Sylvia's Simple Shots

This is a most beautiful flower.  It's the Astrantia Major Alba and to me is just says "wedding".  Soft muted colors with a hint of pink in the center.  Wonderful star shaped lower petals. 

This was my first nice photography trip following the break of the Heat Dome which covered my area for days! More about that below. 

I visited the St. Albert Botanic Park where the flowers were plentiful and it was the perfect temperature for a 2 hour stroll in the garden.

I just loved it so much!

Let me start with the most recent challenge in my life. Never have I experienced this!  Seven days of over 30C temperatures was very challenging especially when the low over night was in the 20C so really no cooling off.  This is record breaking for us here on the prairies of Canada.  

It was as isolating as the pandemic with temperatures in my home of 32C which was in my opinion dangerous. I walked outside very early in the morning. I drank lots of cold herbal tea, soaked my head once every hour, and the fan ran 24-7.  Thank goodness I had good books to read.   Typically, not too many households have air conditioning but I expect that it will become much more popular!
 

I did buy this book myself but I was not ready for the story I found within it's pages.

There are three women characters - Rachel the woman on the train, Anna her ex-husband's current wife and Megan who is the neighbour of Anna. 

These three women live a lot of their lives in their heads and the book leaves me wondering how much is real and imagined in their lives. 

I did consider putting it down and not finishing it several times but I finished the book.  

Did I enjoy the book?  Somewhat but it often was chaotic and unsettling.  I much prefer strong characters and these were pretty much all over the place.

A few more images from my photo trip out on Saturday morning.  The heat broke last Friday night and I was able to open the windows and let the cool air in. 

At the Botanic Park the roses were in full bloom and there are rows and rows of them.

Earlier this year I was concerned for the bee population but there was no lack of them at the park.  There were a couple of places where they could get water. 

The Song Sparrow was just belting out its song which was so good to hear.

I had a visit from a dragonfly and now I know why the are called dragon as they have quite fierce faces.

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks is a book I totally enjoyed.  He is one of my favorite authors when I want a nice love story with strong characters.

Set in North Carolina inspired by 2 very different places. One is the "Kindred Spirit" which is a mail box on an isolated beach.  People leave letters and other written words in the box.  When you visit you can read the letters and other material and return them to the mail box for others to share.  The other is the country of Zimbabwe.  

Hope Anderson is a nurse spending time at the family cottage. Tru Wall, a 42-year-old safari guide from Zimbabwe is next door due to meet his biological father for the first time.  They meet on the beach, get to know each other, and in a few days make life changing decisions.  

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.  

There are several colors of Yarrow.  I have seen White, Pink and the park had this Yellow one.

I grew up with it being harvested for medicinal purposes so it has not been high on my flower radar but it is really nice.

I finished this book yesterday which was the third this week. 

What a terrific book - The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.  The story about love, isolation, and right and wrong.  Tom Sherbourne takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day's journey from the Australian coast. Later, he marries Isabel and he brings her to the island. She has suffered miscarriages and a still birth so when she hears the cries of a baby from a washed up boat she feels it is a divine intervention.

They choose to keep the child as present her as their own rather than report the death of the man and the surviving child. Two years later, they learn the consequences of their decision for other families on the mainland.



This love story is touching, heart wrenching and ultimately love triumphs.

I just loved this story. It made a mess of my emotions with a few tears shed at times. This wonderful story is recommended.

The Flickr Macro Mondays challenge this week is "Letters and Numbers".  This provides a lot of subject matter.  This is a metal tag put on infrastructure by the city.  You can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #138 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #296.

Have a great week and be safe.

Card - Time Flies

I bought this Tim Holtz Picture Wheel die a while ago with the idea of being able to turn it into a clock when I wanted. Today was the day.  I cut the Picture Wheel in turquoise card stock. I designed the clock graphic and printed it on vellum. I clear embossed the numbers when the printer ink was still wet.  I had to be really fast. I cut a 2 inch circle from the center of the vellum to put in the center on the turquoise piece.  I cut the clock hands with the Cricut and the Grahically Speaking cartridge big one at 4 inches and smaller one at 3.25 inches.  I adhered the turquoise to the vellum ensuring the numbers were aligned.  I selected a coral card. I printed one of my alcohol ink backgrounds from this session onto the front of the card to add a bit of texture. I rubbed the edges of the card with a turquoise ink pad. I adhered the clock face to the card. The vellum circle and the hands were added next with a tiny black brad. I cut the word TIME with the Stampin Up Little Letter thin lits in the turquoise card stock and flagged the right hand side. I then layered it onto black card stock and trimmed around it leaving a tiny border.  This was adhered to the left hand side near the card edge.  I added the word flies by hand by printing the word onto a piece of paper and then tracing it onto the card with a black pen and the help of a light table.  Super happy with the card.
Submitting this card to City Crafters Challenge - Keys to the Time being hosted by Darnell.

Art Calendar - Handmade Gift

I created this art calendar with some of my photos. As I indicated in this earlier post, I processed each photo in hopes of creating an image that looked more like a painting.  Some I'm really happy with others not as much.  Pretty good for my first time. I printed them at home on matte photo paper so they would be more like paintings.

The calendar pages are 8.5" square with a half inch added to the binding edge. The calendar was printed on the 8.5 x 9 inch sheet of white card stock.  The binding is Zutter.

Then I wanted to create a frame.  I could not find a die in my collection large enough and to the right proportions so I turned to my Cricut. After spending a long time with several cartridges and doing some test cuttings I selected the Elegant Edges cartridge.  I cut the borders to 6.75" wide which filled the 8.5" square pages nicely.  I added a piece of vellum under the photo which helped define the space for the photo as well as align all the pieces. I centered the vellum on the page then added the pieces over top. I cut all the borders from black card stock.  I did have to trim the vellum where it showed through the holes in the borders. That was tedious.  I added one of the die cuts from inside the borders next to the photo to balance the rectangular space.

The cover has the numbers 2015 cut with the Sizzix Go Go Boots Sizzlet Alphabet dies.