Ah, New Year Day… a time to reflect on the past, and then ruminate on the future.

First the reflections:

• Holy-free-holies… where the heck did 2021 go? I know the years go by faster as you get older, but I’m pretty sure 2021 was only about 26 weeks long!

• Ok, admittedly, that because we had a major happening; ie We bought our first house!!!! And it really was a whirlwind. We started looking in March, and by the end of April we had our place picked out and offer approved. Early May saw the approval of the financing by the bank. June 1st we closed, and took possession. We then spent the bulk of June and July doing as much renovation as we could, and officially moved in on July 24th! Things slowed down a little after the move, but not that much. As of December 31st, we had the catio built, the basement refreshed (it got a good cleaning and a fresh coat of paint), two rooms 90% renovated (Dave’s studio and the lower living room), and one room partially renovated (the laundry room – just enough so we could get a laundry sink in as there wasn’t one). And Dave has started on fixing up his garage – he got the important things done (i.e. his sounds system, a tv, and computer installed out there! Ha!)

• COVID continued to make life difficult. But we still both have our jobs, and our health. In fact, we are better off financially than we’ve ever been, which is kind of amazing And we still managed to socialize a little. Dave has stepped in with his Grandma’s care and spent every other weekend with her to help give his Mom a break. This will continue in 2022. I got to spend a few weekends with Dad and Mom and her quilt machine! And we squeezed in a few visits with friends here and there too! Once COVID settles again, and we can do more things outside, I hope to see a few more people. I’m not a huge social butterfly, but there are definitely people who’s company I miss!

• In terms of crafting, you saw in my year end round ups – the go-go-go nature of the year didn’t make too much of a difference in my output. It was a fabulous year of crafting, and we managed to sell quite a few quilts too.

Now the ruminations… what will 2022 bring?

• I hope the pace will be a little bit slower!!!
• In terms of the house, my goals for the year are to finish off the studio and lower living room (they need windows and trim), and then renovate the upper living room and dining room. Outside, we need to attend to the sun porch (it’s sinking and we need to decide if it can be jacked and re-supported, or needs to be completely rebuilt). Landscaping is also high up on the agenda. I’m not going to go too crazy… I have a lot of space to work with. But I want to get the front of the house started, and looking more presentable. I also want to landscape the inside of the catio fence. There’s so much bare ground there right now, that every time it rains, it turns into a giant mud hole, and the cats just track it all inside. Ideally when I’m, done with it, it will be 80% gardens, with a looped path and a small grass patch for munching and sunning.
  Dave would also like to do some more work on the garage. By the end of the year, I hope to see new garage doors on it, and insulate and drywall the interior.
• Financially, as I’ve said, we are better than we’ve ever been. Last year Dave managed to pay off his credit cards. Now we are focusing on mine. It will mean the renovations won’t go as fast as we’d like, but it will be worth it in the long run. By the end of the year, the only debt I want is the mortgage.
• When it comes to my crafting, knitting and quilting will continue! The yarn stash is overflowing, so I’m making the commitment to knit only from stash this year. I’ve been pretty good at that the last few years, though in 2020/21 I did buy quite a bit of sock yarn. Between that and dyeing up the last of the Wandering Cat stock, I’m pretty well supplied.
  Quilting is tougher… I’ve got a great stash, but sometimes you really need to buy something to finish off a quilt (usually a backing). I am going to try buy as little as possible, and it will only be to go with projects I’ve started… not something new I saw online and just had to have!
• And last, I hope to explore our new area a little more. We’ve gotten to know the immediate area pretty well, but there’s still lots to discover. I’m hoping to talk Dave into some hiking. And maybe get Dad out here for some fishing (we haven’t fished together in years.)

Here’s hoping 2022 brings wonderful things to you and yours!