Thawing Out

In 2019 I started what I thought was going to be a little project, maybe a throw blanket for watching movies on the couch ...  What ended up happening is I spent the year knitting a Queen size bedspread because, of course I did.  I don't think I've met a thing yet that part of me doesn't love to over-complicate.  The point was, to take a moment out of each day, and do something solely for myself.  The cool thing about using this idea to make a tangible item is that at the end of the year you actually have something to commemorate the process, and something to serve as a physical reminder to check-in, and look after yourself.  I can walk through a room now, and see the blanket folded up, or draped over the arm of something, or rumpled up on my bed, and it prompts me to ask myself if I've bothered to do anything just for me that day, just because it feels good to do it, and for no other practical reason whatsoever.  Could I have achieved the same thing with something a bit smaller?  Perhaps, but I'm not actually sure about that.  I'm not really into hints, and subtleties.  I like BIG signs; things that are unavoidable; things with impact, so maybe this did need to be the behemoth that it's turned out to be.  

Cheer up, things could get worse ...

... So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse!  

This was a line my mother and her group of friends used to toss back and forth at each other in the 1960s, and I've tried to pin it down for attribution, but so far I've come up with three possibilities: James Hagerty, Robert Lynn Asprin, or Jerome Lester Horwitz, also known as, Curly Howard.  It seems like such a Curly thing to say, so I'm going with that one, except in my head when I hear him saying it, "worse" is always spelled, "woiyse," because, of course it is.

E - I - E - I - Whoa

Dahlias: First year seedlings, 2021

Last Spring, I talked very briefly about the Floret Flower Farm Workshop I joined; I wanted to share so much more throughout the year than I was able to.  Taking a crack at becoming a flower micro-farm started out okay enough ... The first 6 weeks of the year were dedicated to the class itself, garden-planning, and ordering.  The first two parts were great!  The ordering, however, was a little frustrating simply because stock started running out by the time the planning sections of the workshop wrapped up, so by the time I was ready to buy, and thought I knew what I was doing, almost everything I wanted was already sold out.  

Ready, Set ... No?

New tapestry for my someday art studio

I don't know about anyone else, but I've had the hardest time getting into the "swing" of this here new year.  I'm sure the invasion of Ukraine, and the fact that my family has extended family and friends in, around, and from the affected areas isn't exactly helping ... But even without the chaos of war constantly looming in my mind, it's been incredibly difficult for me to get motivated for anything, which is pretty strange for me, because typically I'm all: Let's plan it!  Review it!  Make a list (many lists)!  And check them way more than twice ... But I just can't, like, get there ... Which is madness in itself, because I have everything I need, and arguably more, and yet, I'm just here in this weird purgatory.  I mean, I haven't even done my 2021 wrap-up yet.

Look For The Helpers **Updated March 20, 2022**

During, and after every crisis the Mr. Rogers quote, "Look for the helpers" makes the rounds on social media, and it's wonderful ... It really is ... But you know he's talking about you, right?  Well, you, me, us, all of us - WE'RE the adults now, and we're the ones that are supposed to be helping.  

A Time to T'winkle?

Twinkle, twinkle little periwinkle!

Now that we're firmly in 2022 ... You know, we still may not know what we're doing, or where we're going, but we've kicked the tires, and adjusted the mirrors ... Or at the very least, stopped writing "2021" on our checks (this is a reference for all of us Olds out here still using paper checks) is it time to talk about the color of the year as crowned by Pantone?  

Will Drive You ... MaaaaAAAaaad!

 

If my relationships aren't this intense, I simply don't want any of them.

They're not a couple.  They're retired.  And the current Winter Olympics are happening right now, but this is the only figure skating program that ever has, or ever will matter.  Capital "P" period.

xoxo

Modify & Revise

Word of the year: Mutation

A little on-the-nose, I'll grant you, but significant, and appropriate.