Sylvia's Simple Shots

I made my last visit to the St. Albert Botanic Park before the hard frost comes and does away with the blooms.  The dahlias were still pretty and in good form for the most part.

This is Blushing Princess Alyssum which is covered with heavy dew.  My runners were soaking wet by the time I had spent over an hour in the park.

It was a brisk morning so an extra layer was needed for the morning.  I added a vest and headed out.  It was very nice time with very few people around.

Not to much to see at the river this time.  A few ducks were fattening up for the long trip south which no doubt will start soon.

Mister Teacher by Jack Sheffield was a light read.  I would another book by this author.

A warm-hearted, nostalgic and funny continuation of the story begun in the popular Teacher, Teacher! With a wonderful gallery of characters in this North Yorkshire village, author and real-life headmaster, Jack Sheffield, chronicles another riotous year in the life of Ragley-in-the Forest village school.

It's 1978, and Jack Sheffield is beginning his second year as headmaster of a small village primary school in North Yorkshire. There are three letters on his desk – one makes him smile, one makes him sad and one is destined to change his life for ever. This is from nine-year-old Sebastian, suffering from leukemia in the local hospital, who writes a heartbreaking letter addressed to 'Mister Teacher'. So begins a journey through the seasons of Yorkshire life in which the school is the natural center of the community. Vera, the school secretary who worships Margaret Thatcher and whose greatest ambition is to become President of the Women's Institute; Ruby, the twenty-stone caretaker who sings like Julie Andrews; Dorothy, the coffee shop assistant who is desperate to be Wonder Woman; all these , and many more colourful characters, accompany Jack through the ups and downs of the school year. Most of all, there is the lovely Beth Henderson, a teacher from a nearby school, who with her sister Laura presents Jack with an unexpected dilemma.

It's September and that is Concord Grape season in my part of the world. 

We must have had these as a kid but I don't remember for sure.  They are expensive but I treat myself to a carton every year.

The beautiful velvety blue skins with the bright green insides and they taste great.

My sister usually share in this tradition so I brought her a cluster when I saw her this week on her way to help Mom with a big medical eye  appointment.

Speaking of seasons the Canada Geese are starting to gather.  I did not find any in the waters of the Lois Hole Centennial Park but they were heard several times way over head.

I managed to capture this shot as they passed close enough over head to actually see them.

They move pretty fast when on a mission to find enough food to get ready for their trip south.

No doubt they are connected with like minded souls for the long trip as well.

I love their call at this time of year.  They make themselves known and spreading the word about what time it is.

I was able to find this book at the thrift store the other day. An Irish Country Love Story by Patrick Taylor.

It was so good to reacquaint myself with these great characters. Fingal O'Reilly the senior doctor in this medical practice in Ballybucklebo in County Down, Ireland. Kitty is now his wife.  Barry Laverty is coming along as the next senior doctor at Number One Main Street and he is engaged to Sue Nolan a teacher.

These farm folk love their dogs and when Jasper goes missing there is a massive search.  

There is an incident that puts Number One Main Street at risk.  This building has been home to the medical clinic for last 50 years, to the doctors and is where Kinky Auchinleck used to live before she married Archie. She still comes to work every day as the housekeeper and all around manager for the practice. 

The regular set of seasonal ailments are par for the course for these doctors who still make house calls. 

I will be on the look out for more of this series. 

A Lesser Yellow Leg bird at the Lois Hole Provincial Park on Sunday.   The water is so low that it must be a challenge for birds to find water and food.  Especially now that they are fattening up for the trip south.

I have to say having mucky mud as a background in my photos does not make me overly happy either but there it is!

Love the bit of blue water and the reflection of its feathers in the water.

I was very happy to see a bird other than female mallard ducks.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays this week was zigzag.  This subject matter has a lot of options - muffin liners, alligator clips, saw edges, patterns on paper and plastic and tons more. The picture on the right is a Tupperware Charcuterie tool.

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics)  to see my submission for this week. 

Have a good week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I caught this sunrise shot on Saturday.  It was the first time in a long time that I was up at 7:00 am and on the road for photography instead of being there for my Mom.

I did not make it to the lake before the sun was where I wanted so I just stopped along the way and took a few shots.

It was too bad I got the power lines but it could not be helped.

Grateful to have captured it in all it's wonder.  It was gorgeous.

I watched a bit of the ceremony and remembrance of this fabulous lady on TV yesterday.

I will assume that she was happy doing what she did as she lived to 96. 

She was a rock, steady and sure, and beloved by her subjects.

She will be greatly missed.

I finished this book this week.  The Fifth Avenue Story Society by Rachel Hauck.  I always love a New York story.

Five strangers are brought together by invitation to a small library.  Jett the professor, Lexa the executive assistant, Ed the eldest at 85 trying to write a love story, Chuck the Uber driver and Dad of twins, and Coral the leader of a cosmetics company.

All of these people may look like they have it all but friendship is missing in their lives.

I love how they decide to put food into the equation even before they are sure they will continue this Monday meeting. Food is such a unifying thing.  Disarming and communal.

When they meet together they can perspectives that each one could not see on their own.  Each brings expertise and ideas which the others need.

I loved the book.

My favorite kettle is kaput! The first sign was the enamel chipping by the handle which started this summer. Then this week I found the whistle blown apart and broken.  Well that wont' do.  I used the kettle every day.

 It was the perfect kettle.  The color was exactly the right shade of yellow for my yellow and blue kitchen. I bought it with my first pay cheque when I started a new job in 2004. It was the right size and filled my yellow tea pot just right. I can't complain as it served me well for 18 years! 

Of course as trends dictate yellow kettles are not the rage these days. 

Now retired, the funds are not as plentiful as when I had a job.  As it happens, I had spied a kettle on Friday which was nice but the urgent need had not appeared yet.

On Saturday, when the whistle was broken I went back to the thrift shop with hopes that the black one was still there.

Understand black is not my first choice but when I researched this Paderno whistle kettle it sells for $100. They wanted less than $20. It was grubby but was in near pristine condition and likely has seen very little use.

I brought it home gave it a very good scrubbing inside and out, rinsed the inside with vinegar to get it back to shiny!

It is larger than the yellow one so needs to be placed on the front burner and cannot be filled so full. It pours beautifully and the whistle stays on the kettle which is a good thing.

I should not be acquiring things while my pretty stuff packed but I could not resist these 3 stainless steel bird place card holders.  They are very heavy were a good price at the thrift store on Friday.  

Their beaks have a slit which holds the card standing as shown in this picture.  I did find them on line and they are not very valuable new.

They will come in handy I am sure for Macro Monday photography for sure.

Speaking of Flickr Macro Mondays the theme this week was Sharp. The definition that the object can pierce or cut something. 

Here is a shot of a large safety pin.  I tried several creative shots but was not able to get the point and the head in the same shot cohesively.

You can check out my Flickr photo stream (SMDPics) for the shot I did submit.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #190 and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens #355

Have a great week.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

Day lilies are amazing plants. The grow on boulevards, gardens, or any place with light.  They are hardy, frost resistance and bloom for months! Just doing what God made them to do. 

This flower is named Persimmon which I think is very fitting for this rich orange yellow flower.

This one I found at on city property when I attended an Art Walk recently.

It brightened my day!

I've moved my sofa for now so that I am less likely to lay down on it to watch TV.  That habit is not good for my back and I have been suffering the last couple of weeks because of it.

It is not the best placement of the furniture in the living room but it is temporary because the sofa will be going and the room will be emptied to install flooring later this fall.

Just trying to take care of myself for the long run.

I have several books by this author on my shelf but had not read one of them.

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny.  She is a Canadian author so always good to support local. 

This is book is in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. It is book 14 and was written after her husband passed away.  Her husband was an inspiration for this character and she was not sure she could continue to write in this series once he passed but she produce 3 more books in the series.

The setting the province of Quebec in Canada.  It is winter which features prominently in the story. Inspector Armand Gamache is under suspension when he receives a letter which leads him to learn he has been assigned as executor in an estate. The catch is he does not know her.  The mystery is to determine who she is, why has she chosen these 3 people as executors and how money is there to be distributed.  I read this book in 2 days so it was very engaging and I enjoyed the book very much.   I am looking forward to read the other books she has written.

I bought this book mark at an art walk earlier this summer but forgot to blog it till now.

I can always use an extra book mark and this one was done in watercolor. 

I love the stack of books which is the main element.

It has been laminated so it will stay clean and last a long time.

I purchased some ceramic pieces recently.  The white dish on the left will be used for Macro Mondays. The star may but used in Christmas decorations and the blue dish was just really nice and is a good size for macro photography as well.

I spent the morning on Saturday with my aunt.  We met at the art gallery as we were dropping off our pieces for the Open Art Show.

We took in the farmer's market, the pottery guild shop, had lunch, discussed art and classes, then headed back to Michaels to investigate supplies which came up during lunch.

Lunch was at the Stony Plain and Parkland Pioneer Museum Tea House.

I had the hamburger soup, we shared an egg salad sandwich and I had lemon meringue pie for dessert.  I chose the blue and yellow teapot and the beautiful yellow tea cup.

I had several cups of Earl Grey tea.

We like to do this at least once a year and we had a wonderful morning.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays was school supplies which I thought was a great idea. 

The variety of options is great.  Not too many of the photo represented what kids may take to school these days with all the technology.

On the right are pens and pencils where I focused on the ball point and lead.  Have keyboards replaced these in modern schools? 

The limit in size is 3 inches but these objects did not present a challenge there.  Some included the clip of a back pack which was a good idea. 

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics100) to see my submission to the challenge.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #189 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #353.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

After three days of ridiculous and constant wind we got a skiff of snow over night.  Others in the province did quite a bit of the white stuff.

The temperature this morning was -11C which is very cold for this time of year so the snow could have been much worse. 

Despite that, the hares are getting brown so we will get through this.  I was very glad to see this big guy in the back yard this morning.

I finished this book - The Waymaker by Ann Voskamp this week.  I believe I have read all her books and I own quite a few.

This is her latest released recently.

The lesson in the book is that we must maintain our connection to God - Jesus as He is the Waymaker.  He knows what we need and he knows what is next for us.

I bought the book because I am having to practice patience for the time being.  I keep the house tidy at all times and await calls for viewings with the hope of the right offer.

Mom & Dad have both experienced health crisis and that requires trust that the best for them will come to pass.  

As a planner, living with uncertainty is very difficult but I guess that is the lesson to relax and trust that was is right will come.

I replaced my TV recently.  I have had the old one for nearly 10 years I think and I bought it second hand.

It was not working well for quite a while and I thought it was just the antenna but it was the TV.

There was a sale in March offering a generous discount so I just made the decision to move forward. 

I love that I can put my music on a USB stick and play it in the living room - just like that.

I have not been able to connect it to WIFI yet so I will need help with that.

The DVD player is packed so that will have wait as well.  Very happy so far!

The challenge on Flickr Macro Mondays this week was - Bulb.  The electric kind not the garden kind.

This is one of the shots I took for the challenge.   You can check out my Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.   There was a good variety of images to see.

I bought myself a new Basil plant last week as well as the other I purchased last April was getting gangling and not very pretty.   I am very happy to say that I now have 5 plants growing in my place.  My windows face east and north.  I have given up on African Violets for now.

The Aspargus fern I bought last year is doing well.

The Dracena I got from aunt fall of 2020 continues to grow.

The Greek Oregano that my sister gave me is a bit stretched out but I take leaves it about once a week to keep it in check.

The spider plant my niece gave me last year has been moved to the north window and is making babies for the second time which I take it is quite happy there.

The Devil's Ivy has been moved further from the east window not sure how happy it is.  Just for a little while longer, I say.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #173 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #332. 

Have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

Cool Water by Dianne Warren.   Another Saskatchewan story.

Juliet, Saskatchewan, is a blink-of-an-eye kind of town -- the welcome sign announces a population of 1,011 people -- and it''s easy to imagine that nothing happens on its hot and dusty streets. Situated on the edge of the Little Snake sand hills, Juliet and its inhabitants are caught in limbo between a century -- old promise of prosperity and whatever lies ahead.

But the heart of the town beats in the rich and overlapping stories of its people: 

the foundling who now owns the farm his adoptive family left him; 

the pregnant teenager and her mother, planning a fairytale wedding; 

a shy couple, well beyond middle age, struggling with the recognition of their feelings for one another; 

a camel named Antoinette; 

and the ubiquitous wind and sand that forever shift the landscape. Their stories bring the prairie desert and the town of Juliet to vivid and enduring life.

It was a different kind of book and a nice change of pace.

The sun is shining this morning and the place is bright and wonderful feeling.

I am learning a new way of living where everything has a home and it is returned there at the end of the day.  That I have only enough stuff for the space I have so that this practice can continue.

Big projects are on hold.

It means having to discern my very top priorities and concentrating on those.  

I have learned that in the past I have not cleared the stuff from one past time before moving onto another so stuff accumulated and sat around taking up precious space.

This place has space to breathe, relax and live a quieter life.   Is that what I want?

I did manage a few photo challenges this week.  Macro Mondays was Reflections so these were a couple of the shots I took.

This is a very old book which has fallen apart and I kept some of the pages to print cool stuff on them.  It's been sitting for about 6 years - am I really going to print on them?  And if I do what will I do with them?  I am no longer going to craft markets so supplies destined for those projects have to go. 

I love the depth of field I acheived in this shot.  The texture of the old book signatures are wonderful.

To me books are precious and should not be thrown away.  The ReUse center is now open so that is likely where it will go to be found by a teacher, student or other creative person.

This Y is for Yesterday book is the last of the Alphabet Series of books by Sue Grafton because she died before she wrote the Z book. 

This starts with high school antics which turn bad and I was not sure I was going to finish it.

It was better once we were with Kinsey Milhone the detective in the present.   

Crimes are committed by teenagers, some are held accountable, others are not.   Once prison sentences are done and the dues to society have been paid, one should be able to move on but those who have not paid drag those have paid down with them again.

Kinsey of course is in the middle trying to figure out the players, who did what and why things don't add up.

I did finish the book and it was okay. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The temperatures have improved a lot.  It means the snow is melting and freezing at night into ice.  

It means the highways improved enough for me to travel to see Mom and Dad since I did not see them for Christmas.

Mom is settling in to her room at the lodge since her move in late December.

Living with a bunch of people takes some adjustment and getting the food she needs requires that she just keep asking.  Talking to the nutritionist last week has helped a lot.

Most residents has something they like hanging on their door at the lodge.  Mom indicated she would like something as well.  She had found a couple of photos she liked but had nothing to support them.

I found a metal plaque with a wire hanging in my stash.   I spray painted it gold because Mom does not like brown which was it's original color. 

I brought some card stock, the paper cutter and some adhesive so we could put something together for her.

She chose this Goldfinch photo which I trimmed to the width of the plaque.  I trimmed the green card stock to be the size of the plaque.  We adhered the picture to the green then pinned that to the plaque so it can easily be changed when she would like something different.  She is happy with her choice.

Dad cannot participate in his pre-fall activities which included making rosaries and doing puzzles.  He right arm is healed but very weak.  They are working with exercises to make that better.

To keep boredom at bay I decided to make him a Picture Book.  Mom suggested nature photos and family pics in a fairly large size.  The family photos I kept the people to about three per photo and got them printed to 8.5 x 11.  Easy to recognize the faces.

I include 14 nature photographs from my collection.  I put the color copies in page protectors in a .5 binder.  This is light enough for him to handle himself and allows any of us to switch up the photos to keep it interesting.

I hope that it motivates him to use him right arm and lets him know he is not forgotten.

Here are photos of a Lesser Yellow Legs water fowl bird and a dragonfly.

I finished this book as week - Rutland Place by Anne Perry.

The time in which the story takes place is Victorian era in England.  Charlotte Pitt is a bit of a problem solver along with her police officer husband Thomas.  Her mother lives in the housing complex of Rutland Place which holds residences of the well to do.  

Her mother has lost a locket or has she just misplaced it?  Servants are the first to be suspected then eliminated. Neighbors as well have had items go missing.  A mystery for sure so Charlotte is asked to investigate discreetly because calling the police would not look good in the neighbourhood. 

When a friend and neighbor is found dead then the police are officially involved.  Thomas interviews, asks uncomfortable questions, and tracks down leads. Charlotte has her opinions about things as well. 

The ending was not what I was expecting at all but the secrets where unearthed.  It was interesting to read a story from the point of view of the privileged members of society during that time.  I think I prefer to have stories from the downstairs group of people.

I am working on de-cluttering and cleaning areas in my place so everything has a home.

I have a running list of things that I have gone missing - it is a mystery that I can lose track of stuff in such a small place.

I tackled the die cutting area last week because I generally leave scraps and bits sitting on the left hand side of the big shot until it is stacked and I cannot see bottom.  I had "lost" one of  my square thinlits and I am glad to say that it has returned to it's mates in their appropriate package.

This is the cushions on my sofa/couch/chesterfield.  I bought it secondhand from my sister in 2008 I think.  The cushion covers are wearing so I need to do something to extend it's life.

I decided to buy microfiber fabric in a deep dark teal color which works well with the pattern on the couch.  In this picture it is just tucked in but I will be making one large cushion cover with 3 pockets with a fold over closure.

I was very happy to find such a great match to background color of the couch.

I bought myself a new phone system with a built in answering machine to replace the one I bought in 2002 when I got layed off work and would be needing a reliable machine during my job search.

I was glad to find this system includes a cordless unit as well.  It will be helpful when I need to get something while I am on the phone.  I will be able to move around without saying "Please hold on!".

When I decided it turned out it was on sale as well so I was very happy with it.

I recently finished this book - The Map of Salt and Stars
by Zeyn Joukhadar.   I really enjoyed this book and it was really easy to read.

It follows 2 young ladies who lived years apart. Nour lives in New York with her parents and sisters when her father passes away. Her mother, a map maker, decides to move them back to Syria. Things don't go well and they embark on very long journey.

Rawiya 800 years earlier leaves her mother and aims to be apprenticed as a map maker but must disguise herself to get the position. 

Their stories are connected. Nour and her family come to be where Rawiya was living so much earlier.  Amazing to live in a country and area with so much history.   I would highly recommend this book.

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays was Currency.  This is one of the shots I took for the challenge.   This is a coin from Thailand.  I have no idea when I got it.

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to check out the one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday#165 and Mersad who host Through My Lens # 323

Have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

This is the steam from a heating system rising above a building across the back alley.

Back to very cold days.  We have had warmer temperatures with no sun, rain, freezing rain, and now back to -22C.  This has created crazy driving conditions - school bus cancellations, folks not getting to work, and mostly chaos.  I have been staying home.

I cancelled a visit to a sewing center to test out a walking foot for my vintage Bernina 830 record.  I hope to get there by the end of the week.

I finished this book on the weekend.  The Brushstroke Legacy by Lauraine Snelling is a story of painting which crossed several generations.  The main characters Ragni Clauson is the modern day women working for an advertising agency with the pressures that come with it. Nilda Torkalson lived in the 1900s in the family cabin and she is Ragni's great-grandmother.  

Ragni goes to the family cabin with her 15 year old niece Erika to assess the required repairs and ensure the minimum is done to save the building. They will camp on the property for the first while till the cabin can be camped in. 

The neighbour Paul Heidelborg has been keeping an eye on the place and was the one to advise the cabin needed attention.

The girls get back to nature, clear the tall grass, fix some windows and the roof to ensure it is critter proof, remove the rust from the cast iron stove in the cabin.  During the process both reconnect with painting and discover some rosemaling painted in the cabin by Nilda.  

Rosemaling is of Norwegian origin.  Nilda came to the cabin as a housekeeper and cook for Mr. Joseph Petersen who ran a farm in North Dakota.  She takes her young daughter across the country by train to assume this new employment.  She living in a very rural area and in a rustic cabin which is so different from the grand house in New York which was her previous employ.  Assessing the meagre food stores in the cabin puts her in a state of concern.  Mr. Petersen and his hired hand have been living in the cabin and working the farm - being bachelors doing their own cooking and housecleaning.  Needless to say improvements are necessary.  

Mr Petersen has asked for a supplies list for a trip to town.  She faces her fears and makes a good list for staples, laundry supplies, and pencils and paper.  She will at least be able to drawing until she gets paid and can buy paints. 

Another story with story female characters who grow, find their way and eventually thrive.  Loved the book and would recommend it. 

In order to make my own gluten free baking I followed my sister advise to make my own oat flour.  Take some whole large oats. Place in a blender and chop/grind until it is a fine texture.

We have found this flour can replace wheat flour.  My Mom has been eating gluten free for her cancer and couple of us have adopted it to some degree.  This is also my Mom's vintage blender which still works great. 

I made muffins from Mom's recipe.  They were great.  You can use any gluten free flour - 1 to 1, almond, quinoa, buckwheat or corn.   She eats them with cream cheese so it is a snack she can still have at the lodge as she has a small fridge.  We need to bake them for her.  I will make some more before my next visit.

I have been working on a sewing project.  This is an Art Portofolio Carry Bag for my art work. 

You can check out the details here.

The Flickr Macro Monday challenge this week was to take a shot as close as possible with the camera equipment we had.  The limit is normally 3" but we should get much closer.   There were several tiny objects to use as subject matter.  We needed to include the measuring as well in the photo. You can check out my photostream (SMDPics). 

I am sharing with  Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #321 .

Sylvia's Simple Shots

At the end of the day full of errands I found this sky at the park.

I was out because it was the first day of reasonable temperatures -10C in 10 days of -30C or colder temps.  I have been hibernating for sure.

There was a band of heavy cloud above this brilliant band of gorgeous color right at the horizon and the sun shone through!

It's been a time of very few outside photos but we are going to have a week of decent temps so I will head out every day. 

The COVID numbers are ridiculously high so one has to be careful all the time.

The wall Christmas tree is put away and I was wondering what I was going to hang in this new space.

I have decided to hang my gold geometric wreath.  It works well and the size is just right.  I have hung a mercury glass ball in the center for now.  I was going to put a bow above it but did not have any ribbon that would work.  I'll take another look later.  Certainly not doing anything other than essential shopping right now.

The shelf was another challenge because it is very shallow.  Fortunately, I had not culled all my small photo frames.   I found these 3 black frames that work well.  I went through my photo collection and found 3 that worked in them. The center is a water drop on a single piece of grass, The left is a silhouette shot of weeds against sky and the right is dew drops on a spider web.  The 2 far end pieces are just what I had on hand.  I will work of something different for there.

I inherited this enameled cast iron pot from my Mom.  We called this the "bean pot" as she made home baked beans in this pot and it has made it to many a potluck meal.

During my visit to my aunt's before Christmas she showed me how to make vegetable lentil soup.  Very easy.

With my doctor recommending my reducing my sodium intake I will be making my own soup from now on.  This pot is just the ticket.  Thanks Mom.

The World that we Knew by Alice Hoffman is a story about a Jewish woman in Berlin, German during the second World War.  Hanni Kohn is a widow with a 12 year old daughter who has to do what she must to save her and ensure her survival. She decides to consult a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked.

Ava and Lea travel to France and end up living at a convent where Jewish children under 12 are housed.  Ava becomes the kitchen worker. Ettie is working for the French resistance and saved many children by walking them to the Belgian border. A love story, a warrior story and full of brave women.

It was a very touching story and I would highly recommend this book!

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays was "corner".  Of course, the options are endless but what will make an engaging image.

Above are 3 of the images I took for the challenge. Left an crystal block, a post in note block and a magnetic frame. You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #163 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #320 

Have a great week!