Sylvia's Simple Shots

I headed to the St. Albert Botanic Park early in the week.

Here's one of the last peonys in bloom.  Beautiful blush pink! 

The roses were in fully bloom.

The sunflowers are headed to great heights.

Not much on the river now that the babies have matured.

The heat wave continued this week.

With the fan running pretty much 24/7, soaking my head and shirt several times a day, managing the fan in windows at night to bring the cooler air in, and just hunkering down for the most part.

It was lucky that we were not laying floor this week because it was a cooker.

The Blue Noon by Robert Ryan based on a true story.

This is a WWII story set in Europe between 1938 and 1945. Harry Cole is a  rogue. Over this time he has had a few personas, worked for several different military organizations, and collaborated with many different regimes.

He has been hurt, shot, beaten and still has managed to fit in, hide in plain sight and serve his own purposed within the opportunities which came his way.

He has known love, settled down for a little bit and tried to become a better person.  

I found that at times I like him and other times did not.  The story was compelling and I read a good part of the book in front of the fan in the heat wave we are experiencing.

I washed my Keens this week.  With the very hot weather they were needing a refreshing.  

They suggest they can be washed in the washing machine but I was not prepared to do that in my new machine so I used Simple Green on them with a old toothbrush and then put them out on the balcony to dry.

They look and smell better.

The walk around Beaumaris Lake this week was wonderful.

The morning was cool comparatively to the rest of the week.  There was heavy cloud which threatens to rain down but it did not.

The sun came out at 10 am and the heat began.

I headed home.

I headed over the Muttart Conversatory this  week as well to see the new display in the feature pavilion.  Where Pyramids Collide.

Being the middle of summer there were many programs going on.  Several sets of small children all in the same colored shirt so adults could keep track of them, running around the narrow paths was no much fun.

Of course, none of the pavilions were cool as in temperature.

I always enjoy the flowers, plants and fish.

The process continues.  I have headed to the flooring store for more information.

Received feedback waiting for more information.

Muttart Conservatory - Christmas

The feature pyramid was decorated for Christmas.  There were beautiful poinsettias in a variety of colors on full display

I loved this variegated one.

The Hellebore - Lenten Rose was in bloom in the tropical pyramid.

I always love seeing this flower.

The tropical space had lost one of the main trees in the center so it was very much brighter but feeling a bit empty.

Fog was covering the pond in the feature space.  Love how the stalks just emerge from the mist and the silver ball reflects its surroundings.

Wooly penguins sporting red and white scarves where resting on a large snowflake.

Wonderful Christmas decor.

A clever tree decorating idea.

Beautiful clear glass spheres filled with red air plants.  They made a really nice looking tree.

The huge red star against the rock wall made for a great shot.

It would make a great Christmas card.

I was glad not to have missed this display as it opened some time in November.

It was pleasantly quiet as long as I avoided the group of  school kids moving from pyramid to pyramid.  I just skipped the Arid pyramid as I was getting tired and they were just ahead of me.

The gift shop has some really nice things for Christmas gifts.

Sylvia' Simple Shots

I visited the new show in the feature pyramid at the Muttart Conservatory - Orchids through Time.

A misty humid atmosphere to ensure the health of the beautiful orchids in the show.

Orchids come in many colors and shapes. 

The pond was looking really good with the mist covering the surface and water droplets being generated.

The Koi fish were very happy in their pond.

The central flower is Common Spiderwort which was in one of other pyramids.

Things were quiet, peaceful, and very enjoyable.

Another World War II novel - Beneath a Starless Sky by Tessa Harris.

Lilli Sternberg is involved with the local theatre in Munich in 1930.  She is a dancer which makes her very happy.  She meets a young man Captain Marco Zeiller who admires her and she develops feeling for him also. 

As the years approach the start of the war slowly Jewish citizens are feeling the pressure.  Their rights are slow taken away.  Lilli flees Germany to America when the opportunity presents itself.

Her family is determined to hold their ground in their homeland. Her attempts fail to have her family go to Switzerland.  She flees Germany again and is able to connect with Marco at the last minute and they head to America.

The story has a wonderful ending where father and daughter meet.

One sister was visiting another this week to pick low bush cranberries. 

On their way through I connected with them for a Wendy's lunch.

My farmer sister had sent a box of goodies.

These beautiful sunflowers were in the box.  Three wonderful flowers that I immediately added to the vase which still held flowers from my other sister's garden.

I have been blessed by the generosity of those who have gardens and flower beds.

The box also held fresh picked corn, purple and white potatoes, carrots and cucumbers.

There is nothing like garden produce.

I ate the cucumbers first as they will not last as long as the other stuff.

The corn was enjoyed with butter.

I have sliced the potatoes with my guillotine slicer, microwaved them for a bit then finalized the cooking in the cast iron fry pan with onions and mushrooms.

Garden fresh carrots are best eaten raw.

It's been a quiet and somewhat solitary summer due to several situations beyond my control.

I have enjoyed my sewing machine and worked on several projects.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 

I visited the conservatory this week.  It was pretty busy and one of the pavilions was not available so that cut my visit short.   Despite the closure of the feature pyramid, the others provided some color and flowers.  I am grateful that I can visit any time with my annual pass. There will be another visit soon!

The Canada Geese are back! 

It is wonderful to hear their honking in the river valley.  Pairs a vying for prime real estate to make their nests and have their young.

The are such iconic birds for Canada.  It is amazing that they can raise chick with being so far from water.  Water is down in the ponds this year and things are so dry.

Many times this means the top of apartment buildings and I am not sure how the little ones get down but life moves on.

Gorgeous blue sky!

I upgraded my internet service this week.  I had been living with a very old plan as far as speed and data limit.

With the Roku TV the temptation is to watch more internet content so I had to move with the times and get with the service that would move me into a new era.

I was offered a much better plan for very little more than what I was paying.  The price I was paying was too much for the service I was getting.  That is what happens when we get stuck in the old ways.

This should see me into getting more fitness content.

Sugar and Salt by Susan Wiggs is the book I finished this week.

Margot Salton has always dreamed of owning her own restaurant.  When she finds a space in San Francisco who is offering a shared commercial kitchen with the bakery next door it seems to be a good opportunity.  Ida Sugar along with her son Jerome owns the bakery next door. Margot and Ida hit it off right from the start.

Margot has learned cooking from her mother and the barbecue business from her mentor who took her under his wing when she needed a strong support.

When her past from Texas comes a calling she has to deal with it.  She is not sure that Jerome will still be around when he finds out her troubles.

The book has a good ending and it was a great read.

I have been enjoying this PBS British series on ROKU.

The practice is James Heriot's legendary practice now led by Peter and Julian.

They treat all animals from house hold pets, exotic pets, livestock like cattle, goats, sheep, and lamas.

There is always heart warming stories of these precious animals that are very important to their owners.

They are supported by a large team of other vets, vet nurses and admin support staff.  It is one big family.

I am enjoying it very much.   Nice hour of great content.

The hares in the river valley are brown!

The mornings are still very cool this week but things are looking up weather wise.

This guy was munching on the new green grass that is emerging from the dried bit on the forest floor.

These are quite skittish but I managed a decent shot.

I am so looking forward to spring and more light, more warmth.

Spring is here!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found another piece of Robert Held Art Glass at the thrift store the other day for under $2.

It is a candle holder with a pulled feather design in the base with blues, greens and purples.

I have placed a tealight on top as I don't have taper candles.

I just love this art glass and it is a good thing I don't live close to his studio in British Columbia.  I do follow him on Instagram @robertheldartglass so I look forward to seeing his new stuff as it comes out.

I have found the pieces I have in thrift stores.  I have a heart and a small vase in my collection.

It is signed on the bottom as usual.

We continue to add to my list of exercises to rehab my right knee and loosen my mid back.  I noticed yesterday after about 3 hours of sewing that it was very tight so I did my stretches before going to bed.

My knee is doing well and I added step ups last week and I am starting to use the stairs again.  It goes better going up than down.

It will come.

I have an MRI on it next week so we will see what it looks like on the inside there.

It's been cold again this week. Everyday the low's are in the -18C to -20C without the wind chill.

I had to take the bus to medical appts this week very early in the morning so it was cold!

On Wednesday the wind was very strong and standing waiting for a bus is no fun.

Two days of heart tests this week.   This is an investigation of a period of dizziness in January.  It cleared up once the tension in back was released so I don't expect anything significant coming out of these tests.  Interesting what life sends my way.

I bought a tiny bottle with a drip lid so I can carry essential oil in my car.  I chose the bergamot grapefruit combo for this time around.

Essential oils should not freeze so I can leave it in the car.

It was a hassle to bring the diffuser up, then remember to add drops just before I was headed out, then hang it back on the rear view mirror.  

Now I can do it whenever I feel the need.

I hosted lunch for 2 of my aunts after our visit to Muttart Conservatory on Friday.  My first time back since the pandemic.  I will include my pics in a separate post.

We had a great time and with time after for a good visit.

I made yellow split pea soup and whole wheat tea biscuits with yogurt with blueberries for dessert.

I soaked the peas overnight so I could cook the soup that morning.  Once the soup was simmering I made the biscuits.  They turned out well this time because I left the dough thick enough.  I usually roll them out too thin.

I have a basket of ReUsable Bags ready to donate to GrammaLink  Africa fundraiser later this year.

I made 17 bags since February 4th.  It was a learning experience and I am happy with the results. I kept one for myself so 16 are being donated.

Most of them are microfiber so they will last a long time.

I hope it puts a few dollars into the hands of grandmothers in Africa who stepped up to care for their grandchildren when the parents died of AIDS.

Feels good to give back.

I did visit the Muttart Conservatory this week with 2 of my aunts (my Mom's sisters).

I bought a yearly membership which will allow me to go anytime I want and also visit the Zoo regularly.

The spring flowers were all in bloom in the feature pyramid.

I chose the Amaryllis because it reminds me of my Mom who I miss every day.  She was such a great lady.

This is the variety Minerva and it so reminds me of Christmas.  They can appear on seasonal greeting cards.  Classic combination of red, green and white.

Looking forward to more visits once life settles a bit.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I took a walk over the new Tawatina LRT Bridge on the weekend.  It has been open to foot traffic for a while but the train is not up and running for passenger traffic yet.  Testing is still taking place.

It is a beautiful bridge and I will take a ride across it on the train when the time is right.

The bridge is wide and leaves lots of room for quite a few folks.  Of course, I was there with the birds in the morning so it was delightful to have it mostly to myself.

The Muttart Conservatory is the stop on the south side of the river and the walk across brings one to Louise McKinney Riverfront Park in the downtown area.  For those downtown that want a quick trip to the Muttart it is perfect!

I walked the grounds of the Muttart Conservatory as it was before the pyramids opened at 10:00 am.

I found Maratagon Lilies which are also at the St. Albert Botanic Park.  

This one is named Fairy Morning which features yellow and peach colors.  There were several varieties in the flower bed.

I'm not sure when I will going inside the pyramids as there not much room to social distance.  I anticipate another wave of COVID 19 in the fall so I continue to wear my mask and social distance with strangers.

The LRT construction has had a big impact on the grounds so there are less flowers than before.

I added some pieces to my white dinnerware by Myott (1952) with some Snowhite Regency by Johnson Brothers.  These pieces came from my sister who received the donated card making supplies earlier this year. These had been in storage for quite a few years.  I believe these pieces are from the 1960's.  I was able to add 4 dinner plates, 4 cups and saucers, 6 dessert plates, and 2 oval serving pieces.  Super happy!

I finished this Nicholas Sparks - See Me books this week.

The main character is Colin Hancock who is making a real effort to change his ways.  He had psychological help from a therapist in coping mechanisms to keep him out of the trouble he has had in the past. Training his body, running to wear off energy, keeping his anger under control, no drinking of alcohol and practicing his listening skills are all working pretty well.  He meets Maria Sanchez on the beach.  As always with Nicholas it is a quick romance to spending days and night together.

Maria is moving up the career ladder as a lawyer. This current job comes with some relationship challenges with one of the bosses. He approaches her during a out of town conference and suggests a way for her to make partner.  She turns him down then struggles to keep out of his way.

It begins to be clear someone is stalking her and sending her gifts and threatening her - but who?  Is the boss, is it someone from one of her previous cases?   Of course, Colin now in love is having a hard time controlling his emotions and his behaviors.   I found the intensity of the story quite challenging, Colin is out of control a couple of times which did not sit well with me.  I did not really relate to this story very much.

I am really enjoying my small watercolors cards for Christmas and other occasions.

I have tubes of water color which have not seen the light of day for years.  These were acquired at sales and generally at price discounts.  My sister and I have done large sheet backgrounds in the past. 

I decided to pull these out and use them but I needed a way to make them available.  I did a search and there were several ideas for travel watercolor palettes.  I headed over the Delta Art and purchased empty half pans at over $1 each.

I placed them in this cough drop tin and filled them with blobs of color from the tubes I had. I was able to have several versions of the 3 primary colors - blue, red and yellow.  I will be able to mix many color from these.

It does not give me much mixing space but I can use a white dinner plate for that purpose.

I have written down the colors on the left and I did paint a sample of each color in the photo above. I think I have 2 reds which are very similar. 

I painted 2 small landscapes just to give the colors a go. I will make cards with them later.

I did come across a way cheaper option for this project which I will share the link here.  She uses a dollar store eye shadow box which I thought was genius.

Still scoping out salt free snacks.  I found a large 630gm bags of these a Sobey's store on my trip south a few weeks ago.  

Have yet to check them out here in the city but it is on the ToDo List

It is hard to find healthy options at a good price and easily available because that is not what most people want.   I will keep at it.

Terrifc Tulips

The tulips at the Conservatory were gorgeous today. Only had a bit of battery power left but got a few good shots.  If I want tulips it has to be now. 

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.

Photos Today

We had a great time of fellowship this morning with our Welcome to my Kitchen group.  We had 15 in attendance so that was a great turn out.  Here's my plate - homemade bread toast, raspberry yogurt, biscuits and fruit. It was delicious.


Of course, good black tea was in good supply served in china mugs.  It was very good.

This is was a new flavor for me.  It is Bakeapple Jam made with cloudberries.  They grow low to ground on marshy land which requires rubber boots and are picked in August.  It was home made and delicious.

The devotion was about giving and receiving encouragement.  Think outside ourselves and give a smile, a word or a hug. 

Our book exchange is going well with most heading home with books they have not read after bringing the ones they have read for others to take home.

 

I spent about 90 minutes at the Muttart Conservatory after running errands. The feature pavilion was celebrating Chinese New Year which falls on February 16 this year.

There were lanterns, parasols, and fans in those gorgeous reds and golds.

It was nice to unwind a bit with some photography.