Sylvia's Simple Shots

 

Mary Coin by Marisa Silver

In 1936, a young mother resting by the side of the road in central California is spontaneously photographed by a woman documenting migrant laborers in search of work. A few personal details are exchanged and neither woman has any way of knowing that they have produced one of the most iconic images of the Great Depression. 

In present day, Walker Dodge, a professor of cultural history, stumbles upon a family secret embedded in the now-famous picture. In luminous prose, Silver creates an extraordinary tale from a brief event in history and its repercussions throughout the decades that follow—a reminder that a great photograph captures the essence of a moment yet only scratches the surface of a life.

Very interesting book about a difficult time. 

A bit of a treat on New Year's Eve in my new place staying up late to see the fireworks on the television.

Eggnog straight from the tetra pack.

A mince meat tart and a bit of chocolate. The tart and no bake cookies are a gift from my sister.

The chocolate cookies that Mom made when we were kids.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

It has been another busy week with travel and health appts and the storms and cold.

This is a bit of snow taken from inside through the window in the lobby.

Christmas cards have been arriving in the mail.

A bit of an icy trip into the city on Sunday to visit my old church. 

During the brunch afterwards I was able to see many of my friends and say hi!

There was sweets on for eats so I did bring home  a couple of Nanaimo bars.

I had a visit with my sister and brother and delivered caramel popcorn while I was in town.

With the weather improving on Monday I headed out to see my sister and brother in law.

They prepared Turkey Dinner for me and I brought stuff to make Raspberry Bavarian that Mom used to make. Used tapioca instead of gelatin so it was ready for supper.

A few more shots from my sister's place. She has a lot of the ornaments we have created for our family Christmas celebrations.  The angel is one I did one year.

Beautiful nativity from Germany.

A couple of Scrabble games after supper.

Turkey noodles for lunch the next day.

Driving home in the sunshine was a blessing.

In the middle of a snow storm I headed out to get vaccine shots.  I had to wait 3 weeks for the appt so I was not rescheduling.  Flu in the left and COVID in the right.  

I took Advil for 2 days for the soreness then I was good to go.

Great to have access to these.

My sister sent turkey leftovers which provided me a couple of meals.  There was one serving of turkey noodles for Tuesday night.  I have frozen one piece of turkey for later.

Thanks sis!

Spoiled is what I am.  High bush cranberry sauce that my sister gave me in the fall.  We normally pick this together but it did not happen this year.

Yummy!

A Log Cabin Christmas Collection by Wanda E. Brunstetter was light reading.

Nine love romance stories set in the pioneer west of the USA in 1800s.  Deep cold winters, warm fires, log cabins, and men and women getting together in several surprising situations.

Faith was a consistent theme through all the stories.

Short enough the read before falling asleep.

Several days of very cold days and the snow on Wednesday ensured a Christmasy feeling.

I am so glad to have seen family earlier.  Now, if I have to hunker down inside because of the cold weather it is all okay.

I decided to get the art shelf up in the front hall. 

This building seems to challenge me with electrical wires in many of the places I want to put a screw.

I did have to alter my plan some what and I had pencil marks all over the wall. I aligned the right hand edge of the shelf with the same edge on the mirror.

I hope to have a plant trail down from the shelf down to the mirror eventually.

I moved all the furniture out which gave me the chance to wash the lace cover while I worked.

The art shelf will allow me to change the art as I want with out having holes in the walls.

Unpacking paintings, photos, frames, and more which I brought home a while ago from my aunts.

I now have Mom and Dad sitting on a book shelf with the fairy light a created in their remembrance after Mom passed away in 2023.

The colors are green for Dad and blue for Mom.

Starting to feel like home.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I have discovered this Youtube channel - Wondering Melodies.

I just love the watercolor art work in these videos. The characters are so cute. Rabbits, hedgehogs, bears, mice, deer, owls, cats, and more I am sure. I prefer the wild animals.

The Celtic music is very lovely as a background for crafting or slow stitching or just chilling.

My Christmas cards went into the mail on Monday.  A lot less than usual since I can't deliver them to church like I used to. 

I was lucky that I made some last year that did not get mailed because of the postal strike.

That means a new church in 2026.

At $1.30 in postage though there will have to be a reassessment of the list.

With the change in weather I needed a rug at the front door to catch the snow and gravel being dragged in on boots.

I am happy with this 2 foot by 5 foot dark grey one I bought this week.  Covers the area I needed.

It's that time of year again.

The low pressure tire light came on the car this week.  I have this happen every year when the weather turns really cold.

I called to OK Tire and headed over and they helped me out.

It took a bit of time this year to clear the light.  The guy told me it could take 30-50 kilometers.  With being so cold I was not going far.  It did eventually clear before I took a long trip.

This is the book on my bedside this week.  The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.

It was written with youth in mind but it is a great book.

Set in the summer of 1899, Calpurnia is eleven turning twelve toward the end of the year.  She has brothers and a wonderful grandfather.  He is a naturalist and putters in his library and shed out back observing nature.  

Calpurnia's mother wants her to play the piano and learn the domestic arts but she would prefer to accompany her grandfather in the woods, streams and meadows around their home.

She receives the book - The Science of the Housewifery for Christmas which a bitter disappointment. Can she be a scientist in the new century?  I will keep the book because the cover is so beautiful. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

There's more snow this week. 

You can see the bike track in the snow again this week.

It is colder this week as well with temps in the -20C.

Winter has arrived.

That will be good for the coming craft sales because for some folks until it snows they just are not in the Christmas shopping mood.

This was done early in the week and then the weather turned. They steamed the kitchen stack on Monday.  

I had under the kitchen sink clear out in plenty of time. They did have to go and get parts as the PTrap was glued and could not be removed.

As you can see the truck was parked behind the big fence and they were climbing over with ladders.

The hoses came through the patio doors.  

I knew one of the guys that came because the same company did work in the building downtown.

The process went very well. 

DIY project - I took the Dremel and shortened the legs on the plastic shelf under the sink.

It did not fill under the PTrap after it was replaced.

It was about an 1/8 of an inch but it would not clear.  

Good to by handy with a tool.

With the timing I finished a couple of books this week.

The Favored Child by Phillipa Gregory.  It is book 2 in a trilogy and I have not read the first.

A couple of children are being raised together in the Dower House. They are Richard and Julia who are cousins but have lost parents and Julia's mother is raising both children alone.

There a mystical power at play, gender roles that confuse things, deep secrets which will change everything at the end of the story. How things change as children mature. Julie is connected to the land and Richard is not but that makes it difficult to be squire of the Lacey estate. 

Things get ugly and when the secret is revealed the world comes to make more sense.  Big book and a good read.

A Shelter of Hope by Tracie Petersen is the story of Simone Dumas who lives in the Wyoming Territory in 1883.  Her father is heavy handed shall we say and her mother has long been gone. Simone tends house far from town so is mostly alone.

After her father has acted very cruelly, Simone summons the courage to leave with very little.  She finds her way to a place she will not be recognized, changes her name and find employment.

In time the past comes calling.   The police are involved, her true identity revealed, a man steps up to protect her, people die, and her future is in peril.

I always like a strong female main character and Simone lives up to the part.

Great book!

The new computer arrived this week which was custom built as I could not find what I needed on store shelves.

Happy with the speed, the disk space, and the overall performance.

I just love the LED lights on the inside.  That is so cool.

The printer/scanner was set up EPSON 2980 Super Tank.   Windows 11 with its apps has been easier than I thought to use.

I managed to get software in a permanent license.  Wonderful.

It was the reception for the Fire and Ice Show at the Spruce Grove Art Gallery hosted by the Allied Arts Council.

My aunt and I attended the reception for the art show and the opening of the Christmas Store as well.

Check out the beautiful cookies made by Cindy I believe. Almost too pretty to eat. Gorgeous work.

I bought another small wood star from Val E at the Christmas Store.

Wonderful evening.

It's that time of year again.  Time to make Caramel Popcorn for family and friends.  I was up early because my friend was coming for lunch.

I made a lot less this year as it is not our big family get together this year.  I will deliver these as I see family of the next few weeks.

When my friend arrived we headed to Tims and bought lunch and brought it back to my house to eat and have a cup of tea.

It had been months since I saw her and my house was in a more organized state than when she visited in late August.

We decided to head out and hit a craft sale before heading to visit the Spruce Grove Art Gallery and Christmas Store at Heavy Metal Place in Spruce Grove.

After our outing we came back for another cup of tea and she headed out a little later to be home before dark.

My friend and I dropped by this sale in the PERC building in Stony Plain.

There is nothing I need, my Christmas list is very short, so I came to realize that I don't need to attend craft sales.  

I had been feeling like I was missing something special but my circumstances have changed a lot and I only need to attend if there is a reason to.

Interesting how time marches on and I am not the person I was. 

Learned a valuable lesson.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had the most wonderful sunset on Sunday night.

I face east so I headed up to the 4th floor window with my aunt to capture the changing colors.

Sunsets move very fast so it was just a few minutes before the intensity was gone and it was quite dark.

I am so glad I saw and captured it in a photograph

The technician was in this week to investigate and restore my home phone service.

He arrived earlier than expected which was wonderful.

He investigated the outside area and did not find the problem.  He then acccess the electrical room in the building and that was where the problem was.

Once located it was a quick fix.

I am so glad to have it back.

My sister passed me this book thinking I would enjoy it.

Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards.  I read most of the book not understanding it was a true story.  It sure read that way.

Susan offers to help a horse which has been badly treated.  She named the horse Lay Me Down.  It needs good food, plenty of rest, and eventually companions of it's own kind. Despite her mistreatment it has a great disposition.  Kind Patience Tolerant to a good degree.

The horse and the woman have similar backgrounds and Susan learns from the horse forgiveness.

Lay me down develops health issues and then the woman then gives the horse time and love

The flatware is finally in the drawer.

The green flatware organizer may need to be replaced as I have 2 sizes of forks and it would be nice for them to be separated.  The drawer is not big so may not accommodate a larger organizer.

I am very grateful to family and friends for the help to purchase these cool tools.

These Pampered Chef spatulas have sat in a drawer for years because I thought I did not deserve to have new ones because I had a habit of leaving the old ones get crusty from making bran muffins.

I have learned to clean up while the muffins are in the oven so I finally unwrapped them and put them in the kitchen tool organizer. 

The large metal sunflower that my niece gave me several years ago is back on the wall.

It has been packed and in storage for 3 years.  I knew exactly where it would hang in this new place so this week I hung it.

It hangs between the 2 hallways facing the kitchen.

I am so glad to see every day.

I purchased a computer chair this week. I have been using a wooden dining room chair which has not been comfortable.

It came in a box so some assembly was required.

The Allen Wrench provided was not really good enough so I dug out the socket set then things progress at a better pace.  Still took over an hour.  

The arms support the back so they cannot be eliminated. I am happy to report it works well with the desk.

The casters are rolly and work well.

I have a very heavy IKEA lamp base which I dropped on my new vinyl floor a few weeks ago.

Because the install was loose lay and only adhered around the perimeter I was able to lift the vinyl plank and replace it with another.

How cool is that?

I used the toilet plunger to lift the board then just dropped a new board in it's place.

Super happy!

I have installed privacy vinyl in one of the bedroom windows just like I did in the office/craft room.

That allows me to have actual sunlight enter the room with out folks being able to see in at the lower levels.

This piece is a different pattern than the office but it was remnant and cost me a dollar so that was really nice.

Looking forward to the sunshine in all the windows for the winter.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I am so enjoying the sunrises from this new place.  I want to take pictures nearly every morning.

There were some very sunless days last week when the snow came that I am appreciating the sun.

There's been a lot of stuff to deal with this week. Problem solving 101.

The black shelf in the craft room was stacked to the ceiling with envelope boxes filled with craft supplies which is not great for air circulation. The iris cases at 15 inches in the closet were difficult to remove with the door open.

Solution: Move the iris cases to the black shelf in the room which provides air circulation. 

Move the envelope boxes to the black shelf in the closet as they are 11 inches deep.  

It is easy to remove the envelope boxes from the closet shelf with the space available with the door open.  I took the time to label all the boxes as well so that things are easier to find. 

I also looked at the contents and emptied 2 of the envelope boxes in hopes that they would all fit in the closet.   As you can see there is still one on the shelf with the iris cases.  Purging is a difficult process and I am grateful I have accepted the limited space in this new place.

That works so much better.

There was room on top of the die cut station to expand so I added a plastic shelf.  Too bad I don't have another wooden shoe shelf. I will work on that. 

The shelf was barely tall enough to have the red baskets under it.  They hold thin dies so they are quite heavy. I needed to extend the height of the shelf a bit.  I immediately thought bottle caps but a trip to the parkade where we collect returnables found all the bins empty!  Plan B.  

I chose Gutterman sewing thread spools that come apart.  I was able to put the one piece from the bottom of the leg and put the small piece in the leg from the top.  I used the dowel to reconnect the pieces inside the leg.

It is good that I did not have to cut the spools so when another shelf comes I can just take this solution apart and return the spools to the sewing desk.

Problem solving every day of the week it seems.

I finished this book this week. Always Dakota by Debbie Macomber.

It takes place in Buffalo Valley, North Dakota. The place is growing, businesses are opening, and people are moving in.  It is becoming a good place to live. 

Stalled lives are moving forward. 

Rancher Margaret Clemens loses her father and marries the man of her dreams, Matt Eilers.  Town folks are not so sure.  Two unplanned pregnancies with Matt in the middle. What to do?

There was a lot of stress in this story which did not help with my super busy week. 

I see that this is the last in a trilogy.  I may look for the first 2 books.

My home phone was out from the 06 to the 10th. It took 75 minutes of my 100 monthly minutes to go through the hoops to diagnose the problem with my provider.  Once customer service did all they could they transferred me to technical support and indicated the wait was 45 minutes but not to hang up.  Luckily it was about 30 minutes when the person answered.  Then there was more checks to take place, more time on hold while that was done.  Then we will try some else and please hold. 

Finally, it was determined that a service call would be necessary.  It was booked for Monday, Nov 10th. I would be getting a text. I received at least 1 text a day for the following 4 days.  I am sure they see  it as customer service but it seemed excessive to me.  I wonder how many appts are cancelled.

Another Patrick Taylor books read this week.  An Irish Country Family by Patrick Taylor.  There are just a few I have not read.  It's like meeting up with family. 

We are back with Doctors Fingal O'Reilly and Barry Laverty in Ballybucklebo in County Down, Ireland. It's was focused on Barry and his years in medical school and internship at the hospital and then his time at medical practice on Main Street. 

He and Sue are frustrated when conceiving a child has proved more difficult than anticipated.  Tests and schedules take over the fun of procreating.   Donal, Julie and the kiddies finally return to their cottage which had a fire a while back.

A story about neighbours helping neighbours. Finlay steps in when a man proves aggressive with Alice a local shop keeper.

Many folks pitched in at the rebuild of the cottage. 

Support comes for Doctor Emer who is temporarily working in the practice. Fingal and Kitty are happily married and looking to slow down.

I found a new to me YouTube channel. Laura Kampf is a DIYer all the way.  She is handy with all the tools - wood and metal.  Her passion is to prevent items hitting the landfill and making something useful with them. She makes useful scultpures - suitcases, lamps, furniture and much more.

I worked on a project this week to solve an issue that has been bothering me.

When I moved in there was a 2x4 piece of wood in the slide of the patio door.   It serves the purpose of making sure that the door can not be opened from the outside.  Great.

It is heavy, stamped with numbers, scuffed up and not pretty at all.

After considering just replacing it I decided that I should use what I have.  I chose to trim it down a bit but with only a hand saw the work was cut out for me.

It took 1.5 hours with 3 breaks to get it cut through.  Again, those clamps proved invaluable.  Once cut let us make it pretty.  I was going to paint it but did not really have too many choices.

In the end I chose Tung Oil was chosen. It fits in with the pine in the room and is good looking.

I had a trip out of town this week where I was away for 2 days to visit my sister, have lunch with her kids and grandkids as we celebrated a grandson's birthday.

I took the opportunity to sort through the rest of the boxes I had stored at her house since 2022.

This was my photo studio stuff mostly which of course needs to be scaled down significantly. I put aside everything that was really easy to decide and we took a large box to the second hand store on Saturday/

I do have boxes in the car that need to come in and the harder decisions will have to be made.  At least, it all here and I can move on.

A zuchinni chocolate cake using the recipe my other sister used for the cake at my house warming.

His cousin decorated the cake and there were candles which were lit and blown out all at once.

He is becoming a tall and a very good teenager.

Lunch was pizza on their new expandable table set up in their dining room.

Busy Busy Busy!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

Activity picked up a lot once I tested negative for COVID.  I confirmed my plans to host my siblings at my house on Saturday, Oct 18th.

I treated myself to a Turkey Sandwich at Tim's for Thanksgiving. I skipped the dressing on my sandwich. Picked it up in the afternoon and heated it up for supper.

It was expensive but really good.

The Canada Geese descended onto the pond this week which meant the Egret for itself another place to be.

All I see are bird butts in the air and feeding is going great guns.

With the windows open, I can hear them honking. They seem to head out towards evening.  Probably moving to harvested fields to eat some more.

I did not have enough cloth placemats for hosting my family so I decided to buy vinyl table cloth material from JYSK and cut it up to make placemats.

I had made my choice from looking on line but when I got there it was too yellow so I browsed and finally chose ALMBORG. It is embossed clear vinyl material which measures 54 inches wide and you can buy it by the meter. It has a geometric pattern.

They worked well I have 12 of them.  I cut them on my quilting mat with a quilting ruler and an Exacto knife.

I bought the MÅLERÅS picture ledge from IKEA. It is bamboo (a renewable resource).

Here I am vetting whether the color will work in the livingroom/dining room.


They will be set up aligned with the top of the bookcase in the livingroom and will go right across that wall to the far side of the dining room.


I consulted with the DIYers in the family and I will purchase metal anchors to install them. It is the wall between units so who knows where the studs are.

I used the leftover vinyl material from the placements to add privacy to my craft room. I generally leave the curtains closed since there have been times when people have walked by the window. It is at the back of the building I did not expect to have folks back here but it happens.


The vinyl is on the moving window and taped to the bottom 2/3rds so that sunshiine can get in but people cannot see in.


Really happy with this solution. The plants get some real sunshine as well.

I brought the craft table into the living room and left a walking aisle between the 2 tables. It did seperate the conversation corners but I was happy to have enough room. I am set up here for 8 but we ended up with 10 people for lunch.


I made home made chicken noodle soup. My sister brought homemade whole wheat buns, and I bought date squares and Nanaimo bars for dessert. Another sister brought Chocolate Zuchinni cake so there was plenty. There was just enough soup. I borrowed a dutch oven from my aunt since mine is still packed. Great time!

Journey of the Heart by Diann Mills was the book I finished this week. True love crosses cultural barriers in these two old west romances.


When her father dies, Katie Colter is forced to leave her home amoung the Comanches and return to live in the fort with her aunt and uncle. Her family is very kind, patient, and loving to her and she adapts to her people's ways. Long dresses, church on Sunday, bible study, military men in the community and less nature.


Lone Eagle still thinks Katie as his wife and eventually comes to get her. She goes with him to save the fort being burned to the ground. After a time, she is released after finding out interesting things about her past.