Sylvia's Simple Shots

The first snow arrived this week.

It was not much but it is time if there will be snow to protect the plants and provide moisture in the spring.

The guy with the bike has been through.  With the snow he has left evidence of his passing.  I have seen him a couple of times but he goes by more often than I thought.

The Firebrand by Susan Wiggs is the book I finished this week. This novel is set in Chicago in the 1870s. The central historical event is the great fire of October 1871. 

Lucy Hathaway was at a party and decided to flirt with a married man. On her way home that night she could see a warm glow in the distance and as she gets closer she can see fire.  Chaos reigns as you can imagine. Many people died, buildings burned and countless people were left homeless.  As she passes at hotel, a baby is tossed from an upper window and Lucy catches it as it falls. The building those inside are lost.  When she approaches her home she sees that she has lost her home as well. 

Her mother, Lucy and the baby start over.  She sets up a bookstore and the child grows. The parents of the baby are distraught, the father is badly burned and hospitalized for a good while.  When he recovers his marriage has ended and his baby girl is gone! He must pick up the pieces and carry on.  

He does well in banking and five years later Lucy meets the man from the party as the bank manager who will decide about her bank loan. A photo on his desk of a baby girl makes her realize that this is the father of "her daughter".  The romantic plot is predictable.  Susan is a good author and it was a good read.

I did a lot of work on sorting out what neutrals I could use to paint furniture in my place.  I generally, prefer natural wood tones with clear finish or tung oil.  I have a bench that my Mom made for me which was painted pink for the place I had in the 1980s. Now I would like to change that color. 

These are the colors I have selected that would coordinate with the floor, the counter in the kitchen and the Queen Ann Lace paint on the walls. Love that color.

I have chosen Intellectual for the stool and will paint that when I have time in then next few months.  I have chosen BEHR brand because I can get it locally.

It was a good week at the thrift shops this week.  There are several I visit on a trip to the city.

I picked up this Stampin Up stamp set called Papillon Potpourri.  Papillon is butterfly in French.

With my commitment to butterfly cards for IWin this will add another piece to my options to make cards for this charity.

I do not have the butterfly punch that coordinates but stamping them on tags or circles or label punchies will work.

There also a good variety of sizes as well in the set.

I got rid of all my large plates from my turquoise dishes before I moved.  I knew I would have less space but I did not understand how small the lunch plates were.

I found this set of white glass dishes at MCC this week. Two of each dinner plate, luncheon plate and soup bowl and all stack nicely.  They fit nicely in the bit of space I had in the cupboard.

I have misplaced my timer for the grow light in the office to keep my plants alive in winter. 

In a bag of electrical things I found 2 Westinghouse timers which are way easier to use than the old push clip version.

I replaced both the one in the bedroom that turns on my Starry Night Light an hour in the evening.  The grow light comes on for 3 hours in the morning before it gets light outside.

I can leave my curtains open now that snow has accumulated next to the fence. We have snowbanks there now the the bike man is no longer going by.

The plants I hope will survive and eventually thrive.

I replaced the outlet extender in the living room which is designed to go behind furniture so the plugs can have a lower profile. 

With the new extender, I get 3 plugs, I can still plug something in the lower plugin, and I can use the front facing one for the vacuum. 

Very happy with these upgrades all for $5.

I found this cutting mat with something stuck to it. I was not sure I would be able to remove it but I took a chance.  It was likely white glue and with a bit of soaking it all came right off. 

Now I have a cutting mat for the craft room and I know where it goes back to.

I have been on the look out for a couple more cobalt blue water glasses and the fit the bill.

When I got them home though and washed them I see that they have some dishwasher damage on them. 

I will continue to look.

Mosaic Monday - recent photos

I attended this play last week.

I met a couple friends downtown and we had supper at the mall.  We met another friend at the theatre.

This play was presented at our local theatre. The playwrights are Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon.  The director was McAlear.

The story follows the Mary Bennett who is unmarried and visits her sisters at Pemberly where Elizabeth lives with husband Mr. Darcy.

Some of the story line was quite silly.  A tree in the drawing room was a curiosity.

Since I was going to be downtown I took advantage and spent several hours at the Royal Alberta Museum which finally opened Oct 3rd after being closed for several years while the new building was being constructed.

Natural History Gallery

The dioramas are there.  I love how this animals are placed in their natural environments. The paintings are so well done.

The Gem room has been put together wonderfully.

The stones are very well displayed.  The lighting is terrific, the labeling is great and there is lots of space.

This is Ammonite.  I love the red and green in this piece.

There are gems, ore, precious metals, and a bunch of wonderful stuff.



Human History Gallery

These blue and yellow dishes were produced in our province in Medicine Hat. Who knew?

A beautiful copper kettle.

The Indigenous people feature in this gallery.  There are lots of great objects to see and learn about. 

In four hours I did not cover it all.  Maybe half so I will be going back.

My body was happy to sit down and have something to eat.

I loved the visit.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #4 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bayleaf.

Mosaic Monday - Turquoise & Sunshine Yellow Dishes

I received a box that contained wonderfulness this weekend.  It was wrapped and had a big white and glitter tulle bow.  It was filled with beautiful blue dishes.  They were all carefully wrapped to make sure they arrived safe and sound.  It was a gift from niece for my birthday.  We saw them at a second hand store in early September and I was interested in them but I could not decide on the moment so I left the store without them.  She went back to the store a couple days later and bought them. They are so gorgeous!!!
The photos document the opening of the box as the blue emerges.  I love the dishes.  The lines are smooth, the color is spectacular, and the size is super as the mugs and bowls are generous!  The middle right hand photo is one of the large blue plates on yellow charger plates. The yellow chargers are not quite sunshine yellow but they were $2 each so they came home with me.  The bottom right hand corner photo is pairing sunshine yellow plates I purchased about 2 months ago because they were the right color.  They pair up perfectly.  Check out this post on my blue and yellow tablescape. Thank you to Carol C and Judith for inspiring me to have a beautifully set table.

Does anybody recognize these?  Which company made them and when.  They have no mark and I could find nothing about them on-line.

I am submitting this to
Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.