New Year, New Challenges

 

Although January 1st is just another day without a calendar to mark its importance, there's something satisfying and almost mystical to think about a new year and a new beginning. Each year, my last week of the December is spent reflecting and looking at my goals list to see what I had accomplished, what I didn't get done, and deciding what I would like to roll over to the next year. Most of the time, I will roll all of the goals I didn't meet, but I do find things that won't make the cut because of life changes. Births, deaths, marriages, divorces, illnesses, moving away etc. all have an impact. Since life likes to get in the way (quite a bit I should say) I make goals and not resolutions. To me, they are much more realistic and I don't feel guilty if I don't make that goal, as there is always next year.

The goals this year are not much different than any other year. There will be a few changes - and these are bit more significant than my list from years past, so I will list them here:

• Hubby and I will be planting a decent size garden which means a lot more work both in the garden and putting it up.
• I'll be challenging myself to learn new skills in different crafting areas, including knitting, crochet, leatherwork, sewing, jewelry making, embroidery, paper crafting, etc
• I have a few adult pant-by-numbers I want to do. I got them for a Christmas present for myself. 
• I will be attempting to sew some much needed project bags
• Now- the biggie... No more yarn purchases. I really, really need to use my stash up. I will put an exception in, and that is I may have to purchase something if my daughter requests something special. She has done that in the past, so... 
• I am going to be working on donations throughout the year. Since I will be working on my knitting and crochet skills, I'll be working the special techniques on hats, mitts, etc., so this way I can practice my skills and create some lovely donation items. 
• I need to smash some paper pads and supplies and get some cards made. I am planning on once again donating some cards to the #cardsforcubs program that Bearly Arts collects for every year. 
• I'll be creating a herb study journal. I'm waiting for my journal to arrive from Amazon.

That should be enough to keep me busy for the year. I do find it funny when people complain about being bored - especially with this time of being limited on what we can and cannot do as well as limited travel. I don't have enough time in the day to get everything done, let alone be bored. LOL

Do you have any plans for this year?

HELLO 2021!

 

For me, it's not vows, but plans and goals that I'd LIKE TO DO this year. Nothing is written in stone, but I do have a list written in my notebook. I wrote down some places I'd like to go, books I'd like to read and things I'd like to make. Then I started a list of things I have on hand, especially kits that I've purchased in the past that haven't been touched. Well, that made me realize how much I really do have here and I need to start using it. I'm older and need to start working on things because I don't have as many years ahead of me to craft as I used to! 

This year is going to be all about handmade. I'm going to try to make everything I want and need (well... as much as possible) and not purchase it. If I need new pants, sweater, etc. - I'll be making it. I have a decent enough amount of supplies here to do them. I am also going to be making my own bath and body products. I've found that they are so much nicer than the store bought versions and actually work better! Plus I can customize to exactly what I need by changing the carrier oils, essential oils or other ingredients. 

My biggest challenge is going to be not buying any yarn. I'm hoping to make it through the whole year, but right now my goal is one month at a time. I'll tell you - it was difficult to not take advantage of the sales at the beginning of the month! OHHHH! And there were some good ones, too!!! I really need to get this stash of yarn under control. I was down in the basement and was going through the boxes we hadn't unpacked after moving. (I hang my head in shame). Well - I swear I'd come across another box of yarn and then another. It got to the point of me saying, "ANOTHER ONE?!" 

This year is also going to be getting the basement done so I can have a craft room. I really need a dedicated crafting area. That will prevent surprises like I had going through the boxes in the basement. Hopefully by summer I will have one - or more realistically by the end of the year. 

So these are my goals for the year. Nothing too difficult and nothing written in stone. The kits list is long and the yarn stash is huge, so I should do ok with no shopping. 

One Second After - Preparedness

I love preserving food and am always looking for interesting ways to put up our bounty or new ways to cut out processed/packaged foods from the grocery store. I am always watching something on YouTube or combing through the groups I'm a part of on Facebook. One of the things that I've been hearing about throughout these communities is a book called "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen. 

I was curious, so I borrowed it from the library. Talk about a captivating read!! The premise of the book is what happens after an electromatic pulse (EMP) has gone off. There is a foward by Newt Gingrich and an afterword by Captain Bill Sanders of the U.S. Navy, both stating this scenario could truly happen. The story was fast paced and well written. It was very thought provoking and made me think of what could happen and how we would or would not handle the situation. 

I'm not a prepper, but one who puts away a little food because I don't care for the taste of most processed/prepackaged items that I've tried at the grocery store. I do a small batch of soups, etc. and my pantry looks like everyone else's except that my food is in jars instead of cans. Not a lot, and certainly not enough to get me through something like this disaster. 

This book should be added to everyone's reading list. If nothing else, it's an entertaining and informative read.  "One Second After" is my first finish of 2020.

Another first for 2020 - actually for the first time ever... we didn't have pork and sauerkraut for New Year's Day, yesterday. Pork was quite high at the store, so I purchased a ham instead. I figured I could use some of the left over ham for ham and bean soup. Well, that certainly didn't turn out well. I sliced open the packaging around the ham and my knife came out with a long string of slime hanging from it! It was horribly gross. I pulled the plastic back some from the ham and it was covered in a thick slimy mucous that was certainly not appealing nor should it be there. It appears we had purchased a spoiled ham! That goes back to Walmart today. We ended up having hamburger soup instead. I guess we'll find out if eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's truly brings luck and good fortune!

2020: New Year - New Decade

The new year arrived quietly under a bed of white for us. Our son's plans changed, and instead of chancing the weather, he spent the evening with us. I treasure the time we can spend with our children, because they will soon have families of their own and lives of their own.

I am looking forward to this year. Our daughter will be getting married in the fall and our son has started a new job that is much more suited to him compared to his last job. Hubby and I are planning on planting a larger garden which will be nice. We have many ideas we are tossing around between us. It will soon be time to start planting seeds and seeing the miracle of those tiny embryos turn into plants and food for our family.

I have a few personal goals set:

1. Lose 10% of my body weight
2. Read through Paul's books of the Bible 12x
3. Complete at least one online course
4. Remove processed foods and most sugars from my diet
5. Try making cheese
6. Read 33 books including:

• 10 classics
• 10 of the 1001 Books You Should Read Before You Die

7. Complete a few knit and crochet projects off my list
8. Turn the basement into a nice usable area
9. Make a craft area in the basement
10. Weed out unused/unnecessary things

I'm sure the list will grow longer as time goes on. I have so many things I want to complete or try.

That's my year's plan in a nutshell.

Happy New Year!

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We can again begin with a brand new slate and a fresh outlook with new goals. There are no failures, just setbacks that can be learned from or changed. I love sitting down at the beginning of each year and plan. Those plans will be many and I may or may not attempt or succeed at doing them all, but this list of plans always signifies hope and dreams for me.

Yesterday, we went to town to get a pork shoulder for the traditional New Year's Pork and Sauerkraut and of course I have to browse the after Christmas markdowns. We always replenish our wrapping paper and boxes for the next year and look for things that can be used throughout the year as well.

I came across a marked down amaryllis that was abused and begged to be rescued.  It absolutely STANK with the smell of a putrid aquarium - almost a sewer smell to it. The poor bulb was swimming in water and it was hacked off - no flower, no leaves, nothing but a spent mass of smell.

I had to take it home and disassemble it. What I found was a bulb that had the basal plate chopped off, roots trying to grow but most were rotted off.  I washed it off and cleaned it as best as I could.

I really wish I had taken photos of the condition it was in when I took it out of the container, but my main concern was getting this poor thing planted in a new pot in soil and hope that it would recover from all its abuse.

It is now in a sunny window and possibly in soil for the first time in its life. I wonder what it's "thinking" now...

The plant was in a very tall vase type container that was filled with rocks and the spiked stand that kept it off the bottom of the container and kept it level. These things had to be washed and washed to get rid of the putrid smell. They still need to be bleached and then they will all be repurposed. That poor amaryllis will never have to worry about seeing that torture chamber again.

Now we just have to convince it to survive...

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.

A New Year!!

I hope that your holiday season was full of the love of family and friends and you stuffed yourself silly with great food. :)

You will notice that things here haven't been updated in a while. This blog goes along with the seasons - now the garden and things are on down time, and not much is new and exciting on the home front, so updates here are slow. As spring comes, there will be more activity and you'll hear my chattering about planting, canning, and everything imaginable. Now, with downtime, I spend a lot of time enjoying the slow season, and I work on my cross stitch. Cross stitching really has no place on a homestead blog. I really don't do anything with it except for decorating and gifts. I have another blog for just my crafting life, and if you'd like to see it, you can visit at:

Tweezle's Explorations

I've had the Explorations blog for years and it has always centered around my stitching and other needlecrafts. My homesteading adventures didn't fit there, so I found a need for this blog. I will be flopping back and forth between these two blogs, keeping my 2 interests pretty much separated. Please stop by and see what I've been up to. I've put my link on the sidebar so that you can find it, if you ever need to.

Have a lovely New Year's Day!!