Mindful, Day 305, Fun and Frolic

Bright pink decorations are swinging from the light fixtures today in preparation for a big 70th birthday  celebration tomorrow for a wonderful friend. Fun to plan, fun to prepare and tomorrow should be a blast.

Mindful, Day 304, Red, Blue and Grey

 These bright red stems and blue berries are all that is left of the ivy on this wall! Amazing how intense the colors are even when the leaves have fallen away.

Mindful, Day 303, Lists

Some days it is all about the lists. Things to do at home, at the studio, to develop a workshop, to get at the store, errands to run, etc. etc. At least writing the list gets the repetitiveness of remembering out of my head. And there is satisfaction in crossing things OFF the lists!

MIndful, Day 302, Powerful PInk

My daughter, Rachel, gave me this orchid back at the beginning of September. It is still blooming like crazy and I think the pink color is getting more intense every day.  It is amazing to me that we think of orchids as fragile, delicate, hard to take care of plants. Instead, they are long lasting, pretty much do their own thing, and if you are patient, will bloom again the following year.  This orchid lights up our dining area and brings a smile every day.  Thank you, Rachel!

Mindful, Day 301, Remembering Mom

This is my Mom, many years ago, when all her grandkids were much younger. She would dress up like as a witch and go visit all of them on Halloween. She got the biggest kick out of it and the kids all remember her coming. It was a highlight of Halloween. She made a great costume, blacked out her teeth, did a wig, the whole nine yards. Even in the last few years of her life, she would still put on the wig and the hat.  Happy Halloween, Mom.

Mindful, Day 300, A Delight

This is the way to celebrate Day 300!  The first birthday of my great-niece, Julia. How easily delighted she was with the singing birthday cupcake. And how delighted I was with her huge smile.

MIndful, Day 298-299, Magic Number

I am getting dangerously close the magic number 300. Day 300 feels to me like I will be turning into the home stretch on writing the Mindful posts for the year. 365 is a LOT of anything. Sometimes it has come easily, sometimes it has been so hard to find that inspiration for the day, and sometimes I have bored myself (and readers). But it has also done what I intended from the start - to be that daily discipline that asks me to be observant and thoughtful and involved in the world around me.  I am already thinking about what next year's daily practice might be (though it might become a weekly practice instead!)