Sylvia's Simple Shots

I went looking for pelicans at Beaumaris Lake but found none.

I found other waterfowl.  Here's a Red Necked Grebe with it's mournful call.  There were several pairs on the water. Did not see any nests yet.

The apple trees were all in bloom as well as the cherry trees with their deep pink blossoms.

Great walk around the lake.

American Coots vying for territory.

There was a look of splashing, posturing, and charging going on.

As you can see in this shot the water was being churned and the flapping wings of the retreating male was he headed across the water.

There were several pairs of these waterfowl on the water.

If You Believe by Kristin Hannah.  This is about the 3rd or fourth book I've read from this author.

Mariah Throckmorton lives with her father Rass on a farm with an apple orchard. They grow apples and the harvest is a source of income for them.  Her mother passed away recently and they both miss her terribly.  Rass has posted a help wanted ad at the general store in town.

Mad Dog Stone has been wandering from place to place for many years. He takes odd jobs to earn money for the few necessities.  He answers the ad and appears at the farm.  Mariah runs the house and farm by rigid rules and with Rass getting older sees that hiring Mr. Stone makes sense. 

Mr. Stone and Mariah dance around each other for a while.  Pushing and pulling for who is in control. She should lighten up a bit and he should apply himself a little more. A young boy appears at the farm which Rass employs as his assistant for categorizing and organizing his archaeological finds. 

These three characters become a family under difficult circumstances.

After a lot of negotiations I have finally had my offer accepted for a new place to live in a small town east of the city.

Now the work begins in earnest.   Packing, moving utilities, renovations before moving in, and cleaning this place before I leave.

Working on contractors for painting, flooring and some plumbing to be completed before possession.

A walk to the Community Garden and Paul Kane Park this week.

The lilacs are in bloom and it strikes me as a bit early.

Their scent is lovely.

Pretty flowers.

Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohansesian is a book I finished this week. It is a historical novel. 

It has 2 story lines one in the 1915 and one in 1990's.  The first is set in the Armenian and Turkey war. The peaceful relationship between these 2 countries breaks down and many innocent people are killed and many endure great suffering. This tears lives apart.

In the 1990's Orhan's grandfather, Kemal, dies and leaves the family home to a woman no one knows. She lives in the USA and who is she?  Orhan travels far to find a ninety plus year old lady living in nursing home.  She had been a young Armenian girl during the war. She suffered great losses and Fatma has saved her life. 

The book has some surprises, the truth comes to light and the relationships are not what they seem.  Great read. 

My sister and brother-in-law dropped by for lunch while they were in town visiting my other sister and her husband who has been pretty sick. We always have pick up an drop off items when we connect.  

They picked up Wendy's on their way over. The linens had been sorted through that morning and the tablecloth had been set aside for packing. I sent a red tablecloth to my niece.It may the last time they visit at this place.

An Unfinished Life is a 2005 film based on the Mark Spragg novel of the same name. The film stars Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, and Morgan Freeman. It is the story of a gruff Wyoming rancher (Redford) who must reconcile his relationship with his struggling daughter-in-law (Lopez) and previously unknown-to-him granddaughter, after they show up unexpectedly at his ranch and ask to stay with him and his disabled best friend and neighbor (Freeman).

Slow Stitching - No. 037 - Home - Village

This is week 37 of K3N Cloth Tales Slow Stitching challenge.  This week was the prompt was HOME.  

I not thrilled about the location I live now - downtown in a large city. I love my apartment.

So, I decided to create my ideal home.  A small village. Starting on the north end there are railroad tracks because I love to hear the train but not too close. On the right is a paddock where horses live.  Next, south of the horses is a field of wheat. Across the road is the start of the row of houses which live along the lake. They have dark roofs. There has to be water so I can photograph birds. 

At the cross roads is a small park with a tree and flowers. East of the park is a bit of woodland. My place faces the park with a fence, flowers, a tree and a vegetable garden behind the building. East of there is a field of sunflowers. That will bring birds and pollinators.  South of my place is my neighbor with a fenced yard with a few fruit trees along the fence. 

To the west across the lane is the commercial district with a church, a library and a grocery store with a gas station. There is a large parking lot. Everything is within walking distance.  My car is parked in front of my house.  Writing about it now I realize that my house would face north west so maybe the house needs to be rotated a bit. We'll see when the plans are drawn up. 

This project was a lot of stitching but I loved creating it.  I used liquid acrylic ink to paint my roofs then stitched around them.  Trees with French Knots, parking lot with grey running stitches,bit of satin stitch for the cars in the parked there, seeds stitches in blue for the lake, green seed stitch for lawn, and on it goes. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 The trees are starting to leaf out.  Beautiful spring green colors appearing in many places.  The Fiddlehead Ferns in the small garden are ready to unfurl into wonderful textures. The American Robins are back and looking to make nests I am sure.

The Good Son by Jacquelyn Mitchard is a book I finished this week.  

A young man, Stefan, is in prison for murder of his girlfriend. Thea Demetriou, his mother continues to love him despite now knowing how this happened.  Stefan does not remember. 

After his serving his sentence, he comes home to a town which will not let him move on. The mother of Belinda the girlfriend has set up a movement to bring awareness to dating violence. They are always on their doorstep.

Slowly, he begins to start a new life.  He decides to start a program where people can reach out to ones they have wronged and help to make things right.  It is a soul saving project for him. It provides an avenue for several people in his circle.

The book was surprisingly very positive and uplifting.

Another week of medical procedures. A Pulmonary Function Test for my coughing and shortness of breath in March.   The root canal to save one of my front teeth finally was done, now that I could sit for over an hour and not cough.  The prep was very involved but finally the dental specialist came in and it was a bit tricky he said but went well.

In my search for Pelicans this spring I headed to a large city park on the east side of town.  Someone mentioned that sometimes the pelicans are there.  It has 3 water ponds, picnic tables, lots of parking, woodland trails and biking.  I saw canoes on the water but no pelicans. Where the heck are they?  I know they are here because other photographers are posting pics.

The Journey by Josephine Cox was a gripping read.  I finished it in a couple of days.

The book relates two time periods 1930s then the 1950s with Lucy Baker in her old age.  Lucy and her daughter, Mary visit the cemetery regularly and Ben Morris has seen them before as he walks his dog. One day Lucy falls and Ben comes to help the women and they leave in a chauffeured car.  Lucy has dropped her purse and Ben, later that evening, delivers it to this large Edwardian house.  He is invited in.

The time shifts to Lucy's early life. The man she loved from afar, the one she was seduced by and resulted in a child. How the unwed mother was rejected by her family and taken in by warm hearted souls. How Barney Davidson came to her rescue in a time of need, how he was seperated from his family and how he came to be in the cemetary that Lucy and Mary visit regularly. There is a 2nd book so I will have to keep an eye out for Journey's End.

This week's Macro Mondays Challenge was the onion family.

I chose spring green onions for my close up shot.

You can check out my Flicker Photostream (SMDPics).

Have a great week!

Mosaic Monday #7

We had a great birthday card on the weekend.  There was a row of yellow happy face balloons welcoming the birthday girl.

We had to have a different plan because we could not hang them as they would have upside down smiles.  Do you know that sharpie markers are deadly to balloons?  Well, they are!  We found out.

My sister and I picked high bush cranberries.  They were very ripe and we had our hands very red before we were done.  We picked an ice cream pail each. The berries where processed into pancake syrup.  We each ended up with 10 cups of syrup each.  It was processed into jars and will be a welcome addition to breakfast during cold winters.

While I was picking I heard this knocking noise so I took a walk to investigate.  It was a woodpecker poking holes in the side of a garage.

I could not resist the wonderful yellow wood bench in the park where we picked berries.

Someone last week shared their apron.  I have not much use for aprons in my previous lives but I have been using one in the last couple of years.  I bought this one at IKEA in their Christmas clearance.  I liked the way the ties adjusted around the neck and down the arms to the waist.  Red was a good color.


Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life and Mosaic Monday #7.