Sylvia's Simple Shots

I had planned to attend a local church service on Christmas Eve but it had snowed enough and it was cold so I decided to stay home.  I then headed to the internet to find a Christmas Eve service I could enjoy.

Conception Bay Newfoundland had a great service.  Enjoyed it immensely.  So grateful to the technology available these days.

The Huron Carol sung by Tom Jackson is one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

With my plans changing for Christmas Day because my family was sick and turkey dinner was delayed I spent Christmas Day differently than usual.  That was okay with me. A chill day - yes - it was chilly -23C and snow fell.

A pristine layer of snow covered the green space beyond the patio.

The sun shone which was much appreciated.

So far, it has been a gloomy winter and I look forward to more sunny days.  Gloomy drags me down.

I had the last of this beautiful tea that my aunt gave me this summer.

Just look at that color.  Lavender Chamomile.

A chocolate bran muffin.

Turkey is planned for supper.

I worked on Mom's candelabra this week.  I want to convert to LED lights.

I did manage to get some LED bulbs at Rona but they are clear and not yellow.

I did color one yellow with Alcohol Inks by Ranger.

The bulbs are not quite the same shape so they need a bit of trimming.  

Maybe I should hold out for yellow LED which are the same shape. I expect it will happen.

I saved a piece of turkey from my sister's house so I thawed that.  

I bought brussel sprouts and microwaved them some and finished them in the cast iron fry pan.

Veggies and rice were added to the plate.  

Of course, high bush cranberry sauce (pembina) from my sister was the icing on the plate.  

I did make some gravy from my left over Better than Bouillion from house warming soup.

It was delicious.

I made Raspberry Bavarian that Mom always made for dessert.

Served with a white chocolate cookie.

A bit of dark chocolate and a warm large cup of tea finished it off.

The Skystone by Jack Whyte was the book I read this week.

It is set in 367 - 448 AD in the province the Romans called Britain.  The central figures are Roman soldiers Caius Britannicus and Publius Varrus. The Saxons (Germanic people from northern Europe) invade Britian and breach Hadrian's Wall and chaos ensues.

The story is told as a remembrance of Publius when he is very old. 

These men had served the Roman Empire in Africa in early 360s.  Now they are together again fighting the enemy.  After the injuries both men go their own ways - Plubius to the house he inherited from his grandfather who died while he was in Africa. Caius to his Colony - a fortified compound in western Britain where a new society is growing.

When things get bad, Plubius abandons his home and heads to the compound and is warmly welcomed. He meets Caius's sister Luceiia who he eventually marries. 

Plubius' father had found a stone that fell from the sky and learned to melt it and forged a sword where the metal was mixed with iron and a dagger made from the Skystone metal.  It was silver, beautiful and very hard.  Plubius is on the hunt for more Skystones to make some magnificent weapons.  In the hills near the Colony he does find the stones and works to dig them from the ground. 

In my opinion, the name of the book is not indicative of the story told. The skystones do not feature prominently in the story.  

The story of these two men is fabulous.

On the right, I have included a very interesting map of the world in this time. 

Sylvia's Simple Shots

On November 1st I was out in fall coat, no boots, and dry roads to drive on.

November 2nd it snowed and turned cold. Temps in the -15C to -25C and the sky was overcast.

I can stand cold if the sun is shining.  

This was taken November 8th when the sun finally started shining.  

Today, is November 11 and finally it is -7C just after lunch.  I am heading out to enjoy it.

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor - It was great to reconnect with these characters. Dr. Barry Laverty and Dr. Fingal O'Reilly who run a general practice in Ballybucklebo in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. The doctors see patients in the morning and make house calls in the afternoon.

Miss Kinkie Kincaid is still the housekeeper and chief cook for these hard working men. 

Dr. Barry has been at the surgery for about 6 months and is learning about a small medical practice, about the culture of a small village, and knows most of the patients he sees.  He is dating Patricia Spence a civil engineering student.

Barry had his medical competency questioned and is awaiting post- mortem results, Patricis is studying for a big exam which may change her next career move, Fingal meets an old classmate from years ago - Kitty O'Hallorhan, and the local pub the Black Swan maybe cease to be if the local councilor has anything to do with it.  Needless to say that tragedy must be avoided at all costs.  Totally enjoyed this book though it is earlier than some I have read so I know the outcomes of some of the situations in this story.

With the cold weather and the staying inside it was natural to turn on the oven and get some baking done.

I made Chocolate Bran Muffins for the first time in months and have resolved to have one a day.

They are chocolate and sweeten with applesauce, which contributes to a healthy snack or dessert.

I baked a roll of Chocolate Wafers which have been in the freezer for several months.  I should have rolled them out a bit more as these were pretty thick but really delicious.  I will have to make some more of Christmas.

The entry into the oven was a couple of chicken thighs roasted in my stoneware baker.

Here is supper that night with a good helping of coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, baked yams with some white rice.

Yummy and the house was warm from having the oven on from 2 - 5 pm.

Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber was a great read. Annie Marlow. a nurse, has been rocked by tragedy and is struggling to make sense of her new reality. She heads back to Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest to a cottage she spent summer by the sea with her family.

She rents the cottage, meets an artist who has lived all his life in sea side community, grows a garden, befriends her recluse landlady and enjoys her work at the medical clinic.  She learns to find peace and to trust again.  Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within to to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.  I would recommend this book.

I have started putting milled flax seed on my breakfast.   It is a healthy thing to do.

I buy the whole flax seeds and put 1 cup into the blender each week and store it in the refrigerator. I have put the extra bags in the freezer until I need them.

I always like to have a measure in the container for the things I use regularly. My rolled oats, my powdered milk, my Cheerios tupperware container so I was looking for a tablespoon measuring spoon for this jar of flax seed.  

The the thrift store a while back I found this gorgeous round stainless steel measuring spoon.  It is so cute and now I use it every day and it makes me happy!

Welcome to my Kitchen

This morning was the get together of our women's fellowship group - Welcome to my Kitchen. 

I was on snacks along with another lady.  I made Orange Cranberry Bran muffins which disappeared quickly.  I brought yogurt and some cheese cubes.  Veggie straws and fresh fruit were also included.

I enjoyed a big mug of tea.  Many enjoyed hot coffee.  The table was over flowing with food and folks. 

It was a very good morning. 

Devotions focused on "We are unique and God's handiwork." 

Prayer time had many health concerns.

Books were swapped and many went home with new reads for the month. 

Good conversations took place. 

Recent Photos

We had our fellowship group meeting today.  Our hostess was a recent retiree. I was on snack so I prepared Orange Bran Muffins with my sisters recipe.  It made 24 muffins and we were expecting 14 ladies.  They must have been good because I only brought 4 home.

I put together a Tupperware fruit tray including strawberries, cantaloupe, oranges and pomegranate.

Rounded out the selection with a variety of yogurt.


We collected yarn for a couple who does knitting for our Christmas Mitten Tree.

We had such a good time.




These books by Grace Livingston Hill have been on my bedside table recently.

Nice light romances in the early 1900s.  I enjoyed the novels by Hill but the one by her aunt Aldon was not as great for me.

We have had an injection of new books for the WtomyKitchen library so I will clear some of these at our Mission Possible Sale at the beginning of November.

I found this float frame at the ReUse Center on the weekend as my niece visited.

I think there are wonderful photography possibilities for this object.

I have placed a couple of my 4x6 photos in for now.

Love the angles of the stand on the back side.

I picked up this puzzle at the same center.  My niece spent an hour trying to solve it.  She came really close.

I picked it up because of the clear pieces which will surely be nice for photography.

I did find a solution on-line so I could assemble it and it would be awesome in photos.





The sunset was wonderful tonight.  I headed out a little late but I am happy with this shot.

Share Your Cup #311 hosted by Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs Olson.

Share Your Cup - This Week

The pelicans were on the open water at the wetlands!

I love this photo where they are aligned almost perfectly.  This was my second try as the first attempt they were just flying off as I arrived.

They were feeding and just hanging out.  Zigzagging across the water in their flock formation.

It was time for Welcome to my Kitchen this week.  The hostess provided fruit salad, yogurt, cute cinnamon buns and a slices of cheddar cheese.  Of course tea and coffee as well juice was in plentiful supply.  We had a lot of women attend our last meeting of the season.  Twenty women attended and there was comfortable room for everyone!

We raised a good sum for our missions overseas.  I brought a few cards made from card kits which had been stored for a while.

Ladies could take some home for a donation to missions.

One card was immediately put into service to contain the names of those in our group who prayed for a lady who attended a gym class.  Tangible evidence of the support being offered.

This is the book I finished this week.  The Whitehorn Woods contains a well where people from far and wide come to bring their petitions for healing, husbands, new businesses and much more.

The book identifies a couple related people in each chapter.  If read within a short time a person would likely catch all the connections to others in previous chapters.  I did catch a few but I likely missed a few as well.

Interesting people and approach to writing.






This a to go mug of Earl Grey tea with a snack for my trip to the zoo today.  I want to go before the long weekend when it is bound to be much busier.

A royal gala apple which is always crunchy and delicious and a chocolate bran muffin.

I'm off the see what I can
find.


Sharing with Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #249.

Tea Prize and Stuff

I won! This is a yellow and blue tea towel with a teapot on it!  It was part of the blog give away from Margie at Tea in the Valley for her 2 year blog anniversary.  She was so generous and I will include items over the next few weeks.  Blue and yellow are my kitchen colors so it will fit right in.


This is the first page of my Tea Time Photo Calendar.  The bright green cup is my sister's and she picked the peony while I did a photo shoot at her house. 






I bought myself a small crystal bowl to be filled with wonderful things.  My inspiration is a bowl I saw at my friend's house. 

I checked out the local craft store for small fake lemons but the price was ridiculous so for now I have blue and white balls.  I will keep an eye out for glass lemons.  Check out the small bird with a very long tail.  Christmas clearance is great!  The bowl is sitting on the platter from the Blue Nordic dishes I received a couple weeks ago.  It is in new condition which means it was not likely used a lot.  Mine is bound to be photographed more than serving food.  Who knows!


This orange is a gorgeous color and it was very delicious.  I cut it into sections and added a chocolate bran muffin for breakfast. 

 I continue to make tea cup coasters.  I have several made so I included one on my table this morning. 
The rock was a gift from a friend and is a good remind to live life grateful. 











Sharing with
Bernideen's Tea Time

Ruth at Antiques and Teacups

Share Your Cup #219 - This Week

This was breaky before I headed off to teach my Be Present for Christmas class.  The dinnerware is all by Johnson Brothers. The mug - JB Cotswold in brown.  I paired it with a brown fluted plate by JB - Watermill pattern on a JB - Regency White fluted plate. The tea is Jade Citrus Mint which is one of the few teas I can drink with no cream or sugar.  A couple chocolate bran muffins and an apple.

Sunrise this morning filled the sky with pinks, purples and blues.  There is just a hint of what is to come coming over the evergreens.


I found this really nice bottle by Avon at the thrift shop this week.  The scent from the lid leads me to believe it may have been perfume. I have not found the exact bottle in my google search.  I loved the ridges on the body of the jar and the fluted shiny silver lid.  The price was right so it came home with me.

Dill is one of my favorite herbs so when they had some bunches of fresh at the grocery store on my trip last week I brought a couple home.  I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper as they recommend the herb not touch metal.  I turned my oven to the lowest setting and then checked it every 30 minutes.  It took over an hour for each bundle. As you can see, it did not generate much in my dill container.  I`m not sure it was economical to do it, but live and learn.   It may have been better to use the second method which was to place the herb in a brown paper bag with slits to keep the dust off and provide air circulation.  It would likely have taken several weeks to get the same result.



This flower came across my path this week and it really has gorgeous colors.  I may need to use a larger vase for the size of it.  I loved it so I brought it home. 

Sharing with Jan at Daily Cup with Mrs Olson who hosts Share Your Cup #219.

Mosaic Monday #11

This is what Thanksgiving Sunday looked like at my parent's house.  There was at least 4" of the white stuff when I brushed off the vehicles Sunday AM and it was still coming down.  I had to brush my car off again before I left. Driving home was decent all things considered because it did not go below zero so things did not freeze, otherwise it would have not been pretty. I hope that it goes which will the ground a good moisture layer before winter actually comes.  Really puts a wrench into crop picking activities and may just mean no more combining for some farmers.




I picked this rose late last week as just a bud.  With water it has blossomed into it's full glory of deep pink.  We did receive snow here in the city so all plants are going to be done for.  I see it's below zero this morning so that is enough to kill most plants.  Hopefully, there will be reprieve to rake leaves, clear flower beds and generally prepare for winter.  The white stuff this soon is a pretty rude awakening.

I thought I would show my Chocolate Bran Muffins in their pretty Morning Glory Silicone Muffin liners from Steeped Tea.  The black ones in the top right are from Pampered Chef.  Using muffin liners saves paper and ultimately trees.  My regular followers know that I make a batch of these every week and they have been features on posts. 

My sisters have been generous in sharing garden tomatoes.  I received another bunch this week.  Yummy tomato and cheese sandwiches.

This wonderful vase of dried hydrangeas are at my aunt's house.  I was over for a visit on Friday, which when the snow started.  I found the vase in a vintage rose color worked so well with the pink hydrangeas.  Add a vintage ivory crocheted doily and it was a nice photo.  It was a quick put together and it was late so the natural light was missing. 


Sharing with Maggie at Normandy Life who hosts Mosaic Monday.

Brownie Bran Muffins

Brownie Bran Muffins

1 3/4 c unsifted flour ( whole wheat)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c brown sugar
2/3 c cocoa
1 1/4 c wheat bran
2 eggs beaten
1 1/4 c milk (skim)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c oil
1/2 c apple sauce

Line 18 muffin tins with silicone or paper liners.
Preheat oven to 375F
Sift together dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa.  Mix in bran.
Combine well beaten eggs, milk, vanilla, oil and applesauce.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and mix until just moistened. Batter may be lumpy.  Fill liners 2/3 full.

Bake for 18-22 minutes.

I have been making these muffins for 35 years.  The whole wheat flour and the replacement of some of the oil with applesauce are more recent adjustments.  Enjoy!!!

Share Your Cup #197

These are the Gerber Daisies I gave my Mom for Mother's Day.  We had a good weekend with a good visit with one of my sisters and her kids. 


I usually give her tulips but they were not very nice this year.  I chose these Gerber Daisies instead.  With Mom clearing things out she only had a large vase in which these flowers look a little lost.  I'm sure she will enjoy them. 

This is a grape hyacinth blooming in one of the plots at the Community Garden.  There were very nice tulips there. 

This is a vintage clock which was in our house as we grew up.  It has a few chips on the roof and the birds have lost their rhinestone eyes.  It has some great color with a red roof and white side boards. It's a nice size. 

I've started making Chocolate Bran Muffins again.  I need a healthy snack that can replace some of the sweet things I've been eating.

This was a plant at the community garden.  It has this central whitish cluster.  I'm not sure if it will become flowers.  Maybe.


Linking with Sharing Your Cup #197 hosted by Carol at Art and Sand.