An Attitude of Gratitude

It is easy enough to slip out of the mindset of having "an attitude of gratitude" and I must confess I'm ashamed of myself for being so public about it. I mean really, instead of focusing on the potential good that taking Flagyl would do for me, I kept whining about what I did not like about it. Instead, now I feel just fine again with nary a problems since I've finished my dose. Forgive me will you?

I confess that I have an abundance of reasons for having a good attitude although I am struggling mightily trying to find something good when this sort of thing happens.

And I thought squirrels were bad! Remember how I told you I had Bruce remove my kitchen window screen for now so that I might have a better view for taking bird shots? Instead there are not one, but two of these dreadful creatures stalking my bird feeder! The nerve of them!!! The funny thing is , I was looking on the ground under the feeder while preparing dinner, grateful that there were no rats. Then, eyes moving upward, and lo and behold, this!! In spite of Bruce's best efforts with a rat trap, they remain. Should you think of anything to be grateful about regarding this situation, I'd love to hear from you.

I am seriously grateful that the promised storm had very little impact in our area. The wind blew sort of hard, with the palm fronds swaying wildly. Good thing they had been trimmed earlier so there was no associated mess.

Rain was little more than passing showers, much less than a typical afternoon rainstorm, however, it was gloomy and humid. No slug was seen by either of us, however, a trail on the door was evidence that a slug was on the premises.

Mostly I sewed during the day; I think of it as my job to improve so with that it takes practice. I don't know about you, but I have grown fond of the look of an extra blanket at the end of the bed. A nap blanket if you will. So I'm working on one for the guest room, using this fabulous coral color solid I bought during a sale at Wandering Stitches. There is a clever way to make what are called half square triangles and that's what is going through the machine in this photo.

Once lines are sewn on either side of the drawn one, you cut them in half and voila!

If I were really good, you would not be able to see any of the white fabric from this side. See why I am still practicing?  I am more than grateful for the time to do so.

Look at this sad state of affairs! I need Pam!!

In her absence I purchased a laundry basket from the Dollar Store to put under my table. This would be what quilters call my stash, a term we learned from Irene who has moved into her new home btw.
It used to be that I would purchase fabric as I prepared a project, however, learning from her example, I am now buying fabric I like, particularly when it is on sale! It is really great to be able to reach into the drawer, pull out my oranges and see what happens. Of course this photo shows that instead of that ideal situation described above, I am sometimes rummaging through a pile on the floor! Actually, it was piled up on my sewing table, taking up far too much room and now it is in a laundry basket. :)

Yesterday afternoon, after doing some weekly chores, it occurred to me that I was sewing away the summer. As in swim season will be over before I know it. I have been reading a novel, yeah, not a lot of that going on lately, that is really a good old fashioned story in that the characters are good, as is the plot. A complete page turner. I believe I bought it at a garage sale, although I can't be sure. I'd purposely avoided reading any reviews before now, but I am now delighted to learn of how The Kitchen House became successful in the linked  article from the Wall Street Journal. Word of mouth, my friends.

Speaking of word of mouth, one of the local news stations ran a feature on the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild's effort to have quilts made for the Pulse tragedy. Filmed nearly a month ago, they talked about their original thought of gathering 101 quilts, posting as such on Instagram. Well, I learned from a sewing friend that the total received is hovering around 1,000!! Quilters from 48 states, as well as 20 countries have sent their love in the form of fabric, creativity, and time. Can you say amazing?

Back to my original thought, I finally pulled myself away from the sewing machine and spent the latter part of the afternoon beside the pool reading, and in the pool when I got too hot. The water is cooling down, that's for sure!

I've had a visitor in the back yard for the last two days...

Swallowtails are so pretty, with beauty on the underside and the oute rside of their wings.

Another week at Knowles Chapel, and another visit to the rose garden.

I got a call early last week from a man who asked if I was the Gail Peck who sold photography and does quilting. That's me alright. He related that he and his wife had just moved into a new condo, already owning four prints from me, they were looking to add to their collection. Where could he see them online? I had to respond that I'd shut my website down, however, they could come to the house and see what I had. Well, that proved to be difficult for them, so he asked how else he could see my photos. Anymore looking through thousands of photos I took is not so appealing, so I turned to some online photo albums that, frankly, I had not seen looking this good before. Google Photos has replaced my trusty Picassa web albums and is it ever swank! Here's an old one I put together to study them as a whole, in order to decide what was fit for printing. I'd forgotten just how prolific I was!!

Working on maintaining an attitude of gratitude on a daily basis,

Gail