Sylvia's Simple Shots

Beaumaris Lake has been a great go to place for photography this year.  Big trips have not taken place.  This lake has enough landscape to provide a variety of photographic fodder.

Here is the water reflection of the hand rail around one of the many view points along the walking trail. Love that absolutely blue Alberta sky.

Does it look like birds all facing one direction?

We don't get a lot of red leaves here in this province.  I found a few. 

An nice trio of gorgeous red maple leaves against that grey bark of the tree.

We have an about 5 block stretch of road along a main throughfare in our city where Manitoba Maples are planted.

At this time of year, cars are parked on the edge of the road end to end along the whole stretch.  Families are taking their photos, photographers are taking people shots with the red leaves, and it is just mayhem.

I found these at Beaumaris Lake.  I was so glad not having to stop at the busy spot.

A sweet shot of a single red berry with green leaves still on the branch.

Nice color dare I say Christmas colors.

We have had a beautiful fall with wonderful sunshine and warm temperatures.  Many shirt sleeve walks in October.

Angel Promises Fulfilled by Henry K. Ripplinger.  This is book five in the series.

Jenny Hamilton is enjoying her new home in Regina. The gardens are finally looking as she wants filled with wildflowers. The Thanksgiving Angel has arrived and been placed near the gazebo - a replica of the one she had at the estate in Ottawa. 

Jenny has resisted visiting Henry's gallery as she thinks he is still married and does not what to complicate his life.  In the meantime she would like to reconcile with her son after rift which precipitated the divorce.  Jimmy is rebuffing all her attempts at reconciliation.

At Eddy's wedding most of the major players are in one place, Father David is officiating, Peter is the best man, Henry is in the front row, ans Camilla is with her family.  Things are starting to fall in place.

While in the hospital deathly ill, Jenny asks her son Jimmy to sell her house as she will not be returning to it. He takes the easy way out and sells the house with all the contents as he does not want anything of his mother's. 

Henry and his son Josh look at the house with anticipation that Josh would be moving his family into the city but Henry is taken with the house.  It is perfect.  He buys the house lock, stock and barrel for himself to have a place to stay when he does not want to commute from the acreage. 

Father David Engelman has officially retire and moved to the senior's home.  He is still called to minister to folks so he takes on the residents as his new congregation.  He revives the chapel in the complex and starts to hold bible study and mass.  He is doing hospital outreach and has been visiting a very ill woman on her deathbed.

This book is full of miracles.  Finally, Henry and Jenny are wed!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found this scene interesting on my walk the other day.  The sleek glass window is part of an addition to the back of the old historic building.

The brick wall of the old building was reflected in the full glass wall next to it.  This was just fine.

The on second glance I would see the white chairs in the office on the second floor in the brick wall. 

It was an interesting view of new and old and unusual all at once.

This the third book in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton.  C is for Corpse. 

Kinsey is a wonderful character which I enjoy spending time with.  This is earlier in the series compared to books I have read which were written with her and her career having been fleshed out a bit more.

This was a small hardcover book so I think shorter in length that of the others I've read.  I have V sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

Bobby Callahan feels he is in danger. But since his accident and head injury there are pieces of his past that gone. Meeting Kinsey at the gym he decides to hire her to get to the bottom of the mystery of who is trying to kill him.  There is a small red book that may hold a clue but Bobby do not remember who he gave it to for safe keeping. His part time job required him to spend time at an old building on the outskirts of town. It was where archived medical records were kept and a back up for the morgue so it was a bit of a creepy place.  Very shortly after Bobby hires Kinsey he dies in a car accident.  Most folks assume that all interest in the suspicions would be dropped but Kinsey means to see her job done.  

There are twists and turns but eventually the truth comes out and the reason Bobby was killed becomes clear.

My sister and my niece both have great gardens so I came home with a couple of containers of beautiful veggies and fruit.

I'm so glad that my niece's new house has yielded a much better gardening experience for her.  Things are blooming, growing and producing so she is thrilled.

The little tomatoes were delicious.  The new potatoes were enjoyed with onions, mushrooms and sour cream.

Apples were picked by my sister's friend.  She makes canned fruit compote for her breakfasts.

Love garden cucumbers.

The birthday celebration was short but wonderful with seeing people I have not seen in a while. She did not have a great variety of numbers in her stash so her Dad converted her age into Binary.  

That picture will likely raise questions when her grandchildren wonder was grandmas ever 1000 years old.

The black and white Tuxedo cake was delicious and just the right size.

I went to use my sewing machine other day and it looked like it did not work because I turned the switch and no light came on.   It took a minute to figure out it was just the light bulb. I completed the small project without the light.

Off the Fabricland to find a replacement and thank goodness I brought the old one with me because I would have assumed that it was the screw type but it was not.

Now there was the option to buy an LED version of the twist in type for twice the price of the incandescent bulb but likely will last 10 years or so.  I bought the new technology.

I finished this book this morning.  I was feeling exhausted with the driving last week, the trip out of town on Sunday and discouraging news about my place on a couple of fronts.

I just wanted to escape for a bit.

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks was a good book.  I don't like how the relationships in his books seem to whirlwind romances.   But that aside, this was a very good story.

Travis Parker and Gabby Holland are neighbours.  She is new to the town and misses her friends.  Travis steps into the gap and the rest is predictable set of events until the accident.

The question is "How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?"  Travis make the right choice as difficult as it was for him and his children.

I would recommend the book as it raises questions which need to be pondered.

I am loving the sunflowers everywhere.  It seems to be a good year for them.

My nieces flowers in the front flower bed are 10 feet tall but with very small seed heads.  They may have been competing with the cherry tree for light

This one was taken at the community garden where they are significantly tall as well.

The honey bees were having a good time gathering food.

I expect this head will yield much food for birds later in the season.

Have a good week.

Photo Blogging Challenge - Liquids

I'm joining the challenge for October which is liquid.

This was a shot taken this month for one of my challenges on Flickr.

I placed some water and a bit of blue color into a pretty clear glass jug. 

I then added a mirror and chose netting to provide a soft background.

I love the oval stopper in this jug.  The movement of the color in the water was interesting. 

I went on a photo taking afternoon with my aunt.  We headed for the river that afternoon. 

The leaves were yellow and red, the animals were enjoying time near the water, and the weather was really wonderful.  We spent several hours with our cameras and walked a good portion of the river downtown.

This is a reflection of a reed in the water with the ripple produced by a muskrat very close nearby.  I missed him because I was focused on the reflection.

I love the cream creating a pattern in the Roobois Chai Tea held in a Chines tea vessel.

This was breakfast one morning this the month.   This is whole wheat cereal, yogurt, bananas and milk.

I am working on a caffeine free tea since my doctor has recommended this approach.

I will have more on a Masala Chai Rooibos tea later.

I use liquid honey was the sweetener in my tea each day. 

I buy it from an apiary which is located in the small town in which I grew up as a kid.  I find the price in grocery stores is very expensive and I rather spent my money support local businesses.

I have known these folks for years and trust their product.

I warmed it up a little to get it to run smoothly. 

It is yummy!

Water is a regular part of my daily routine.  I down a glass of warm water first thing in the morning before eating anything.

I try to have several 8 oz glasses of water a day. 

I decided to include an orange straw as a nod to Halloween today.

It is held in a crystal glass with straight cuts along the outside.  I love how the line of the straw is offset by the pattern in the glass

Sharing PJ's LilHooHaa Photo Blogging Challenge

Mosaic Monday - Wetlands

I made a visit to the wetlands recently since the weather was so nice.  It felt like spring.  I was surprised to see water where ice should be on the pond. 
Water does provide nice reflections which ice does not so I appreciated the water.   Here are some cattails with still a bit of snow and ice around the edges. 
The sun was not shining and the sky was overcast.  Their color is a deep golden yellow color so it adds to the brightest of the scene.











These winter versions of flowers along a fence were wonderfully pouffe and light.

Another plant along the fence so I will assume it is cultivated rather than native to the wetlands. 

I thought the little yellow clusters looked like flowers with their even rows of petals. 

Check out the red stems in the back ground.







The dried leaves on the bushes along the pond had such interesting and alien shapes.

These were grey on grey branches. 

Crumpled gently over time to create this dimensional shape from what was a flat leaf in the summer.  They must have been quite large originally as they were quite substantial as dried leaves.





The mosaic has these very furry leaves.  They look like animal fur.  Rosehips provide a punch of red color in the landscape.  Another berry maybe dogwood with the red branches.  The yellow flowers at the bottom were well preserved and totally delightful.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday #28

Friday's Hunt 1.8

I'm submitting this to Friday's Hunt hosted by Teresa at Eden Hills. 

The prompts are:
Starts with H
Favorite
Family

H is for honey.  I took a photo of my honey jar with golden yellow sticky stuff.  It's a large, heavy and clear glass jar with a lid with a space for the honey dipper.  Of course the honey dipper needs to be yellow.  This is my second one as I melted the first one when I was melting honey in the microwave.  I've learned my lesson. 

This is my favorite image of the week.  I had to go downtown this week so I took some time to shoot some city images.  I love the reflection of blue sky on the glass windows of this building.  I liked the angles and the square spaces.  The contrast of lights and darks works very well.

This is a shot I have shared before.  My sister and I were out on a photo shoot near a lake where she lives.  It was summer and the sun was shining bright.  I grabbed this shot of our shadows.  I added the Sisters quote.  She is part of my large family and I really enjoy spending time with her.

Mosaic Monday - The Canada Geese

I took some shots the other on my walk.  The signs of spring are here. 
The Canada Geese have arrived.  I took the shot without knowing if I had got them in the picture. When I took a look there they were in a great V formation! 
The birch trees were shining bright in the morning sun.  You can see their structure without the leaves.
There are green buds on some trees which is a welcome sign. 
There is very little ice on the river.  I love that I got the reflection of the buildings in the water.
The pine cones are looking a little rough having hung in there all winter! 

Photo Challenge - Movement

I'm posting this photo for the challenge at Donna's blog. Movement is the challenge.

I chose the movement of the water at an outdoor fountain during my walk tonight.  You can see the reflection of the aqua green rails being distorted by the waves in the water as it splashes down into the reservoir.  Towards the bottom of the photo is darker because there is a channel that goes all the way around the fountain that holds water but it's a deeper than the space above.  In the deeper water the trees are being reflected.