Sylvia's Simple Shots

I decided to have flowers on my balcony this year.

I bought some frilly blue pansies and some larger regular yellow ones.

I have added some dill, basil and parsley as well.

I dropped by my sister's house with a box a paper we had rescued at Trash to Treasure.

Her and her daughter were working on a barn for the back of the float she was placing in the local summer parade.

It is going to be very cool!

I had a nice visit with a friend who recently lost her husband.

They had sold the house and rented an apartment they hoped he could return to following a lengthly stay in hospital. He was advised that would not happen and he was going into long term care. He quickly declined and passed away.

She invited me to her new home and we had tea and a wonderful catch up visit.

We headed out to Joey's for supper that evening.

My aunt and I visited the exhibits at the Harcourt House gallery this week.

Caitlin Thompson is a fiber artist that recycles natural fibers from thrifted shawls, scarfs, etc into works of art.

She dyes the fabric, does fabric collage and embroidery in her art pieces.

Lovely show.

We had Vietnamese food for lunch in a nearby restaurant - Saigon Taste.

I had a quick trip to Calgary this weekend.  I picked up my sister on the way. 

We dropped plants to both of her children. Had a nice visit with her son's family and checked out the garden and caught up on things.

We brought lunch to my niece who has been working hard to support her family and the extended family and needed a few hugs.

We went for walk to the local mall for a few groceries for supper and then headed north.  

It was just the girls and we had a great visit.

Card - Watercolor - Barn

I made this card for an aunt who celebrates her birthday in August.

I cut a piece of 90lb watercolor paper to 4.25 x 6.25 inches and taped it to my hard board.

I found a couple of graphics on line with elements I wanted to use. Specifically, the barn and the fence.

I used my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  I started with a light wash of blue in the top third and a light green wash on the bottom.

I drew the composition by hand with a pencil adding the elements from several inspiration images. I had to dry it several times between layers of color. I did use a fine black marker to add some definition to most of the objects.

The card base is A7 (5x7) in Stampin Up Barely Banana which worked well with the colors in the painting. I just adhered the watercolor layer with double sided tape. A white insert was added to the bottom half of the card with a white envelope.

Note to self: Lighten your pencil marks before painting.  The barn is not wide enough. Remember to use your grey marker instead of black. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I took a trip to the country yesterday to visit my aunt and her husband.

We took a trip along the back roads and we spotted this pretty barn.

I love the two tone color scheme on this building.  The dormers in the roof and the cupolas on the peak add some interest to the architecture of the structure.

Judging from the ground floor doors and the hay loft door above them the inside of the barn is pretty huge.

The dark skies add drama to this shot.  It did not rain during the afternoon and it spit a few drops while the steaks were on the BBQ for supper.  Great visit

Garden veggies are the best at this time of year.

I have been fortunate to get some from my sister and my aunt.  I am so grateful to those with abundant garden who are willing to share the bounty.

Eating them raw is the best way.

Really enjoying them.

As a kid we picked them from the garden, barely got the dirt off them and ate them on the spot.

Yummy!

Same goes for fresh garden tomatoes.

Red and delicious.  Great to add to pizza, a salad, an open grilled cheese sandwich and a ton of other things.

I got some green ones which are doing their ripening in a brown paper bag.

Most folks here have picked their tomatoes as nights have gotten near freezing a couple of times.

I am working towards a stained glass piece of art.  I have always wanted one hanging in a window throwing some color into my living space.  

I am planning to buy myself one as a retirement gift but I had to put some thought into the subject matter.

I have decided on a sunrise.  The message being the future looks bright at the beginning of a new chapter.

I studied a lot of stained glass pieces then I drew what I wanted at 4" square.  Then I translated it intoo 8x8 inches and traced it onto inexpensive watercolor paper.  I painted this with watercolor and just stuck it into a quick frame.

I need to make some changes to the composition.  I  am missing the second layer of light yellow pieces on the left hand side.  I was having real trouble drawing the lines the right way on the left.  The suggestion is to reverse the right side and trace the lines then make some adjustments.  The larger piece of orange on the right needs to be made into 2 pieces.  The hills pieces need to be small and less similar. 

I will draw another 4" piece then into 8" piece.  It was suggested that I color it with the paint I plan to use for the 14" sample.  The 14" piece will be faux stained glass made with Elmers school glue and liquid acrylic color.  That one will be hung in the window for a while to see if it gives me the feeling I want.  If so, then I may have a piece commissioned if it is not too expensive.

I have been wanting a pansy for my 2022 Flower calendar so I have been check out all the ones I find.

It is so late in the season to find blooms still in good shape.

I found the two on the left in my aunt's flower beds. The one on the right I found at the park today.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays was “Geometry Shapes”.  That leaves a lot of room for all kinds of images.  The image on the left is taken through the view finder of my Kaleidoscope. You can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #148 

and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #305.

Be safe and have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

A red barn on my road trip to the country a couple weeks ago. 

It was before the snow came.

I loved the red and green colors - dare I say the Christmas colors.

We have had snow and last night it rained and now it's all gone again.  I guess it will not be white for Halloween at the end of the week.

 

It was very interesting to read another of Amy's books.  This one takes place in China in the early 1900's.   Violet is the main character who is growing up in a courtesan house owned and managed by her mother Lulu who is an American.  They are living in Shanghai in the International Settlement under China's last imperial dynasty.  They see the collapse and how that affects businesses and trade.  They see the consequences of the 1918 Influenza epidemic.  It was eerie to be reading about that one during this one.

This is a story of strong relationships between female characters.  Violet suffers a long heartbreak, tragedy, betrayal in her young life. But with faithful friends she makes it through.

I really enjoyed the book.

Another set of skeins of yarn for my afghan.  

Beautiful blue color from my sister. 

Will have to work on finding an actual pattern for a classic granny square. 

I have owned this set of hooks since my early twenties.  Nice to some things last a long time. 

This is the crane that is used to build a new high rise close to my place.  I could not see it this summer because of the leaves but now I can see it pretty well.

I manage to get it sparkling in the sun through the trees one morning. 

Construction has not really slowed down here during the epidemic.  Glad to see some people kept their jobs. 

I will have to take a walk and check out how tall the structure is becoming.

The Flickr Macro Monday Challenge this week was "One Color".  You can check my Photostream (SMDPics) to see my submission.

Large Photo Cards - Gallery

I am dropping off card to the Art Gallery today.  I was hoping that it would have warmed up nicely in the last week but not really.  So I am just doing it!

This watercolor brush card should be a hit with artists.  We shall see.









The dahlia and rose card make great cards for birthdays.








The Leaf on Still Pond and Red Barn provide a great card for guys.

Recent Photos

We celebrated the first Sunday of Advent this week.  I put out my Advent Wreath which are a set of 4 glass vases with crackle glass votive holders. 

The bottom of the vase is filled with glass marbles and the candle in placed inside the holder. 

The vases are place on a glass charger plate with the space around covered in frosted glass marbles. 

I did not manage to find colored votive candles this year so they are all white.


It was Dad's 88th birthday this week so I was home on the weekend  to celebrate with 17 others for a great time with food and family.

I am still on the hunt for winter barn photos so I stopped several times on Sunday to take photos.  This one was well situated, not too many distractions but the sun refused to come out from behind the clouds so the image is not as great as it could have been.  It was 20 minutes down the road before the sun came out.  I'm glad I did not wait.

I caught good light on this building.  It is not a barn unfortunately but the snow was sparkling and the eves of the building were bright.

The clouds in the background were heavy on the horizon.  The fence posts provide some elements in the fore ground.

I dug out the Christmas Tea for my afternoon snack.

It is a black tea from Epicure which I purchased a while back.  It was good with a bit of honey and milk.







I had a mince meat tart which is one of my favorites with a little whipped cream.  Some tea biscuits with Black Current jelly.  These were left overs from our card making & quilting women's group get together on Monday night.  We sang songs, played a couple of games and had good fellowship with good finger food.

My photo calendars are available for purchase.  This is the Nice Cuppa one which features tea cups and mugs in the 2018 photo calendar.

You can check out my Calendar Page for details.

The Miniature Show reception was held on Friday evening.  The show runs to December 23rd.

I have my photo calendars on the first row of the display.

Christmas cards on the next couple of rows.

Fridge Calendars in both English and French versions on the bottom row featuring flower, nature and tea photos.

Sharing with the following:
Friends Sharing Tea hosted by Bernideen

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Through My Lens hosted by Mersad

Recent Photos

I have been asked for barns in winter so on my way to a craft sale out of town on the weekend I stopped and snapped a few shots.

It was late afternoon and the sun was catching the grass in the front and make it brighter.  The white on the barn was also brightened.

Of course most folks would prefer a red barn and as luck would have it there was one of those as well.

There is not much snow yet but  there will be opportunities later in the winter for more snow in the shot.

Breakfast was near the couch this morning.  I have a new to me teapot.  I decided a needed only one more teapot and it should work with the blue dinnerware.  At the second hand store yesterday there it was and on sale to boot!

I prepared Earl Grey tea in it this morning.  I brought breakfast out on a large oval golden yellow tray.  I am using a bowl and mug from the said blue dinnerware.  Works well.













I found the book at another second hand store the other day.

I have not found much information about the teapot.  The label on the bottom has Signature Housewares Inc. on it. I see that Costco carries this brand so that may be it's origin.  It is a 4 cup which a perfect size for 2 people.

This is a book I read recently.

This girl is fed up with her job and has a dream to live in Paris when someone poses the question. "How money would it take for you to quit your job?" What an idea.

She applies herself to the numbers, once the number is determined she goes about to achieve it.

She does get to Paris but I will not give you the whole story in case you want to read.  I believe it is a true story and the Paris Letters were a small way to raise funds to support her stay there.

I am sharing with

Share Your Cup #274 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Friends Sharing Tea hosted by Bernideen

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antiques and Tea Cups.

Photo Calendar - Rural

The Ready2Give Half Sheet photo calendar features rural scenes.

The calendar is printed 2 half sheets at a time on a letter sized piece of white card stock.  Each calendar page is 5.5 W x 8.5 T inches with the calendar on the bottom with a 3.5 x 5.00 inch photo at the top.

I punch a hole at the top of the calendar with my Crod-a-dile which easily allowed me to do all 12 sheets at one time to ensure they are all lined up.

This allows hanging on a nail, straight pin or push pin.  A binder clip could also be added to hang it with a magnet.

I selected photos from my collection.  The front photo is barn in winter which gives a nice calm scene for the first month of the year.

The scenes include hale bales, Rocky Mountains, canola field, lake reeds, Japanese bridge, power structures, Pigeon Lake docks, wheat, canola rows, a sunset, and evergreen lined lane.

Mosaic Monday - May

I have visited the Community Garden several times.  Here's a nice group of tulips which arrived early in the month.

Today, the strawberries were turning red, there was plenty of chives, and there were a few rows with markers indicating seeds had been planted and soon green sprouts will be sticking their heads from the soil.

I took this photo at the Morrison House Cafe.  My sister and I had lunch there together on the May long weekend.  We talked about our craft projects and a bunch of other things.

This was taken at the Heritage Hill Wetlands.  A very attentive Canada Goose on the beautiful water. 
No Pelicans on this visit.  I will have to try again.

This is a barn in Ontario on my quick trip across the country last week.  The barns in Alberta just don't look that same.  Love the Canada Maple Leaf flag painted on the addition.














This was an unusual sight so I took a picture so I could investigate later.

Here and there across the Canadian countryside you’ll see these bright blue shelters placed in patterns in pastures. Their openings all face the same direction and their presence has a rather otherworldy feeling about it. What are these things?

They are plastic shelters for alfalfa leaf-cutter bees, a native North American bee that has been domesticated. The blue dome is used in western Canada, variations in other parts of the continent. The shelters, usually found in alfalfa pastures, are needed for their warming ability and as a place for the bees to build their nests out of alfalfa leaves. One shelter for every 4 to 5 acres contains about a dozen nests.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.

Photo - Monday Mosaic - Ride in the Country

Here's a mosaic I put together of photos from a trip in the country, giving these a rural theme.

A white barn in the top left then a windmill in the top right.  A rust bloom still untouched by the frost in the left middle.  Bottom left a mural of the harvest in bygone years.  An old abandoned building in the bottom right.

Posting this to Mosaic Monday at Lavendar Cottage.