Sunshine & Gratitude Lessons

I watched a TED video on gratitude.  I think we all should look at life this way.  The blue sky today should be observed as the first blue sky we ever see or the last one we will ever see.  That's paraphrasing.  The tip is to look with new eyes at what we see in an ordinary day.  I especially liked seeing images of people smiling into the camera.  There was such warmth and humanity radiating from their eyes.  I'd like to be showing that to the people who look into my eyes.  Today and every day.  The look I see in Riley's eyes when we look at each other.  Kind, loving acceptance.  Oh, and the possibility of food and /or a walk.

The skies here in Maine are so very blue.  Bluer than seems possible.  I am always stunned when I take the time to observe and relate to the sky.  And the trees.  It's very quiet here in Maine and it is possible, if I sit quietly, to hear the trees creaking and groaning in the wind.  I find that very interesting and calming.  I am almost always calmed by simplicity.  Like the image of lemons at the top of this post.  This is a magazine image I thought I might, at some point in life, translate into a painting or a fabric piece.  As usual, I pumped up the saturation, which flattens the image a bit and simplifies it even further.  Making it more painterly.

Fibermania had high waisted dresses on her blog this morning (or yesterday) and I, too, have wanted to wear things like this. Hemmed just above the knee. With capri tights and flats.  I saw women dressed like this all of last summer and fall. But I could not find a dress.  And I don't have the skill set for dressmaking (thought I WISH I did).  I think Melody might have been happier with her dress if it had been made of something drapey and slippery.  Then the fullness would slide over the body and not tent around the body's outline (making her/me look wider).  I am ready to buy ONE of the light blouses with the elastic at the waist.  Deborah wears her's with a belt (at the elastic) and a long sweater over a skirt.  I like the way it
looks on Deborah.  I will try and do links if I can find the images.

I spent as much time as I had yesterday visiting new blog sites, looking for low carb or no carb recipes and reading the diet stories of others.  The stories are comforting, in a way.  I don't feel so alone in the struggle. I found two wonderful dinner recipes and an excellent bok choy stir fry.  The lesson learned in the past few days on the internet:  I need to cook in order to eat well.  Too many of the recipes on most of the sites are for desserts.  I don't really crave dessert.  I'd just enjoy a really good dinner.  I wonder if you can "pin" recipes into pin interest?