Morning Glory Studio

TGIF | 7.27.2018

Thinking: Here it is, the end of July. Where does the time go? Just  yesterday or so it seems - Chris was born...and now he's 4 years old, getting ready for preK...new glasses and all. He has a "lazy eye" and the glasses will help strengthen that  muscle. Here he is with Mom, this morning...

Grateful : Elias, also with mom, is  8 months today! Dolly's taking a "selfie" while holding him ... fixing Chris' breakfast ... and texting with me.

Inspired  Fun! : Today was the last gathering for the summer Journal Club session. We had a party! Each of us brought ice-cream along with our journal and pens to the online session (we use Zoom). The ice cream I had was sooo good...I had to take it downstairs and return to the freezer or else  I think I'd have eaten the entire pint. I got it from Whole Foods. Yummy!

Enjoy your weekend...and treat yourself to something yummy, too!

Cheers~

FriYAY | 5.25.2018...

 

 

YAY!  The weather's been 99% perfect. Blue sky; sunshine and  low to mid 80s temps! Perfect invitation for a walk to Zeke's for an iced caramel latte´ (made with decaf and almond milk) and a sit-outside on the Avenue ( Rhode Island/US 1 in DC). 

YAY! Journal Club resumed today... a good reason to schlep my iPad and iPhone, journal and pens/colored pencils with me to Zeke's.

YAY!! For inside and outside WiFi at Zeke's; outside was too iffy so I easily gathered my stuff and moved inside and perched at the counter with a full view of the Avenue and easily continued with Journal Club. 

YAY! A wonderful start to the long holiday weekend. Family comes Sunday - Elias'  first visit! Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers~

a page from my journal : ritual

 

 Today is Friday and Journal Club Day! My day started with an early 9 am doctor's appointment: blood draw; pneumonia shot; and a couple questions I needed answered. Never saw the doctor - she was busy with other patients, I guess - but she did answer my questions, relayed via the nurse. 

Afterwards, I went to Whole Foods for some veggies to roast for tonight's din-din and then to Starbucks for a  breakfast treat: caramel latté and a cranberry orange scone. Oooh! The calories...and so good! On the way home, I stopped to get a prescription filled and arrived just in time to make a mug of tea and set up for today's Journal Club (JC) session, especially since MSQT  (morning solitude and quiet time)  seems to have been totally turned upside down over the past few weeks.

As always, JC began with a recap of our day, thus far and a free write...I began a deep dive into what has interrupted my normal morning routine. I'm not close to the answer, yet and know that I will continue to explore - after all, one does not cavalierly dismiss a long-standing practice. I sense a change is on the horizon and one that I'm eager to explore: not abandoning MSQT; rather changing the focus and adding an ESQT.  Something I've wanted to do for years - I start but don't continue, etc..Habits are hard to make and break. Perhaps this time will be different.

Speaking of time, I'm not at all looking forward to Daylight Savings Time! There is at least one clock I do not change: the one in my car! Just plain stubbornness, I guess. Are you for or agin' DST? Enjoy the weekend!

Cheers~

a page from my journal | 2.16.2018

      I loved Jamie's kitty ears headband and had to capture a photo to add to today's journal club entry. Right in the middle of the second journaling prompt, my doctor called so I missed the intro...and sortof got thrown off course...I'll watch the recording and pick up from there.

I consulted WebMD today  and read that placing a heat pad on one's chest helps alleviate the pain! It does! So, that's how  I've spent a goodly portion of the day. The doctor prescribed TamiFlu so I'll start at dinner. I think I'm a tad better...my appetite's increasing <that's a good sign!>  Norman's doing OK...he's coughing more so I suspect he's beginning to feel better. Certainly, his appetite's intact!

I very much appreciate everyone's well wishes for a speedy recovery...seems as tho' I've been sick for a lot longer -  probably because I don't (well I didn't) get sick. Next flu season, guess who's going to be #1 in line for the shot?!

Yesterday, we had spring temps; tonight, we may have up to 2 inches of slushy snow...Enjoy your weekend and stay well.

Cheers~

a page from my journal | 2.9.18 ...

    

 Journal Club today was all about the numero 10! One of our prompts was to doodle 10\ ten: words; symbols; etc...as illustrated above. Now, I don't like to doodle; I've never been a doodler  ~ so this type of prompt/exercise is probably my least favorite...but, I gave it a try.  I guess I could say, it wasn't all that bad!

We generally begin journaling reviewing our day, thus far and so, in the spirit of sharing, here are my ten things as of 1 PM today:

1. Found the ingredients ( story and photos )  about "Footprints" for my AMAZe album plus...
2. Some vintage photos of me and my sister and mom...
3. Bought a new tea: YouthBerry - a Teavana leftover - yesterday; it's good enough but not available in quantity...
4. Early morning texts with three friends  - each I don't see often enough: one lives in DE, another, FL and the 3rd: OR...
5. Today is Journal Club. Hooray - we didn't meet last week...
6. My DE friend joined JC  - live! - for the first time today...
7. N had an early doctor appointment so...
8. I missed MSQT ... I missed MSQT...
9. B'fast: fruit, yogurt and a slice of SeeDuction bread from Whole Foods...soooo good...
10. Rather tired; contemplating a nap this afternoon... 

It is now -  5:30 pm, too late to take a nap... I think I'll make the Footsteps layout and call it a day...right after I watch the sunset. Enjoy the weekend.

Cheers~

PS. I think I might use the card : transfer the doodles and add a big X for  numeral 10 ...

a page from my journal | 26 jan 2018...

Today was Friday...and Journal Club. Today, we wrote different prompts in different colors...I liked trying  the different colors and pens - fountain and ballpoint -and colored pencils, . 

Sometimes when one is stuck and doesn't know what to write, it helps to 1- change up the ink color and 2 - use a repetitive prompt, such as Today: 

Today, I overslept...

Today, I'm a bit discombobulated...

Today, I've seen sunshine ...

Today, I am hopeful for another fresh start...

I think this will even work with blog posts, as illustrated here! So, go ahead and give it a try. Enjoy your weekend. 

Cheers~

 

 

a page from my journal ...

     Today, Friday afternoon Journal Club sessions - ten total - resumed. Hooray! We've had what seemed to be a long hiatus since the Fall session ended in November. I have missed these weekly gatherings over the Internet, via Zoom , with many any old-timers and newbies from around the world. Our first session was perfect for a beginning because here in Washington DC, the temperature has reached the high of 50 degrees and it is sunny! For the occasion, I bought a new journal and some new pens...I'd planned to resurrect my fountain pens but they're needing to be flushed, it seems...

One of our journaling prompts is a free write, lasting about 5 minutes. The idea is to capture whatever shows up for you. My thoughts today:

• An adventure: I'm sitting at my sit-down stand up desk. Journal Club,the first of our winter 2018 season is in process. Great Standards is playing (on a DirecTV station) in the background; "No Greater Love, sung by Gloria Lynne, an all-time fave of mine, dating back to my college days. Ah, the memories. I get up and go downstairs to  make certain I'm hearing what I think! Yep! Sing on Gloria! The pen, a new one, does have a bit o' bleed...and reminds me I want/need to resurrect my fountain pens. My nails have been ruined from my last manicure! What to do? My free write has been mostly capturing the present moments, describing my thoughts as they evolve, as my senses took them in...

I'm looking forward to our next nine sessions. Interested? Go here...

Have a great weekend - til Monday...

Cheers~

six minute diary | breakfast @ IKEA, etc...

 

Friday 13 October      10:35 am    @ IKEA

Eating IKEA's Swedish American breakfast: eggs, sausage links, pancakes with lingonberry sauce ; so good and filling - especially after a 9 AM doctor's appointment .

Listening to:

families conversing, English, Spanish, etc...

children playing, some fretting...

IKEA ads interspersed with music on the PA system ...

knives & forks rattling on plates

Seeing:

a cloudy sky...

people eating, connecting on their smart phones...

food on my plate disappearing...

flags - US and MD - flying half-staff...

a woman reading...

Feeling: sad that the Nats baseball season ended - they had such a great record going into the playoffs

Thinking: "the race is not to swift nor the contest to the strong..." Maybe next year...

Finishing: my coffee after having joined the clean plate club - I suspect I was hungry...

Realizing:  it's 11:05 am and I've got to be home by 1 PM in order to be on time for today's Journal Club session! And I still need to wander the showrooms...on my way...

12:40 pm        @home

Arriving: just in time to fix a mug of tea, chit chat with Norman and go upstairs to log onto Journal Club. Since today is Friday the 13th, all our prompts were centered around the numeral 13. We: doodled 13 things we'd done thus far, this day; did a 13 minutes' free write, beginning at 1:13 pm EST; and started a list of 13 Things Worth Remembering. We'd barely begun the last exercise when our session was over -  I got  three things written, so I shall continue adding to my list before the day is over... #1 on my list: My parents and relationship I had with both and each, including my sister  - our family unit and life. 

So, it's 4:13 pm,  time now for me to move on with organizing my sewing studio...my, the day's nearly ended. What is one thing you'd include on a list of 13 Things Worth Remembering? Have a great evening!

Cheers~

 

 

 

FriYAY | journal club bingo...

 

 

 Today was the last meetup for the summer session of Journal Club - we'll resume again in September. Today, we had a fun and different journaling experience: Ten different prompts and for each one, we made a list of items for the topic that corresponded to the numeral of the prompt - for example: #2 - Two things I'm curious about. One of the items on my list of two: How to create an iPhone photo collage using 25 BINGO squares. I did a google search and have some hits... just need to look at/try the apps...in the meantime, tho' I want to share my BINGO card. I have one BINGO and several near completion... I'll continue playing til I finish. I was a tad excited when I realized I had copper gold deer, found in my Christmas stash, that I used in place of gold stars. Our guiding animal for this session is Deer - talk about serendipity!

The Instagram hashtag is #journalclubbingo. There are about 65 photos - some are mine ( you may recognize me).  Enjoy. We also have a Facebook group but it's private; however, Jamie says she's going to post a slide show (of the photos we shared ) on her website and I'll share, once she does...  And just as soon as I figure out how to make the collage and finish my bingos, I'll share all my photos...

Enjoy your FriYAY!

Cheers~

7+ on 7.7.17...

1.  I saw these bright, cheery lovelies on my  morning walk  today. The day began grey, cloudy and a tad breezy but as it wore on, sunshine, blue skies and still breezy and as I draft this post, hot - 90 degrees.
2. Once  home, I've spent most, well all day parked at the DR table, going through bits-n-pieces of scraps of paper on which I've written notes  - truly a bad habit...and totally unnecessary 'cause I have any number of journals and notebooks at my fingertips... T'is a habit I am trying to redirect: write thoughts, ideas, bits n pieces of information down in one central place.
3. I am amused that Norman used to spend his days on the computer at the DR table; now, he camps out in his cave and I've adopted the table. I think mainly because I start my day there.
4. Before Journal Club, I spent a few minutes practicing using my new flat compass - that is the item I purchased that got lost in the mail last week! This video from BohoBerry tells all about how a flat compass works. It's rather fun...I plan to use it to create mandalas; t'is a little easier to manipulate than the original compass tool...of course, I'm all thumbs, too.
5. I was late joining Journal Club today but the nice part is the sessions are recorded so we can review and participate, after the fact; I like that feature.

6. We've been listening to Great Standards all afternoon...soothing vocal renditions by all the great vocalists from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett to Michael Buble to Doris Day to Gloria Lynne to, to, to...

7. I wrote this Haiku listening to Tony Bennett and Ray Charles; the piece is Evenin'

                       Tony Bennett and 

                       Ray Charles, singin' a duet

                       Sky's blue again.

        +. During  Journal Club we sometimes do a bit of journaling to music, to get those creative juices flowing...

 

Enjoy your FriYAY and weekend!

Cheers~