Sylvia's Simple Shots

A visit to the St. Albert Botanic Park yielded some great shot. The is Jacob's Ladder and it will likely make the calendar at the end of the year.

Gorgeous color and wonderful delicate flower.

There were a few roses open, the peonies were on the verge of opening.

With a few more days of sun the gardens will be looking really good!

Attic Treasures by four authors who have written romances into each story.

This book was 4 short stories about Lydia Dunmore, a grandmother getting ready to sell her large home to move to a seniors residence.

She has invited her 4 granddaughters to visit her attic and pick the one item which was their favorite.

Sheila is looking for her grandmother's doll but it has been sold.  With the help of a local antique store owner she searches for the doll.  

Kimber chooses an old fishing tackle box and through the help of a local fisherman discovers that some of the lures therein are quite valuable.

Lauren cherishes a christening gown her great grandmother wore.  She has chosen career over motherhood.  Her husband buys a farm and they leave the city. She did survive the transition and the gown came in handy.

Jessica takes an antique dress from Grandma's attic. Inside she finds old papers and photographs.  There was an adoption and the identity of her father is in question. Lydia shares what she knows. It is all very mysterious and there's a photojournalist chasing a story. It all turns out well in the end.

There was a large stash of fabric yardage which appeared at one of the thrift stores. 

The price was unbelievable.

Did I need another piece of fabric? No but I could not help myself.  Will I have a chance to sew this summer with the renovations planned.  Unlikely. Still I brought home 5 pieces for less than $10.  Averaging about .75 of a meter. Some less some more.

Beautiful blue purple watercolor, a denim blue vintage geometric, rainbow with gold dots, a yellow blender and a turquoise batik.

Just the right size for a book cover, a placemat, or a wine bag.   We shall see.

I had lunch with a dear friend.  Vietnamese noodle bowl is always delicious and this was no exception.

Meeting at 1:00pm after the lunch time rush we had great conversation and caught up on our lives and what we have been up to.

She is headed on a big vacation.

I was invited to celebrate a birthday this week.

The birthday girl hosted lunch at her house.

It was very delicious and I was able to catch up with extended family.

Dessert was an upside down cake with blueberries with whipped cream on top.  A good cup of tea and good company.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I found a few things at the Thrift Store this week.

There Christmas section upstairs was open so I had to have a look.  I found a PartyLite bird tealight holder. I own a silver one and a ruby one so this will make three. Perfect.

The little LED Christmas tree will come in handy and all it needed was a new battery.  The string of snowflakes works.  All of this for less than $2. 

I have been looking for a swivel peeler for about 6 weeks. When I visited one of my sisters she just used the peeler to create carrot curls instead of grating it.  I thought it was a genius idea.  

My old stiff peeler did not so such a great job.  The ceramic peeler was just what I wanted and for under $1.

My sister and I decided we needed to swap things that were going in both directions. We decided to each take a bit of a drive in meet in the middle.

We had lunch at Wendy's then hit the 2 Thrift Stores in town.  I found this tea strainer brand new in the box for less than $1.  I have been looking for one since I misplaced mine. It retails for over $10 so that was a bargain.

The shape could not be better, a little teapot shape.  I have not seen one of these before.That will pair great with Lemon loose tea I found recently and really enjoy.

I also found pillowcase for cotton for the bags I am going to sew.

My trusty 2" circle punch bit the dust while I was preparing tags recently.

When Michaels had a 40% coupon in mid October I bought a new one. I do have thinlits I could cut circles with but the punch is so handy.

It really comes in handy for a lot of things.

I have decided to buy my bread at Cobs. Yes, the price is high but it is very good quality bread.  I can pay the same price at my regular grocery store and not get the same quality.

I find with this bread, I can cut the size of slice I want.  I can eat 1 slice and not feel triggered to eat 3 more slices which I found happens with the grocery store bread.

The loaves are bigger than my regular store and it is very wholesome and very good.

It is more expensive but I eat less so it works out.

This is the Country Grain Loaf.

A small little book with a great story. The Music Box by T. Davis Bunn.

Angie Picard as moved from the city to the mountain country and her home town. She is a teacher and enjoys her vocation. She has had a lot of challenges in her 31 years. She returned as a young widow.

Melissa Nealey is a newcomer and is quiet and shy and in the eight grade. She and her father Carson have moved from the city. She loves music and has a music box left to her by her mother when she passed 3 years ago.

In a crisis, Angie steps in to help Carson and Melissa through a health crisis.  She cares and loves on them and much healing takes place. 

Melissa and Angie share their love of music and life brings healing to Angie as well. 

The traveling was good to attend the reception Saturday afternoon.  I met a couple of my aunts there and shared with the other artists in attendance.

The 12x12 pieces were hung by color.  There are many wonderful works in the show.  It was a good time to connect with others in the group.

I did visit Michaels again this week with another 40% coupon for basic card making supplies. 

Fruit, Harvest, and Thrifting

I spent a day and a half at my sister's processing the apples we had picked from Mom's trees on the weekend. 

Food processors are wonderful inventions and my sister had recently acquired a good machine for a song. 

We managed 13 four cups bags in just over an hour with prep and clean up.  We washed, quartered, cored, sliced and bagged. She will use hers for pie and crisp and I will use mine for fruit crisps.

We picked chokecherries on Tuesday night in quite cold temperatures.  I had gloves on except when picking.

The berries were plentiful and ripe so picking went very well.  We came home with 2 full ice cream pails and bit. After clearning, that yielded several bags of frozen berries.

I will eat them unthawed during the winter as a snack.  They can be made into jelly or syrup anything during the winter.  Mom will get a couple of bags as well as my sister. 

We also processed the high bush cranberries (pembina in french) which she picked on Friday.  Again, the picking went well and she froze them until I could come to help with the making of pancake syrup. 

We ended up with thicker syrup than the last couple of years and it may be due to starting with frozen rather than fresh berries.  We processed mostly 1.5 cups jars which makes the process quicker than dealing with tiny jars.  We did make a few small jars for giving away. 





We learn a few lessons every year. 

I am grateful that she has all the tools to make the process work well.  I provide the support help.

It will taste absolutely wonderful on pancakes during the winter months.  Like a bit of summer.





I got a tip from my aunt that there was a thrift store near my sister`s house that had some Blue Nordic dishes in the window.  I should check it out next time I am visiting.  I called ahead and indicated I was on my way and should be there in 1.5 hours.  The weather did not cooperate so I arrive 10 minutes before the store closed.  I quickly checked the pieces over and made my purchase.  I unpacked the boxes today.  I have brought my total teacups to 10 with saucers so that was a good score.  The coffee pot, cream and sugar set was another great addition.  Adding 6 bowls brings my total to 10 as well.   Very good.

I look forward to having tea with friends and family in wonderful dishes that I love.  I believe there will be sufficient space is the kitchen for all of it.

Sharing with 
Share Your Cup #265 hosted by Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth at Antiques and Tea Cups

Tea in the Garden hosted by Bernideen at Tea Time

Pink Saturday hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

Mosaic Monday - Recent Buys

I attended the large Christmas Craft Sale in our city in recent days.  I was doing some Christmas shopping to get a few items crossed off my list.  Unfortunately, I did not even photograph the gifts I bought as they were prepared for delivery to arrive before Christmas. I did buy myself a few things.  The shelf in the top picture will replace a coat rack I use in my bedroom.  It will free up floor space which is a good thing.  The silver spoon pendant is something I've been looking for for some time and it was there.  I will have to find a chain to go with it.  The turquoise leather pouch replaces the one I carry in my purse as an organizer.  The zipper was broken on the other one and I wanted to safe guard the contents so a new one was in order.  The turquoise color was a bonus.  The white china tea bag holder and the Crooners Christmas CD were thrift store finds. 

Submitting to Mosaic Monday hosted by Judith at Lavender Cottage.