394 days and counting

8:30 this morning my friend Maggie made this great snowman and by 2:00 in the afternoon the warm weather took it's toll on him.   R.I.P Frosty.     

395 days and counting

There has never been a day where I have walked into Sanko and not found something to smile about. Today there were several things to take pictures of. I especially like the faces on the sushi above.

396 days and counting

This is Henry Moon. Today while I was visiting at his house he decided to  model  his new tie made especially for him by his person - and my pal - Patti.

397 days and counting

Borus at Queen and Claremont

Queen and Greenwood

stylists Malcom Patterson and Rodney Smith at The Roy

Here are just a few of the faces that I saw today while I was out and about.  I wasn't expecting to see them but when I did - it sure made my day.

398 days and counting

Now that I'm carrying my camera around with me more often it's great to capture all the great stuff I see like people and things that I would normally see and forget.  Yesterday I was on the streetcar and when it stopped at Queen and Parliament this is what I saw. 

399 days and counting

styled by Lynda Felton

I was looking over issue 20 of Covet Garden featuring the lovely Dani Elwell who is as warm and welcoming as her home. I discovered Dani and I have a few things in common - one - we both have a floral background. This made coming up with a project for this issue easy peasy. The weekend I did this project it was cold and snowy outside and all I could think about was how much  I missed my garden. Making the rose bath tea gave my home a soft floral scent - it was heavenly.
I decided to make some this again this weekend and now even Lily smells like roses. And because I'll always love flowers - and anything floral really - I also love these items.

       "Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of  beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed" 

Walt Whitman
  




textile - Nani Iro
graphic hubiscus dress - anthropologie
quilt - gypsya
tote - lanvin

400 days and counting

Today is exactly 400 days until I turn fifty. I've been processing this all day - wine was involved.
Fifty - how is it possible? 
I'll be honest, I'm not afraid of getting older, I'm worried that if I'm not careful I will let more time go by where I then wonder - where did the year go? Where did the past 10 years go? What did I do? 
Buddhists live by the saying "All activities should be done with one intention." and that intention is kindness. This includes taking the time to be in the moment with whatever we are doing not just  how you treat other sentient beings but to the simplest things like brushing your teeth. 
This morning I brushed my teeth with complete thoughtfulness for as long as I could (about a minute). I thought about how lucky I am to have teeth, clean water to brush them with, to be able to afford dental care, to like my toothbrush, to be lucky to have a toothbrush and not have to use a twig or my fingernail.......
So, I'm choosing to spend these 400 days trying to be as kind and thoughtful with all that is going on in my life. Part of this exercise will be to journal - as close to daily as I can - what's going on with my day - big or small, good or challenging. And, I'm choosing to do that here - as often as I can - starting today.