Sylvia's Simple Shots

Easter Monday I headed out to Lois Hole Provincial Park to see what birds I would be able photograph.

I needed to out of the house today because the inspection of my condo was taking place to finalize the sale.

I found this pair of Golden Eye ducks on one of the ponds.  

It was very busy on the board walk because many had the day off.  Not so great for taking pictures.

I headed over to my aunts for tea and a warm up after my walk in nature.

I gave up a chance to attend my brother in law's birthday party in the city to the south so that I could get my taxes done.  My regular online process did not work so I booked an appointment with a tax preparation company because they just had to be done in a short amount of time.

The appointment went well and in 20 minutes I was on my way with a considerable charge for the work and a bill to pay on Tuesday.

It is done!

I called my sister for her birthday and I had just received the news that my condo was sold.

It's been one step after another.

I now need to find a place to buy and I can tell you that I have put a full effort to prepare my place, leave it immaculate for potential buyers but some of the places I am viewing are not left in great shape.  It is amazing.

The Way Life Should Be by Christina Baker Kline is the book I finished this week.

Angela is stuck in a job she does not like in New York.  She has a photo of a cottage by the sea tacked to her bulletin board - the dream. She has warm memories of spending time in the kitchen with her grandmother and learning Italian cooking along the way.  

Rich is a guy who lives in Maine and runs a sailboat operation.  Enjoys the sea, the sun and a rugged outdoors lifestyle. 

Angela is fired and decides based on one hookup with Rich that she is heading to Maine and her dream cottage. Well, the reality is not what she expected. Things don't work out with Rich but she finds a job in a cafe and a small old dilapidated cottage to live in.  

She offers cooking classes through her connections at the cafe and that goes well. With the help of new friends she creates a life more in line with her values and priorities. Nice read.

The pussy willows are out which means it is spring.  Some are white and some a puffy yellow already.

The song birds are back as well. 

I did not get a great shot of the black birds.

I think this is a sparrow but it managed to hide well enough not to be photographed or identified.

Next time.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I made a visit to the Lois Hole Provincial Park this week.  The waterfowl was quite absent. For most, the babies are grown and the adults have moved on. 

The Cedar Waxwing was a nice one.  The Barn Swallows were flitting around as usual and there were quite a few.

Still some blackbirds also making their iconic calls. A very peaceful day.

 A Garden to Keepp by Jamie Langston Turner was a good read. 

Elizabeth Landis has recently moved and is finding herself at loose ends. Her son has gone to college and she misses him terribly. Her marriage is on the rocks as she forges new relationships. Her husband leaves the house and is carrying on an affair with someone from the college where is works in the music department.

The book was quite slow at the beginning and I did consider just giving up on it but that is hard for me to do. The poetry references were pretty much lost on me so I just moved on.

Grace, forgiveness, mercy, patience, and Christian values are sprinkled throughout.

I am glad I hung it and the book did redeem its self but it was a bit of a slug.

It's that time of year.  The gardens and fruit trees are producing more than some can manage.

My niece gave me some nice green apples from one of the 2 trees in her yard.  My aunt gave me tomatoes and a garden cucumber. Yummy!  Some zuchinni as well.

I appreciate the fresh produce.  

I had grilled cheese and tomatoe sandwiches a couple of times.  There was zuchinni fried in a pan with parmesan cheese.  

The apples will be in a apple rhubarb crisp.

Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah was another book I finished. Another broken marriage story.  Elizabeth and Jackson Shore live in the north west in a small town.  He works the sports beat in a small market and Elizabeth works on the house.

Jackson is always working on getting back to the big time sports job he lost when he fell from grace after his NFL career.  The time comes that the story that will bring him back to the spot light appears and he pursues it at the cost of all else.  

They are moving to the East Coast for this new job that Jackson has been offered.  Once again, Elizabeth packs up the house and the van arrives to take it all away.  She insisted that they not sell the Echo Bay house and just rent it out.  When she is to take the plane for the east she changes her mind and returns to the west. Putting what she wants ahead of what Jackson wants, which has been the past pattern.

There is a decent ending after each learns a few lessons about setting their marriage as a priority.

The dahlias were headed into their peak condition when I visited early this week.

Gorgeous flowers everywhere in these gardens.

I did have my ankles bitten a lot as I had worn capris.

I had a visit with my aunt after my photo trip.  It was good to connect with family.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The critters are starting to stir if they were here all winter.  Others are arriving backs from the southern climes.

The White Squill is a perennial flower that is one of the first spring flowers.

 
Got some news on Sunday that the leader of our quilting group is moving away.  I have volunteered with her on women's ministries for many years. 

They were able to sell their house and will be moving to be near their daughter.

She has liquidated most of her fabric stash.  She brought odds and ends that needed a new home so I was grateful to receive zippers, serger thread, a bit of bias tape and a small box of buttons.

I found the smallest red heart buttons in this box.  They certainly will come in handy for Macro Monday challenges.

Thanks so much for sharing.

We will have lunch with before she goes.

I am so glad to have my tax return done for another year.

Now that I am retired it is so much easier but I seem to forget that and procrastinate.

It took only a few hours and it was done.

I had time to have a walk around Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park with my friend which I had not seen in a couple of months.

The red wing black birds had not returned yet.  I missed their distinctive calls.

The Canada Geese were jockeying for the best nesting places.

The water is very low so I hope all the birds find places to raise their young.

I attended the show where my aunt was displaying here old car watercolors.  They turned out really well. There was over 50 artists on display.

I met my other aunt and her husband at the venue.  We went for a walk along the Sturgeon River while we waited for the reception to start.

I is for Innocent by Sue Grafton is book I finished this week.

It`s always nice to reaquaint myself with Kinsey Malone the private investigator.  She has new work digs and is taking on work on her own.

Lonnie Kingman has hired her to continue work which Morley Shine was doing for him but he died suddenly.  Kinsey thinks it will be just a bit of final work and all the information will be ready for the civil suit.

David Barney was acquitted of the murder of his rich wife - Isabelle.  He is now spending her money - thank you very much.  Finding Morley`s files a but unorganized she needs to retrace some of those steps and redo interviews.

David`s story seems to be corroborated by evidence that he is innocent. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I spent several hours on Sunday taking pictures at the local lakes.  

These geese in flight was taken at Lois Hole Centennial Park.  My first time there this spring.  The water levels are decent but not a lot of ducks.

The black birds were in good numbers and the geese were making their presence known with much honking.

There were a few skirmishes among them and furious protection of nests.  Goslings should be around very soon.

It was a great morning with beautiful weather.

On Monday, I took a trip north to visit Mom and take her to medical appointments.  

I stayed overnight at my sister's place and we went Tuesday morning to final the details for Dad's funeral next week.   He passed away May 12th in his sleep as he had wished.

I stopped at the honey farmers and picked up a pail of honey.  I have purchased my honey from these folks for years.  We had a bit of a visit and caught up on life.  I guess the winter has been hard on the beehives and some have been lost to temperatures.  Very distressing for the farmers.

I use mostly only honey for sweetening.  In my tea always.

Another book finished this week.  The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley.  This is my third book by this author and I just loved it.

It is set in Scotland.  In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in a small cottage in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors Sophie and starts to write.

She seems to be very connected to Sophia. She writes then when researching discovered that what she has written is true.  How can that be?  Ancestral memory from Sophia maybe. 

The owner of the cottage she is renting has 2 sons who take an interest in the woman writer who moved into the cottage in winter.  One is a history professor in Aberdeen who visited his Dad most weekends.  These two connect over their common interest in the past.  This was a very good book and I would recommend it.

On Thursday, I dropped off another 10 blankets for Project Linus.  

These blankets were all made by my sister as I have not sewn a blanket since my health issues in 2020.  

Now with trying to sell my place I cannot have the place uprooted with a big project as it must be tidy most of the time.

I send these off with blessings to those who receive them in their time of need and distress.  May they be comforted by a warm blanket.

With a bit of rain the flowers have just opened up.

This was taken in my neighborhood.  They have a beautiful front lawn filled with red and yellow tulips.

It is a blessing to have such neighbors.

It is so uplifting to see flowers blooming, blue Alberta skies, and the temperatures rise.

We had a full day of rain yesterday which I am sure bring more green and spring flowers.

Have a great week.

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 Simple Shots

I found Black Terns at the John Poole Wetlands on Sunday.  They were being very protective and almost dive bombing me so there must be a nest close by.

This is a new bird for me.   I have not seen them before in my area.  Black Terns eat mostly small fish and insects. Male and female select the nest site together.

I know that we have more flattened bull rushes in this wetland compared to other years.  It makes it easier for us on the platform to see into the wetland.  That is how I saw the Sora Rail the last time I visited. 

Loved learning more about this bird and it's life and behaviour.  You can see the rain.

I made Bavarian this week and brought a few over to my sister's while we had a social distance visit. 

I have one more package of raspberries in the freezer so I will have to find a source.  The friend where I have picked in the last couple year has moved down east.  A call to my other sister may be needed.

This was a combo of raspberry and rhubarb.  I added a cherry as that was the only fresh fruit I had.  You can check out the recipe in this post.

I normally serve this with store bought chocolate wafers but I was not headed out for just that!  I found a great recipe for Chocolate Wafers which was really tasty!

This is the book that has been on my night table in recent days.  It was a nice change from those I read recently. 

Each chapter is a story of an incident from his small animal veterinary practice in England in the 1940's.  He was in practice for nearly 50 years.

Some hilarious, some moving and touching, some just plain hard work. 

Most of the stories are set in the fictional town of Darrowby.  James Herriot is a pen name for James Wight.  He wrote many books.

I have seen animals other than birds this week.  On the top is muskrat eating bull rushes.  We were all wet myself included.  I was prepared with a plastic bag for the camera and my rain jacket so I was comfortable.  

A Barn Swallow fledgling was taking refuge from the rain in a small hole in a municipal sign designed to remind dog walkers to pick up after their pets. The holes I think were meant to hold plastic bags.   On Sunday they held small birds.  There was 3 holes and birds filling 2 of them.  I felt for these little ones.  Having to sort out feeding themselves and it has rained for 4 days.  Miserable weather.

The coyote I was warned about by a fellow walker in the river valley.  She was walking a fairly large dog and the coyote had not really been intimidated by her or the dog. Great! I thought.   I walked on fully aware of my surroundings.  Just a few minutes later he came out of the bush on one side of the trail and stopped to eye me.  Thankfully he just moved on across the trail and headed down towards the golf course.  

I am due for a large grocery shopping trip so some ingredients are in short supply.  I had bought an avocado and wanted to make a salad.   Found a great recipe but the dressing was the best part.

Veggie Salad: The grain is quinoa, tomatoes, the last of the celery, red onions, and a bit of dried rye bread for crunch.

I was supposed to put dried cranberries but totally forgot!  That would have be even better.

Fortunately, the ingredients are things I always have on hand.  The recipe did 2 large bowls but I should make some ahead.  The dressing was tastier on the second bowl the next day.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #87 and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #247

Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was Squared Circle.

You can check out my Flickr Photostream SMDPics to see the image I submitted.

You can check out my Instagram SMDPics100  I post a photo a day of my wanderings and being out and about.

Have a great week and be well!

Nature - In and Out

I stopped at the Conservatory for a few minutes on my way home yesterday.  The feature pavilion's theme was CandyCopia which was not really my cup of tea but I did manage a couple lovely images.

I think this one is a rose of some sort and of course tulips were great.  I will have to go back during the week when it is less busy.  There were several large groups in for tours.









I headed home for some lunch and a bit of a nap.  This viral infection is just dragging. 

Later in the day I decided to get out and visit the wetlands.  I know it's early in the season to expect to see wildlife though birds must live there year round. 

Cattails in the late day sun were very pretty.

The walkways were pretty icy and snow covered.   I met a few families enjoying the last of the sun.  The area is frequented by many dog walkers but I did not see any on this trip.

 

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #76 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Recent Snapshots

On my walk the other morning I was surprised by a brush on my leg.  It was the neighbor's cat.  It meandered a bit as I stood taking photos of flowers.  Then his focus changed and as you can see something caught his attention.  I don't what it was and he did not pounce so it was not food anyway.

He is quite a large cat with nice coloring and nice eyes.

A trip to the Lois Hole Provincial park last night did not yield many good photos.  I guess the waterfowl babies are growing so the parents are free to move about a lot more.

I found the swallows in their regular place under the boardwalk sitting on the metal braces which keep it square.  He looks more puffy here than usual.  Love the orange color of his throat against the blue of the head. 

 I have not taken a lot of sunset photos in my time.  I guess I don't have an ideal place to take one.  Here I had to live with power lines.  There is trees between me and the sun so it does not create a super shot of the sunset on the water.

I am investigating where would be a great place to go capture that shot.  I'll keep you posted about more sunsets.

The birds were Black Headed Gulls which I had not seen before.



I finally got some peony photos.  I have been waiting for them to open for a couple of weeks.  Cool weather contributed to a slow rate of blooming.

There are so many colors and various levels of fullness in petals.  I love their grand size.  I found hot pink, light pink and white with a hint of pink.

Very happy with these.

The peonies were so lovely.  I like this two toned on with 2 shades of pink and the petals are filly in the center and smoother on the outside.

I believe this one is named Santa Fe.

It will likely be part of my photo calendar next year.

I continue to drive through Elk Island National Park in hopes of seeing and photographing bison. 

This was last Sunday on my way back from the country to visit my Dad. 

This is a small male.  He refused to lift his head.  They are majestic and very large animals.

Maybe, I can't blame him because there was at least seven vehicles on the loop taking photos. 



Sharing with the following:

Mosaic Monday #46  hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Through My Lens #100 hosted by Mersad

Mosaic Monday - Wetlands Visit

I took a visit to the one of our nature parks on Saturday.  I was celebrating getting my taxes done and I will receive a small refund.  This week is going to be a full one so I put all my photos into one mosaic. 

The day was one of the first where we can see that summer will get here.  I invited my aunt to come with me and we spent some time on the board walk which goes across a small portion of Big Lake. There was still ice on the some parts of the lake.  We did see a kayak and a paddle board so folks are desperate to have seasonal temperatures.  The clouds were amazing.  Of course, Canada Geese are a staple in our marshlands in Alberta.  I have  never taken a really good photo of the Red Wing Blackbird but there he is sitting on a dried cattail.  The new ones will be a while coming but there is hope of summer sun and green grass.  The highlighted photo is of a male Golden Eye Duck. 

I totally enjoyed the afternoon.  We headed inside to warm up and have tea.  They have a bistro, several specialty stores and the Hole's Greenhouse at the Enjoy center.  The bedding plants were pouring out of the greenhouse! It was a wonderful visit and I will be back!

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life that hosts Mosaic Monday #35.