You do learn things by watching tv

      A few weeks ago the queen of all media did a great show about health and wellness.  Most of the things I have heard before but one item struck a cord and I'm hoping it will stick.  It was the idea that you base all your decision about your life about living your dreams.  If you have a choice choose the thing that will get you to where you want to go you will get there.  I do have a plan in place but it seems easier to manage if I just ask myself the simple question is this keeping me on the path or off the path. 

      At the moment eating bread is keeping me off the path so I cut it out.  I didn't think it was possible and it's not forever but I think it was the thing making me a crazy hungry person.  I was a person who would get super grumpy when I didn't eat and couldn't function.  Now I can function and just make a meal.  If you ever see me on the street I do have a snack in my purse. Plus I'm working on a whole bunch of things that are keeping me on target to my goal. 

Time to do some journaling.

Smell the roses?

       A while ago I read this article about the lack of scent that came off of certain strains of roses.  Well it turns out that the focus has been put on making great robust colorful roses and not the fragrance.  This may not be helping the bee population but as I remember science class a number of factors go into the whole bee pollination thing like color and shape.  Well enter the recent problem with the bee population and scientist are trying to put the scent back in roses. Now that smell like a rewarding job (sorry I couldn't help it).

       I love fresh cut flowers and am waiting for my favorites to come back in season.  I am lucky enough to live within walking distance of two great farmers markets.  One is seasonal and the other is every Saturday rain or shine.  This week the farmers market was bustling because of the amazing weather and the lines were longest at the food stands where delightful food is cooked to order.  I am currently on a fresh foods only eating kick so I skipped the stands and went straight to the fresh vendors.  I hit the jackpot with 2 sweet potatoes, garlic, bok choi, ginger for $2.30.  I did splurge for the blueberries and they were worth every penny I paid. I still shop at the super market and i have been very lucky with cherries the past couple of weeks.  The local grocery store was remodeled and they put most of the fruits and veggies on sale which was music to my pocketbook.

 For Sunday dinner I made a take on gluten free lasagna.  Fresh eggplant instead of noodles, lean ground beef mixed with onion,garlic shallots and a spicy Arrabiata  (angry) sauce cooked for 35 mins covered at 400 degrees.  I can't have cheese but feel free to add your favorite.   I love getting two servings of vegetables in one sitting without having to make anything extra.  I'm looking forward to having my left over piece for lunch today. 

Explore where you live ...artist unkown

I've taken a few night classes at a local college just for fun and I found out that they have 3 miles worth of art scattered around the campus.  Even armed with my poorly printed map (someone needs to invest in a color cartridge) we found quite a few things that were official and a bunch of things that were not ...like this

Themes...Of rain and roses

     While working in my new journal I noticed a theme emerging by accident and decided to use it as a jumping off point.  Initially I created a number of pictures about the rain and then started painting and taking pictures of roses so it came about naturally.  It doesn't mean that all of the work has to be about the theme but it's the glue that holds everything together.  I need a lot of glue to stay on course.

       When I'm old and grey I would love to put a graphic novel or comic together but that's a long way off but my work is leading me to that.  The story of my life in pictures.  I am very lucky to have kept all my journals and slam (the notebooks you pass back and forth with your friends) books from high school and it would be fun to mess around with the old me in some artist way.  I wouldn't say I'm a much different person just less dramatic.  I thought the world was ending way to many times over nothing (smile).

Ganesha-he removes obstacles so its only fitting that he would be on the first few pages.

wishing

I was back on this path to a lovely English garden in a small town where everyone dresses in period costume and treats you like family. 

Forward bound no looking back

This bear represents all the things I need to get done but I'm trying to take it once piece at a time. I jumped right into my new journal at the beginning of the year with the goal of getting it done by February 10th.  I work so much better with a deadline so I had to make one or the pages will just sit around blank until I get to them.

 I still have 3 unfinished journals but I will get back to them when the mood hits me. The are all a little different one for sketching, one for collage, one is a mix and I love them all but I'm buckling down in my watercolor and drawing journal to really get the ball rolling. I have been working at the break neck spread of a journal page every two days and have actually kept up for the most part.  I am jealous of people who can work really fast but I can only draw so fast but I have seen improvement these last couple of months and luckily I'm only comparing my work to my own work. 

The last couple of years I was held back by the lack of ideas but I think I jumped over that hurdle.    I am very lucky to not suffer from an inner critic (mainly because I'm doing all the work for me) but some days the idea fairy flies away before dropping that fairy dust on my head.  Things are crazy but I'm using my pages to work though allot of junk so I can get to my next goal.  My current journal is filled with things that happened last year and the current year all with the idea that these things will push me forward.

We are having the most amazing weather here in San Diego and I'm taking advantage of it with cameras in tow.

Dream Big