Sylvia's Simple Shots

More wonderful time spend at Heritage Hills Wetlands this week.  There were many Common Terns this year which was great to see.  The Mourning Cloak butterfly was my first capture of this year.  The Ruddy Duck was showing off his blue bill as usual.  They are very photogenic.

I had to replace the flush lever and toilet handle this week.  I thought no big deal, checked out supplies on line and headed to Canadian Tire. 

When I got it home I could not install this for the life of me.  I called my brother in law and he suggested maybe I had stripped the plastic threads.  

When it was not on the toilet I was eventually able to get the nut on the handle so what was the problem?  The situation was that when I transferred the lever to the toilet the arm was turned around and my mind had not made that adjustment.  Once I figured it out it went on as easily as it should have and in 10 minutes I could flush the toilet with the lever again.

I spent a couple of days with my sister and brother in law.  I was treated again to a hot dog supper on the open fire for my birthday.  They taste so good.  I normally have ice cream cake but the price is just getting out of hand so I bought Hagen Daas ice cream bars instead.  Very yummy and much more in my budget.

My sister and I attended the Rhubarb Tea fundraiser on Saturday.  This was a belated celebration for our birthday.

There was a bake sale, a merchandise sale and the tea.  I selected this burnt orange tea cup and we had rhubarb crisp rather than pie.

It was a very successful event.

This was a Reader's Digest book that sat on my bookshelf. Short stories which was just what I needed.

Lake News by Barbard Delinsky - Lily Blakes heads for Lake Henry in New Hampshire where she grew up after some trouble in the city. She meets a journalist which helps her tells her side of the story.

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks - very interesting.  It was a lovely love story with a sad end. 

Thunderhead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - Nora Kelly gets a letter written by her late father sixteen years ago.  Very thrilling story.

The Devil's Teardrop - Jeffery Deaver - This story was very engaging as police try to find this killer before he strikes again.  Very intriguing plot!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I've been waiting for this happiness since I returned the Sunrise Stained Glass Art piece of mine to the window in the dining room.

One day this week the sun was shining brightly despite the temperatures this week.

This is the image on the wall in the living room being created by the stained glass piece in the dining room window.  This is exactly what I was hoping to achieve with this piece of art.  Blissfully happy with this.

The dried flower arrangement are the left overs from the bouquet for Mom's passing in January.  The leaves have dried very nicely, the baby's breath is good, the freesias are slowly falling off but that is okay.

I am back to my regular areobics routine along with the exercises from the physiotherapist.  I expect had I got back into my regular routine this fall I would not had the problems I experienced with my knee but such is life.

What I have learned is that you can not store up fitness.  It is something you have to do regularly or you just lose it.  

I am grateful the lesson was not more painful than it was.  From January 6th to February 25 I am back to about 95% on both the knee and the back.  I spend 1 hour a day between areobics and strength building exercises.

It is good to being feeling myself again.

Yes, it was a cold one again this week.  It has to end sometime.

I have stayed in most of the week. I did have a few commitments I had to do but in little sprints it was okay.

This little and mighty machine came to live at my house this week.  I picked it up from its service on Thursday.

I will be doing an in depth post on this machine later.

I had a conversation with my niece a while back who is a bargain hunter and thrift store shopper.  She had purchased this one and as she had 2 others this one was up for grabs.

With my recent sewing projects one of these will come in very handy for my unPaperTowel project.

I want to make some reusable make up remover pads as well.

I have to get new thread into it before I can use it so that is the next thing.

Bring Her Home by David Bell is a book I finished early in the week. 

This was quite a thriller of a story with a few tense moments and a couple of turns which one is not expecting.

The 2 teenage girls Summer and Haley are missing.  The search finds one girl severely beaten and just barely alive and one dead.  They had been looking for 2 girls and 2 appeared so it was assumed they were the ones being sought.  

Later, we discover another girl was involved and parents grieving received a shock and now there is still one girl missing.

Bill Price, a recent widower, is looking for his daughter Summer.  Tiny clues start adding up to behaviors he could not have anticipated his daughter would have engaged in.  Summer is grieving the loss of her mother.   It was a very good book.

I made a trip to the ReUse Center on Friday and found some goodies.

Some quilted fabric for my sister who has been making casserole carriers. 

This tiny blown glass snowman is just the cutest. No chips at all.

From the plastic I collected I want to make toggles for the bags to wash make up remover pads in.  They need to be plastic because they will go in the laundry.  They are small pieces so it was recommended that they be washed in a laundry bag.  

The cardboard rolls are for the UnPaperTowel project. 

The piece of embroidery is a huge piece of linen.  Yes I checked with a burn test.  I would like to make use of the stitched segment in some what but not sure yet what.  Can it be incorporated into a blanket?  Maybe. There is 2 meters so the other half from the stitch segment would make nice dish towels.  We shall see. 

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks follows the tried and true formula for another successful story. His male are really good guys.

Logon Thibault find a photograph while he is on tour in Iraq.  The photo is a beautiful girl with a ferris wheel, 3 large pines and 3 marines in the background.  He experiences getting out of some pretty tight situations alive during his time with the marines. His best friend Victor believes the photo is a good luck charm that is keeping him alive.  After their tour is over and they are back in the USA they get together after a few years of trying to piece their lives back together after seeing combat. Victor suggests that Logan try to find the girl and thank her for keeping him safe. 

Logan finds the girl after a very long walk but does not disclose the reason he has arrived in Hampton.  He gets a job, they fall in love and then disaster strikes and the things he hid come to light.  It does not go well with the girls and he gets ready to head out of town once again.  Through a difficult situation he redeems himself in her eyes.  And as always they live happily ever after. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found this scene interesting on my walk the other day.  The sleek glass window is part of an addition to the back of the old historic building.

The brick wall of the old building was reflected in the full glass wall next to it.  This was just fine.

The on second glance I would see the white chairs in the office on the second floor in the brick wall. 

It was an interesting view of new and old and unusual all at once.

This the third book in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton.  C is for Corpse. 

Kinsey is a wonderful character which I enjoy spending time with.  This is earlier in the series compared to books I have read which were written with her and her career having been fleshed out a bit more.

This was a small hardcover book so I think shorter in length that of the others I've read.  I have V sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Bobby Callahan feels he is in danger. But since his accident and head injury there are pieces of his past that gone. Meeting Kinsey at the gym he decides to hire her to get to the bottom of the mystery of who is trying to kill him.  There is a small red book that may hold a clue but Bobby do not remember who he gave it to for safe keeping. His part time job required him to spend time at an old building on the outskirts of town. It was where archived medical records were kept and a back up for the morgue so it was a bit of a creepy place.  Very shortly after Bobby hires Kinsey he dies in a car accident.  Most folks assume that all interest in the suspicions would be dropped but Kinsey means to see her job done.  

There are twists and turns but eventually the truth comes out and the reason Bobby was killed becomes clear.

My sister and my niece both have great gardens so I came home with a couple of containers of beautiful veggies and fruit.

I'm so glad that my niece's new house has yielded a much better gardening experience for her.  Things are blooming, growing and producing so she is thrilled.

The little tomatoes were delicious.  The new potatoes were enjoyed with onions, mushrooms and sour cream.

Apples were picked by my sister's friend.  She makes canned fruit compote for her breakfasts.

Love garden cucumbers.

The birthday celebration was short but wonderful with seeing people I have not seen in a while. She did not have a great variety of numbers in her stash so her Dad converted her age into Binary.  

That picture will likely raise questions when her grandchildren wonder was grandmas ever 1000 years old.

The black and white Tuxedo cake was delicious and just the right size.

I went to use my sewing machine other day and it looked like it did not work because I turned the switch and no light came on.   It took a minute to figure out it was just the light bulb. I completed the small project without the light.

Off the Fabricland to find a replacement and thank goodness I brought the old one with me because I would have assumed that it was the screw type but it was not.

Now there was the option to buy an LED version of the twist in type for twice the price of the incandescent bulb but likely will last 10 years or so.  I bought the new technology.

I finished this book this morning.  I was feeling exhausted with the driving last week, the trip out of town on Sunday and discouraging news about my place on a couple of fronts.

I just wanted to escape for a bit.

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks was a good book.  I don't like how the relationships in his books seem to whirlwind romances.   But that aside, this was a very good story.

Travis Parker and Gabby Holland are neighbours.  She is new to the town and misses her friends.  Travis steps into the gap and the rest is predictable set of events until the accident.

The question is "How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"  Travis make the right choice as difficult as it was for him and his children.

I would recommend the book as it raises questions which need to be pondered.

I am loving the sunflowers everywhere.  It seems to be a good year for them.

My nieces flowers in the front flower bed are 10 feet tall but with very small seed heads.  They may have been competing with the cherry tree for light

This one was taken at the community garden where they are significantly tall as well.

The honey bees were having a good time gathering food.

I expect this head will yield much food for birds later in the season.

Have a good week.

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.

Books Books Books

 I have been reading a lot.  With as much packing as can be done for now and having to keep all the surfaces clean and tidy reading works well for this waiting season.

I think this is my second Kinsey Millhone Mystery in the Alphabet series by Sue Grafton.  She has written 26 books starting with A and ending with Z.  

"G" Is for Gumshoe is the seventh novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. In "G" Is for Gumshoe, Kinsey Millhone meets fellow investigator Robert Dietz when someone hires a hit man to kill her.

Good and bad things seem to be coming in threes for Kinsey Millhone: on her thirty-third birthday she moves back into her renovated apartment, gets hired to find an elderly lady supposedly living in the Mojave Desert by herself, and makes the top of ex-con Tyrone Patty's hit list. It's the last that convinces Kinsey even she can't handle whoever's been hired to whack her, and she gets herself a bodyguard: Robert Dietz, a Porsche-driving P.I. who takes guarding Kinsey's body very seriously. With Dietz watching her for the merest sign of her usual recklessness, Kinsey plunges into her case. And before it's over, she'll unearth the gruesome truth about a long-buried betrayal and, in the process, come fact-to-face with her own mortality. . . .

At the break of dawn, Caroline Shelby rolls into Oysterville, Washington, a tiny hamlet at the edge of the raging Pacific.

She’s come home.

Home to a place she thought she’d left forever, home of her heart and memories, but not her future. Ten years ago, Caroline launched a career in the glamorous fashion world of Manhattan. But her success in New York imploded on a wave of scandal and tragedy, forcing her to flee to the only safe place she knows.

And in the backseat of Caroline’s car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment—five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She’s now their legal guardian—a role she’s not sure she’s ready for.

But the Oysterville she left behind has changed.  

Caroline returns to her favorite place: the sewing shop owned by Mrs. Lindy Bloom, the woman who inspired her and taught her to sew. There she discovers that even in an idyllic beach town, there are women living with the deepest of secrets. Thus begins the Oysterville Sewing Circle—where women can join forces to support each other through the troubles they keep hidden.

Yet just as Caroline regains her creativity and fighting spirit, and the children begin to heal from their loss, an unexpected challenge tests her courage and her heart. This time, though, Caroline is not going to run away. She’s going to stand and fight for everything—and everyone—she loves.

Zorro by Isabel Allende is the 4th of her novels I have read.

The cast of characters includes everyone you’d expect in a swashbuckler, from gypsies, pirates, and swooning maidens to the token villain. The women in this novel, as in all of Allende’s work, are exceptionally well drawn. The men are also vivid, from the traumatized, silent Bernardo to the honorable, justice-driven Zorro. The Fox Allende has created is slightly conceited, while at the same time chivalrous, entertaining, and likable. The characters are familiar rather than stereotypical, and Allende wisely avoids falling into the cliché trap, primarily through the tongue-in-cheek narration. Set in the chaos of Napoleonic Spain and the Alta California of the hidalgos, the backdrop adds depth and drive to the story with its social mores and shifting political tides. Allende has crafted a swashbuckling tale, with just a hint of the magical realism that will be familiar to readers of her other works. I really enjoyed this book. 

Nicholas Sparks novels can be counted on to have some interesting characters, good story lines and no bad language and explicit sex scenes.  They are a good read but becoming a bit predictable for me.

Denise Holton has no family, both of her parents have died. She is alone and a single mother of a child with severe learning disabilities by a former one-night stand. She was a school teacher for many years but now she doesn’t teach anymore; she spends all her time trying to teach her son how to speak. She has a part-time job as a waitress and makes just enough money to get by.

Kyle Holton is the 4-year-old son of Denise Holton. Kyle has severe learning disabilities

Brett Cosgrove is Denise’s former one-night stand, leading up to Kyle’s existence. He was engaged at the time and wants nothing to do with Kyle.

Taylor McAden—is a volunteer firefighter for the Edenton Fire Department, owns his own carpenter and contractor job. He was the person who found Denise’s son the night of her car wreck. Taylor has had problems in the past with commitment, but that all will change throughout the book.

Judy McAden is the mother of Taylor McAden; she came to the hospital to spend time with Denise while her son was out looking for Kyle.

Mitch Johnson is Taylor’s best friend and a volunteer firefighter for the Edenton Fire Department also. Mitch and his wife Melissa often provide Taylor with advice about his romantic life. Mitch and Melissa are the closest thing Taylor has to siblings, and Taylor is the godfather of the Johnsons' oldest son.

This was new author for me and I enjoyed this book. Case histories by Kate Atkinson.   I did not realize that these have a TV series produced from the books.

Case Histories (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. 

The plot revolves around three seemingly unconnected family tragedies – the disappearance of a three-year-old girl from a garden; the murder of a husband by his wife with an axe; and the apparently motiveless murder of a solicitor's daughter. 

I seem to be reading more detective type stories recently.  That is completely by coincidence as I am getting my books from small library at the park and it is totally random as to what will be there when I drop by.

It is nice to run across authors I have read before though. 

Sylvia Simple Shots

Mom's move to the lodge has gone well.  There are a few loose ends to finish and our parents will be settled for the next phase of their lives. 

The move took place and freezing temperatures.  We have been into this deep freeze for a week now.

I have been hibernating because it is just so cold.

Books have been very helpful.

They are predicting a warm up for the first two day of 2022 then back into cold temperatures.

I have to go out tomorrow then I have appointments next week so I will have to force myself out there.

Not liking it!

I spent a day with my aunt a couple of weeks before Christmas.   We make Tourtieres which are French Canadian meat pies.

We made 19 small pies.  We stuck to 5 inchers since neither of us are hosting any get togethers any time soon.    We also made some with just top crusts to cut down on carbs and calories.  It was a really nice day.

I had bought a silicone handle for my cast iron frypan.   It was too large and a bit thin to as effective as it needed to be.

My sister came to my house so we could head to Mom & Dad's early the next day.  She offered to help to improve the performance of the silicone handle.  That required some cutting and wrapping.  I chose to use 100% cotton thread to stitch up the wrapper.  A few strategically placed holes through the handle to secure the wrap.   

It was very helpful to have 2 sets of hands for this project.

Super happy with the result!  Thanks.

The Saskatchewan Saga by Ruth Glover was a great read.  I borrowed them from my sister so i was able to return them to her during our visit.

Set in the late 1800s, the stories introduce Scottish and English emigrants who bravely journey to the wild Canadian frontier.  British Women's Emigration Society offered women freedom and independence working as domestics in the wilds of Canada.

It is based on a fictional place called Bliss Saskatchewan near Prince Albert.  Cold winters in the boonies of Saskatchewan had me empathizing with the ladies based on the temperatures outside. 

All the women's stories eventually come together from different directions and we get to know them all.  It was a very good series.

I can always count on Nicholas Sparks for a good romance.  In the case of Safe Haven the story revolves around Katie who moves to Southport North Carolina.  She finds cottage down a gravel driveway, a job at a local restaurant and a friend in Jo her neighbour.

She is on the run, fleeing domestic violence at the hands of her cop husband, Kevin.  She has managed to evade him this time. 

She has to walk to her job and to buy groceries so she shops at the local country store.  It is owned by Alex, who took it over from his father in law.  He is widowed and raising a son on his own.

Katie meets Alex at the country store and her neighbor Jo vouches for him as a good guy.

Over several months, they get to know each other, trust each other, then fall in love.  

There are a few twists and turns but another wonderful story.

It turns out this is the last book in the 3 books series.

In the final episode in The Christmas Box collection, David and MaryAnne Parkin find a mysterious letter at the base of their child Andrea's grave that eventually returns joy to their marriage, which had been strained in the nineteen years since her death.

This story features family secrets, abandonment issues, friendship and doing the right thing.  Sometimes you have to go away to come back and so Mary Anne takes a trip to see her brother with no intentions of coming back.

She does return when a friend passes and the letter brings about healing.

I will keep an eye out for the other books in the series.

I chose to show both covers because it shows both women in the center of this story.

As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean.

North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.

It is set in a world mostly covered by water.  It is quite mystical and other worldly.   It is very interesting how their lives come together.   I really enjoyed the circus who travel in coracles - which were one person boats used thousands of years ago.  A nice change of pace.

I'm always up for a Christmas story.  A Mrs. Miracle Christmas by Debbie Macomber was a good one.

Jake Finlay is the manager of the toy department and he has made a large toy purchase on a hunch that it will be "the toy" this Christmas.  He father is skeptical.

Another quick moving romance involving Holly who is taken custody of her nephew as her brother is posted to Afghanistan.

Holly's chance meeting with Jake at a coffee shop leads to more encounters sometimes helped along with Emily Merckle who has been hired as seasonal help at the Finlay Department store, the toy department no less.  .

This romance evolves over the 2 weeks before Christmas where love blossoms, healed relationship between the Finlay father and son, Holly's boss sees the merits of the spirit of Christmas,  and Emily fades away with her work done.

A shot for Flickr Macro Mondays which was to choose 2 themes from 2021 and shoot on photo with both themes.

I chose Five and Game Board Pieces and composed this shot of Trivial Pursuit pie pieces with a nice bokeh background.

I bought the game secondhand and it turns out there are pieces missing.  I only have 4 full pies.  The 2 boxes of trivia are there.  

I think I will work this into a board game shot for a future project.

Stay warm, be safe.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The colors this fall are amazing.

Caught this vibrant orange maple leaf at the park on Friday.

It was perfect and the light was making it glow.  

We hardly ever get this kind of color in our fall leaves in the west of Canada.

I was thrilled to capture this one.  I did not even think to pick and press it.  I hope others enjoyed it because I chose to leave it behind.

The plants in the north window are doing so well. 

The spider plant is getting ready to produce flowers and propagate.  I expect these could become babies.

That must mean it is happy!  I am remembering to water it regularly and I gave all the plants fertilizer the other day.

I was given another African Violet by my sister.

I managed to get it to hang in the north window.  It is on the small hanger as the spider plant I just mentioned.

She gave it to me about a month ago now.   I do remember to water it from the bottom.  I will keep it away from the cold window in the winter.

I hope this one does better.

I used to able to grow these years ago and have flowers on them so that is what I am aiming for again.

I finished this book last week.  The Dance by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley.

Marilyn is married to Jim Anderson, a successful businessman. After 27 years of marriage, Marilyn has had enough of feeling unloved and neglected. She wants to experience some measure of happiness before she's too old to enjoy it, even signing up for dance lessons, something Jim would never do, not even on their wedding day.

The dance is a metaphor for the relationship she has with her husband and the physical dance she so would so much enjoy doing with him.

They both meet older and wiser mentors who help them negotiate this crossroads in their marriage. 

I was glad it was the first book in the Restoration Series so if I chose to follow the series I am at the beginning.  I will not be chasing down the next books but we will see if another shows up sometime.

I finished this book this weekend.  The Return by Nicholas Sparks.

The story of an injured Navy doctor -- and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New Bern, North Carolina. Having been injured in Afghanistan and having inherited his grandfathers cabin he decides it's as good a place as any to figure out his way forward.  It holds wonderful memories of his childhood.

Natalie Materson is the deputy sheriff and Callie is a quiet, hard working teenager who lives in the trailer park up the road from the cabin.

A crisis triggers a race to uncover the true nature of Callie's past, one more intertwined with the elderly man's passing than Trevor could ever have imagined. In his quest to unravel Natalie and Callie's secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness . . . and that in life, to move forward, we must often return to the place where it all began. 

I have been working on this project for several weeks.

I drew the original and did a test watercolor of it in this post.

Once I had decided which frame I was going to use I needed to enlarge it as well as make some design improvements.

Then it was suggested that I color the large one with the colors I planned to use in the final project.  That was completed this week.

I then had to transfer the design to the back of the glass.  You can check out this video for the instructions for Faux Stained Glass featuring Elmer's Glue.

The "leading" took less time to dry than I anticipated so I finished it yesterday and hung it with the hope of seeing the sun through it this morning.  Disappointed.  Overcast and cool all day so far.  Maybe tomorrow.

I hope to see the magic on the walls when the sun shines.

Progress is bring made on the Wall Christmas Tree as well.

I purchased a photo shelf for the space where the tree will hang.  The ring will be bolted to the shelf then the tree will hang from there.

I found the perfect s hooks at Ikea with one end bigger enough to go over the branches.

The star will also have to be painted gold because right now it is green.

Good thing I started in January. 

It will be ready to hang in early December.

The Flickr Macro Mondays Challenge this week was "smoke".  Steam was also allowed.  It was very challenging photographing something that just disappears so quickly.  

After check the group there are a few things that last a little longer - namely incense.

You can check out my Photostream (SMDPics)to see the shot I submitted.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

This is a most beautiful flower.  It's the Astrantia Major Alba and to me is just says "wedding".  Soft muted colors with a hint of pink in the center.  Wonderful star shaped lower petals. 

This was my first nice photography trip following the break of the Heat Dome which covered my area for days! More about that below. 

I visited the St. Albert Botanic Park where the flowers were plentiful and it was the perfect temperature for a 2 hour stroll in the garden.

I just loved it so much!

Let me start with the most recent challenge in my life. Never have I experienced this!  Seven days of over 30C temperatures was very challenging especially when the low over night was in the 20C so really no cooling off.  This is record breaking for us here on the prairies of Canada.  

It was as isolating as the pandemic with temperatures in my home of 32C which was in my opinion dangerous. I walked outside very early in the morning. I drank lots of cold herbal tea, soaked my head once every hour, and the fan ran 24-7.  Thank goodness I had good books to read.   Typically, not too many households have air conditioning but I expect that it will become much more popular!
 

I did buy this book myself but I was not ready for the story I found within it's pages.

There are three women characters - Rachel the woman on the train, Anna her ex-husband's current wife and Megan who is the neighbour of Anna. 

These three women live a lot of their lives in their heads and the book leaves me wondering how much is real and imagined in their lives. 

I did consider putting it down and not finishing it several times but I finished the book.  

Did I enjoy the book?  Somewhat but it often was chaotic and unsettling.  I much prefer strong characters and these were pretty much all over the place.

A few more images from my photo trip out on Saturday morning.  The heat broke last Friday night and I was able to open the windows and let the cool air in. 

At the Botanic Park the roses were in full bloom and there are rows and rows of them.

Earlier this year I was concerned for the bee population but there was no lack of them at the park.  There were a couple of places where they could get water. 

The Song Sparrow was just belting out its song which was so good to hear.

I had a visit from a dragonfly and now I know why the are called dragon as they have quite fierce faces.

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks is a book I totally enjoyed.  He is one of my favorite authors when I want a nice love story with strong characters.

Set in North Carolina inspired by 2 very different places. One is the "Kindred Spirit" which is a mail box on an isolated beach.  People leave letters and other written words in the box.  When you visit you can read the letters and other material and return them to the mail box for others to share.  The other is the country of Zimbabwe.  

Hope Anderson is a nurse spending time at the family cottage. Tru Wall, a 42-year-old safari guide from Zimbabwe is next door due to meet his biological father for the first time.  They meet on the beach, get to know each other, and in a few days make life changing decisions.  

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.  

There are several colors of Yarrow.  I have seen White, Pink and the park had this Yellow one.

I grew up with it being harvested for medicinal purposes so it has not been high on my flower radar but it is really nice.

I finished this book yesterday which was the third this week. 

What a terrific book - The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.  The story about love, isolation, and right and wrong.  Tom Sherbourne takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the Australian coast. Later, he marries Isabel and he brings her to the island. She has suffered miscarriages and a still birth so when she hears the cries of a baby from a washed up boat she feels it is a divine intervention.

They choose to keep the child as present her as their own rather than report the death of the man and the surviving child. Two years later, they learn the consequences of their decision for other families on the mainland.



This love story is touching, heart wrenching and ultimately love triumphs.

I just loved this story. It made a mess of my emotions with a few tears shed at times. This wonderful story is recommended.

The Flickr Macro Mondays challenge this week is "Letters and Numbers".  This provides a lot of subject matter.  This is a metal tag put on infrastructure by the city.  You can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #138 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #296.

Have a great week and be safe.