Just a simple sketch to contribute to Paint Party Friday.  I am not sure what my fascination is with drawing hats but I am enjoying making quick simple sketches that include hats.  I am hoping by doing this I will learn to be quicker and looser with my work.  I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.  This week Jessie decided to take the flowers off of her hat and change her hair color.  Maybe I should do the same.

On Friday it is my practice to share just a few of the things that I am grateful for.  This week as always I have lots of things that I experienced that stand out in my mind.  Seeing the deer up close as they wander through our yard, feeling the breeze as I walked the dogs, and watching a tiny baby bird up close as he hopped across our garage roof are just a few.
 I am also grateful for a simple reminder that the universe decided to send my way yesterday.  We live in the suburbs just a few miles from a large horse farm.  Each time I drive past the pastures I feel like I am out in the country and it feels so calm and peaceful.  I have said for a very long time that one day I was going to park the car and walk past the farm and the horses and really enjoy the experience.  But I was always too busy and so I just drove by and said to myself, "Next time I will stop."  Well, finally yesterday became the next time.  I parked the car with camera in hand ready to be transported to another place.  As I walked down the street, I realized that the peaceful ride I had while in the car enjoying the scenery was much different than the noisy experience I was having walking down the street as car after car whizzed by.  If I had stopped the car months ago, I would have learned sooner that riding by was actually the better experience for me.  It was a great reminder not to wait.  If you want to do something, do it.  It may turn out to  be the best experience you have ever had or you may learn as I did yesterday that you already have exactly what you want.  
                                       
                  
                        I would love to know what you are most grateful for this week. 

This is the second month that I have participated in Kat Sloma's Photo-Heart Connection which is a really interesting experience.  The photo-heart connection is about finding the picture that touches your heart and determing why that picture, or the experience that led to the picture, means so much.  
  During the month of March the weather has been beautiful and the flowers are beginning to bloom.  I took lots of pictures but none that were are as pretty as the real thing.  Then last weekend we went to a wonderful garden that has just opened close to us.  The gardens are the result of one man's dream that began forty years ago.  As we walked through the spectacular gardens, I noticed how quiet everyone was.  There were people of all ages, from tiny babies to toddlers and teenagers, all the way up to senior citizens in the gardens and it seemed that everyone was in silent awe of the beauty that surrounded them.  The time spent in the gardens reminded me of how important it is to have a dream and how important it is to pursue that dream with all of your might.  These gardens were a great reminder to me to never stop dreaming.  My dreams may be very different now that I am older but they are still just as important as they were when I was young.  So today I would like to thank Mr. Gibbs for the beautiful gardens he created for all of us to enjoy and for helping me to remember just how very important it is to dream.