Sylvia's Simple Shots

It's cold and windy.  The wind blew overnight and created a few winter landscapes aka snow banks.

We are at -27C feels like -36C wit the windchill. 

I confess, I took this photo from inside.

I did go out last week to mail stuff that needed to be postmarked in 2021.  I had 2 pairs of fleece sweat pants; a long sleeved shirt, my blue fleece jacket and my winter jacket; a tuque and my parka hood; 2 pair of gloves, and my winter boots.  I had 5 blocks to walk to the post office, I stood in line for a few minutes then 5 blocks back.

On the weekend it warmed up to -12C so I did my big grocery shopping and put the gas in the vehicle.  On Sunday I had a visit with my aunt as we were headed back in the deep freeze.  It was nice to have a couple of hours with my humans.

While visiting my aunt she mentioned that she was liquidating some of her ornaments as she has downsized to a 4 foot tree from a 7 footer. 

I was allowed to choose a few.  These are the ones I chose because of course I have a much smaller tree myself these days.  They are all glass and old. The pink round one is 2 inches in diameter and the bells are a bit smaller.  The bells actually have clangers and tinkles when rung.  I think these would be classed as Shiny Brights which were ornaments imported from Germany in the early 30's.  The left one is not silvered on the inside which I understand from my research was discontinued during WWII which sometimes helps to determine the age of an ornament.  You can check out more information on Shiny Brights on Wikipedia.

I finished this book last night.  A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber.   A story of a road trip with Bethanne, Annie her daugther and Ruth her ex-mother in law.  They travel from Seattle to Florida for Ruth's 50th Class reunion.  Bethanne has been divorced for 6 years when her husband walked out on her and their 2 kids.  She had to reinvent herself after being his partner in life and his biggest supporter in his realty business.  Having hosted many events in support of his business she turns to setting up a Parties business and has done very well.  She has several stores which she runs with the help of her daughter and a business manager.

On the trip the itinerary changes as each woman puts in her dibs for where to stop along the way.  Ruth wants to stop and look up a woman who was a neighbour and friend when she was first married. The girls pitch in at the restaurant during their visit.  The next stop is to visit a beautiful lake which some customers had mentioned at the restaurant.  The rental car breaks down and help arrives on motorcycles - the bikers from the restaurant. Bethanne takes a ride back to town with Max on his bike to get help.  He had caught her eye the day before when she was waiting tables. All three women have their love stories develop.   Ruth was meeting an old flame from high school at the reunion.  Bethanne's ex-husband now divorced again makes a play to reunite and Annie meets several young men along the trip.  

I found the struggle between these three women to get along as they wrestled with their own insecurities about life and men challenging.  I guess that is what it's like.   It was just okay for me.

I decided to purchase some essential oils sometime in December.  They were a bit pricey. My favorite essential oil bottle was getting low and I was not going to the biggest craft sale to purchase more.  My wax melts as well were needing refreshing and I was not going out into a crowd to find a Scentsy rep. 

I found a health food store with the scents I wanted.  Pine Needle for the Christmas Tree and Grapefruit and Bergamot to replace my near empty bottle.  I use it on my doll diffuser mentioned here.  I put a drop on each morning as I do my exercise.

I thought I would just use beeswax to make wax melts.  I melted some and added my grapefruit and bergamot oils and let it solidify.  

When I researched a bit more I discovered that I need to add coconut oil so it will melt in the warmer.   So I will have to wait till it warms up next week and purchase some.

This one will have to be remelted and adjusted.

I used a silicone mold to form it and it should be the right size to fill my warmer's bowl.

This project is on hold for the time being.  I did have some Scentsy pieces left so I still have time to make this project work.

I received this felt tree oil diffuser from my sister for Christmas.

It will get the pine needle scent next year.   I think I had a bit of a reaction to it this year so I will leave that for the time being.

Love the light color and stitching on this cutie.

It will go into the box with the decorations and come out next year.  Maybe next December the world will have righted itself.

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays this week was "cotton".   Mom and Dad are now settled in their new residences. Mom at the lodge and Dad at ExtendiCare. Fortunately, only across the parking lot from each other.  During the sorting out of this from Mom & Dad's move I brought home an apron my Mom embroidered about 60 years ago.

It features these beautiful cabbage roses, so I used that for my image on Macro Mondays.  You can check out my Flickr Photostream at SMDPics. 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday # 162 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #319. 

Have a great week.  It good to be back. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

With trips out of town to support Mom around Dad's hospitalization there has not been much time for photography.  We are making progress on having them housed in appropriate places.  They will be living close to each but in separate buildings.  Mom will have to cross the parking lot but she will be able to see him every day. 

I loved the sun on the clouds one morning this week. This was taken from the balcony and not on a walk outside.

I should be getting outside more considering that the weather is still pretty nice for the first week of December.

I finished this book last week.  The Widow's Walk by Robert Barclay.  

Not a traditional love story. A haunting and romantic novel of passion, destiny, loss and an eternal love that will bring two people together across time.

The central character is the house which is the Seaside which has been Constance Elizabeth Canfield's home for 150 years.  How can that be?  Magically, she has been living between worlds for a long time.  She lived there with her sea captain husband Adam.  The house has had many owners since her transition to this in between place.  She has never left the property and wanders the grounds, the house and the out buildings.  She can see them but they can not see her.

Garrett Richmond knows the house and has lived nearby all his life. He is compelled to buy it when again it was in foreclosure. It is on the waters edge and he has always wanted to live with an ocean view.

The wonderful thing is that he is an architect and will completely restore the house to it's original splendor.  During his few first days at the house as renovations begin, they meet.  Garrett can see, hear and touch her! This begins their relationship of another world.  

I will not spoil the ending.   It was a wonderful book and would highly recommend it.

I found this Cobalt blue and white art glass paperweight at the thrift store yesterday.  I just love blue and white so it had to come home with me for $3.00.

It is in perfect condition.  I have done some research and it would seem that these are all unique.

Several websites suggested they are vintage but with no markings or labels it is pretty hard to determine its origins and age.

I just love it.  I will have to find a place where I can see it every day.

I will show the top down view in another week.

Soon it will be time to hang the tree but first I have to hang the shelf. I hope to have my niece help me with that project and the drill I brought which was Dad's will come in handy.  It replaces the hand me down one he gave when I left home 40 some years ago. I had just been looking on line to replace it and God is good and this one appearing just in time.

I figured I was not going to splurge for the cordless version but that is what I got with an extra battery to boot!

I am so grateful. 

I brought this ornament home from my visit with Mom last week.  She is taking very little Christmas stuff with her to the lodge so there was a small box of ornaments up for grabs.

These are as old as I am.  They have hung on her tree every year for a very long time.  There were 5 of these in the box which is amazing considering how many times they have been hung.

It is a vintage glass tree ornament in the shape of the teapot.  I will hang this on my wall tree this year and for many years to come.   It has a plastic box to live in so that no harm comes to it during the off season.

I will have to sort out my ornaments this year and pare down to what will fit on the wall tree.

Recent Photos

It is the second week of Advent.

My Christmas cards are ready finally.  I guess it is like the cobbler whose children have no shoes.  I get my Christmas card orders done then I can get to my own.

Before craft sales came into my life I would have all my cards, my shopping done and parcels mailed off by December 1st.

Those were the days!

Take time this week, even just an hour to relax, have a cup of tea, put your feet up by the tree and enjoy Christmas.  My tree goes up today!

I was able to whip up a last minute gift this week because I had a Ready2Fill calendar left over from craft sales and 12 photos of various subjects in my photo organizer.

With a bit of double sided tape and some pressing this calendar will be headed off to its recipient.

My photo organizer is designed for cards but I use it to store my stock of photos.

It keeps them dry, dust free and out of the light.


I store the following.  Now they are all in one place and easy to find and labeled so I know if I have store of any particular size

• 3.5 x 4.75 for photo cards sorted by wide and tall
• 3.5 x 5.00 for half sheet calendars must be wide
• 4x6 photo calendars usually 4 different styles in any given year
• 4x6 photo for half sheet photo cards sorted by wide and tall
• 5x7 & 4x6 photos for framing sorted by wide and tall

Finished The Lilac Bus this week.  I generally love her books. This one was okay.  Story about how some residents from a small town in Ireland travel home from Dublin each weekend on the Lilac Bus.   Some are helping family with a local pub, some are keeping secret relationships and do not want questions asked,  and others miss their home town and friends so visit to catch up.

My Christmas Tree is up!!  It took a lot of plugging to the task to get it done.  It was not as easy as other years to keep motivated.  Not sure what is up with that.











I always put clear lights on the tree.  This year I chose to include mostly clear ornaments with a few precious ones from years past.  The one on the left is one I received from Mom when she downsized her collection which were on the tree when I was a kid.  Clear lights with a diffuser helps to spread the light. The one on the right is clear glass with wire wrapped around it. 

I set up Christmas tea this morning.   A Lancaster County Christmas adds to the background in the top left.  I realize I don't have a Christmas Teacup so I will on the search. I used my red mug with the white tea pot.  I brewed a spiced black tea in the Marsala tea.  Some yogurt and banana, 3 cheese tea biscuits and a couple sweets rounded out goodies today.

This Christmas candle centerpiece was a gift from my sister many years ago.  I added a safe battery operated pillar candle in the glass rose bowl and it was perfect. Set on a Battenburg lace doily and was the focal point on the table.

Sharing with

Friends Sharing Tea hosted by Bernideen
Tuesday Cuppa Tea hosted by Ruth

Christmas Thank You Card

I made finished up my Christmas thank you cards today.  This is one of them.

I chose a photo that I took over the holidays of a vintage green ornament with a bokeh sparkling background.  I printed and trimmed it.

I chose a bright green card which coordinated well with the colors in the ornament.

I created greeting layer with a red border and a green greeting below it.  This was printed on quarter sheet then trimmed to very close to the red border.  It was adhered to the card front.

I mounted the green ornament photo cut to 3.5x3.5 inches with 3D foam tape inside the red border.

Submitting to Less is More Challenge #309 - Dimension.

Christmas Tree Up!

I put up my Christmas tree which is the first time in 5 years. I'm pretty happy with it's look.  I am one who likes white/clear lights and clear/white/silver ornaments.  I have pearl white glass ball ornaments with a white crocheted angel on the top. 

I draped clear bead garland to unify the whole look.  Don't know if they still sell that type.

I placed my small nativity scene at the foot of the tree.  It's placed onto white snow fabric which has been placed over the green tree skirt my sister made for me.

I have chosen 3 ornaments to highlight.  The sand dollar my sister gave during the time she spent in Florida, a vintage glass ornament from my Mom and Dad's collection and a stained glass ornament which I made many years ago. 

I have been investigating alternative Christmas trees which would be easier to set up and store.