Sylvia's Simple Shots

A walk to the community garden is always inspiring.  Plants are blooming, producing edibles and folks are harvesting at this time of year.

I just capture the wonderfulness with my camera.

Found this beautiful red poppy this week.

Speaking of harvesting.

I spent some time with my niece on the weekend and she helped me pick chokecherries.  In the end, I had 4 cups of berries to make pancake syrup.  This is the Chokecherry Syrup recipe I used.

With another camping trip under my belt I have honed my supplies and equipment.

I bought a larger tote to hold the kitchen stuff.  I added a stainless steel kettle, a 4L water jug, a second cooler and a mat. 

I am happy with my progress and hopefully I will get a trip in after school starts and things quiet in the travel business.

Maybe campsites will close after the September long weekend. I will have to check that out.

I received and paid for my first set of prescription glasses this week!  I have been making do with readers for years.  Not having sunglasses for driving was getting to me so I finally bit the bullet.

They are black frames with checkerboard pattern on the sides. I got progressive lenses which I was quite unsure about but it is working out well.

The lenses darken in the light and even in the car behind the windshield.  They have a scratch resistance coating and anti glare coating for night driving.

A lovely microfiber cloth to clean them with a special spray, along with a sturdy case to store but most of the time they will be on my face.

I had to make a few adjustments at home as well so the computer monitor had to be lowered so that it aligned with the bar on the progressive lens for that distance.  

It took a bit of fiddling and something that was adjustable so it is a stack of old Somerset Studio magazines which came to the rescue. 

It was nice to spend time with family.  We celebrated my grandniece's birthday which is in April but was postponed due to COVID restrictions.  With all of us vaccinated, we were free to enjoy time together.

I visited the wetlands near my niece's house during my visit on the weekend. What a lovely area with wide open spaces but still within the city limits!

A female Redwing Blackbird, the bulrushes are tall, and the ducks are swimming around after raising their young.  

I expect the red berries are not edible but very pretty.  Update - Red Baneberry - poisonous.

The theme for Flickr Macro Monday this week was "foil".  With foil used as packaging for all kinds of things there was a good variety of pics.  You can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see my entry. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #142 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #300. 

Have a great week and be safe!

Photo Blogging Challenge - Feb - Glasses

1. Here's a collection of clear glasses in my collection.

A tall champagne glass, then my every day water glass for the start of my 16oz of water each day, a crystal wine glass, a small crystal shot glass and a vintage cut glass drinking vessel.

I lit them from the front so I achieved a nice shadow.








2. An original Bodum Presso 10 Ounce Double Wall Glass with Silicone Grip. Of course the fact that the silicone was yellow was appealing to me.  

I filled with Chamomile tea which I like to have at the end of the day to wind down before bed.

3. NAVAN glass
This is a glass which was one of 2 in a gift set included in the purchase of NAVAN Liquor.

Navan is made from the blending of cognac and
vanilla beans from Madagascar.

It has not been produced since 2010.

I received a set of 2 when my Mom and Dad downsized a few years ago.  The bottle of liquor is gone.  He likely received as a gift somewhere along his career.

I love how the yellow is in the base and travels up the glass to the rim.  I placed some marbles to give a focal point.

4. Sunglasses with really reflective lens.

The brand is Dazed and Confused which I found to be an interesting name.

It is important to wear sunglasses all year long even in winter as the snow can be very bright and your eyes still protection.

5. These are my 3D glasses that I received for "free" when I went to see "Avatar" with a group of friends in December 2009.

It is such a great movie and the 3D effect was wonderful to see in a big theater.

Joining the February Photo Blogging Challenge hosted by P.J. at A L'il Hoo Haa.

June A Photo A Day Challenge - Week 1

I have decided to join this challenge hosted by Kati at Kati's Little Corner.  We could post every day or once a week.  With the class prep I had to do this week I decided to post at the end of the first week.

Day One - Leaf 

I chose the photo of a leaf with a water drop on it.  It had rained earlier and all the plants were wet.

Day Two - Favorite Color

Yellow is one of my favorite colors.  I have mugs, clothes, bags and my water kettle in this color.  My kitchen colors are yellow and navy.  Many years ago when I spent over a year unemployed I bought this kettle with my first pay cheque at my new job.

Day Three - Weather

I took this photo after I decided to join the challenge. It's rained quite a bit lately and this day I could see the clouds darkening so I chose to head to the river valley and what shot I could get.  I liked the bright green at the bottom against the dark of the clouds at the top.  It seems we have construction cranes everywhere this summer.

Day Four - On the Wall

I was looking for a mural painted on an outside wall but was not able to get one I was happy with so I chose a wall decal instead. 

One of the girls at work has this wall decal in her office.  It's a good philosophy and good words to live by. 

Day Five - Sunglasses

I took this photo of my Foster Grant sunglasses.  I wanted to take the photo from a different angle and I was able to get the name in the foreground.  Works for me.

Day Six - Dot

This is decorated paper I made myself this morning.  I made this polka dot paper with a technique I found on line a while back. I made some bright with purple and orange and pastel paper with blues and pinks for baby cards. Today, I chose red, green and gold because I will be making Christmas cards with this paper. The color is Tim Holtz Distress Stain - Pine Needles, Fired Brick and Tarnished Brass. Check back later to see the cards.

Follow this link for How To make this paper.

Day Seven - Water

I chose this reflection of a large building in the lake. I took a walk around this man made lake where I live and the water was not smooth for a perfect reflection but I thought it looked pretty good.  I love the blue sky.  One of the days recently when the weather was good, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and it was good the be outside.

Check back for my post next week.  Later.