny moves to Ottawa in late September. 

On my drive to Spruce Grove on Saturday I was struck by the number of vehicles that were none metallic grey (flat) with a clear coat on top.  They ran the spectrum of companies and models.  I found that unusual.  

When I got home I did some research.  The origin of this color is Audi.  Other companies have gotten on the band wagon and now offer a similar look under other names.

I also discovered that you can get a vinyl wrap applied to your car to give you this look if you are wanting a change.

We had a nice reception for the Seniors Show.  We had winners of prizes, a good number of interesting art on the walls, and folks mingling and talking process.

You can find the on line version by clicking on this link.  Allied Art Council Senior Show

There was a wide variety of techniques in this show from watercolor, acrylic, sculpture, mixed media, pencil and more.

There were goodies as well.

I enjoyed sharing with several of the artists who attended then later I had a good visit with two of my aunts.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 

Thanks to my sister who has a bird feeder outside her living room window I got the woodpecker and the chickadee.  The house finch was found on my walk outside in the river valley.  

I am so happy to be walking outside again.  The legs are strong and spring is here.

I finished this book a early this week - The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce.  It is a companion and followup to her other book. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.  Queenie is in a hospice facing the end of her life on earth and Harold's letters and postcards start arriving.  Once the cat is out of the bag, everyone in the building is taking an interest.

She has support from her fellow residents and the staff also take in interest.

It's been 3 years since I read the Harold book so some of the details are a little fuzzy.  Would have been nice to have it to refer to but these days I read books and pass them onto the little library.  I don't hold onto them anymore.  It's okay.

Would recommend both of these books.  The author has a few more so I will keep an eye out for those.

The sutures from my tooth extraction came out on Thursday! I was so happy.  They were very loose and long and sometimes I felt I was going to swallow them.

With turkey on the menu for Easter it was a true blessing to eat normal.

The wound has healed wonderfully.

I am back to taking the stairs.  I started taking the elevator during the pandemic so I would not have to touch handrails. 

The stairs at my sisters' houses, the stairs here at home, the stairs in the river valley are all giving me the workout I need to key my legs and knees in good shape.

Wonderful feeling

Sophie's World by Joosten Gaarder was originally written in Norwegian and then translated to English.

I should have paid more attention to the tag line - A novel about the history of philosophy.  I would have been better prepared to read about ancient history.  It was very interesting.

I did not read all of this book.  When I got more than halfway and the philosophy continued I just went to the last 2 chapters and read those.

Sophie and Hilde are in different realms and share the same birth date. They try to figure out who is the other.  Teachers come along to help with the understanding of the philosophies and the history.

A different kind of book but very informative about ways of looking at things, religion in our world, art, and much more.

We celebrated Easter with as many of us that could attend.  My sister hosted.  It was the first celebration without Mom or Dad in attendance. We all brought sometime to share with the others.

We went through Mom's stuff which was all brought to my sister's place when Mom passed in January. There was clothes, jewelery, CDs and DVD's, and a bit more.

We each took what we wanted, then some was donated to second hand stores, some was garbaged, and some will be passed down to the grandchildren and great grandchildren.

We had to go through ALL the pockets.  We found little pouches of money, combs, and her name and address on little pieces of paper.

It brings closure. The funeral and interment was discussed 

Have a great week!

11 x17 Wall Calendar

I have enjoyed my 11x17 photography wall calendar this past year.  It was prettier than the ones I have printed in the past but of course it required professional printing.

I decided to make myself one for 2022!

I chose this bright shot of a House Finch that I took in the spring in early morning at the wetlands.

I was not able to highlight the holidays before printing it so a highlighter will be used again this year.

2022 Photo Calendar - Nature

 Another winning year for nature photographs.  A lot of walks and visits to wetlands garnered some new species for me.  The Blue Heron was the first time I got a good shot of one.  I have seen them before but they were hiding in the reeds.  The Bunny and the Lesser Yellow Legs are also firsts. 

01 Jan - Lesser Yellow Legs                                07 Jul - Muskrat

02 Feb - Wasp                                                      08 Aug - Barn Swallow

03 Mar - Downy Woodpecker                              09 Sep - Dragonfly

04 Apr - Bunny Rabbit                                         10 Oct - Red Wing Blackbird

05 May - Rednecked Grebe                                  11 Nov - Fiery Skipper Butterfly

06 Jun - House Finch                                            12 Dec - Blue Heron                   

Are you a planner?  

Do you want to see a date in the upcoming month?

Is your calendar stored in the black metal holder?

This calendar can deliver.   Just slide the current month up about a third of the way up to reveal the next month dates.

This idea came from one of my calendar users who has had one of these on his desk for nearly a decade.

Thanks for the tip!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I have finally been out with the camera a lot capturing nature in the form of flowers, birds and mammals.

I took a long walk around all three ponds at the Heritage Hills Wetlands this week.  I was up around 6am so seeing people was limited.

The rising sun lit the beautiful House Finch perfectly!

As you can see the leaves are growing like mad making spotting the birds just a little bit harder.

 

 

 

 

I finished this book this week - Beneath a Burning Sky by Jenny Ashcroft.  This book is based in British occupied Egypt in 1890. Two sisters, Clara and Olivia lost their parents as young children and then they were separated by their grandmother. 

Clara lives in Egypt and now Olivia is traveling there to marry a man she does not love but grandmother has arranged.

As the sisters get reacquainted, Olivia finds out who her new husband really is and how he treats her badly.  The boarder in her husband's house is a military officer.  He shows her compassion, friendship and protection.   The end is heart wrenching but also justice is served. 

This morning I was up with the birds and walking the John Poole Wetlands at the Lois Hole Provincial Park before 6:00 am.  I strolled the board walk as the sun rose and things got brighter.

I found the Barn Swallows flitting around and sitting on bulrushes near their nests which are located below the board walk. 

There were many pairs around.   I love the colors of navy and warm tones breast of these birds.

 

 

Of course, we can always count on the Mallard Ducks to be near all of the ponds in the area.

Love the reflections in this calm water and the curly feathers on it's rump.

In the duck family, the Mallard is one of the larger ones.  I saw a Mallard and a Bufflehead this morning and the size difference is significant.

 

 

I chose blue/purple flowers for my mosaic this week. 

The Pasque Flower in purple then the blue Grape Hyacinth and the lavender of Baby's Breath.

I was facing the opposite direction when this little fellow swam up, pulled a grass clump from the shore and walked back to the water and started washing his breakfast.

He is a muskrat and I did see his skinny tail.

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week is Orange.  

It provides a ton of subject matter in this challenge.

You can check my Flickr Photo Stream (SMDPics)  to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #133 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #291.     Have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I went for a really long walk Sunday morning but a bit more about that later.

The fruit trees are all in bloom.  These are the blossoms of a small crab apple tree.  It was full of flowers.

I love the deep rich color of the blossoms.

I found these at a park I normally visit once or twice a year.  It  has a large man made storm water pond and generally supports many waterfowl.  

The trail that surrounds it is 1.7 miles long. It was originally built in 1977 so an upgrade is due.

Unfortunately, with the significant renovations done to the path way which goes around it things will be disrupted most of the summer.

My regular entrance was cut off so I had to walk a ways just to access the water and the start of the grey line in this picture. 

Then I got to the end of the grey line which is where I found this sign. It led me to the neighbourhood to the north.  I should have paid more attention to the map because I spent the next 40 minutes walking on city streets trying to get back to my car. 

The best option would have been to turn around and go back the way I came, at least I would have seen more birds and wildlife.  I have learned my lesson.

These are some of the birds I did find walking along the trail on the edge of the water.

An American White Pelican but only one.  Generally there are a lot of them here.  No Cormorants.  

The House Finch was singing her heart out which did my heart good!

Many Mallard Duck couples were feeding and swimming.

As you can see the Red Neck Grebe was sitting on her nest with her partner very nearby.  In the past I have had a hard time finding nests but I found 2 on Sunday.

This is the book I finished this week.  I can always count on Nicholas Sparks for a family friendly story with heart.  

True Believer is a story about a science journalist, Jeremy Marsh from New York who visits a small town in North Carolina to investigate mysterious ghostly lights in a local cemetery.  The phenomenon brings much needed tourism to the area. Lexie Darnell is the local librarian who has returned to live near family.   She has had her heart broken and is not interested in going down that road again.

Lexie serves as local guide for Jeremy and the sparks fly but Lexie is cautious about getting involved.  Jeremy is head over heels. He works out the mystery but can he convince Lexie his love is true?

It all works out in the end.

We have had some gorgeous warm +20C days in the last week.

It was time to dig out the trusty Keens sandals which came highly recommended by my niece when I bought them.  I can vouch for this brand of sandals.  I have had worn a pair for at least 10 years. 

When I put them on yesterday but the elastic on one of them broke!  With a closer examination there were other issues so they needed to be replaced and quick!  I search on line and found a store in my neighbourhood, called to be sure they had my size and headed out to purchase a new pair. Yellow with black and grey, perfect!  In all of 10 minutes they were mine. They were pricey but worth every penny.
 

I had a challenge this week on Flickr which was letters.  I decided to do a still life and put words out into the universe that are life giving.

I created a small bouquet with dried flowers and grasses.

The letters are by Tim Holtz and I have had them for a long time but lost them for a while and recently rediscovered them.

Love the letters.  Wood blocks at least 1/2 inch deep so they stand on their own.

As you can see a variety of colors.  Love them and I have added them to the photography studio props.

Deleted Blog Posts! 

Did anyone else lose blog posts this week?  I had 14 posts deleted due to possible contravention of Googles Community guidelines.  I later got followup emails saying the posts have been reinstated but they are still gone.

The challenge on Flickr Macro Mondays this week was soap.  This is one of a few shots I took for the challenge.  A lot of potential in this subject matter.  You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I submitted.

I am  sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #131 and 

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #289.

Have a good and safe week!