Sylvia's Simple Shots

I was down south to see my neice recently.  One morning the backyard was suddenly filled with birds.  All kinds.

These are Northern Flickers but check out the orange tail feathers. When they fly one sees the splash of color right away.  So glad to see these birds must be migration time. 

This is one of the casualities of the move.  This is a set of heart shaped dishes I received from my Mom and Dad for high school graduation I think. That is over 50 years.

At least I still have one instact dish.  I am so grateful.  I packed the boxes so it is one me.  They are beautiful dishes and they did not have lots of money so to get something was very special.

I had my regular eye exam this week and have ordered a pair of glasses despite my prescription not changing much.  This will give me spare pair of spectacles in case there is a mishap with the pair I am wearing.

Those who have been wearing glasses for a long time have been recommending this move forward but as you know I have been pretty busy.

I am loving that beautiful morning sun in my east facing windows.

Love the sunshine yellow color.

The curtains are sheer enough to let the light in and give me my privacy.  The back of the building does not have a lot of movement but some neighbours wander the back area.

A Week at the Shore by Barbara Delinsky.  Mallory gets a call which calls her back to where she grew up.  A small shore town on Rhode Island. Her father is not doing well.  

She and her 13 year old daughter arrive to the house on the bluff with some many good and bad memories.  Annie her sister who lives in the house with the father feels threatened with the older sister arrives unannouced.

Mallory's old boyfriend Jack is now a veterinarian in the town so she runs into him pretty quickly. They ended their relationship 20 years ago when his mom passed away under mysterious circumstances involvin a boat and her father the judge.

The book started a little slow and the end was a bit predictable.  To think in 7 days a relationship can become physical, emotional, and supportive seems a little over the top.  In my experience forgiveness with several people does not happen that easily.  Enjoyed the book.

I stopped at my sisters in central part of the province for 2 days.  During my visit the skies darkened and rain drops came down.  Only about 1/8 of inch which was not enough to soak the garden.

It was so nice to be out and about visiting family again after being tied to the old place with the the threat of floods.  And then having to unpack here which took much longer than I anticipated.

Feels really good to be free to travel a bit these days.

Starting to rebuild my plant collection. 

Some did not survive the trip to the hotel and then back home weeks later in the middle of winter.

The African Violet needs to be replaced yet but this spider plant in a 2" pot came home with me this week.

There were 2 plants so I have given them each a pot and hopefully one will be hanging in the bedroom soon.

My niece gave me a macrame plant hanger that will work in the bedroom.

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 2

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - May - Week 2.

I continued with my books theme this week. 

Added green leaves with vines in single thread to the vine along the left hand edge. I used a variety of green colored thread. 

I added a book to the top shelf featuring a green edge, gold oval and green star in the center. It's cover facing out.

Then, a clock to the middle shelf in gold thread with black hands. 

Then, glasses to the bottom one.  I need those to read. Very important.

The embroidery is all done with the outline stitch. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I dropped by a green house yesterday on my way back from a short morning of photography.  I managed only 10 shots before I was out of battery and I had not recharged the extra from my trip the day before so more more photos for me.

I walked around the botanic garden just to get the exercise I needed and the greenhouse did not open till 10 am.

I was at the door at 10am and wandered around to eventually find the Sansevieria / Snake Plant / Mother-in-Law Tongue plant.

It measures about 7 inches high so the price of $13 dollars was worth it.  This is not likely the final decorative pot for it but it will do for the photo shoot.

I did some investigation of the Pothos or Devils Ivy and it is soaking wet so that is why it is not doing so well.   I have to learn to water according to the plants needs and not just once a week.

I am learning and now I have 7 plants which a huge improvement over 0 when I worked.  Just did not have the energy and connection to handle it then.

We had several days in the last 10 which were what I would call heat wave days.  Above 30C in the day and the overnight temperature not dipping below 18C.  

I had to put a dark sheet in the dining room window to keep the morning sun out of my place.

Thank goodness it did not last as long as last year.

I made a bottle full of Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette this morning.  Love this dressing on almost anything.  I use it for salads, I put it on my fish for the bake oven fish dish, and just to add a tang of flavor to a whole grain dish.

You can find the recipe here in Jenn Segal's French Grated Carrot Salad posting.

I just store in a cleaned out Dijon Mustard plastic jar in the fridge.  I double the recipe.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The Road Home by Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen.

It is a Naomi and Ruth story based on the bible but set in modern times.

The women are living in Las Vegas and have fallen on hard times.  They have both lost husbands in the last few years and Ruth is Naomi's daughter in law.  Naomi is now in her 60's and wants to go home to Pennsylvania where she grew up.  Ruth grew up in the foster system and has no real home so decides to make her home with Naomi. 

They travel across the country in an old Impala that Naomi's husband had both here years ago.  They work along the way to have enough cash to get HOME. 

Beautiful story!

I want to do some work on the kitchen.  

I painted the middle panel of the kitchen doors in 2017.  You can check out the improvements made then in this post. 

Now I want to paint all of the cupboards in order to freshen up the kitchen again.  I have chosen a light yellow and a warm grey in craft paint to paint paper which I will tack up against the cupboards to make a decision on a color.

I did investigate replacing the hinges but that was a no go as they have changed - the holes are not in the same place and the plates are not the same size so I think they will just be painted.

I want to had knobs or handles to the doors and drawers but I have not made a final decision on those yet.

I will post updates as they happen.

I played hide and seek with a Northern Flicker the other day.  They are a wood pecker which spends a lot of time on the ground looking for food. 

An enjoyable time.

Flickr Macro Monday was Miniature.

I got this miniature Tupperware Thatsa Bowl key chain in my prize from reunion raffle.  It is so cute and you can see the lid comes off.  I have a couple of the regular sized bowls in the Tupperware in the cupboards.

Love the color of this bowl as well.  The ones I have are white and red.

Have a great week.