Grateful Heart

This page popped out this morning.  The only art I have done all week.  My creative pursuits have been focused on other forms like weaving and gardening. Last night I attended a Native American Pipe Ceremony.  There is one held monthly at a spiritual center in town.  A woman named Bright Owl comes down from her ranch in Moore Idaho to hold the ceremony. It is such a gift to be able to take part.  I like  to go when I can.  Last night it was all about gratitude, one of my favorite things. It was a close intimate sharing with about twenty people.  I am still filled with all the good wishes.  I think that is why this page came out today.

I made the background with Inktense blocks awhile ago. So as I sat looking at the beautiful colors I decided to try something different.  She is drawn in charcoal and embellished with chalk pastels. I added several layers with stamping.  The flowers were drawn with charcoal and filled in with pastel. I used white gel pen for the eyes and a china marker for the circles. Then I finished it by spraying a fixative on the piece.  There is too much smearing if you don't do that.  I used hair spray, it works great. The words say "A thankful heart is a grateful heart."

Gardening
I am not the best gardener by anyone standard but I do love my garden anyways. I have more weeds than flowers. I went out to tackle some of it today and found these.

I had planted some this spring but I don't think they made it. Then I noticed some that were a transplant from a friend that I planted last summer and they came up. Oh Was I excited. Anytime a plant comes back I see it as such a gift. Life renewed is such a joy to see. I am especially happy about the Lily of the Valley's though. I have tried planting them before with no success. They are the one flower from my childhood that I had not been able to grow. Its a bit of my mom coming back to me. We had a big patch of lily of the valleys on the side of the house. Now I can see I will finally be seeing them at my own place. A simple thing that really brings back memories.

Sacred Life Sunday

I just got home from church where we had our monthly potluck.  It was a time of friendship, sharing and good food.  I always like these days, it makes me feel part of a community.


When I got home I was reading in Giving Thanks; the gifts of gratitude, and I thought of all I have to be grateful for on this particular Sunday. Amongst these is the beautiful day we are having. I am going to add being grateful to be able to take my dog out for a walk today.  To spend a little time in nature always lifts my spirits.  I'm grateful I got to go to that concert on Friday, to spend a wonderful time with friend and hear fantastic music.  I am grateful that I will be going to Ireland soon.  I am grateful for my wonderful husband and daughter, they are the best. I am grateful for all my blogging friends, that we get to communicate in this wonderful way.

What are you grateful on this beautiful Sunday in March?

Thankfullness Thursday

I thought I would join in with this group today. My friend Kim posts about this every week. Today I am thankful for all the writers, actors, directors who make wonderful movies. They really lifted me up this week and I am so grateful for their efforts to make good movies with engaging stories that lift the human spirit. I rented a few this past weekend and finally got around to watching them all.

First there was this one which was truly delightful. I remember Julia Child from when I was a kid and I learned so much about her life that I didn't know. I have this desire to grab her book and try some new recipes now. What a delight this movie is.

Gifts of Gratitude

One of the things being ill does for you is besides slowing down you are forced to look at your life a little differently. I've spent more time doing nothing in the past couple weeks. I found reading again and picked up my knitting once more. When you slow down there really is time for more. This is a wonderful book on Gratitude that I have in my bathroom. I picked it up to read today and thought I am really grateful to be alive. Life is such a precious gift. Gratitude can put all your issues in perspective.

Today I am grateful for:

...The way my barren willow trees look orange when the sun hits their branches and there is a blue sky behind them. Its quite beautiful in its simplicity.
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... the winter landscape this morning that looks frosty and cool
... the birds at my feeder busily chatting away.
... that I am feeling better today.
... that my house is almost all decorated.

What are you grateful for today?