I've just joined a group that I found in this blog. According to Leo, 10 minutes a day for 30 days is all it takes to start a new habit. I've decided that I would like to start organizing my horribly chaotic filing cabinet which has troubling me for years.There are many other areas in my life that I could work on too, of course, but Leo suggests starting small, and focusing on only one thing.So, here I go. I have made several half-hearted attempts in the past but I always give up beca... Read Full Story

Lately I've been finding myself getting sucked into the steadily increasing hype and madness of the holiday season. It's not just the shopping-- it's the meal planning and travel planning and decorating and housecleaning. Trying to get everyone in the family organized so that we will be able to spend a few hours together, enjoying each others' company.And anytime you have a group of people getting together, especially for a meal, there's bound to be stress and tension, so ... Read Full Story

I'm a grandma again!! My second grandson, Jeremy Braden, was born this morning, about 1 week early, and is the cutest little thing ever!There's something about a brand new baby that's so mesmerizing. I could have just stared at him for hours.I think it's the helplessness and vulnerability of a newborn that I find so compelling. It makes me want to cry. To think that we, as adults, have so much responsibility in caring for and protecting these tiny creatures. Even if we're... Read Full Story

I've spent the last couple of days at a workshop for Hep C, which might not sound too exciting except that the people who organized it, CATIE, incorporated speakers and panelists from all walks of life. Hepatitis C is a preventable illness but is largely ignored and underfunded in this country because it mainly threatens marginalized people in our society--drug users, street people, people in prison. Anyone can contract Hep C of course, but treatment and prevention is especially difficult... Read Full Story

Ohhh!!! The Christmas rush is fast approaching. Despite my best efforts I seem to have gotten myself involved in too much. It all seemed doable at first. A concert to play in, an exam to study for and write, a graduation to attend in a city 7 hours away, and guests to entertain, all in the space of a few days! And we're not even close to Christmas yet!So here I am, finally, starting to unwind. Everything's done. The concert was a huge success, the exam is written (I'm not sure how... Read Full Story

I spent a few weeks in Japan earlier this year. I absolutely loved it. We spent some time up in the mountains at a Buddhist monastery. The sense of ancient stillness was magical.We wandered among the temples and thousands of tombstones dating back to 500 BC and became completely oblivious to the concept of time. We were confused when it became dark because we thought we had only been there a short time, when in reality we had been there for hours, immersed the majesty of the place.The trees ... Read Full Story

This is a picture I took last year while in Cuba. I don't know what type of bird it is, but the picture speaks to me of freedom. I love the look of the clouds and the soaring bird with outstretched wings. Someday I'd like to try painting that picture.I played around with watercolours today. It was fun but when I tried to take a picture the colours came out weird and the focus was off. Here it is anyway.I just want to take some time to thank Leah of Creative Every Day for her hard work... Read Full Story

Earlier this year I went on a trip to Japan. It was wonderful! Here is a picture I took from the top of Osaka Castle. It was pouring rain but it was still beautiful. I just love all the umbrellas.Today I decided to sketch that picture using pastels. It was a fun exercise. I had trouble trying to make the pavement look wet. Oh well.Wishing all out American friends a wonderful thanksgiving! Read Full Story

I got some new oil pastels today and I just had to try them out even though I really should have been working on my ethics paper that is due this weekend! Yikes! I'm such a procrastinator. The bottom picture was supposed to be a city on the water scene but I thought it needed something.So I pulled out my trusty beeswax and started messing around with it. And eventually the top picture came out. It looked pretty cool, kind of blurry and misty. The camera doesn't really do justice to t... Read Full Story

Here is my creation for today. I just got some new water colour pencils and had to try them out. I need practice in drawing the whole figure so I found this lady in a fashion magazine. She's very beautiful in the magazine and I didn't want to destroy her in my drawing. It took me quite some time to get the head proportioned right with the body and I must have erased her features about 50 times. But I think she turned out pretty well. Maybe I'll have time to work on the man tomorrow. Read Full Story