Progress towards 2015 Goals and 2016 Plans

Progress on 2015 goals:

Lobster trap floats on Macmillan Pier

During 2015 I lost 15 pounds and regained 10. Still ahead for the year, but a rather sorry showing. Back on Weight Watchers for me! I have already started that. I did not ride or paddle nearly enough, and Mitzi did not get a daily walk. I did some swimming, which I did not include in my goals but which surely counts as exercise. I not only finished the sweater in progress last January, but also knit another. The lace shawl I wanted to knit has been cast on, but is only about 10 inches square. I did not try entrelac at all. I did try needle felting, and made Vivian a needle felted gift.  I am not satisfied with my reading, although I probably read more than last year. I can't have posted here weekly - I can see less than 52 posts are up. Another goal missed. I did post daily on Twitter and probably at least weekly on Instagram. Better than nothing. Tumblr was a bust. Clearly 365 is not my Tumblr jam. Another theme will be selected. I did volunteer at MSPCA, but will be doing something different this year. The coffee dates I wanted to plan to increase how often I see friends were not weekly but not absent either. More follow up needed here. In the garden some goals were achieved and some not so much. I did get another flower bed well started, but my veggies did not do all that well. 

Goals for 2016: 

Matching Fleece

Improved weight management and fitness is on the menu again. Official numbers: three gym visits per week, one kayaking trip per week all summer, swimming every time I go to the beach, Cycling twice per week.

In knitting I want to finish the lace shawl, Shana's vest, a crochet cactus garden for Shana, a poncho for myself, and at least three pair of mittens. I still want to try entrelac or brioche stitch, and I will include it although I may not actually get to it. I will make at least another needle felted object.

I want to get a weekly post up here on the blog, and at least one weekly post on Tumblr. I think I will post pictures on Mitzi there. I have to have a specific theme for Tumblr for that little side project to work.

My volunteer gig this year will be two shifts in the office of Waquoit Congregational Church. Shana volunteered me, but I am willing to do it, particularly for a better connection with the other church members. I still need to call my other seldom seen friends for coffee dates. I have some free time to do it and I need to broaden and deepen my friend base. This year I will also join the Mashpee Women's Club and sign up for a book club therein. That will also improve progress towards reading goals.

good behavior

This year I will not put in another flower bed. I am going to turn over a portion of my veggie garden to flowers and double down on the veggie crops that do well for me. Collards, herbs and tomatoes for sure, string beans and carrots seem to do OK. I will move some of the plants from my entry bed to areas where their surprising and inappropriate size will be a better fit (I'm looking at YOU, miscanthus chinesis!). This will involve enlarging the bed at the front of the house a little - running it around the corner enough for the miscanthus and one or two substantial shrubs to give a better balance to the northwest corner of the foundation plantings. Even though the bed will be a little bigger I will not be planting anything fussy or expensive. I'll finish my delightful bottle tree, after giving it the winter to be sure it will hold up for me, and install a bird house in the northeast corner bed. I will improve the amount of time spent weeding the beds I already have instead of lounging about watching the Today Show. I'd like to add another bird bath as well. In order to improve my edging performance I need to either improve my wrapping skills or track down one of those aftermarket items that does not need refilling. I hate rewinding the edger string with a white hot passion. One of my friends is buying a house this spring, and I can exorcise any desires for new beds on her place. And maybe pass on some of my more vigorous devils!

On 6A

My out of left field goal for this year is to learn to play the ukulele. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube to choose from, and with only a few cords I think I would enjoy it. We have an instrument already.

This list of goals seems manageable and a little ambitious, so we'll see how I do. In the meantime here's a video worth seeing. It's in Russian, and the subtitles are a delightful diversion in themselves.

It's a Dogs Life

Dogs add so much to our lives. I've got two at the moment - one young and spry and the other an elderly lady. Old dogs and disabled dogs don't seem to spend a lot of time sulking about their condition; they just continue with life as it is.

Proof of my Very Bad Winter

NASA has a time lapse video of my actual winter right here, and you really should watch it to see how bad our winter really was. I had to resort to putting my finger on Cape Cod to remember where it is because it was so often obscured by winter storms. First World Problems I guess because we did not lose power, find ourselves unable to pay bills because of lost work days, or get in a winter accident. Still, we were not all that pleased with our winter wonderland.

My garden soil is thawed out enough for the chard to be coming up, and I have been able to dig up some carrots that overwintered in place. This week I think I may start planting peas and some lettuce to see what happens. I have lots of lettuce seed, so if I don't get an early crop I won't be too upset. I was supposed to have a yard clean up crew last week but SNOW. I am hoping for more action this week except for RAIN. I am patient, but some plants are breaking dormancy and need to be freed from debris. I've started clearing some of the leaves from the beds and piling them up for the yard crew to take away.  I did start a little pruning already to at least get the Montauk Daisies under control (or at least the illusion of control). They get rolling so early I don't like to wait. If I let them get tall they will flop over when they start to bloom in the fall. Besides they will take over the earth.

The dogs are bored stiff - I bought them little kongs today for a change of activity. Right after I gave Roxy hers she dropped it to be sure that Mitzi was not getting something better. She has realized that Mitzi is getting something every morning that she is not (a pill) and tries every morning to get to Mitzi's bowl to steal the "prize". As bad as her eyesight is I do not know how she always knows exactly where it is, but we have had some near misses. She's too clever by half.

While I wait for spring to get in gear I am still knitting with nothing finished to show for it even though lots of time is going into it. I'm reading garden magazines and websites, and every night I go to bed thinking and rethinking how my landscape project should progress. My latest crazy idea is to plant some asparagus. It may take a few years to get going but will need very little attention for a great payoff. Shana and I both love it. The only thing that makes me dubious is the depth of the trench asparagus requires. The place I want to plant it is really rocky and will be no fun at all to dig out. My other crazy idea is planting potatoes in a tub.

I am also hitting the thrift stores and junk shops with my favorites in mind: vintage craft books, pre 1972 Corning Ware cornflower pattern, vintage cast iron in usable condition, and vintage Pyrex. My latest find is probably from around 1974, a nice set of bowls in the Old Orchard pattern. I already have a set of brown Butterprint that I purchased new in the 70's plus a larger gold cinderella bowl in the Daisy pattern probably from the 60's; I got it for 50 cents at a garage sale around 2000. I've got my eye out for the square refrigerator bowls, but so far no luck in the shops. I'm counting on estate sales and garage sales during the summer to fill out some holes! I also pick up crocheted coasters when I find them because I am too lazy to make them myself. If I stick to just a few things I am looking for I can have a nice time digging around without filling the house to the rafters with junk. Shana thinks I already have enough junk. I suspect it's just not her style of junk because it seems there is always some kind of BBQ equipment we lack.

Some Dogs Like Snow

It's wonderful to see all these dogs enjoying a big snowfall. My girls are not so much into it. Mitzi loves it up to about 4 inches, but past that she objects to the snow up against her little stomach. Roxy has no interest on being cold and wet anymore. We clear a space in the yard for them so they can run out for "business" and come right back in. Cold weather will be back early next week  with snow coming in midweek. I have two conflicting hopes about this weather: I want very little snow because the dogs hate it and I don't care for driving in it. AND I want gobs of snow so that we will get to play with the new slowblower.

Today I took the girls to Happy Tails to get their nails cut. I don't mind bathing the girls and I have been known to do some grooming, but I do not do nails. It was NOT fun for all, but they put up with it.  Because Mitzi is still struggling with car sickness I try to both make the trips short and to include a special treat that makes her want to go in the car again. Today we took advantage of the continuing good weather to get in a walk in the woods after their manicures. Walking soothes Mitzi's anxiety and gives them something to think about for the rest of  the day. When we have gone for an interesting walk Roxy is less inclined to get into mischief. As they say: "A tired dog is a good dog".


I met a friend for lunch and hit a thrift store on the way home. Scores: a lime green pot just the right size to round up the dog items I keep on the kitchen counter (salmon oil for their coats, Mitzi's doggie Prozac, Rescue Remedy for stormy days, ear drops). I also found a really nice pashmina style scarf in a brown & gold paisley for $3.00. Shana has taken to wearing scarves to dress up her work looks so our scarves have been getting a lot of action around here. I don't dress up for work these days but for social occasions I like having pretty accessories. The thrifts around here are pretty decent, although like thrift stores everywhere it does not do to have too specific an idea about what you would like to find. I was really looking at books today but did not see anything that caught my eye on the book shelves. I always look at kitchen equipment to see if there are any nice green or cobalt blue items and I check out any teapots on offer.



Knitting this week has been a mixed exercise. At the moment I have a laceweight shawl, a pair of socks, a pair of colorwork mitts and a sweater on the needles. Startitis has set in. The sweater is moving along, with reservations. My problems have nothing to do with the fact that it is my first sweater; they have more to do with my wandering mind, a chart that I can't quite make friends with, and a selvage stitch that is not mentioned on the chart or in the written instructions. The last time I got off course and instead of stopping right away I knit three more rows of over 200 stitches each. Finally I came to my senses and tinked it all back. One stitch at a time because there are a bunch of twisted stitches in there that I did not want to mess up. The moral of the story is if it doesn't look right STOP. This is a hard lesson for me to learn.