Steve Berry's The Amber Room Book Review

If you love thrillers like Ian Fletcher's James Bond stories, you will likely enjoy Steve Berry's books. If you have been to St. Petersburg, Russia, or you are going there, you will definitely want to check out his first book as shown here, The Amber Room. If you are going to Russia and you have the chance, I would definitely recommend reading the book before your trip.

Steve Berry's fictional work The Amber Room is especially fascinating because it is based on the existence of a man made marvel and World War II mystery the site of which you can actually visit in Russia. The book is a mystery thriller, set in the world of art and based loosely on the true story of the Amber Room, which legend says the Nazis took when they invaded the Soviet Union.

I was particularly interested in The Amber Room because I had the opportunity to visit the port of St. Petersburg, Russia, for two days on a cruise. St. Petersburg was my favorite port and it was while on a cruise ship excursion to the truly resplendent Catherine's Palace in Tsarkskoe Selo that I learned of the existence and saw first hand The Amber Room.

The Amber Room that we visited that day in Catherine's Palace is actually a replica of the original Amber Room, recreated by Russia and Germany after the war because the original room is still missing. However, even this replica of the original room was beautiful as I suppose it should be since it cost $6 million dollars to create.

This book was interesting and entertaining but be warned that it also contained violence, sex and profanity. With regard to  profanity, Berry has since said that this is his only book that has excessive profanity. He said, "It was an experiment, as there's a character in that story who says just about anything. He was fun to write but I learned that excessive profanity is not all that necessary." In any case, I am sure that this book would be rated R, if they rated books in the same way that they rate movies. If it had been a movie, it would have probably been too violent for me although the idea of this book as a movie is actually intriguing.

If you can tolerate the issues, I do recommend this book. I have since enjoyed many more Steve Berry novels. If you are a reader and looking for a new author to 'consume,' do check him out.  The Amber Room and his other novels are available in all formats from hardcover through to Kindle. You can click here to order your copy of The Amber Room from Amazon.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

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The Best Picture Hooks for Drywall

Available on Amazon

These hooks for hanging pictures are so amazing I'd be willing to do an Infomercial about them!

I first noticed the hooks advertised on TV a few years back, and remember thinking I really should give these a try. Well, I finally did...and yep, they're amazing. 

They're called 'The Monkey Hook', in fact the package says 'The Amazing Monkey Hook', with each hook holding up to 50lbs. Actually, they have hooks for various weights, so be sure to check the package to ensure it's the weight you wanted.

You don't need any tools whatsoever to put up a picture..not one tool. There's no mess, no major damage to the walls, no hammers, no plugs for the wall, and no nails for screws. Best of all, there's no need to try and find wall-studs. Use these directly on the drywall, where there isn't a stud, even for those heavier pictures.

For women, or at least for me, I found these hooks to be a HUGE time saver. I no longer ask my husband to put pictures on the wall.

How They Work:

They're shaped in a curve.

With the end of the curved hook, simply work a little hole into the wall then turn it upwards inside the wall where the hook then grips onto the drywall, leaving you with a nice little, but strong hook to hang your pictures on.

The absolute best part is they barely leave a mark on the wall. All you see when the photo is taken down is a tiny pinprick where the hook initially was.

If you've never tried The Monkey Hook, don't hesitate because it works exactly as it claims it does. I highly recommend these hooks. They're all I use now.

I'll add that I trust the hooks more than I do hooks that just stick to the wall, especially for heavy items.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Canadians and Thanksgiving, The Time is Now!

This coming weekend while our friends south of the Border will be still dreaming about Turkey and all the fixings, Canadians will be in Full Turkey Mode!
It's time to get out the fancy glasses, a nice tablecloth, napkins, china and all the things we save for a "special day". For my family, it doesn't get more special than Thanksgiving. We like to celebrate and we like to do it up right!
Canadian Thanksgiving has had it's day celebrated at many different times of the Calendar year.  It was only in 1957 that Canadian passed a law that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the second Monday in October.

Until that time, Canadians had sometimes celebrated the holiday and sometimes did not.  In the late 1850's it was celebrated in June following the end of one of the many battles of Upper and Lower Canada.  At that time Thanksgiving was only celebrated 6 times in a 15 year period.

In 1872 it was celebrated in April when the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was returned to health, from a very serious illness.

So you see in Canada, we don't have the same attachment to Thanksgiving that our American cousins have.  Ours is still a very "young" holiday.
It doesn't mean that we don't do it up right, though. Most families will go that extra mile to make Thanksgiving dinner something to remember.
The important word is "Holiday", who doesn't enjoy those.  Added to the holiday is good food and family get togethers and you have a "holiday" that everyone enjoys.

Just to make it even more special, we will have all the fixings, Turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, squash soup, or a vegetable, some green salads and dessert of course.

Just to make everything perfect, a beautiful table and all the things needed to make dinner wonderful, joyful and thankful. While it's early for a lot of people to be thinking about Thanksgiving, just know that up north, we will be dining on Turkey and feeling very, very stuffed! Happy Thanksgiving to all, whenever you celebrate.

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Review of Tips on Photographing Waterfalls

Photographing Michigan Waterfalls

Melting Snow Equals Beautiful Waterfalls

The Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan is known for large snowfalls. It is not unusual to have over 200 inches of snow in a season and the record snowfall stands at 390.4 inches according to a sign we saw in the Keweenaw Peninsula. When all of this snow melts in the spring the waterfalls in the area are full of rushing water. In the UP you will find over 324 different waterfalls.

When we visited, in mid June, we found waterfalls everywhere we went. Many times we would pull off the road and hear the rushing water. Other times we would follow signs that led us to paths to the nearby waterfalls.

Earlier in the spring, I had attended a class where the instructor gave us tips on photographing waterfalls, so I was anxious to try out these tips and photograph some waterfalls.

On this page, I will pass on the tips that worked for me as I show you photographs from 5 of the waterfalls I photographed in Michigan. We returned to Michigan in September and was able to photograph the beautiful Tahquamenon Falls. I am adding that photo near the end of this page.

all photos by myself-mbgphoto

Alger Falls - forgetting the tips

The first waterfall that I photographed was on the side of a busy road. My husband pulled off the road and I jumped out with my camera. The ground in front of the waterfall was rocky and hilly and I thought I could shoot it without a tripod. 

I use aperture priority when I shoot. This allows me to pick the aperture and the camera sets the speed. In order to get a slower speed to get the smooth waters that I like to take you have to use a larger number on your aperture. Ideally I would like to use an F22 or higher but without a tripod the largest number I could use successfully for this photo was a F11. This gave me a speed at 1/20 a second. It was not really good enough for what I wanted, but then I was in a rush. 

The resulting photo is, in my opinion, mediocre. In the photos that follow you will see the results when I use the following tips.

1. Always use a tripod 
2. Slow down and take your time 
3. Use a polarizing filter to reduce the glare and slow the speed 
4. Use a remote shutter release

Munising Falls - 50 foot drop

 

This beautiful waterfall was located near where we were staying in Munising. We parked in a lot and then I walked a well maintained path into the woods for about 1/2 mile to reach two of the viewing platforms for the waterfall. This waterfall has a breathtaking 50 foot drop into a canyon. 

The platform for viewing made it easy for me to set up my tripod to get a good shot. A tripod is essential to get the smooth looking water in this photo. I shot this photo using the aperture setting of F22 this gave a shutter speed of .6 seconds. I had my ISO set at 200 and used a shutter release to keep the camera steady.

 

Photography Equipment - three items to capture perfect waterfall photos

• If you are looking to get the look of the smooth flowing water in your waterfall photos, a tripod is an essential piece of equipment. The tripod listed below is the one I use. It is not a high priced piece of equipment and it works with all of my cameras (yes even my point and shoot). To get the steady shot you need for waterfalls I highly recommend using a tripod.
• Using a polarizing lens will help you to slow down your shutter speed to get the smooth look of the water. It also helps to reduce any glare. This is especially important if you are trying to shoot on a sunny day. On a cloudy day it wouldn't be necessary.
• A shutter release is also helpful in keeping your camera steady. I have one that attaches to my camera, but I think a remote one would be really nice.

Tripod on Amazon.com

Smooth Flowing Water - Wagner Falls

The Wagner falls was also near Munising, Michigan. It starts with Wagner Creek which flows over a number of rocky ledges to create this beautiful waterfall. There was also a tree limb that had fallen across the area, which added to the falls of the water.

I got to this waterfall by walking a short gravel path to a viewing platform. As was the case for the Munising Falls, the platform made a perfect place to set up my tripod. I was shooting from several angles, moving around the platform, when another photographer came and stood near me. He watched me for awhile and then inquired as to whether I had a polarizing filter in my camera bag. Now, I knew that was a way to slow down my shutter speed, but I had forgotten to add the filter. I thanked him for the tip and then went and put on the polarizing filter. This made a really nice difference.

It was a sunny day and the filter helped to reduce the glare and slow down the speed. I was able to shoot this photo using a F25 aperture and a speed of .5 seconds. I was pleased with the smoothness of the water in the resulting photo.

Wagner Falls with an Aperature of F8

Jacobs Falls

The next two waterfalls are ones that we encountered as we were visiting lighthouses in the Keweenaw Peninsula in upper Michigan. In both of these photos I remembered to use all of the waterfall photography tips I had learned. I took my time, used a tripod, used my polarizing filter and used an off camera shutter release. 

In this photo of Jacob Falls I used a setting of F22 which gave me a speed of 1/3 second. I also pushed my ISO down to 100 to further slow the speed. 

In the photo of Eagle River falls I used a F22 setting at 1/15 second. 

Eagle River Falls

 

Tahquamenon Falls - beauty in the fall

The Tahquamenon Falls are beautiful. They have a orangish brown color that comes from the tanic acid that leaches into the river from cedar and hemlock swamps. When we were there in September of 2013 I took many photos of the falls. Sometimes I tried to capture some of the fall colors of the trees to pick up on the orange color of the water. On other photos I looked for a way to frame the falls to show off the beauty of the falls.

In this photo I found a place where I could take the photo with a tree stem on each side of the picture. I think it works well to frame the photo.

My Waterfall Photos on Zazzle

Michigan Waterfalls by mbgphoto
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Michigan Waterfalls Greeting Card by mbgphoto
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Reviewing The Stanwood Yarn Ball Winder

A Yarn Winder For The Crafter

Using my Stanwood Yarn Ball Winder has made my yarn stash so much easier to live with. If you crochet, knit or do other crafts that require yarn; you know that it doesn't take long before those leftover skeins of yarn start to look messy and are actually hard to store. Try to figure out what brand and color one of those leftovers is and you can just forget about it. You lost the label ages ago so you can't be sure. I now have a tool that helps me keep organized with my yarns.

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Stanwood Needlecraft YBW-A Hand-Operated Yarn Ball Winder, 4-Ounce

After decades of crocheting, trust me I have quite the yarn stash! Once I purchased my Stanwood yarn winder, at least it is easier to figure out just what is what. Some of the older skeins are still mysteries as to brand and actual color name because the label is gone but the new yarns are in neat little yarn cakes that I can roll up the label and place in the center for later reference.

Watch this video to see how the yarn ball winder works. After watching Mikey, I bought my first yarn winder and I am so glad that I did.

Funny thing is that when the grandchildren come to visit, they ask if I have any yarn to be wound! They love turning the crank and making those neat little yarn cakes! Yes, I've been known to save a partial skein of scrap yarn for them to wind for me, its just what Grandmas do you know.

One would think that the best selling item would be either yarn or crochet hooks but I have not found that to be the case. Instead my number on best seller is this exact item, the Standwood Yarn Ball Winder.

I know how happy I am that I now don't have those deflated skeins of yarn in my craft room and I have never regretted purchasing this handy little tool. I keep it secured to one of my tables so that it is always ready to go.

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