Sylvia's Simple Shots

Check out what showed up at the little pond this week.

A cormorant in all it's glory.  Hanging around, staying put. really close.

That was so exciting.  I don't know where it came from.  Was it taking a rest break?

Whatever the situation I am grateful so get some good shots of this bird.

I decided to head out the art walk in Stony Plain.  Several of the members of the AAC will be in attendance so a chance to connect with artists.

I spoke to David who does woodwork.  I was in the calligraphy guild with his wife so I said say Hi from me.

Stopped by to say hello to Rochelle who does colored pencil and Barry who carves.  He had a really nice Viking piece he was working on.

Said hello to Linda who did the Art in the Open in St. Albert a while back.

The weather was very nice and looks like a good time was had by all. 

I bought myself a gift while at the Art Walk.  I have been wanting a piece of stained glass for a long time.

A row of houses made by Carol B - Through the Window Pane.  It is bigger and heavier than the piece I have hanging in the window right now so I have to come up with a plan on how to display it.

I visited the Crooked Pot Gallery where I saw an idea which may help with my flowers in a vase. It was a ceramic flower frog that just sits on the top edge of the vessel. I don't plan on making clay ones but maybe plastic might work. 

I attended a birthday party at the bowling alley this week.  A mile stone.

I did not bowl so I visited in the party room after the bowling.

There was pizza and cake and a visit with some of my relatives and my sisters.

A few of us headed to the thrift store next door after the pizza. Love like minded folks.

After months of trying to find a solution to getting a metal band on my new watch.  I bought that back in May but it had a cloth band.

I had hoped that I could transfer the band from the old Timex to the new one.  After approaching several businesses no one was willing to work to find a solution.

I decided to head to have a visit with a friend who had recommended a business in her small town.

After looking at what I would like to have done they did not feel transferring the band was a good idea.  

But, they had old stock replacement bands.  Maybe one would work.  As you can see this one worked fine.  They shortened it for me.  It had the same clasp as the last band and it is stainless steel and the price was a bargain.  Super thrilled to have the project put to bed.

I purchased a new SD card for my old camera.  The girl at London Drugs suggested that this would be the largest card I could put in my camera.

I have been using 2GB cards and running out of room, having to switch cards which is a hassle.  I lost one for a few days a couple of weeks ago.  Losing shots is very disheartening.

This one will be a big improvement where I will not have to change cards and risk losing shots again.

With the parking lot open at the St. Albert Botanic Park I headed over there so catch the dahlias in full bloom.

Of course, there were many flowers to photograph. Lilies, roses, sunflowers, and a bunch more.

The volunteers were in full force making everything look wonderful.

Of course, I always head out early.

I stopped at London Drugs on my way in and was headed north after some breakfast.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

Day lilies are amazing plants. The grow on boulevards, gardens, or any place with light.  They are hardy, frost resistance and bloom for months! Just doing what God made them to do. 

This flower is named Persimmon which I think is very fitting for this rich orange yellow flower.

This one I found at on city property when I attended an Art Walk recently.

It brightened my day!

I've moved my sofa for now so that I am less likely to lay down on it to watch TV.  That habit is not good for my back and I have been suffering the last couple of weeks because of it.

It is not the best placement of the furniture in the living room but it is temporary because the sofa will be going and the room will be emptied to install flooring later this fall.

Just trying to take care of myself for the long run.

I have several books by this author on my shelf but had not read one of them.

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny.  She is a Canadian author so always good to support local. 

This is book is in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. It is book 14 and was written after her husband passed away.  Her husband was an inspiration for this character and she was not sure she could continue to write in this series once he passed but she produce 3 more books in the series.

The setting the province of Quebec in Canada.  It is winter which features prominently in the story. Inspector Armand Gamache is under suspension when he receives a letter which leads him to learn he has been assigned as executor in an estate. The catch is he does not know her.  The mystery is to determine who she is, why has she chosen these 3 people as executors and how money is there to be distributed.  I read this book in 2 days so it was very engaging and I enjoyed the book very much.   I am looking forward to read the other books she has written.

I bought this book mark at an art walk earlier this summer but forgot to blog it till now.

I can always use an extra book mark and this one was done in watercolor. 

I love the stack of books which is the main element.

It has been laminated so it will stay clean and last a long time.

I purchased some ceramic pieces recently.  The white dish on the left will be used for Macro Mondays. The star may but used in Christmas decorations and the blue dish was just really nice and is a good size for macro photography as well.

I spent the morning on Saturday with my aunt.  We met at the art gallery as we were dropping off our pieces for the Open Art Show.

We took in the farmer's market, the pottery guild shop, had lunch, discussed art and classes, then headed back to Michaels to investigate supplies which came up during lunch.

Lunch was at the Stony Plain and Parkland Pioneer Museum Tea House.

I had the hamburger soup, we shared an egg salad sandwich and I had lemon meringue pie for dessert.  I chose the blue and yellow teapot and the beautiful yellow tea cup.

I had several cups of Earl Grey tea.

We like to do this at least once a year and we had a wonderful morning.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays was school supplies which I thought was a great idea. 

The variety of options is great.  Not too many of the photo represented what kids may take to school these days with all the technology.

On the right are pens and pencils where I focused on the ball point and lead.  Have keyboards replaced these in modern schools? 

The limit in size is 3 inches but these objects did not present a challenge there.  Some included the clip of a back pack which was a good idea. 

You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics100) to see my submission to the challenge.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #189 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #353.

My Recent Photos

Last week I took a trip to Drumheller for a photography job.  I spent the day before doing some sight seeing and visiting some of my favorite places there.

A visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum was a must. It is a world renown museum for dinosaurs.  It is situated in a provincial park which has yield fossils.

This is an ammonite on display in the museum.  Gorgeous color and a wonderful shape.

This is a beautiful stone I purchased in the gift shop.  I think it might be quartz but I will have do more research. 


 
The dinosaur below is a Dimetrodon. It is an extinct genus of synapsids that lived during the Cisuralian, around 295–272 million years ago. It is a member of the family Sphenacodontidae.

Flowers are always objects for my camera.  The top one is Ninebark - Summer Wine.  The middle one is Echinacea Tiki Torch, a hybrid orange coneflower with large showy pumpkin-orange colored flowers.  The bottom is a beautiful sample of clover.





This is a pottery button about 2.5 inches across.  I bought it at the Pottery Guild's gift shop.  My aunt and I visited the shop before my reception on June 30th. It's nice to support other artists.


Blackberry tea with a few dried cranberries and a beautiful rose.  I took advantage of a Goodwill special recently of 3 vases for $1.00.  This square cube vase has a hole in one corner and a slant on the opposite corner.  I chose my Tea Lover's Teacup by Steeped Tea which is the same light clear glass to repeat the blown glass theme.  I served the cranberries in a small crystal glass.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #91 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.