Sylvia's Simple Shots

This is a Larch Tree bud. It looks like a beautiful bouquet of pink and green.  We have several trees in the park.  The morning sun made it look glorious.

A Larch tree is a coniferous tree which unlike it's cousins loses it's leaves in the fall.

We really need rain to clean things and get nature really greening up.   It feels things are a couple weeks late which is just as well since we have to stay home anyway.

We are scheduled to have some restrictions lifted in a couple of weeks but I have I'm not going to be one just getting out there and crazy shopping.  I will give it a couple of weeks and see how it goes. I do have a few things to get for some renovations I need so we shall see.

I want to thank Margy who left me a comment on last weeks post where I packed away the puzzle.

She suggested that she does puzzles on line where there is nothing to put away. You can decide the number of pieces, the subject matter and the type of pieces which adds some difficulty to the process.

This is exactly what I needed.  I can spent an hour on the internet, see nice art, work my brain a bit with an interactive activity and it just gets put away with no mess.

I have been using The Jigsaw Puzzles website.  I liked the variety of subject matter available - I have done flowers and art.

It dumps all the pieces on your workspace but you can ask to only see the edge pieces.  That is normally what I would with a physical puzzle. Once the edge is done then the rest of the pieces are shown.  I organize the pieces by color and start assembling shapes.  You can look at the image any time just like looking a the top of the box.  I have been doing 250 piece ones with the classic cut pieces.  Love it.

I decided to choose a few places along my walking route to plant a few flower seeds.   I think I have selected places that are pretty well lit.  Some of the seeds are very old so I don`t even know if they will grow.  They were predicting rain for today so I did that yesterday morning on my walk. Of course, if they grow I will have to take my chances that I can actually pick a few as other may think they are nice too.  I`m putting it out there to see what happens.

The rain came.  It was predicted that we would have big winds but it did not happen.  It started after supper yesterday, rained all night and it is still raining.  A nice steady rain which will soak things nicely without having flooding and washing away of dirt.

I expect that nature will respond wonderfully to this much needed moisture.  By the end of the week things will be green and wonderful.
I will keep an eye on my flowers.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Monday was kitchen but no food was allowed.   This is one of the shots I prepared for the challenge. 

You can check my SMDPics photo stream to which shot I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #78 

and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #239  

I had a funky down week into my 8th week with Sheltering in Place.  I am feeling better. Have a great week!

Mosaic Monday - Tea Infusers

I thought I would look at tea infusers.  I have acquired a few.  Some work better than others.  There are the ball infusers which have a receptacle for the tea and a connection to a charm which allows you to retrieve the infuser when you are ready to drink your tea.  When using a tea ball infuser make sure you do not fill it more than half full because the loose tea leaves will expand to fill the ball.

This infuser has a secure clasp and is mesh on both top and bottom which allows the water good access to the tea leaves.

This is my most special tea ball infuser because it was given to me by a dear friend who attends my card making group each month.

I believe the infuser is from Steeped Tea and she had engraved with "Card Lady".  In the fall it will be 12 I have been teaching a card making class at my church.  I started with a Christmas card class in 2005.  I have been teaching card making, paper making and general craft class for many more years than that.

This ball infuser is stainless steel.  It only has mesh on the bottom which I believe will make it less effective in allow the steeping to take place.  The plate allows the ball to sit in the hot water while it rests on the cup edge.  When turned over it provides a rest for the tea ball. I thought quite clever.
I have to confess at not ever using this one because getting the 2 halves apart is very difficult and I don't want to damage the mesh half.  It was a gift from another dear friend so i have not given it away.


This is a ball infuser as well.  It is not mesh so only provides holes for the water to access the tea leaves.  I expect this one is effective but would take longer.  It screws apart nicely and is secure to keep the tea leaves where they belong. It comes with its own little bowl to hold it once removed from the tea cup.

Will certainly keep your tablecloth clean.

This is a tea ball infuser as well but it comes in the shape of a very cute house.  It has its own small plate to rest the infuser once you remove it from your tea cup.  I believe stainless steel as well.  I love the holes punched into it which spells TEA and a door.  It will take longer to steep a cup of tea in this one because the less access to the tea leaves.


This is a cup tea infuser.  It is very large as it measures half the size of the cup.  It is mesh so it provides a lot of space for the tea leaves to expand and the water access to the leaves to steep.  The mug comes with a lid which will help keep the heat in during the steeping process.  Once taken off it provides a place to rest the infuser.  Very good design.

This is a silicone tea leaf infuser which fits in most cups.  It come with its own lid which serves as a rest when you are ready to drink your cup.  It is large and allows a lot of room for the tea leaves to expand and therefore provides a good steep.  The holes are a bit big for some of the loose tea and I found bits of leaves in my tea depending on which tea I was using.  It folds flat which is nice when storing or using when traveling.

The is an infuser designed for this tea pot.  It has good size to be able to steep enough tea for a pot.  Plenty of room for the leaves to expand and mesh to allow the water maximum access to the tea leaves and therefore a good steep.  The down side of this one is that there is no notch to keep the lid in the tea pot so one has to be careful when pouring tea to place a finger on the lid so it does not end up in someone's tea cup.  I loved the color so I was willing to accept this drawback.

I am sharing this with Maggie at Normandy Life who is host of Mosaic Monday #35.