Sylvia's Simple Shots

I finally found White Pelicans at Beaumaris Lake this week.  I had not seen them last time I was there and was hoping they would return.  No Cormorants so far.

The walk around the lake was beautiful.  Not too hot, sometimes a bit too much wind, and lots of other birds.  

I was there later than usual so the amount of people was higher which makes things a little tricky.  The rehabilitation certainly has added extra wide places and look outs so that helps a lot.  It is so beautiful

The walk is 1.6 miles which is really nice.  With the camera I really forget how long it takes to get around.  It is at least an hour I think.

I finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman this week.  

I really enjoyed this book.  It has some basis on historical events. Masada is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. 

Herod the Great built two palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE.

According to Josephus, the siege of Masada by Roman troops from 73 to 74 CE, at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War, ended in the mass suicide of the 960 Sicarii rebels who were hiding there. However, the archaeological evidence relevant to a mass suicide event is ambiguous at best and rejected entirely by some scholars.

This book takes place during this event where displaced people made their way to the mountain top for safety. Four women are the main characters of the story - Yael, Revka, Aziza, and Shirah. The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.

Again, I have to say I am attracted to strong female main characters.  I have included above the book cover from the novel on the left and the one from the book I read which is from the CBS mini series.  I recognized the actress in the blue shawl - Cote de Pablo.  I will have to check out whether it was ever put out of DVD.  It would be interesting to see it.  I would recommend this book.

My allergies have been really bad this year.  I think the dry spring did not bring rains to clear out the dust and pollens.

I generally only have my eyes affected and my optometrist has recommended switching to eye drops instead of using a systemic antihistamine.  While visiting with family for Dad's funeral in May we went for a couple long walks in farm fields which really made my allergies really flare up.  My sister shared the drops she uses and so when I got back to the city and invested in a bottle.  They worked pretty well here in the city.

We have had rain which improved things for me quite a bit.   I can finally say this week by Thursday I no longer needed meds to manage them. That should be it till next May.

The are not predicting the temperatures we had last summer but the fan has been running in the nights for about 10 days already.

I have started setting up the fan this way.  It is perpendicular to the floor so I don't have it hitting me directly but it moves the air around the room.  This is quite effective.

It is quieter for sleeping as well.

I tried this new pizza from Dr. Oetker this week.  I had seen the ads on TV and it was on sale so I decided to try it.

Dr. Oetker is my go to brand for pizza.  I normally buy the Ristorante ones - normally the Funghi but have tried several flavors.

This new was good!  As you can see from my photo it looks as good as the box suggests.  This one was full of veggies which was great. 

Every once in a while we have to stretch ourselves outside our comfort zones and try new things.  It may just be a good thing and expand our world a little.  I need it after being so isolated.

I really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

I had my first visit to the St. Albert Botanic Park this week. 

There were a few flowers blooms but it is just the very beginning. I got a Bearded Iris, a Globeflower, the white Anemones, a Rose and Bergenia.

The dahlias were not ready at all, there were just a couple of roses so plenty more to come. 

I will make several more trips this summer.

Summer Jacket Make Over

I needed a new summer jacket.  The one I had was way too big - I don't know why I bought it.  I prefer to have a two zipper, at least one zippered pocket and a hood.

This time I managed to find a navy jacket that had some of what I wanted.  It is a Cleo Petites so it fit well and the sleeves are the right length. It had some buttons for the hood but it was missing.  No zippered pockets and no 2 way zipper.  But it fit well and I decided I could remedy some of the other short comings.  I believe I paid $15.00 for this jacket at the thrift store which was quite high I thought.

I purchased a piece of cotton navy and white fabric and I had a piece of white microfiber from a previous project that would work well for the inside of the hood.

It got a good wash along with the other fabric I was going to use.

I watched a few You Tube videos on making attachable hoods for jackets then set out on the process.   I had a rain jacket that had a hood so I traced that one onto a piece of paper.  I reduced the height of the hood and increased the collar measurement to fit the new jacket.

I added seam allowances and marked the slot for the hood string.

I cut the outside of the hood from the navy striped fabric.  I adjusted the lining pattern as suggested in the video so that the outside fabric would wrap to the inside of the hood.

I found some navy grosgrain ribbon that matched well.  I found 3 buttons that would work with the jacket and removed the 2 and replaced them with the ones I selected.

I used the button hole maker on  my machine to make the 3 button holes at the bottom of the hood.

I am really happy with the white microfiber fabric on the inside.  Slides nicely on my head.

I also selected a decorative stitch to sew the ribbon on which adds a bit of a decorative touch.

I used the grosgrain ribbon as an accent on the hood for the seam to create the channel for the hood string.

The hood sits very nicely on the jacket.   

I wanted to add some of the striped fabric to the rest of the jacket to help the integration of the hood to the jacket.

I created some narrow lengths that I top stitched to the front pocket flaps.

I added a patch pocket on the sleeve which gave me the zippered pocket I wanted.   I created it with the same technique I used the bag I made a while back.

Again, the grosgrain ribbon was used to finish the edges of the patch pocket. 

The hood string is a long shoe lace that I found in my junk drawer.   It was long enough and white works for me.  

I would like a bead on the ends to keep if from going into the channel.  I will be on the lookout for those.

I am really happy with how the jacket makeover went.

Four Season Art Show - My Submissions

The theme for our end of the year member show this year is "Four Seasons".

I chose to do a smaller version of the large sunrise I painted for the stained glass piece. You can check out the Sunrise Stained Glass project. 

Title: Summer Sunrise

Size: 14 x 14 inches

Watercolor

Mats: White Double Archival

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 8x8 inches

I used my Loew&Cornell watercolor palette to paint this piece.  The black lines are done with a Micron Archival marker. 

Back to my regular art of photography.  This was taken a couple of years ago.  Love the crystal looking frost on this pine branch.

Title: Winter Frost

Size: 16 x 12 inches

Signed Photography Print

Mats: White Single Archival

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 8x10 inches

I chose to do a mixed media piece as well.

Title: Four Seasons

Size: 13 x 11 inches

Mixed Media

Mats: Wood

Frame: Black Wood medium profile

Print: 5 (4x6) openings

This is a wooden frame with 5 openings for 4x6 photos.  I chose the first pussy willows for spring, bees buzzing for summer, a beautiful orange horse chestnut leaf for fall, and a small evergreen tree in a snow covered landscape for winter.

I watercolored a background onto which I printed words I created which describe the transition from winter to fall. 

June Photo a Day Challenge - Week 3

Here are this week's photos for this challenge hosted by Kati at Kati's Little Corner.  We could post every day or once a week.

Day 16 - Backyard

Here's a picture of my backyard.  It has a large tree which faces the back alley.  It was not very warm this week.  It's pouring rain.

Day 17 - Stripe

This is a napkin from the summer potluck I attended this week.  It's bright and perky and the word is worth repeating.  We certainly did! We had a good time and the food is always good!  I usually have a grilled hot dog at least during the summer.  

Day 18 - Something Old

This book was printed in 1808 which is over 200 years ago.  Of course, the bible is much older than that.   I chose to open the book to the 23rd Psalm. It's identified with the Roman Numerals XXIII.

Day 19 - Refreshing

This is a glass of Sparking Berry Punch.  This is a punch that has been used in our family for years.  I put it in a tall clear glass with a hexagonal base.  I added 3 ice cubes and a white plastic straw.  The white doily finishes it off nicely.  On a hot day it really hits the spot.

Day 20 - Book

This is a book I read recently.  I enjoyed the autobiography.  It was interesting to read about challenges one faces and how they handle it.  It was a good read.  She sang most of her early years and was destined to entertain. She has a great personality.

Day 21 - Summer

Aren't lilacs really symbolic of summer?  I love the way they smell. I like the shape of the cluster.  They have varigation in the colors because some blossoms are open and lighter in color and others are yet to, so they are darker.  Love the beautiful blue sky with a few white clouds which is a great look for summer.

 

Challenge - C4Cards - Summer

I created this card for the Crazy 4 Cards Challenge this week whose theme is summer.  Ferris wheels always appear in summer traveling with the fair or permanently installed at the amusement park.  I think the yellow and turquoise are also summer colors, yellow suns and turquoise water.  I printed the SU Feeling Sentimental Ferris Wheel on the Summer Sun yellow ink pad background.  Check out how to make these backgrounds here.  I added black thread wrapped three times around the layer at the base then tied a yellow button is the right shade into the thread.  I added the turquoise quarter circles to the left top and right bottom and trimmed to the edge of the white layer. I then added this layer to the turquoise layer.  The turquoise layer was added to the black card.  I added the final quarter circle in the top right hand corner which was trimmed to the edge of the card.