Sylvia's Simple Shots

I did manage to pick a few handfuls of raspberries this week.  There are several bushes in the neighbourhood which are on my morning walk route.

I sure miss picking raspberries in Mom's garden. 

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel by Michelle Gorman writing as Lilly Bartlett.This was a nice light read.  

Rosie fled New York City after a failed relationship and the resulting loss of her job in the hospitality industry. Betrayed and devastated she headed back to her seaside home town in England.  

She now manages a quaint Victorian hotel owned by the Colonel where there are several permanent senior residents, a eccentric chef and a dog named Barry and just enough rentals to keep it afloat. 

Next, the Colonel has sold the hotel to a couple of brothers from America and a young man named Rory arrives as the transition manager. The changes are significant, renovations to the building, new decor, new menu for chef to learn, and the end to tenant contracts for some of the residents.  Where will they go?

It  has been scorching hot again this week.  

I had to place a sheet over the curtains in the dining room to keep the heat of the morning sun.  It is not cooling down overnight so it's been about 82F to 89F in the place. Soaking my head and shirt to keep cool.

These pine crates elevate my TV so I can place the DVD player and the stereo below it on the console table.

They are rough pine and are not finished.

I decided to give them a good sanding then a couple of coats of Tung Oil since they are not being used right now with everything in the living room packed.

I just did the outside since the inside will not be visible.  They are very rough and an electric sander would have been helpful but I go with what I have.

They do look better so I am happy.  It will be at least another couple of weeks before I can start putting the house back together.

It has been a full 2 weeks of waiting, emailing, researching, emailing some more to get approval to move forward with the installation of the flooring.

There's a trip to Calgary this week I hope to pick up the underlay.

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah was a book I recently finished.  This is my second or third book by this author.

Annie Colwater lives in California with her lawyer husband and daughter.  She has been a housewife for 20 years and a mother for 17.  She is a great manager of the house and her husband depends on her to make him look good.  

He wants a divorce.  What is she to do? Her daughter is off to London before college and her husband has moved out of their house.

She heads north to the small town where she grew up and spends some time with her Dad, Hank. She meets several people she went to school with and one in particular Nick Delacroix is in need of support.  His wife has died and their 6 year old daughter has been expelled from school. She is not handling the death of her mother well.  Annie offers to babysit the girl while Nick is at work.

A love story develops and she finds her purpose. 

I won these picnic place mats at the reunion raffle last weekend.

Great way to not lose your cutlery and have a clean place to eat when you are using public picnic facilities.

Great for the RV or trailer.  Washable, reusable and a great addition to any camping trip.

My sister made these and they will be added to my camping gear.

Christmas Tree & Nativity Up

The Christmas Tree is up.  It was getting late in the season and I was anxious to hang the tree.

This is my wall Christmas Tree that I made in 2021 that hangs from a photo shelf.  The lights are part of the tree so that is a real time saver.

All the ornaments were hung with care.

Most vintage because I have been hanging them on a tree for over 25 years. All with precious memories attached to them.

The teapot from my Mom & Dad's tree. The snowmen my brother-in-law made. The vintage ones my aunt gave me when she was downsizing. The glass star that I bought for my large nativity scene which is packed in boxes. The green ball, a keepsake from one of our family Christmas. Stained glass ornaments bought at the big Christmas craft sale in the big yellow building.

The chair had to be moved to make room for the 2 TV tables that support the tree table top decoration along with the snow angel, the mercury glass owl, the candle stick holder and the glitter NOEL.

The movie I watched after the tree was up.  I have not watched my traditional movies this year but there is still time.

I have Polar Express, Love Actually, and A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart.

This was just the right length.

Some eggnog with nutmeg and cinnamon and a bit of whipping cream for a seasonal drink along wit the movie.

It's nice to have traditions to keep my head on straight when lots of things around me are just upside down.

I put up the Snowpeople Nativity this year along with the LED tree, the green ceramic tree and the great mint green one I got on sale which lights up.

All the players are there - the Holy Family, the 3 Wisemen and the baby lamb.

The table was set up with the red table cloth and plaid place mats.

All looks festive and ready for a celebration, even if it is a quiet one.

Die - Decluttering and New Work Station

 All my die cutting stuff has been in storage for a year and half.  I knew that I wanted to get rid of a lot of them so I decided to unpack the 10 boxes and make the hard decisions.

My sister helped me as she was going to chose from what was left and was willing to liquidate the rest.

I brought 4 boxes home out of 10 which was really good.  I had worked out how I was going to set up the station when I got home.  I set up the shelving unit on July 1st. 

We had scoped out some clear containers at Dollarama while I was at her house. Once I looked at what I had brought home and purchased a few more.  These were all original thick dies so they are really heavy for plastic containers.

The containers had feet and the shelving has gaps between the boards so I needed something to on the shelf to allow the containers to slide.  

I dug into my plastic placemat stash which were just the right depth so I needed 2 to make it wide enough for the shelf.  I used clear packing tape to join them and that solved that situation.  The placemats sometimes have textured surfaces so I had to turn them upside down so the smooth side was facing up.

I had to do the same thing for the diecutting shelf where I was putting my Big Kick machine.  I used some wonderful yellow striped ones and again taped them together. The machine has feet which may be a problem with the gaps and I don't what to lose small pieces of paper in the gaps.

There is lots of room on the shelf for my work light, a small garbage can, and a wooden box that holds my spacers and cutting plates.  These need to be close at hand everything I cut something.

I love the yellow stripes on the work surface.

Generally, the thick dies in either original or Bigz size fit in old style CD storage containers.  I had these wooden storage boxes from IKEA and the dies fit in perfectly. Luckily most of them were empty so that was a win.

I have not labeled all the drawers yet but I will. One drawer contains the amount of embossing folders I kept.

The wood boxes are much sturdier than plastic but I still have to be careful  I used to store dies in plastic pop crates which were very sturdy.

The red drawers will hold thin dies which are stored in CD cases.  Those have not been unpacked yet.

The black case was designed for the Sizzix original dies so that is where they are stored.  I have a really hard time using stuff I can't see so I may have to put die cuts on card board and hang them in the space to at least remind me what I have.

The second shelf has the small yellow and green dies and sizzlets, and movers and shaper dies in clear containers.

I am using this translucent corrugated plastic sheet from IKEA on my die cutting work shelf to provide a neutral background for taking photos of my cards for my blog.

The plastic is stored on the top shelf above the red wicker baskets when not in use.

Here you can see my grey IKEA lamp in it's super heavy white base which sits on the left.  The shelf is by a window but there will be times that I need a light to work.

The wood shelf is from IKEA as well is was called STEN when I bought it 20 years ago.  The shelves are 11 inches deep and about 33 inches wide.  With the cross brace on the back it make for a very stable work surface.  Strong enough to hold the weight involved with storing these dies.

Here's my die cutting work station.  There is still some space on the bottom shelf which I am not planning on filling.

It works really well and I am so happy to have it back.  It may have to be dismantled if I move this year but at least is way more manageable.  Now it lives in the craft space which is wonderful.

The dies I did not keep were gone through by my sister, then my niece and the rest will go to my sister who runs a daycare.  There are about 30 dies going to her.

They will have good homes and I have just so much less to manage.  Many dies I had purchased when I was running card  making classes and card club.  Many suited that situation but I no longer need them as I don't do classes anymore.  I am retired.

Share Your Cup

We celebrated Canada's 150th birthday on the weekend.

I decided to have a red and white breakfast.  I made whole wheat pancakes. I put with high bush cranberry syrup in my red and white bowl.  I had my tea in the matching mug.  Cream for my tea and pancake syrup was served in a glass creamer. I chose a white IKEA plate with a bit of butter on a small china plate.

I did collect some small flags which I placed in a small vase.  I landed a Canada 150 commemorative water bottle.

I was very good and a nice relaxing breakfast.


A visit to the Community Garden gave me a lovely deep pink rose with an ant highlighted on the left.  I love the moody photo of a light pink peony on the right.  They have been so nice this year.

I bought a coffee table photo book by a local photographer, Daryl Benson.  It had been advertised and I was intrigued.  It is a wonderful book with photos from across the country.  Really enjoyed looking at and will go back to it for inspiration.

The scrapbook store was promoting 50% sales on quite a few items so I thought it was worth a trip.  I had been making a lot tea related cards for a challenge and had hoped to land a Tim Holtz Tea Time die. No luck and I am really in stash busting mode so no other product came home with me.


 

I spent several hours walking around Beaumaris Lake and captured a lot of wild life.  There was a hare baby, Canada Geese, ducks of all kinds, a Coot, a Ring Billed Gull and Red Wing Black Bird.These photos are Ring Necked Grebe on the left and checkout the little head sticking out on her back.  The little one is hitching a ride. The right has a Double Crested Cormorant and a American White Pelican sitting on a structure in the middle of the lake.  All eyes are on me.

I have been sewing.  We have a family event coming up and there a request for donations of items as a fundraiser to support the rent of a facility.

I made a set of flat ware roll and placement combo which facilitates outdoor eating.  I added a small coordinating napkin which makes it completely zero waste.  Just wash and reuse.

I chose a bright pink and purple floral fabric a coordinating pink solid.
I cut the place mat pieces at 13Tx19.5W one from each fabric.  The pocket was cut at 8Tx19.5 W.  It was hemmed at the top and then sandwiched between the layers and a white ribbon was added on the left hand side. After stitching all the way around and it was turned inside out.  I over stitched all the way around the outside edge.  I then created slots on the right hand side one for each knife, fork and spoon.  A wider one for the napkin.  I had just enough fabric left over to make a small napkin with a floral header.  Place the flatware, the napkin and there is still pocket for anything else you might want to include. Once the complete just fold the top edge down then roll from the right hand side going toward the ribbon ties.  This will ensure your flatware stays in place.  There were some designs which did not have the flap but I thought it was critical.



Sharing with Share Your Cup #255 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson.

Share Your Cup - This Week

This is a plain ordinary office file sorter but the color is what made it come home with me. 

I am using it to hold the cookbooks I use all the time which live on top of the fridge. 

I was challenged by a video on Youtube the other day where a lady living a minimalism life style suggested getting rid of cook books and looking up recipes on line.   I think I will look at the books on the bookshelf and evaluate whether I really need them.

These are my regular cookbooks.  The Purity Cookbook I received as a high school graduation present. It's cover has gotten separated from the book which I don't remember how that happened.  I am usually very careful with books.
I use a couple church/community cookbooks I have collected over the years because they contain the great old recipes. 
The fat one on the right is a "Fill with your favorite recipes" kind of book.  It is very interesting what recipes I used to use and now I have new ones that are favorites.  I should have written down the year they were written into the book. The information is lost. 
Are you asking yourself ? "Does she have paper stuck to the center of the kitchen cupboard doors?"  Yes, I do.  I am looking to update the kitchen a bit and after a discussion during my sister's visit it crossed my mind that I could just paint the center of the doors.  Late at night I decided to put white paper in the center to see what it would look like.  It brightens up the kitchen which has no windows a lot.  I'm not ready to paint just yet but I am leaving the paper up because it makes such a difference.  Updates will come in later posts.

The book this week is Evening Class by Maeve Binchy. 

A teacher at a school is having a life crisis, he got passed over for a promotion, his wife doesn't seem to know he is alive, and his 2 grown daughters have their own lives.  He gets the opportunity to offer evening classes at the school where he works.  He has always wanted to return to Italy where he spent his honeymoon.  Fortunately, in the community a lady who spent nearly 25 years abroad in that country returns to her roots in Ireland.  She is willing to teach a class in conversational Italian, as well adding a dash of culture and food from the area.

The class is a huge success and we get to know several of the students who are studying Italian with Signora.  Most of their lives cross paths at certain points.  It's been a bit hard to remember all the connections but I have enjoyed the book a lot.

I found these napkins a while back and they contained the colors I wanted to use with my true blue dishes.  In the end, I could not use them as napkins because being 100% cotton a crease had been formed into the center which I found unsightly.  I went on a search for fabric to match and yesterday I found some.  I cut the back in the yellow and placed a strip of the yellow across the crease mark.  It provide an accent for the place mat and gives me a place mat that I can use with my blue dishes. I have 3 napkins so I will make another and maybe some teacup coasters.

This was tea today with Bengal Spice in the cup. 

I'm really happy with how well the colors match. 

Sharing with Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #243.

Tea for One - Going Away Gift

I'm saying till later to a good friend this week as she moves back east for a new job.

I created a tea related gift for her.  This is a placemat made from pansy fabric on one side and a purple one (her favorite color) on the back, though it is completely reversible.  I sewed the green twill tape to the front piece then sewed the 2 pieces together.  I turned it inside out and and "quilted" it along the edges and the trim.



I included a purple napkin which matches the back side of the placemat.  It is a good match to the purple in the pansy fabric which is why I selected it.



 
I did say Tea for One.

This tea set is by MAXWELL & WILLIAMS Basic White Porcelain Tea-for-One Set.  It includes a tea pot, tea cup and saucer.  I love the simple design of this combination.  It works well with the pansy fabric.







I included a box of her favorite Jasmine Green Tea.



I will miss our brainstorming sessions about crafts, small business challenges and life always with a cup of tea.

Here's the card I made.  It features a piece of watercolor paper which measures 4x6 inches. I added a piece of silver paper cut with the Stampin Up Large Scallop edgelit.  I wrapped several lengths of ribbon across the top and added 3 silk flowers held with a flower sequin and a blue brad.  I added a bird punched with the SU Bird punch. He is sitting on a turquoise branch.  This was layered onto a large half sheet card with a turquoise sentiment layer and onto a purple card base.

I will be sharing with the following:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antiques and Tea Cups
Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea
Share Your Cup #221 hosted by Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs Olson

Normandy Life #8 - Garage Sale Finds

I found these red, green and gold plaid Christmas place mats at a large community garage sale last weekend.  They look brand new and were a steal at .10 cent each.  The washed up beautifully. They work very well here with my red table cloth.  The ones I have had are headed to the second hand store.

This is a single blue and white dinner plate I bought recently for a couple dollars.  It is Liberty Blue - Independence Hall original copper engraving of historic colonial scenes printed on Staffordshire Ironstone.  I paired it with my IKEA Cobalt Blue cup and saucer on a warm blue table runner.  I used a white Battenburg Lace napkin to provide contrast against the blue table runner and the plate.

I bought this tea cup to pair with my Sadler tea pot.  It needed to be a warm background tea cup to work with the pink tea pot. It has roses and gold gilding which the tea pot has as well so it will work well.

You will see the table runner under the tea cup which is woven with some shiny threads.  I'm sure it is wool and is very soft and luxurious. Again, a find at the garage sale for a couple of dollars.  It has a great fringe.








Sharing with Mosaic Monday hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.