Sylvia Simple Shots

Mom's move to the lodge has gone well.  There are a few loose ends to finish and our parents will be settled for the next phase of their lives. 

The move took place and freezing temperatures.  We have been into this deep freeze for a week now.

I have been hibernating because it is just so cold.

Books have been very helpful.

They are predicting a warm up for the first two day of 2022 then back into cold temperatures.

I have to go out tomorrow then I have appointments next week so I will have to force myself out there.

Not liking it!

I spent a day with my aunt a couple of weeks before Christmas.   We make Tourtieres which are French Canadian meat pies.

We made 19 small pies.  We stuck to 5 inchers since neither of us are hosting any get togethers any time soon.    We also made some with just top crusts to cut down on carbs and calories.  It was a really nice day.

I had bought a silicone handle for my cast iron frypan.   It was too large and a bit thin to as effective as it needed to be.

My sister came to my house so we could head to Mom & Dad's early the next day.  She offered to help to improve the performance of the silicone handle.  That required some cutting and wrapping.  I chose to use 100% cotton thread to stitch up the wrapper.  A few strategically placed holes through the handle to secure the wrap.   

It was very helpful to have 2 sets of hands for this project.

Super happy with the result!  Thanks.

The Saskatchewan Saga by Ruth Glover was a great read.  I borrowed them from my sister so i was able to return them to her during our visit.

Set in the late 1800s, the stories introduce Scottish and English emigrants who bravely journey to the wild Canadian frontier.  British Women's Emigration Society offered women freedom and independence working as domestics in the wilds of Canada.

It is based on a fictional place called Bliss Saskatchewan near Prince Albert.  Cold winters in the boonies of Saskatchewan had me empathizing with the ladies based on the temperatures outside. 

All the women's stories eventually come together from different directions and we get to know them all.  It was a very good series.

I can always count on Nicholas Sparks for a good romance.  In the case of Safe Haven the story revolves around Katie who moves to Southport North Carolina.  She finds cottage down a gravel driveway, a job at a local restaurant and a friend in Jo her neighbour.

She is on the run, fleeing domestic violence at the hands of her cop husband, Kevin.  She has managed to evade him this time. 

She has to walk to her job and to buy groceries so she shops at the local country store.  It is owned by Alex, who took it over from his father in law.  He is widowed and raising a son on his own.

Katie meets Alex at the country store and her neighbor Jo vouches for him as a good guy.

Over several months, they get to know each other, trust each other, then fall in love.  

There are a few twists and turns but another wonderful story.

It turns out this is the last book in the 3 books series.

In the final episode in The Christmas Box collection, David and MaryAnne Parkin find a mysterious letter at the base of their child Andrea's grave that eventually returns joy to their marriage, which had been strained in the nineteen years since her death.

This story features family secrets, abandonment issues, friendship and doing the right thing.  Sometimes you have to go away to come back and so Mary Anne takes a trip to see her brother with no intentions of coming back.

She does return when a friend passes and the letter brings about healing.

I will keep an eye out for the other books in the series.

I chose to show both covers because it shows both women in the center of this story.

As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean.

North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.

It is set in a world mostly covered by water.  It is quite mystical and other worldly.   It is very interesting how their lives come together.   I really enjoyed the circus who travel in coracles - which were one person boats used thousands of years ago.  A nice change of pace.

I'm always up for a Christmas story.  A Mrs. Miracle Christmas by Debbie Macomber was a good one.

Jake Finlay is the manager of the toy department and he has made a large toy purchase on a hunch that it will be "the toy" this Christmas.  He father is skeptical.

Another quick moving romance involving Holly who is taken custody of her nephew as her brother is posted to Afghanistan.

Holly's chance meeting with Jake at a coffee shop leads to more encounters sometimes helped along with Emily Merckle who has been hired as seasonal help at the Finlay Department store, the toy department no less.  .

This romance evolves over the 2 weeks before Christmas where love blossoms, healed relationship between the Finlay father and son, Holly's boss sees the merits of the spirit of Christmas,  and Emily fades away with her work done.

A shot for Flickr Macro Mondays which was to choose 2 themes from 2021 and shoot on photo with both themes.

I chose Five and Game Board Pieces and composed this shot of Trivial Pursuit pie pieces with a nice bokeh background.

I bought the game secondhand and it turns out there are pieces missing.  I only have 4 full pies.  The 2 boxes of trivia are there.  

I think I will work this into a board game shot for a future project.

Stay warm, be safe.