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 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

With trips out of town to support Mom around Dad's hospitalization there has not been much time for photography.  We are making progress on having them housed in appropriate places.  They will be living close to each but in separate buildings.  Mom will have to cross the parking lot but she will be able to see him every day. 

I loved the sun on the clouds one morning this week. This was taken from the balcony and not on a walk outside.

I should be getting outside more considering that the weather is still pretty nice for the first week of December.

I finished this book last week.  The Widow's Walk by Robert Barclay.  

Not a traditional love story. A haunting and romantic novel of passion, destiny, loss and an eternal love that will bring two people together across time.

The central character is the house which is the Seaside which has been Constance Elizabeth Canfield's home for 150 years.  How can that be?  Magically, she has been living between worlds for a long time.  She lived there with her sea captain husband Adam.  The house has had many owners since her transition to this in between place.  She has never left the property and wanders the grounds, the house and the out buildings.  She can see them but they can not see her.

Garrett Richmond knows the house and has lived nearby all his life. He is compelled to buy it when again it was in foreclosure. It is on the waters edge and he has always wanted to live with an ocean view.

The wonderful thing is that he is an architect and will completely restore the house to it's original splendor.  During his few first days at the house as renovations begin, they meet.  Garrett can see, hear and touch her! This begins their relationship of another world.  

I will not spoil the ending.   It was a wonderful book and would highly recommend it.

I found this Cobalt blue and white art glass paperweight at the thrift store yesterday.  I just love blue and white so it had to come home with me for $3.00.

It is in perfect condition.  I have done some research and it would seem that these are all unique.

Several websites suggested they are vintage but with no markings or labels it is pretty hard to determine its origins and age.

I just love it.  I will have to find a place where I can see it every day.

I will show the top down view in another week.

Soon it will be time to hang the tree but first I have to hang the shelf. I hope to have my niece help me with that project and the drill I brought which was Dad's will come in handy.  It replaces the hand me down one he gave when I left home 40 some years ago. I had just been looking on line to replace it and God is good and this one appearing just in time.

I figured I was not going to splurge for the cordless version but that is what I got with an extra battery to boot!

I am so grateful. 

I brought this ornament home from my visit with Mom last week.  She is taking very little Christmas stuff with her to the lodge so there was a small box of ornaments up for grabs.

These are as old as I am.  They have hung on her tree every year for a very long time.  There were 5 of these in the box which is amazing considering how many times they have been hung.

It is a vintage glass tree ornament in the shape of the teapot.  I will hang this on my wall tree this year and for many years to come.   It has a plastic box to live in so that no harm comes to it during the off season.

I will have to sort out my ornaments this year and pare down to what will fit on the wall tree.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

My aunt and I took a walk along the river with our cameras recently.

It was very nice temperature wise and the sun was shining.  A great time.

As you can see, though the river is frozen but we still have no snow.

Love the fall grasses in the foreground with the reflection of the sun on the river.

Gorgeous blue skies which are typical for Alberta.

We heard geese which I was surprised were still here despite the frozen water.  Who knows what they are thinking!

I joined another aunt for a visit to the Art Gallery.  The weather was still nice and I was tasked with driving us downtown and finding parking.  That went well.  It was really weird to be out and about.

First time, I used my vaccination record to visit a non essential place of business in 20 months.

There were 2 exhibitions I was interested which both featured colorful art.  Mostly abstract as well.

The blue and pink piece was about the how color can be dispatched to for social control.  The pink color which is used in institutional settings was studied in 1978 and was found to make inmates violent.  The barn is a piece about our abandoned farm buildings.  Love the abstracts.

Our first snow arrived on Sunday Nov 14th.  

It continued to come down for a few days in varying degrees.

I had to go out on Wednesday and the roads were like slushy soup as they had not been ploughed yet.  Yuck!

I had several places to stop and it was a bit harried but I managed to keep the car and myself intact.

I made roasted vegetables yesterday.  I used the large roaster so I could keep them to one layer.

Yams, red onions, brussel sprouts, rutabaga, turnip, garlic and carrots.  A bit of olive oil and seasonings.

I added fresh oregano in the last bit of its time in the oven.

They were yummy.

That means its time to head for groceries as I am completely out of veggies in the fridge.

An Irish Cottage by Patrick Taylor is the book I finished this week.

Love this author and his stories of a medical practice in rural Ireland in the 1960's.  

In this book the Donnelly's looks their cottage to fire and the community rallies to find the family a temporary place to live.   Then further efforts are made to rebuild the burned out cottage.

The civil unrest with north and south regions plays a part which I don't really understand well.  

Another theme is women's reproductive rights in the 60's where one women is not wanting another child and another woman desperately wants one and is having difficulty conceiving.

The doctors and their house keeper and neighbours provide wonderful stories!

The Perfect Christmas - Debbie Macomber revolves around a young woman who wants to be in a relationship.

She finally decides to hire a matchmaker for $30,000 to find the perfect match for her by Christmas.

The matchmaker gives her several tasks to prepare for her first date with John, her perfect match.  She stands outside a mall ringing bells to raise funds for a charity, dressing up as an elf with Santa at the mall, and prepare Christmas dinner for her neighbors in the apartment building.

Each of these provide opportunities to learn things about herself and ensures visits from the matchmaker to monitor her progress.

In the end, she finds the man of her dreams but it was not exactly as the matchmaker had planned.

It was okay for a light read.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The weather has been so good!  My aunt and I took a long walk in the white spruce forest on Saturday.

In the center of woods people have set up bird feeders so when we could not yet see the clearing the chickadees and nuthatches were welcoming us.  Unfortunately, we did not have food with us but I did have a chickadee sit on my hand for few seconds. Amazing.  I have seen many pictures but had not experienced it.

Woodpeckers were around as well.

When we walked the river trail we found Canada Geese on Big Lake.  There was very little open water on the lake and the river was frozen but they had found the bit.  I really don't know why they are hanging in here.

It's been a couple of weeks since I dropped 13 quilts off for charity.  

These quilts are headed to fire departments and ambulances where victims of emergency situations are given a quilt to keep them warm and to provide comfort.  They get to keep the quilts.

They were all made by my sister as I have not sewn a quilts since I got since last fall.   I am glad to have passed those anniversary with no further issues and improvement in several areas of my health.  God is good.

I am so grateful for those who distribute these to organizations who made a difference every day as first responders.

We are decorating cotton bags as a fundraiser for the gallery.  I think it is a fabulous idea.

I picked mine up the other day and gave some thought how I might decorate it.

I decided to add 3 stripes of fabric wrapped around the top edge of the bag.  I chose 3 different colors of green fabric.  The strips were cut to about 35 inches long by 2.5 inches wide.  I sewed and turned it inside out.  Then I started on the left hand side and ran it across the front, then across the back then back to the front again.  I left a tab on the front which was not sewn down.  I sewed an orange button on the end of the tab to hold it down and add an accent.  As you can see in the first photo I staggered the ends so the buttons where offset.

Despite not blogging I have continued to read.  

I finished this book a while ago. Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs.  It takes place in an Amish community.  I found it interesting to learn more about the life style and beliefs.

Caught between two worlds, Caleb Stoltz is bound by a deathbed promise to raise his orphaned niece and nephew in Middle Grove, where life revolves around family, farm, faith—and long-held suspicions about outsiders. When disaster strikes, Caleb is thrust into an urban environment of high-tech medicine and the relentless rush of modern life.

Dr. Reese Powell is poised to join the medical dynasty of her wealthy, successful parents. Bold, assertive, and quick-thinking, she lives for the addictive rush of saving lives. When a shocking accident brings...   I really enjoyed this book.  I look forward to another book by this author I picked up the other day.

This is my first of Sue Grafton's books featuring Kinsey Millhone the detective.  W is for Wasted.  Not sure I get the title.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds shocking connections between two seemingly unrelated deaths in this #1 New York Times bestselling mystery in the Alphabet series.

This was okay.  The detective seems to have a moral compass and leans toward doing the right thing.  Love life is a bit come and go.

The twist was very good.

I have another novel in this series.  I will decide if another story with Kinsey will add her to my reading list.

Another card for my Dad who is still in hospital   We were all called down on Sunday October 31 thinking he would not survive the next few days.

There were many of us seeing Dad, feeding him his meals, spending the night with him in hospital, helping Mom with anything she needed.  He pulled through the crisis but has a long ways to go.

A move for each of them is in their future so the cleaning process has started.  We went through that when they moved from the house to the apartment and now downsizing needs to happen again.

I was there for 3 days and spent most of my time with Mom.  She is doing well despite the circumstances.  She sees Dad every day for lunch.

We shall see what the future holds. He will celebrate his 92 birthday in early December, God willing.

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

I spotted this tree dropping it's red leaves all over the ground at the gold course.

We have so few red fall leaves here that it is a big deal when I see them.

I did walk the golf course when they were closed during the first bit of the pandemic but now that is not possible.  I would have liked to pick a few leaves to press.

I guess I will enjoy it from afar.

This is one of the books I bought at the large garage sale early in September.


A story of redemption and getting back to core values. Mary Bridget Washburn finds herself in Alexandria, where she hopes to bring happiness to a troubled widowed pastor and his three children. She is running from her past which included an abusive father, the loss of her children and being on the fringes of a meth drug business.

With a job and a place to stay God provides a way for her to remember her faith, her christian grandmother's influence, and her love of children.

The crisis comes of course in the last couple of chapters. The pastor as well has some turning around to do and manages to see the light in the end.

It has a happy ending and justice is served.

If you have checked out my posts this week you will see that I finally accomplished my Wall Christmas Tree. You can follow the link to see the full details of that project. 

I mention in that post that I wanted to make a bag to store it when it is not on the wall.

I dug through my stash of fabric and selected a dark green and green and white striped poly cotton fabric.  There was just enough with only small bits left over.

The bag measures 40 inches tall by 9.5 inches wide finished.  I had a strip of the striped fabric which I made into a tie.  I just attached it to the side of the bag and I can just scrunch the top of the bag and tied it around.

I also created a piece of cardboard about 8 inches tall and 32 inches wide to provide some stability when rolled up.  I placed the tree on a piece of cloth added the card board and rolled.  This was there is less likelyhood the wires or cords getting entangled.

Super happy with this.  It's so nice to ahve the sewing machine out all the time which allows me to just whip up a project.

This is still some fall color with folks putting out chrysanthemums in their flower beds.

I'll take it while I can get it.

These are a great pink color and I have seen white, yellow and orange ones as well.

It is getting cooler here and we are close to having below zero lows over night.

The challenge for Flickr's Macro Mondays this week is "stars".  Of course there are many options for this challenge.  To the right you find one of the shots I took featuring small paper clips with star holes in the front.  You can check out my Photostream (SMDPics) to see the shot I did submit.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #150 and 

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #307.

I hope you have a good week!

Sylvia`s Simple Shots

The weather man, the calendar and the leaves outside say that fall is here.

I went for a walk with my aunt yesterday and captured the colors.  Here we mostly have yellow leaves with very few red ones.

The temperature was in around 20C so that is summer temperatures so a vest and long sleeved shirt was enough for the afternoon walk.

Of course, it is cooler in the mornings now and I am choosing to walk later in the day most days.

Someone pointed out on Instagram (@smdpics100) that there are no bugs so that is a bonus.

I took a trip to the country last week which included a scouting trip for craft supplies (more about that later) and to visit family.

I came home with a bag of frozen raspberries which were quite unthawed when I arrived home.

I had planned a recipe of Raspberry Bavarian so early this week I made it up.  I like this dessert with chocolate wafers.

Last Christmas, in the height of pandemic I was not going out to buy them so I found a Chocolate Wafers recipe on line.  This way I can also control the sugar in the recipe.

Yummy!

It's time to do the running shoe shuffle.

The runners I have been wearing outside for the last couple of years have to go.

That means my indoor exercise runners will be demoted to outside runner duty.

That meant I needed a new pair of inside exercise shoes.

I am happy with these Nikes.

I will soon start up doing my exercises inside again as the weather becomes cold and then snowy later on.

I picked up this book at the large garage sale I attended with my sister and niece a few weeks ago.

I did not realize that it was part of a series but "The Waterfire Saga" was a clue if I had paid attention.  At least it is the first book.

It is a fantasy type story which takes place with mermaids under the sea.  

They have all the same trials with family, politics, love and friendships as we do.

The main character is Serafina of the princess of the Mediterranean Sea.  She has a dream that is foreboding of an evil possibly being released on the globe to reek havoc.

When the palace is attacked and she escaped with her cousin they are launched into a pilgrimage to prevent the release of this evil.

During my visit to the country I was on the search for small branches to create my new Christmas Tree.

You can check out this January post when I came up with the concept.

I have purchased faceted beads, borrowed some nylon cording which will form part of the project.  I have the hooks already.

It involves a drill to put holes in the ends and I have to come up with a plan for the star at the top and the trunk at the bottom.

I also have to find a hook which will extend from the wall a bit to allow space for some of my dimensional ornaments to hang.

I'm not sure how long it will take for me to complete it but I will post my results when it is ready to hang.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays today is "Knots".   To the left are a three of the shots I took for the challenge.  

You can check my Photostream (smdpics) to see the one I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #149  and Mersad who hosts Through my Lens # 306. 

Have a great week!