November is not over yet

Here are a few little thoughts... to keep gratitude in our hearts and kindness on our lips.

Have a grateful heart! 

Harvest Blessings! 

Cheers!
judifer

Getting my holiday groove on....

The weather is getting chilly.... (ok.... COLD- but chilly sounds nicer...)  and the Christmas music is on the radio..... (yes they skipped over Thanksgiving- but how many Thanksgiving songs are there for the radio????  Just sayin')   So, each night I have been sitting with my pens and doodling my Christmas mood.....  

I love the seasons and ... am fairly tingling with excitement for this one.... No... not the gifts and stuff.... just the feeling.... that hot cocoa and peppermint feeling.... That frosty breath in the morning and snuggling under blankets in the evening feeling....

When I was a stay at home mom I loved each detail of each holiday and season.... Now that my "at home" time is measured in "how many Saturdays until....... ", I have to focus on just a few.  So... Christmas it is.....

(YES- I DID do LOTS of thankful thoughts......  LOADS of them...... look on my previous posts this month.... )  

But I have officially turned the corner- winter is on it's way...

Well.... it is .....   

Get your Jolly on!!  

Get your Happy Holidays on! 

Cheers!
judifer

Time to think about the holidays...

I started cleaning up my porch today, preparing it for winter.  I put away my fall things... yes... technically it is not quite Thanksgiving yet... but the cold is arriving... We have even had a touch of snow... and ... it will get too cold to do a lot of outdoor tidying too soon.... PLUS... I was just in the mood!  Haha!  (That is really the main issue... )....

So.... I got my fall tucked away... and my winter... started, but not quite finished...

Actually, that puts me right where I want to be..... It gives me something to enjoy playing with in the upcoming days when I come home from work... something to pitter with...  

I washed down the chalkboard welcome sign and updated it with a new message... I debated and debated what to write on it...
That is the thing about chalkboards... the temporary nature of them.... Most of what I make ends up on paper or wood- in ink or paint... but chalk... when it is wiped clean.... it is just... gone.... so... photos have to remind me what I had.... I cannot put it out from year to year... so... EACH time I change it- I want it to be special for THAT moment.... (or season..... or occasion.... )  

Here are my chalky delights for today...   I hope you enjoy!  

This was a large chalkboard sign hanging in a store.  I was lucky to get it when they no longer wanted it.  

This one is about 12 X 18.  Perfect for a little message on the porch.  

Time to get our holidays started!  
Cheers!
judifer

Gratitude

I have been thinking about gratitude.

I have been thinking about the cup 1/2 full or 1/2 empty.  Sometimes I have to find my cup....  Sometimes I have a hard time seeing past my concerns to find the good.   This is something I have been working on... trying to change...

In a world that is filled with so much negativity, I want to be able to to see the good.... to feel the blessings and joy in life.  

Yesterday I was reading and I came across some thoughts that touched me.....

Here is the first:

Did you THINK to THANK???  

As simple as that.   Look for the good and be grateful.  

WHEN should I be thankful???? When I get the job?  When I get the new car?  When I get to the weekend?  When that wonderful moment happens?????  

Or... maybe.... every.... breathing..... moment?

Time to stop waiting to be blessed and SEE that I already AM blessed.... abundantly.   

and then.... HAVE GRATITUDE for that abundance.   

and the Second is this:   

Remember!   

It makes sense to me that I should write it down.   I write all the time.... I focus on words.... on the art of writing.......  I need to WRITE my BLESSINGS DOWN.......   

Sometimes we need a reminder of our blessings..... Some might call it a Gratitude Journal- and that is a great name.... but I am going to call it my 

BLESSINGS INVENTORY

and find the joy in the ordinary.... 

cultivate a new attitude:  

Cheers!  

judifer

It is Friday.  Just a happy Friday.  Just the Friday after the week of Halloween, sugar highs, and red ribbon week at school.  It is the Friday after having a banging headache for 4 solid days... meetings before and after school.... yesterday I had THREE of them.... LONG.... LONG..... LONG day! 

But.... today is FRIDAY.... and it is the best sort of Friday.... the kind with NO obligations..... the anticipation of sleeping in tomorrow!  

AND.... the clocks turn back this weekend also..... hurray.... ONE MORE HOUR!!!!!  

oh! the utter exhaustion and the total bliss..... 

That will follow as soon as someone takes me out to eat.... which I am sure will happen soon..... before I start gnawing on the furniture.....   

In the meantime... I have a grateful heart.... and a lovely weekend to look forward to..... 

cheers! 

judifer 

gratitude 

peace! 

Sunday thoughts

I bring pens with me wherever I go. I doodle constantly. Today at church we were talking about lighting up the world with acts of service. I love to jot things down... to remind me.... so I doodled a page or two.... when I came home I looked at others I had done on previous Sundays.... (because this is my Sunday doodling pad.... ).   I loved reviewing some of my thoughts from the last few months,,,,

How will we be of service?  How will we share the light?  

Little sketch 

Cleaned it up a bit

Good Hearted

I am loving being home alone this morning.  The sun is bright and cheery and the quiet is blissful.  I remember the days when I was home full time- with my little ones... I would put some laundry in (always laundry... always laundry!)  and then I would clear up breakfast and get started on the dinner... in the crockpot or get a casserole made... and bread... nothing like fresh bread ... Most days I would get a batch of bread going to feed those kids when they got home from school, to take to a sick friend or a mom with a new little one.... yes.... always bread.

Then, after a morning of being busy tidying my little nest, I would head to my designated project(s)....  I sewed or painted or cut wood or handstitched..... every.... single...... day.......   I had tables set up in my dark, damp basement... that I optimistically call "the craft room"......  (Sometimes it was called a living room.... sometimes a bedroom.... but almost always.... "the craft room")......
I had it set up with 'in progress' types of projects..... So one area had tables of neatly stacked sewing projects (with my NOTES- to remind me what I was doing with what)... Each project in various stages of completeness.    In the same room but in a different corning was my painting area... where I taught classes... or just did my own thing....   I sold things at craft fairs.  I was hired by interior designers to paint murals.  I painted CLOTHING for unique, one of kind stores....  I LOVED it.   I loved waking up to the happy anticipation of what fun I was going to get up to that day....   My kids followed me around and sat on my lap as I created.   I jumped up to move the laundry as needed.  I strolled past the kitchen and enjoyed the lovely aromas of home cooked meals in progress.

This morning reminded me of that time....   Well..... the laundry part, anyway.... haha!!  I also did dishes and swept the floor and changed the sheets and hauled out the trash..... haha!!!

and.....

I sat at my tiny workstation and did a bit of artwork.  Enough to warm my cockles a bit.

black and white sketch 

Hint of blue 

Hint of pink 

Just a little...

Cheers!
judifer