Last year in September I had cataract surgery to my right eye with good results.

Last week my name came up on the waiting list earlier than I expected for my left eye. The surgery was done two days ago.

I stayed overnight at a hotel with my son Andrew. We enjoyed a mini holiday together.

Early yesterday I had to visit the Eye Clinic to have the patch removed, start eye drops and have the eye examined by the surgeon.

The cornea had a astigmatism which meant it was shaped like a soccer ball instead of a basketball so that made the procedure more delicate. All good.

Back at home now relaxing. Two lots of eye drops four times a day for one month and then back to the clinic for review.

I am thankful and feeling blessed. I am looking to getting back to my online art lessons with better vision 👁👁 👍🙂

This beautiful catchy poem was on Facebook. Definitely worth sharing.

Cauliflower Soup for lunch while sitting in the warmth of the winter sun….life is good.

I am not moving from my current accommodation.

May 11th I joined an online healthy lifestyle program. It was gifted to me for 3 months by my health insurance company. …no strings attached, no contracts.

My goal is to MOVE excess weight and in doing so become fitter and healthier.

The program comes with daily meal plans which includes recipes and the option to swap meals, shopping lists etc. It also comes with daily workouts that is provided at different levels. The program offers heaps of support,also has meditation videos and yoga.

I don’t do the provided workouts because of my health issues. I see my own exercise physiotherapist who has given me stretching exercises to do daily.

I also walk on my treadmill at home for 10 -20 minutes at least 5 times a week.

The meal plan is awesome. I have been making some delicious meals.

Below is just a few dishes I have recently enjoyed. Last night I had fish and sweet potato chips….I forgot to take a photo.

I am to starting loose the weight and have already gone down a dress size . Slowly but surely.

The mantra is : Progress not perfection.

At the end of the 3 months I might decide to subscribe to the paid program

I just took two screen scans of my meal plan for the next two days

Negative and Positive Spaces:

Negative Space in art is the space around and between the subject. Negative Space is the background.

Positive Space in art refers to the main focus of a picture.

To understand the concept of a negative space we need to copy the outline of some objects

This exercise was not easy to do. Below is a screen shot of the tutors work, I am still trying to do it 😂. Sorry the photo is faint.

The next exercise would focus on the negative space, do some shading flip the drawing to see the result. I almost managed that but again I have shown you the tutors magical work.

The shaded and flipped over work

To honest I am finding these exercises quiet boring and tedious. I am looking forward to actually drawing a picture. I guess we all need to crawl before we can walk….lots of practice request. Progress not perfection.

I found this on Facebook and had to share it. ….love it ….🙂

I don’t have an issue with my hearing, so far so good.

I do have an issue with my back and feet so I reckon I can relate to the middle lady and the next one on the right….lol….😂

Hi there I haven’t posted anything about my online art lessons for a few weeks. I have been distracted with a healthy lifestyle program I am doing.

We all need balance in our lives. I am needing to make sure there is a balance in my life.

Yesterday and again this morning I got stuck into my art work.

Week 7 was learning to sketch penguins . Sorry the photo is a bit faint. ..plus this is a copy from the tutor, I didn’t sketch this one. Sorry about the poor faint photo.

Weeks 8,9,10 was learning about shading, layering, blending. I didn’t practice much which I clearly need to.

I did find a couple of sketches and shading that I did back in February 2019.

Weeks 11 and 12 were about colouring the penguins that we sketched in week 7. My sketches weren’t the best, proportions need improving. I attempted shading, layering and blending. My practice drawings are not finished yet.

Below I will include a photo of the subject picture, that was the tutors magical work….so good.

My attempt isn’t too bad, I reckon they look like penguins

I am tempted to start again , use good sketch paper, get the proportions right,plus the colours.

The pencils I am using are Prismacolour soft core. I didn’t have a good colourless blending pencil so I have ordered some that should arrive within two weeks.

Anything for an easier life.Now that winter has arrived it’s time to make soup. I decided to purchase a Soup / Smoothie Wizard.This morning my wizard arrived and of course I had to try it out right away.I gathered up vegetables that needed using…..leek, carrot, sweet potato,peas, celery, spinach and chicken stock.You have the choice of making chunky or smooth soup, I choose smooth .Within 30 minutes my delicious yummy soup is ready.All I need now is a slice of toasted sourdough bread.