Sylvia's Simple Posts

I was out to visit my sister this weekend.  A lot of memories associated - Mother's Day its been over a year since we lost her so I brought tulips for my sister since Mom is gone.

It was there wedding anniversary - they would have celebrated their 70th year anniversary. The got really close.

We laid them both to rest at the cemetery 1 year ago.

Found these Redhead ducks when I my sister and I headed for a walk around the lake.

We had a family get together this week with a cousin who lost her Dad (my uncle) recently.  My aunt hosted about 15 of us and provided the meat. The rest of us brought salads, bread, and dessert.

It was good to see everyone!

The washing machine is still out of commission due to the fact that the drain hose is still leaking.

The plumber did what he could be it would not stop.

It could not be returned to the painted laundry room so it sat in the hall way for another while.

It needs a look by an appliance repair person and that has been arranged but it will be another 2 weeks.

Under the Visible Life by Kim Echlin was the book I finished this week.

The 2 main characters are young women who have had a bit of a hard life and meet in New York and discover their mutual love of Jazz music.

We get to know Katherine Goodnow - a half Chinese and half Canadian who struggles through a 1950's childhood.  As a teenager she discovers jazz and it transforms her life.  She is talented as a player and composer. It opens many adventures and helps her survive the unreliability of her children's father.

Mahsa Weaver is half American and half Afghani and when she is twelve her parents die and she is sent to live with strict uncle in Karachi. She escapes to Montreal for her education but then finds herself forced into an arranged marriage.  

They meet in New York and are kindred spirits.  The become each others support, creative partners in music, and life long friends as they navigate life's challenges which continue to appear.  Great read.

I picked up this small enameled cast iron pot a Trash to Treasure last week.  It is a Descoware pot made in Belgium. It is an $85 dollar pot and a replacement wood handle would cost $36.

It was dirty and needed a good clean and it need a handle.  I tested to see if a regular broom handle would fit and indeed it would.  My wooden broom handle original to the broom had split many years ago and I had just duct taped it back together.  I headed to the dollar store to buy another handle for the broom so I could use the broken end of the old one for the pot.

I used the Dremel tool to smooth out the end once I had cut it square with the hand saw.  I applied 2 coats of Tung Oil and there it is ready to be used for many years to come.  I should get rid of the small stainless steel one so there is enough space to store it.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

At the end of the day full of errands I found this sky at the park.

I was out because it was the first day of reasonable temperatures -10C in 10 days of -30C or colder temps.  I have been hibernating for sure.

There was a band of heavy cloud above this brilliant band of gorgeous color right at the horizon and the sun shone through!

It's been a time of very few outside photos but we are going to have a week of decent temps so I will head out every day. 

The COVID numbers are ridiculously high so one has to be careful all the time.

The wall Christmas tree is put away and I was wondering what I was going to hang in this new space.

I have decided to hang my gold geometric wreath.  It works well and the size is just right.  I have hung a mercury glass ball in the center for now.  I was going to put a bow above it but did not have any ribbon that would work.  I'll take another look later.  Certainly not doing anything other than essential shopping right now.

The shelf was another challenge because it is very shallow.  Fortunately, I had not culled all my small photo frames.   I found these 3 black frames that work well.  I went through my photo collection and found 3 that worked in them. The center is a water drop on a single piece of grass, The left is a silhouette shot of weeds against sky and the right is dew drops on a spider web.  The 2 far end pieces are just what I had on hand.  I will work of something different for there.

I inherited this enameled cast iron pot from my Mom.  We called this the "bean pot" as she made home baked beans in this pot and it has made it to many a potluck meal.

During my visit to my aunt's before Christmas she showed me how to make vegetable lentil soup.  Very easy.

With my doctor recommending my reducing my sodium intake I will be making my own soup from now on.  This pot is just the ticket.  Thanks Mom.

The World that we Knew by Alice Hoffman is a story about a Jewish woman in Berlin, German during the second World War.  Hanni Kohn is a widow with a 12 year old daughter who has to do what she must to save her and ensure her survival. She decides to consult a renowned rabbi, but it’s his daughter, Ettie, who offers hope of salvation when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect Lea. Once Ava is brought to life, she and Lea and Ettie become eternally entwined, their paths fated to cross, their fortunes linked.

Ava and Lea travel to France and end up living at a convent where Jewish children under 12 are housed.  Ava becomes the kitchen worker. Ettie is working for the French resistance and saved many children by walking them to the Belgian border. A love story, a warrior story and full of brave women.

It was a very touching story and I would highly recommend this book!

The theme for Flickr Macro Mondays was "corner".  Of course, the options are endless but what will make an engaging image.

Above are 3 of the images I took for the challenge. Left an crystal block, a post in note block and a magnetic frame. You can check out my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics) to see the image I submitted.

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #163 and Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #320 

Have a great week!

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.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

The youngsters are growing up.   I found this juvenile Downy Woodpecker at a feeder yesterday morning.

Of course, it is the time of year when the little ones start being independent and making it on their own.

He is just starting to have the red patch on his head.

He was pretty small but the Downys are a small species.

I finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin this week. 

It has been a couple of weeks reading it because I can no longer read in bed because of the progressive lens in my glasses.  I have to sit.  

It is not a novel and covers some intensive subjects.  I will keep this book because I will need to read it again.  Because I will get a few concepts at a time.

Be Gretchen - the idea that you have to be you which means accepting yourself as you are. 

Live life with gratitude - A concept I have embrace and first read with Ann Voskamp and 1000 Gifts.

Clean out the clutter - You likely only wear the clothes you like anyway so get rid of the other stuff.  Yes, even if you paid lots for it, got a good deal, or it's the perfect color.  You don't wear it so pass it on.  

Happy or Right?  Work on your judgmental and critical nature.  Being happy is more important than being right. 

I purchased a silicone handle for my cast iron fry pan.  I used this tool nearly every day and having to use a pot holder all the time was a pain.  Now it stays on all the time so no worries about burning my hand.

As you can see though, it is too long and too wide. During my research I did not get the impression they are made in different sizes.  Most of them are also red where black might have been nice.

Makes my life better so that is a good thing.

I purchased an indoor timer to handle the grow light on the plants.  I just don't have to worry about turning it on and off.  

The plants get the light they need and I have less to handle.

As you can see the basil, orrgano and asparagus fern are doing really well.

The sunflowers are finally in full bloom.  I love sunflowers.  There are some in the community garden, flower beds, gardens and some have just grown volunteer in ground with the right conditions.

I found these at a Sunflower Garden.  There were hundreds of them.  We also have mazes in our province who use sunflowers instead of corn.  What a great idea.

I would love to have a few for my table but I will enjoy them as I see them around my travels.

Flowers are everywhere.  I have yet to get a nice pansy photo.  This one is the best.

Echinacea or the cone flower with it's orange center.  

Day lilies are very common in city properties.

The challenge this week at Flickr Macro Mondays is Paper Art.  You can check my Flickr Photo stream (SMDPics) to see my entry. 

I am sharing with Angie who host Mosaic Monday #143 and

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #301 .

Mosaic Monday - Restoring a Cast Iron Fry Pan

I have been looking for a cast iron fry pan for a while. I have been checking the thrift stores but the prices seemed high based on my budget. After checking out new ones, the second hand prices became more appealing and were likely going to be better quality. I should have done some research on line before buying but I lucked out.

Here's what it looked like when I brought it home with a price within my budget. The surface was very rough and black.  I liked the weight in my hand and the size at 8 inches was perfect.
I started scraping the inside and came to realize that there was a layer of crud which could be scraped off.  The bottom was even worse.
There was some writing on the bottom that I could barely make out.  Taiwan was one of them.

Upon checking several places on line the verdict seemed to be not favorable for these made in the east. I realized that these were from vintage resellers who were collecting on brands made in the west before 1960. There were a couple places that had restored them and the users were very happy with the pan.  
 


Encouraged, I then searched on-line for the process and the tools required. 

A plastic table cloth to protect my working surface, plastic gloves, steel wool, and paper towels.  I used a old butter knife as a scraping tool but I see it missed appearing in the photo.

Check out that crud!!

Caring for a cast iron fry pan requires immediate cleaning after every use.  I recognized that I would have to season this pan once I was done.

As you can see, this one has been allowed to rust sometime in its life.  It took me 3 hours of very hard work to get back down to the metal.

I suspect this one was used on an open fire which would explain the very heavy layer of crud on the bottom.  The inside was quite a bit easier to clean.

It received 2 baths in boiling water in hopes of softening this layer of crud.  I covered it completely in hot water and let it soak for 10 minutes then let it cool.  I worked on it some and saw results so after a scrap especially on the bottom I soaked it for a second time.  Between the knife and steel wool I was getting down to metal.

I was making progress!

The next step was a scrub with coarse salt and a bit of water applied with steel wool.  I applied this treatment twice to the inside and twice to the bottom.

As the metal surface was emerging the remaining layers of crud were being revealed. I took time between treatments to scrap the tougher bits.

It was starting to look like it might have when it was new.

I was not able to completely get rid of the rings in the center.  But it was looking pretty!

I headed for bed late in the night.

Seasoning would be on the agenda for the next day.

The seasoning process involves covering the pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil inside and out.  Then placing it in a 350F oven for 1 hour.

The pan underneath is to catch any drips.

After the hour, just turn the oven off and allow the fry pan to cool in the oven.

The result is a really smooth cast iron fry pan.  It feels really nice.

I look forward to using it.  I hope i will get a good sear on a steak, a nice color on Welsh cakes and who know what else.

It was a very interesting experience and very worthwhile.

My body is telling me that it was not happy to have worked so hard and repetitively on this project.  

Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday #30.


I`ve made pancakes, fried steak, and stir fried veggies in it so far! Excellent.

The original numbering system for old cast iron fry pans equated to the eyes (holes) in a wood stove. You would removed the cover to the hole and placed the fry pan directly in the hole which provided direct access to the fire in the stove.  Some had ridges on the bottom to help that process. The old fry pan typically have very smooth interiors and are much lighter in weight than those made in after the mid 60s.
I know more about these now so I will take that along during my thrifting.  There are a couple in my world who are on the hunt.  I will do what I can to help them out. 

Share Your Cup - This Week

The tea cup coaster project is a go!  I am very excited.
A quilter friend who is helping on the project injected some new fabric small pieces. Some were 5" squares left over from some of her projects and some is small pieces of yardage. 
I expect I will make a couple from each fabric and return the fabric back to her. I have a few more options to use now.   Now to select a solid for the back and lace.

Check out this tea related fabric.  This will make fabulous tea cup coasters!







This is the book on my bed side table these days.  It was slow at he beginning but it is now picking up.  A little girl living in near this large lake. There is a hermit lady in village which she befriends. There is death and long lost loves.


I went searching for an image of this book and it was published with at least 5 different covers.  I wonder why that is?  Makes it hard to recognize.




This was the DIY project for this week.  I have been wanting a cast iron fry pan for a while.  The price was right so I brought it home but it needs a lot of work before I will be cooking food in it. It will entail a full restoration.

I will keep you posted on my efforts and results.

Mini Crustless Quiches Muffins

You may remember a couple weeks ago that I shared having this type of nibbly at our monthly fellowship event. I thought they were delicious and decided I would give them a try. I did not get the recipe so I found the one linked above.  They were not as great as the others but it may have been seasoning or the lack of meat.  I made them for Shrove Tuesday.

I have asked for the recipe and will keep you posted.

Sharing with Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson - Sharing Your Cup #238.