Sylvia's Simple Shots

Captured a Northern Flicker poking in the ground for worms in the park as evidenced by the dirt on his bill.  They are mostly ground feeders so that is where I have found them in the past.

I was visiting my sister and her husband for a fish fry on Friday for supper.  A tradition for all the Fridays in Lent.  It was delicious as always.

We headed to a local shop which sells ice cream and we in luck to have Maple Walnut flavor.  Hers and my favorite.  We ate them in the car so it would not result in a mess before we got home.

I was in Camrose for a funeral.  

With about 45 minutes on my hands and not being able to find the thrift store I headed to the Candler Gallery.

Found some wonderful art.  I recognized at least one artist who had art on display.  One of my aunt has had art in the gallery in the past which was why I knew where it was.

There was some nice pottery as well.

There is a gift shop in the front of the main level along with an art supply store.

Nice to enjoy a few minutes before meeting my sister and husband for lunch at A&W then headed to the funeral of my cousin's father.

While having a conversation with the gallery owner she let me know about the paints they carry which are made in Canada.  With the tariff situation good to know there is a Canadian option.

Tri-Art produces watercolor, acrylic and oil paint and is located in Kingston, Ontario.

I only picked up the watercolor brochure as that is what I would purchase.

The gallery ships Canada wide but a trip would be a nice break.

My good leather purse has a worn strap and the holding loop let go in the last couple days.  I don't have time to fix it right now so I packed it but I needed a replacement.

I found this bag at Goodwill for just over $10.  Inside is a tag that asks you to register your bag and it will be returned to you from anywhere in the world.

I was thinking this must be worth something if it has that kind of policy. There is a store in WEM which would explain it being here. 

I expect it is very good quality so I gave it a good wash in and out.  It is a bit floppy so I will have to do something to give it a bit of structure.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss is a book I finished recently.

A small book written by the same author as books I have recently read which I borrowed from my brother in law.

This is the story of Auri who leaves deep below the University.  A young lady that chooses to live a solitary life with animals rather than people.

She explores the vast spaces below ground and has named them all and has created paths and ways to travel from each. 

Some spaces house her special things, one is where she sleeps and all are very interesting. 

Very interesting character.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

We had a farewell lunch with our quilting group for our leader who is moving.

She brought a few magazines discovered during her decluttering process. 

I brought these home as they are small projects and working with small pieces of fabric which I thought would be interesting.

I have not really had time this week to look at them.

The air is smoky because of the wildfires burning in our province.

The air quality is not great but I really enjoy my walks outside so I have been going anyway.

People are being evacuated and our trees are burning to the ground by the hectares.

The spring perennial flowers are starting to bring some much need color to the gardens in my area.

Siberian Squill, Red Tulip and Bleeding Hearts.

We had a good day for Mom's funeral and the internment of both my Mom and Dad. There had been a lot of planning and things went well.  The day was gorgeous shirt sleeve weather.

I walked behind the hearse with my twin sister and her husband as it brought them to the cemetery.  Mom passed in January and Dad 1 year to the day of the funeral. They were both cremated so we chose what would have been their 69th wedding anniversary for this event.

The graveside service was lovely.  We were lucky enough to get permission from the owner of our home which they moved from in 2017 to gather some soil from Mom's wonderful garden so we could cover their urns with the soil she so loving took care of for 50 years.  

Their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren participated along with life long friends and family.

I was able to catch up with high school friends who were the ladies who prepared the funeral lunch.

We were so blessed to have them as parents for so long.

Sympathy Card

My aunt passed away recently.

Her funeral was today.  Another occasion for family to get together and visit.  She was 79 and had health issues most of her life.  She leaves a husband, a son and daughter.

Butterflies are always a symbol of rebirth and life in a different form for me.

I gave this card to my uncle.

I should work on a watercolor butterfly I can use for this type of card.

Iris Flower

This is an iris from the my Aunt Winnie`s casket as I attended the service this afternoon.

She was woman who raised 5 children and was predeceased by my uncle a few years ago. She was also predeceased by 2 of her children.

She enjoyed gardening, growing food, collecting seeds and having flowers bloom.

She was recycling before it was cool.  She made sure good stuff was refurbished and donated to those who could use it.

Had a great visit with cousins, aunts and uncles.

I appreciated the time she took when I was 18 and needed to get some practice driving after I had taken my course and before I took my road test.  If I recall it was once a week for about 6 weeks.   I did pass my test and bought my first vehicle shortly there after.

Share Your Cup #225

I attended a funeral this week for a young woman who passed away way too soon at 43.  She had cystic fibrosis which affected her health but her spirit was strong and feisty.  She lived life to the fullest.

Her favorite color was purple so they were placed on tables for the luncheon following the service. 

I was on the prepping, serving and clean up crew for the funeral in service to my friends who lost their precious daughter. 

My niece was up for a visit this passed weekend.  We had a good visit with time spent with my other sister, we hit a craft sale, the ReUse Centre then worked on Christmas Card projects she had on the go.

For supper I suggested the pomegranates I had purchased earlier in the week.  Typically, they are very hard to eat without a complete mess.  With an internet search we found a video which showed how to de-seed the fruit in a few seconds.  It worked really well.

Basic Steps
1. Cut the rind of the pomegranate around the middle.
2. Tear the 2 halves apart.
3. Spread the edges away from the center.
4. Turn the half over in your hand over a bowl.
5. Whack the outside of the fruit with a spoon, rotating it as you go and the seeds will fall out through your hand into the bowl. Check this video out!

I finished this book this week.  I see that it is the 3rd book in the series.  I will have to scout out the first 2 books.

It was a very good read about Mary Catherine and Marcus.  It involves a couple of trips to Africa, a young girl making some bad choices followed by a sacrificial decision and a couple of weddings.

I would recommend this one.




I am linking up with Share Your Cup #225 hosted by Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.