Sylvia's Simple Shots

The tomato plant which my sister brought back at the end of June is producing fruit.  My Mom used to order seeds in February, start plants inside in April and put plants in the garden late May and got results in July to September.  That takes patience.

I did keep it watered and with good sun from the east for long enough each day I got tomatoes. There are still some to come.  Better results than the place downtown.

The marigolds are doing well too!

Very happy! 

I finished this book recently.  A Vintage Affair bye Isabel Wolff.

Phoebe has opened a vintage dress shop filled with wonderful dresses, coats, handbags, and much more.

She gets a call from Mrs. Therese Bell a french woman who is interested in selling some of her vintage clothes. They meet at the elderly lady's home and spend time going through the treasures. There is a blue coat though that is off limits and not for sale.

Emma is Phoebe's best friend who has recently passed away under very difficult circumstances. 

There are 4 men - A remarried father, Guy the ex, Miles the older man with a spoilt 16 year old daughter and Dan the color blind newspaper reporter.

The story has WWII backstory which I loved.  It all turns out well but not with a few curves.  Wonderful story!

With the help of my aunt's husband the shelf I prepared was installed this week.  

It helped to get stuff off the floor and put away instead of in the way.

It is all light stuff up there - coolers, plastic bags, the canner, and some paint boxes.

The brackets are from IKEA - Krokshult which I really love.  The shelf is smooth knotty pine from HomeDepot. I did have to put about a foot off the end.  I sanded it by hand and was really happy with the final result.

I attended the Allied Arts Council's Open Art Competetion reception on Friday night.

There are over 100 pieces of art in this and on the walls of the Spruce Grove Art Gallery. 

Wonderful evening - seeing fellow artists, good food, and good conversations.

The best part was having the awards in the Black Box Theatre where everyone could see the winning art, the artists receiving their prizes and all seated and comfortable.  What a great idea!  The theatre holds 175 and it was very nearly full. Great support for art and creators.

I did not have art in any shows this year due to renovation at the old place due to flood, listing and selling my place down town, buying a new place in the west, renovation the new place before I could move in, packing and moving, and then unpacking into a smaller place.

I brought the last of the moving boxes to the ReUse center this week!  Yeah.  It felt really good.

I found a cobalt blue plant pot at ReUse this week.  What an amazing find. No damage as far as chips or cracks.  

The inside and outside have evidence of the surface being affected by sitting in some kind of liquid.  That is near the bottom.

Not sure which plant will be placed in it but what a great addition to the living room.

I found a small cobalt blue votive holder which will be added to the couple I already own.  They will look great with candles inside.

I purchased a new to me shower curtain this week because the lace one has yet to show up from packing boxes despite there is very little left.  There are several missing pieces still.

I am sure they will show up but I was tired of seeing the bathroom looking unfinished so I bought one I could live with long term so the other one not appear.  I have been living with just the liner for months.

Beautiful green foliage at the bottom with embroidered butterflies stitching on going up the curtain. Very transparent so does not darken the showering space at all.

Five dollars well spent.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

 
On my way back from visting my sister I stopped at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum which carries exhibits of old cars, farm equipment, airplanes, and other wonderful stuff.  One of their current exhibits is Driving Thru the 70s, which was a great one.  Cars, movie trailers, trucks and all things in the 1970s.  There was an energy crisis where the cost of oil quadrupled in a few months. Loved seeing the colors, the cars, the little drive in with the speakers and they were showing movie trailers. The vehicles were terrific.  Did not enjoy the 1.5 hours moving 5kms an hour on the big highway because a truck lost his load.  That does not help the gas mileage - talk about energy crisis.

I had a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law.  

I brainstormed some ideas for the Christmas market.  Sticky Note holders, recipe cards or postcards, fire starters either pine cones or paper wreaths. We did some experiments on the fuels and picked pine cones in the rain.

She shared the bounty of her flower garden with me.  Flowers for my table - rudbekias, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds, and zinnias.

Enjoyed having a bouquet on my table.

She shared produce from the garden too! Tomatoes, the cucumbers I ate before I took a picture.  Carrots and cabbage and the sticker is from peaches from my niece but all there was left was the sticker when I remembered to take a picture.  Thank You!

The Orphan Thief by Glynis Peters.  Another wonderful story set in England in World War II. Ruby Shadwell was dealt a several blow during the Coventry Blitz in 1940. She must regroup with members of the family gone as well as the family home.

She starts cleaning the street and reuniting precious things with those to whom they belong.  Many neighbors are grateful.  She checks in on friends, neighbors and her grandmother. Fortunately, a building nearby remained standing and the man that lived there was the accountant for her father's business. She attends her grandmother's funeral and starts the search to find Fred who lived in this house. She finds him at a private lodging after checking hospitals, medical tents and the morgue. When he is better he comes back to his home where she as been living. 

Ruby starts a bit of an enterprise to sell items scrounged from the streets to get a bit of food. She has registered as a survivor with the help from a kind lady. Tommy has brought several items of jewelry for her to buy but he keeps his distance regarding where he lives and when his mother works as he is generally hungry and dirty when Ruby sees him.

She suffers set backs with her small enterprise as the bombing and looting continues.  She befriends Tommy and eventually finds the truth about his living horrible conditions. 

She meets a Canadian Military officer who is documenting the situation in Europe with his camera. They become friends and he checks in with her whenever he is in the area.  It turns into a love story and the story has a good ending.

I missed the full moon, and I checked while I was at my sisters but did not find it from my bedroom window.

I did get a good shot of it several days later.

It is called a blue moon because it is the second full moon in the month of August.

Always nice to have clear skies.

Traveling Light by Max Lucado. I finished this book this week that has been on my night stand for a while.  It took longer to finish as I fit it in between novels I have been reading.

We carry burdens like self-reliance, discontent, weariness, worry, hopelessness, guilt and arrogance.  All packed into our minds and hearts which weigh us down like heavy luggage.

The supporting text of this book is the 23rd Psalm - The Lord is my Shepherd. We need to turn to God as He promises to provide rest to the weary.

A good book to remind me to let go and let God in many situations in my life.  In reality, I control so little and must trust some one greater for support and relief.

Max is a very good author.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The Canada Geese are gathering in large numbers.  It is the time of year.  We have been experiencing wonderful weather for October.

The geese were communicating, honking and flying over head.  I expect they are in fields feeding on harvest leftovers and I was grateful to see so many on Saturday morning.

This is the largest pond at the Heritage Hills Wetlands.  I did a large walk because I walked along all 3 ponds that morning.

The weather was perfect and I had such a good time.  The sun rose of course as I was out there and it affected my photos.

Sunrise and sunset are getting closer together.

I finished this book earlier this week.  The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards was an interesting read.

There are two story lines for a set of twins - Paul stayed with his parents David and Norah.  David a doctor gave away his daughter because she had Down Syndrome.  This decision made this couple absolutely crazy.  I just quit reading that story line about half way through the book.

Phoebe was given to the David's nurse, Caroline to be delivered to an institution for disabled persons.  In the 1960s this was common.  She could not leave the baby girl in this very sad and desperate institution. The night the baby born Caroline meets her future husband and makes a move to ensure that Phoebe survives and thrives.  This story line was so much more positive and uplifting.

When I quit the first story line and when to the last chapter and read back a few chapters to get the end of the story.  Saved the book for me.

I received a bowl full of beautiful cherry tomatoes from my aunt.  I am so grateful to have these delicious fruit to eat for the next few days.  I have a bunch more green ones which will ripen over the next couple weeks.

I roasted some the other day that were the last of the ones I had bought from the grocery store.  They burst and were delicious.  I ate them with the pizza that was in the oven at the same time.

Harvest is such an amazing thing.

I finally got one of these vintage pencil sharpeners.  We had one of these when I was at home and going to school.  With 8 kids in school you can bet it got a lot of use.  It was rescued when Mom and Dad left the house in 2015. 

I found this one at the thrift store the other day and check out the price of $2.  Once it got a real good cleaning I discovered that the suction cup on the bottom still works as designed.

I tested it out before I took it home and it will be appreciated for the next long while.  I use colored pencils mostly because I use mechanical pencils for writing.

Very grateful that it showed up after looking for about 4 years.

Every Step she Takes - K. L. Armstrong was the book I finished in the last couple of days.

I did finish this one but it was another story which was pretty crazy.  The murder mystery was interesting and compelling.

It was not for me but I am sure it works for others out there.

A beautiful fall shot of the yellow leaves in this season of autumn.

The challenge for Flickr's Macro Mondays is "Open". This was a great challenge and allowed a wide variety of subjects.  The shot on the right is an open container of leads for mechanical pencils.  You can see my submission on my Photostream (SMDPics).

Have a great week!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I took a trip to the country yesterday to visit my aunt and her husband.

We took a trip along the back roads and we spotted this pretty barn.

I love the two tone color scheme on this building.  The dormers in the roof and the cupolas on the peak add some interest to the architecture of the structure.

Judging from the ground floor doors and the hay loft door above them the inside of the barn is pretty huge.

The dark skies add drama to this shot.  It did not rain during the afternoon and it spit a few drops while the steaks were on the BBQ for supper.  Great visit

Garden veggies are the best at this time of year.

I have been fortunate to get some from my sister and my aunt.  I am so grateful to those with abundant garden who are willing to share the bounty.

Eating them raw is the best way.

Really enjoying them.

As a kid we picked them from the garden, barely got the dirt off them and ate them on the spot.

Yummy!

Same goes for fresh garden tomatoes.

Red and delicious.  Great to add to pizza, a salad, an open grilled cheese sandwich and a ton of other things.

I got some green ones which are doing their ripening in a brown paper bag.

Most folks here have picked their tomatoes as nights have gotten near freezing a couple of times.

I am working towards a stained glass piece of art.  I have always wanted one hanging in a window throwing some color into my living space.  

I am planning to buy myself one as a retirement gift but I had to put some thought into the subject matter.

I have decided on a sunrise.  The message being the future looks bright at the beginning of a new chapter.

I studied a lot of stained glass pieces then I drew what I wanted at 4" square.  Then I translated it intoo 8x8 inches and traced it onto inexpensive watercolor paper.  I painted this with watercolor and just stuck it into a quick frame.

I need to make some changes to the composition.  I  am missing the second layer of light yellow pieces on the left hand side.  I was having real trouble drawing the lines the right way on the left.  The suggestion is to reverse the right side and trace the lines then make some adjustments.  The larger piece of orange on the right needs to be made into 2 pieces.  The hills pieces need to be small and less similar. 

I will draw another 4" piece then into 8" piece.  It was suggested that I color it with the paint I plan to use for the 14" sample.  The 14" piece will be faux stained glass made with Elmers school glue and liquid acrylic color.  That one will be hung in the window for a while to see if it gives me the feeling I want.  If so, then I may have a piece commissioned if it is not too expensive.

I have been wanting a pansy for my 2022 Flower calendar so I have been check out all the ones I find.

It is so late in the season to find blooms still in good shape.

I found the two on the left in my aunt's flower beds. The one on the right I found at the park today.

The challenge at Flickr Macro Mondays was “Geometry Shapes”.  That leaves a lot of room for all kinds of images.  The image on the left is taken through the view finder of my Kaleidoscope. You can check my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #148 

and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #305.

Be safe and have a great week!

Recent Snapshots

I visited the St. Albert Botanic Park recently.  They have many flowers, plants, trees in their park.

The weather was perfect and I wandered the space for 3 hours!  The sky was overcast so it provided excellent photo taking opportunity.




 








I was totally impressed with the Dahlia Bed.  Wow, what wonderful flowers they had there.  All colors, sizes, and varieties.

I do photo calendars every year.  I want to do a Bird one next year so I have been working on getting some nice bird photos.  I really want a good Chickadee photo but all summer they are so skittish that I have not gotten a good one. Even with stalking bird feeders.  I decided that I would provide a few sun seeds in a great photo location in hopes of attracting one for a photo op.  Beggars can`t be choosers I guess because this pigeon helped himself to all my seeds.  I guess I need to be more discerning tomorrow as to where I put my sunflower seeds.  You can find the calendars for this year thru this link 2018 Calendars.

I finally have yellow tomatoes on my two plants!!!!

It has taken so long!  I bought these on May 29th and on September 5 I have ripe tomatoes.  It turns out that the amount of sun on my balcony is not conducive to growing tomatoes hence the long process to produce and ripen.  The production is only about 18 tomatoes so that is much below what I was expecting.

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday #52
and Mersad at Through Your Lens #110

Recent Snapshots

I jumped into the growing stuff this year as someone was offering small yellow pear tomato plants for a good price.  My mom grows hers I thought I could too.
It involved a big pot, a lot of soil, sticks to brace the plants and water every day.  I bought these plants on May 29th.  It's been 2.5 months and I have yet to eat a tomato.  I'm not sure I will.  I probably have 20 little ones on the 2 plants but they seem to be at a stand still.
I understand from gardeners my problem is that I don't have enough sunlight on my balcony to grow almost anything.  I was hoping to have cutting flowers for vases next year for my table but not enough light.  Does anyone know of cutting flowers I can grow with east light please leave me a comment.

I picked chokecherries early last  week but it was too soon.  I had to pick around the red ones and only choose the ripe ones. Not great time. Good thing I only pick a little bit.

I will have to try again soon.

I spent 3 days with Mom and Dad last week.  I was there to take them to medical appointments but I picked raspberries too and did a bit of packing.

My Mom has a wonderful raspberry patch.  The raspberries are big and luscious.  It's easy to pick because Mom always has managed her patch in the off season to tie up the canes, get rid of the extra canes to keep the patch no too crowded.

Unfortunately, this year is the last year for picking raspberries in that patch as they are moving to town someone else will own the patch next year.  SAD!!

This is the best shot I got of the hummingbird at Mom's feeder.  They move so fast.

It was getting late and the light was fading which did not help.

They have a feeder in the yard as well where I have captured some good photos over the years.





 
I took this photo of a key for a challenge on one of my Flickr groups. The challenge was high key which I did not know much about.  I managed to learn a bit about it through the group then took this shot.  The objective is white background, well lit object and no shadow if possible. I am happy with this one.  You can find my photo stream here.

 This is the end result of a visit to hospital emergency at the end of July. I was out taking photos of my tomatoes around 9:00 pm.  Shortly thereafter I noticed a burning sensation and a swelling finger.  It is my ring finger on my right hand.  I soaked it in cold water and tried the butter solution to try and get the ring off.  No luck!  At 10:10 pm I made the decision that I needed to go to the hospital. 
After waiting hours, I finally saw a doctor in the wee hours of the morning.  They tried several tricks to get the ring off with no success so I made the decision to have the ring cut off.  This is my college grad ring which has been the best. I bought the hard metal option and it has not misshapen over the 25 years I have worn it.  The hospital staff used the standard cutting tools to try and remove it. After 45 minutes of trying to cut it with the standard tool and making some progress the nurse headed off to find a better option. I don't know what it was but it was very effective. We cut it right down the center at bottom of the base but we could not spread the ring at all.  So it took 2 more cuts leaving the ring in three pieces but my finger is alright.
I'm not sure what bit me but did it have to be the ring finger?

I have to say I don't know what the lesson is but I am a minimalist in jewelry and only wear a few good pieces all the time.  I'm not sure where I am going from here but I miss my ring.

Sharing at Through My Lens #107 hosted by Mersad.
Share Your Cup #260 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson

Recent Snapshots

Here's a few photos from my walk this morning.

The white bloom from the sow thistle. 

I found these gorgeous dahlias at the park.  They were very dark pink and the petals were perfect.

The bees were buzzing around the Spiraea in several shades of pink and purple.

The small white purple bloom is some type of clover.  It was very tall rather than the low to the ground I am used to.

These are grasses of some sort but I was not able to identify it.
I used one of my out of focus photos as the background for the mosaic.

This was breakfast this morning.
Featuring nice tomatoes, ham and egg. 

A small dish of fresh raspberries  from a friends patch.  It's great to eat whole food picked by me.

These are my tomato plants.  They are yellow pear plants which I have been warned will grow very tall.  As you can see it had quite a few flowers.  Soon there will be tomatoes. 

I will let it grow to the top of the posts then I will have to cut off the top ends so it can concentrate on fruit.


During my visits to thrift shops, I have been looking for one of these bottles for a while. The prices are usually more than I am willing to pay.  Finally, last week the price was right and the bottle gorgeous.  It is 3.5 inches square with a super round ball stopper.  I am not fussy about the discolored plastic on the stopper.  It may have to go.  I removed the labels which were for Essenza Sweet Pea fragrance diffuser oil.  It was sold with reeds. This is the third in my collection. 

The bottle in the center has a Avon mark on the bottom.  The silver lid is plastic so not quite the same level as the others.  I don't know what it held originally. I loved the swirl pattern on the body of the bottle.

The bottle on the right features alternating clear and frosted bands running vertically along the body.  It has a metal lid with embossed pattern on the top with Doulton embossed on the band.  This was an expensive Eau de Parfum bottle. 

These add some flair to vignettes that I create for photography.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday #48 hosted by Maggie at Normandy Life.

Through my Lens #102 hosted by Mersad.

Mosaic Monday - This Week

During my morning walk the other day, I had this Magpie bird following me along the trail.

It was sitting there and it looked like it was posing for a photo so I took one.

It was a lovely walk with a very nice temperature.  I always take my camera for just this type of opportunity.









We had a very stormy day last week where it rained all day.  The winds were very violent and cause a lot of damage to trees and other living things.

These three are the ones I saw on my walk the other morning.  It has been almost a week and only one of them had been addressed by someone.  I suspect it was not the city as the branches would have been removed.  It will take a long time to clean up from this record setting storm.





 I started my photo shoot for the 2018 Tea Calendar.  I just love setting still lifes with tea related items.  This year books feature in some of the photos.  I made an effort in the last year to collect book with nice covers so I could include them in photos.


Keep an eye out for it later in the summer.











At card club last night one of the ladies was selling tomato plants for a fundraiser to send kids on a trip to British Columbia.  These are yellow pear tomato plants and are ready for larger pots.  I will pick up soil today and give them a home on the balcony.  I should plant my herbs as well.

This is the ornamental plum tree at the seniors residence down the street.  It was in full bloom and absolutely stunning.

Every branch had clusters of lovely pink blossoms.  Tightly packed they were.

Such beauty fills my soul for another day.

I am linking with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday#42.