The Journey Daybook, Inc.

Celebrating our Multicultural JDB Project

January 15, 2013

During the Holiday Season, Peggy hosted a party to introduce her houseguest, Eldis Rodrigues, to Journey Daybook alumni and others. Eldis was visiting the United States for a month from his home in Florencia, Cuba. Back in 2007, Peggy and Nancy Galloway went to Cuba and made journey daybook pages with the children in Florencia and Santiago de Cuba. Then, a few months later, we made a pilgrimage to Peru, where we did the same thing with a group who were part of a children’s home, Casa de Milagros, near Cusco. In the spring of 2008, we repeated the process again with a group of middle school children in Cedar Key. The cultural exchange occurs when each group receives copies of journey daybooks from the other two groups. Eldis was an important figure in this exchange because he is a fine artist and a leader of the Episcopal Church of San Juan Bautista in Florencia. We all felt so honored to have him visit us and to receive the original journey daybook from pages San Juan Bautista, which he carried back to Cuba.

Alumni Adventure at Kanapaha Gardens

January 13, 2013

We are beginning the New Year with a JDB Alumni Adventure at one of Gainesville’s most beautiful treasures on Saturday, January 26th.  We will gather near the ticket counter in Summer House which also houses rest rooms, gallery space and a gift shop with many lovely, reasonably priced items.  At this time of year, we should see a wonderful array of blooms in the camellia gardens.  And, because it’s January rather than mid-summer,  being outdoors should be refreshing! 

Here is a proposed agenda:  We’ll gather at 10am a.m. and have a couple of hours to explore and make pages.  At 12:30, we’ll break for a picnic lunch (bring your own) and share our pages.  We’ll finish up by 2 pm; anyone who cares to can always stay longer.  Note, too, that the gardens open at 9am so you can come earlier if you wish; just be sure to be at Summer House at 10. (Admission, gift shop, gallery and rest rooms are located here.) The price of admission is $7. If you are a member, it is free. Here is the link to their website in case you want to know more about the gardens, special events, etc: http://www.kanapaha.org. The well-marked garden entrance is on the north side of Archer Road, west of I-75 and east of Tower Road. If you haven’t visited these gardens before, you are in for a treat; even if you have been there many times, you will see something new.

Please RSVP to Barbara directly if you plan to participate or have any questions. We all value so much our time together!

The Journey Daybook Story – a Video

November 08, 2012

As an assignment for preparing for the JDB Retreat scheduled for November 16 & 17, please take the time to watch this recently-made video –

Peggy’s Journey Daybook Pages

September 09, 2012

Because I keep my own blog, I have not posted my pages on on the page, Journeys and Journey Daybook Pages on this blog. This may be a mistake because folks miss seeing my work when they are look at the rest of the pages made by our community. Because I am doing quite a bit of blogging right now, I decided to include a hyperlink to my blog so that you can look at my work more easily.

Visit the Alumni Adventure page to see more!

August 20, 2012

This is a page that Susan made at the Harn. Look for more photos and pages.

Journey Daybook Alumni Adventure at the Harn Museum

July 30, 2012

Journey Daybook Adventure on the Ichetucknee River

July 15, 2012

Last Friday was the 13th, and this date has proven a good omen for us. We had our monthly outing: our Journey Daybook Adventure on the water as we floated for 3 hours down the pristine spring-fed river, the Ichetucknee. Seven of us: 3 from Gainesville and 4 from Cedar Key gathered at 8:30 where we rented our floating “craft” and were immediately dubbed as the Golden Girls. Hmmm. We thought about this attribution for a while and changed it to the “Pink Golden Girls” since our craft was all colored hot pink. It was a typical hot summer day which made the cool river water feel good. All of us are aware of the problems of water use, the Florida water shortage, and nature’s huge dependency on water, especially in this part of wild Florida, Florida’s Eden, the name used by a non-profit which fosters activism and protection our special environment. As we floated, there was a lot of opportunity for contemplation, reflection, and our own practice – making journey daybook pages. A few people brought cameras – hence we have photographs that show our adventure. Susan made all of her page on the water – a big accomplishment. Some of the rest of us sketched. More pages will appear shortly on Notes and Journey Daybook Pages. After we all assembled at the end point of the journey, we enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch together and then shared our journey daybook pages and our experiences. Stay tuned for our August Adventure which will be inside.

Elegant Journey Daybook Adventure

June 12, 2012

I am posting only a “teaser” here, hoping that you will further explore this blog, especially on the pages marked Adventures and Notes and Journey Daybook Pages. We had an extraordinary adventure last Friday, June 8th at the Island Hotel in Cedar Key. (See post below.) This event was hosted by our alum in charge of such adventures, Carol Pattillo. with the professional direction of Island Hotel co-owner, Stanley Bair. Twelve of us enjoyed a few hours of working on our pages both inside and outside of the hotel while the staff prepared a beautiful luncheon for us. Pam Feaster, an alum from Gainesville, photographed her meal before she savored every last bite of it.

Wounded Warriors

May 27, 2012

Journal Keepers and illustrators draw wounded warriors: both the artists and the warriors heal in the process. Take a look at this wonderful video from this morning’s N Y Times. Diane just sent me this link. I want to post it immediately for you to see!  drawing-warriors.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120527

Journey Daybook Adventure at the Island Hotel

May 24, 2012

Carol, one of our alums who lives in Cedar Key, is following up on our May adventure at the small boat meet in Cedar Key  with another special adventure in June—also in Cedar Key—and this one is being crafted for our group at the historic Island Hotel where we will be welcome to draw and paint in all of the public places in the hotel (lobby, upstairs lobby area, dining room, patio etc…) and where the chef and staff will prepare and serve a luncheon for us;  the hotel is not open for lunch, so this is truly just for us journal keepers. Check out the very rich website.