Sylvia's Simple Shots

The flowers in the flower beds and gardens around the neighborhood are looking good.

The zinnias from the park, the lilacs from the other park, alium in the front yard of a neighbor and the poppy from another.  I am so grateful to have flowers to photograph. I have not even been to the community garden yet.

There is no slowing down ahead.

The Beachcomber by Josephine Cox is the book I finished this week.

In the summer of 1952 two people arrive in the pretty seaside hamlet of West Bay, Dorset to start a new life.

Kathy Wilson has come to rebuild her life in the cottage she has inherited.  Having lost a husband,being in another bad relationship, and seeing the truth about her mother and sister she has moved to the seaside.  The cottage needs work but she is up for it.

Tom Arnold, an architect in a large firm in London has been adrift since the tragedy.  He decides he needs a new start away from the city and the memories. 

Over the summer Kathy leans on Jasper who had been left to care for the cottage when her father left, she gets to know Tom as he wanders the beach, and comes to know the truth about cottage and her father.

One of my best finds at the ReUse Center.

A Solo Classic from Cross fountain pen manufacturer.  It is 30 years old but like brand new.  It was often given as recognition gifts in the 1990s.  My research supports the idea that many of these were never used. It came with the converter to be filled from a bottle of ink so I will purchase some.

After some research, I decided to buy this Parker blue ink which I hope may be some what permanent versus the washable which certainly is not.

Looking forward to using this pen in art and writing.

I spent a few hours with my aunt in her cold garage as the rain came down most of the day which dampened the attendance to this event.  Too bad. 

Some of my sisters were at the quilting retreat.

I headed off the reception of the Senior Show in the afternoon.

Look at that bright and shiny chrome P-Trap under the bathroom sink.  This is a result of having the plumber in today to snake the drain because of very a slow draining sink.

He did find iron chips in the drain a couple of floors down and resolved the issue after get out the big guns of a snake. Everything was reassembled and he indicated all was good.  He headed off and I started to clean the cabinet. 

Already there was a puddle so I chased him down and asked that he return to see what was up.  Upon closer inspection the ring attaching the trap to the back drain just fell apart.  That means a new part so he was off to the nearby supply store.  Back in 15 min he installed this shiny new thing and then after some careful checking to ensure no leaks he made his exit for the second time that day.  

It has been good since.  There is a plan to refurbish this space.

We also had a plumbing inspection done today but thanks to the work I had done last March there were very few recommendations. Isolation valves on the taps under this sink were recommended.

Recent Photos

It was "spring forward" because of Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

I went to visit Mom and Dad as we are finally having decent temperatures and the traveling was good.  I had postponed the visit 3 times because the temps were in the -25C or worse for the last few weeks.

I captured some of the sparkle in the snow along the highway.  I was able to stop because it was near 0C which was very pleasant.

I loved the shadows I saw yesterday.  I have managed a few in this shot as well.















I finished this book.  It was story about Novalee, a pregnant 17 year old abandoned in a town in Oklahoma.

She meets a Sister Thelma Husband, a devout Christian and the welcoming committee for the town. Forney Hull, the man who runs the local library. Novalee seeks out Forney's help in caring for her buckeye tree, a gift from Benny Goodluck.   She be befriended by a photographer which was my favorite connection to Novalee.  The novel has a happy end because Novalee has finally found her native place where her heart is. There, Novalee regains her love and good luck, which she didn’t have all her life.

I attended my aunt's art reception on Friday. She was presenting her latest intuitive art series.

The weather in the morning was very snowy and travelling was not the best.  I pressed on as the roads were not slippery and the temperature was decent.

She really appreciated the support.  I brought healthy muffins and we had a sprinkle of folks drop by all afternoon. I managed the food while she visited with those who came to see the show.

I always enjoy spaghetti but don't want to used canned sauce from the grocery store.

I went on line and found Beef Stroganoff sauce.  It had lean ground beef, onions & garlic, mushrooms and canned tomatoes.

The sauce was made with white sauce, the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes, and of course sour cream.

I managed to freeze 5 containers to I can have this sauce a few more times.  Loved it!

I finally have all the plumbing jobs done in my place.

The kitchen sink drain has been cleaned to ensure no back flow of soapy water in the sink. That was Jan 24th.  It has been 6 weeks of making calls, waiting for response, more communication, water shutdowns, and plumbers from 2 different companies. 

This is the new sink, taps and aerator installed in the bathroom.  It is nice and shiny.  It was no dings in it and the best part is the underneath is no longer rusting and making a constant mess under the sink.

I have reorganized the storage under the sink as well so things are not just dumped in there.

With refurbished bathtub taps as well it is feeling like a new bathroom. No dripping taps, no mess, great storage all is good in there.

This is my Flickr Macro Monday submission for this week.  You can check out my Flickr photo stream here. 



 





I created the mosaic from great sunny shadow snow shots from Sunday.

Sharing at Mosaic Monday #18 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.


Also sharing with Through My Lens 182 hosted by Mersad Donko.