Goodbye 2014

So all my thoughts and hopes to blog more in 2014 ended up being just that - thoughts and hopes. I didn't blog about all the wonderful things we did or all the sad things that happened during the year. So I'm not going to dredge all the things that happened but one significant thing that did go on.

In the beginning of the year, we took our beloved 14 year old lab mix to the vet for his annual check-up and shots. He left with a clean bill of health.  It was not to much later that he was back because his legs gave out on him one day and he was stumbling. We came home with the sad diagnosis of lymphatic cancer. We opted to do the most for him to keep him happy and comfortable and not make his small amount of time here on earth miserable. With the vet in agreement we did all we could and kept him quite happy and lasting longer than they thought.

On July 14 we said goodbye to a loving and faithful friend. He was a remarkable dog that will never be replaced. Our home has been empty without him. I never realized how much he was part of our family until he was gone.

This is the post that still hurts to write and should have been a long time ago, but....

January 3, 2000 - July 14, 2014

An Accomplishment to Share

Finally here and updating this poor blog! I've been so busy settling in with life here. Volunteer work, a hobby "job" and then a retinal hemorrhage that really put a damper on things, so you know what usually suffers - the blog, diary, etc.

Well, the retina is clearing up, and I am slowly getting back to stitching. It's been soooo long since I picked up a needle. I think I almost forgot how to stitch.  I have been working on this piece for years on and off. It's an official UFO (UnFinished Object) but it is now seeing the possibility of becoming finished. I put the final stitches in of The Bent Creek December Snapper and am now working on the border. Now, hopefully I'll have it done before the New Year and if not, well there's a new year right around the corner :)

A Clean Slate

Again we are upon a New Year - giving us a clean slate to begin again. What is it about putting up a new calendar that gives us hope and a better outlook? Our past still doesn't change, but our attitudes do!

I spend my time from Christmas to New Years reflecting on what accomplishments I've made and what I want to accomplish in the next year. I refuse to do resolutions but instead I do a long list of things I'd love to get done. Do I ever do them all - no, but when I pull out the list that I created the previous year, I feel a sense of accomplishment as I see all that I have checked off. This is especially good when I feel like I didn't get anything accomplished over the past year.

My daughter thinks the lists are silly. Why make a list that you're not going to complete? She sees it as a list where she's failed to do things she wanted to. Me? I see it so much differently. I must confess, I'll move a majority of things to the next year sometimes, but they are things I'd like to get done in the near future.

This year I had crossed off many that I hadn't really expected to. With moving into a new home and having a few small frames for a garden, I never expected to put up the amount of home preserved food that I did. With hubby's restricted diet, it became more necessary to do so. I could tailor the foods the way we needed them and not being at the mercy of the grocery stores.

This year, my list is MUCH longer and a little more detailed. I need to get a sewing area done so that I can make some flannel nighties that I can't seem to find anywhere. I have to do the same with knit socks, a favorite apron, pickled hot peppers and spirited peaches. This simple list gives me hope and satisfaction throughout the year, but especially at the end. Is it silly? My daughter thinks so, but for me, it will be a tradition I will carry on until the end of my time.