Making Goals for the New Year

We are coming to the end of the year again. The holidays are nearly over and it's time to make resolutions. One of my friends is not making resolutions; she is reviewing the past year's accomplishments. I think that may be a good idea in addition to making goals for the new year. My goals for 2014 are mainly of the outdoor variety. Last year I made my sunny garden, and the time that went into that cut my cycling time way down. This year I hope to add more beach and cycling time to my week without stinting on my gardening time. If I make time for one beach visit and one long ride every week I think I can do it all. I think this will be the year we purchase our kayaks. We could easily entertain ourselves every Sunday paddling around. The dogs would appreciate more walking in my daily schedule.

In gardening goals I have a few plans. I want to get my shrub border properly mulched this year to emphasize it and set it off from the "lawn". I think I have as many shrubs as I want, so mulching will lend it a bit of importance, especially as the shrubs are still quite small and unimposing. I can start a little underplanting too, at least under the shrubs which are tall enough to have an "under". Shana wants to bulk up our front bed for privacy. We are agreed on an arborvitae: Thuja "Green Giant". It's fast growing, good looking, and grows well on the Cape. Shana would like to run the all across the front, which would cut down on some awkward mowing and give me a little more space to add flowering shrubs and some ornamental grasses in front. Also I want a boulder in that bed. I wouldn't mind adding a little something behind my shady bed between my rear neighbors and my bathroom window! I think that there is enough to do this summer without adding another bed.

We will replace the radiators in the living room as they are old and rusted. I would like to replace the bulkhead this year although I think it can go a little longer. I need one additional side chair to be able to serve dinner to six people who are sitting down. That's a thrift shop purchase. I'd like to have two sawhorses and a door for an outdoor dining table (Home Depot) and a sewing table (thrift shop).

In crafting goals my major plan is to knit a sweater. I have a pattern purchased, and two sweater quantities of yarn ordered (maybe it will arrive today!). I could use some mittens - a quick project. I have inserts for pillows for Shana's giant recliner and have only to select fabric to cover them. That will be a quickie project, a single afternoon even if Shana wants piping. I will put a curtain, probably on velcro,  across my desk so that from my reading chair I am not looking at open mixed storage. Thrift shop tablecloths would be the ideal fabric, although I can easily find something suitable at the fabric store. The backsplash area in the kitchen needs to be painted - we have selected a strong blue to emphasize our countertops. I need to seal the countertops. That's another quickie project where the most time consuming part is purchasing the product. I will not be making swants. Ever.

For online goals I have a few items to consider. I would like to try to keep up with a daily photo. That I will probably post to Tumblr. I need to make sure I have a weekly blog post. There are loads of photos which have not made it over to my Flickr account. I took a lot of iphone pictures in 2013. In 2014 I need to get back in the habit of taking some pictures with my actual cameras for better quality. If I check social media only once per day I should be able to devote more time to my goals for real world accomplishments!