Carnet de gratitude : April 2025 sketchbook

Everyday, I draw a page in my Carnet de gratitude sketchbook.
It sums up the moments that felt important to me on the spot, and that I feel like sharing with others, and as a backlog for my future self.

If you want to know more about Gratitude sketchbook practice, I answered an interview for Domestika's blog at the end of 2024. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/13539-stig-legrand-s-journey-turning-daily-gratitude-into-illustrated-masterpieces

This project is published monthly and you can access the archives since November 2021 from the Projects section on my Profile.

Sketchbook : Talens, Art Creation, 9x14cm, colour Fresh Mint
Fineliners : UniPin in Dark Grey, Light Grey, Black, size range from 0.03 to 0.5 - Colour Fineliners : Sakura Pigment
Brush Pens : Water-based Tombows AB1, Kuretake Art & Graphic Twin, Koi by Sakura, Pentel Brush Sign Pens, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist

Notice my drawers behind the sketchbooks ? They are full of Tombows Dual Brushpens ;-)

In France, April 1st is a day for pranks ! What I did was decorate our brunch with lots of tiny trinkets from Japan, and ask our fishes to be as funny as possible ;-)

On April 2nd, I fell in love with Kurt Vile's song "Pretty Pimpin" ! I listened to it on repeat and sang it along even though it is tricky with its fast rythm and I couldn't quite catch my breath <3
For the design, I experimented for the first time with José Naranja's trademark "weavy lines". I feel it is very nice for music, for poetry...

On April 3rd, "I woke up this morning, didn't recognize the man in the mirror..." You guessed it : Kurt Vile's song kept popping out of my mouth ;-)
One of our fishes looked sick and acted unwell, so we started searching for a remedy.
I watched the last episode of season 2 of the series Severance that I enjoyed a lot.
Tanuki let me brush her and for no, I've managed to keep her fur free of mats, except on the underside where she won't gladly let me touch her with comb or scissors.
I saw some great walking canes on a website, they are colorful and modern, brand is NeoWalk, I guess I may get myself one someday.
And husband brought home some scrumptious muffins, I got one with white chocolate and raspberries.

On April 4th, we gardened : I threw some hollyhock here and there iwht hope that they will grow, and husband planted our camelias into large pots with good soil.

On April 5th, Miruku came on the bed for cuddles and made me laugh.
I was attentive to the protests in the United States, I have many friends there (teachers, scientists, artists, freaks and other free thinkers) that are so distraught with what is going on...
My friend Estelle posted wonderful pictures from Kew Gardens where many amazing magnolias grow.
And I baked a lovely pastry vanilla flan.

On April 6th, it is mostly our Potichats that made me smile : Kurumi when I woke up and pushed himeslf out of his cat tree little house, Tanuki because she let me trim her chest and remove some hair mats, and Nori when he licked and licked and licked the safety net above the stairs.

On April 7th, husband drove me to the asiatic groceries store, I bought everything I needed and then some ;-) I also got to sample some Korean delicacies I hadn't tried yet like Tteokbokki.
Yuzu, my sweet cat slept on our bed, which he doesn't do often, and I found a new LOLCat on the internet, called Pixel.

I woke up in the rays of light filtering through the window blinds, it's annoying when they get in your eyes but beautiful on other body parts, watch my foot :-)
Then I brushed the long hair Potichats, dressed in a favorite outfit, saw some great characters at The Strangest Flea Market on Facebook.
An in the evening, I cooked a good Pad Thai, with great shrimps and the bounty I got from Tang Frères.

On April 9th, I listened to Season of the Snake, by Arcade Fire, that's one of the first songs available from their forthcoming album "Pink Elephant".
We ate a perfectly ripe mango from Tang Frères for breakfast.
I admired the hibiscus growing on my friend's lanai in Florida.
Then a strange little cat came to visit our Potichats. He hanged around their catio, trying to get their attention. But he got in a fight with another visiting cat... Ouch.

On April 10th, I wished a happy retirement to my health specialist... I hoe the next one will be as nice as he was.
We breakfasted on yogurt topped with fresh red fruits, blueberries and mint leaves.
I saw another hibiscus on Gwendolyn's lanai, it was YELLOW !
My cat Yuzu was the sweetest fur baby ever <3
And I went shopping for Easter chocolate !

On April 11th, I listened to a live album by old time favorites System 7. It's a vibe that makes me dance ! Cant' help it !
Then I smelled the wonderful perfume from our Mexican orange tree that was covered in delicate white flowers.
We ate some seedless grapes and discovered on TV an animal we had never heard of : the hazelnut weevil (which we found funny and sweet despite the fact that we are in competition for hazelnuts).

On April 12th, the first flower of the season bloomed on one of our camelias !
I began a new audio book "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey, that I already read in English a long time ago, and that I was happy to rediscover in audio format, translated in French.
And I made parcels for friends that I would have to take to the post office...

On April 2025, I was awestruck by the beauty of Kasamatsu Shiro woodblock prints and illustrations <3 I couldn't quite figure ow to reprdouce his fishes in dark water, under layers of light petals in my little sketchbook, so I looked further and found this great one "Leek Flowers".
I digged out from a frawer the baf of protections for furniture corners that I had misplaced, and this is important for our legs, and for these moments when the Potichats get the zoomies and run carelessly around the room.

On April 14th, I heard of the death of Fitz the Cat, beloved by a friend who wrote a very moving description of their relationship.
I created a card for Spring to send to my daughter and her family, I used carved stamps by Le Tampographe Sardon to make the cherry tree branches and flowers. I shared another friend's joy that he will soon have strawberries growing in his garden.
And talented creator of The Strangest Flea Market made some custom AI illustrations for the Potichats.

On April 15th I tried on a new flower I had got from Etsy for my hair. It's a grey chrysanthemum and it is huge and perfect <3
I listened to a good automatic playlist featuring Alt-J, Thom Yorke, Wetleg, Matt Berninger...
My friend Deer Bartok received the sneakers I gifted her and they fit her perfectly ! I love them so much I kept them in a bag for 30 years ! They finally found the feet to wear them <3
For diner, I made Bo Bun myself instead of ordering, it was delicious with shrimps and octopus !

On April 16th, I woke up early for an hour on online Yoga, followed by another hour of dietetics and specifically "Eating black chocolate with mindfulness". I chosed very dark chocolate with seasalt and spent 20 minutes nibbling on a square.
Yuzu was as adorable as ever.
Then I played a Quiz game on my phone and wasn't particularly brilliant LOL

On April 17th, my daughter posted some lovely pictures of herself, with a nice flower on her hair, it runs in the family LOL
My dear Yuzu slept on one of his favorite spots.
Meanwhile, my friend Coralie was anxiously trying to find a way to save her cat who had fallen from the first floor window into an inner courtyard where nobody could access... At the end of the day, the firemen came and gor the cat out with their ladder. He was unhurt.
Then I dined by myself in the catio with candlelight, because I was having roasted goat cheese on toast and that's too smelly to be allowed inside LOL
It was lovely !

On April 18th, I roasted apples filled with dried fruits, nuts and caramel in the AirFryer.
A book by my friend Luvan arrived in the mail - I'm eager to begin it, it will be amazing I'm sure <3
Then in the evening, we had fresh strawberries with vanilla ice-cream.

On April 19th, it was the second official day of protests of the month in the USA. Friends did walk and expressed their dissent.
We had fresh fruits on kefir, Tanuki joined me on the bed where I read my Haruki Murakami of the moment.

On April 20th, it was Easter so we hid chocolate rabbits, eggs and bells in the garden and around the house.
The little grey cat returned but got so distressed by the other visiting car, orange Nagisa, half-brother of our Potichats, that he cried and cried and cried loud as an alarm... Poor little guy ! We believed his family had left him behind for a few days.

On April 21st, I listened to Mirror System, the parallel project of System 7.
We unwrapped a large white chocolate with coconut egg that had been hidden in our fig tree.
I tried helping my friend Caroline to raise some funds for the veterinary costs she had to pay after her little cat Cannelle was attacked by a cat from her neighborhood and nearly lost her eye.
Then in the evening, I made myself a Korean themed bento diner.

On April 22nd, another song caught my ear "Naked as we came" by Iron & Wine <3
We had brown shrimps for bearkfast and I found a very small crab mixed in with them.
I took photos of him with a blueberry.

On April 23rd, my friend Valerie became a grand-mother for the first time <3
We nibbles on small chocolate eggs.
I found a beautiful red leaf from our garden, and a fallen flower from my white camelia.

On April 24th, I spent 2 hours of online Tonic training and Stretching. It is very helpful to wake up my body.
Husband bought 6 months worth of wooden pellets for our Potichats litter, they accept it quite well and it cuts the budget.
Tanuki inspected the box of candied almonds. She is sweet !
I watched a spanish movie "Boreal", then a mystic documentary "Viananda".

On April 25th, I switched molecule and dosage for a chronic disease treatment.
Wabisabi caught a fly and Nori licked some whipped cream.
Then I began watching a wonderful animated series called WondLa.

On April 26th, Kurumi was stretched out and relaxed. A large reddish pink bud was opening on my camelia0
I had branches of snappy celeriac to crunch on. And I cooked a lot !

On April 27th, my daughter sent me photos and videos of their retun home from a week of holydays.
Husband unpotted the camelia that was sick and washed its roots after we found some grubs living in the soil.
I finished my zucchini pakoras with greek yogurt, lemon and fresh herbs.

On April 28th, I cut flowers from raddishes for breakfast. Kurumi the Potichat helped me fold the clean laundry that was all warm from the drier.
Then I used my old rice cooker to heat up deep frozen dim sum. It worked perfectly !

On April 29th, I walked back from the chemist and took pictures of the local flora in my street.
I listened to Neil Young covers : Sugar Mountain, by The Lumineers.
I also photographed the camelia blooms in our garden, then I enjoyed a lovely Scandinavian ice-cream by NUII.

On April 30th, I celebrated the end of the month by wearing a dress I hadn't worn in years and that was sewed specially for me.
I drew a pile of Potichats, inspired by a shop that my friend Delia photographed while walking around Hong Kong.
Then in the evening, I retired to my computer room to watch a french Cooking show "Top Chef" while eating vegan chili from a pouch.