Looking towards 2026

 This week I have most of the week off work. I still have a mess of vacation time to use, and this is a great week to use some of it up. 

I spent Sunday evening working on kitting up cross stitch projects for the new year and writing show notes for my last flosstube of the year.  There wasn't much else to do since it was snowing. *sigh* 

Yes, I know I shouldn't be surprised about snow.  It is the end of December, after all.  

What I woke up to on Monday morning. 

I miss daylight in the a.m.

Photos I took when I went out to collect mail. 

It sure was bright and sunny towards the end of the day. 

Why I say we do indeed live in Narnia. 

It's so nice seeing bright blue skies. 

My road. 

The back 20.

By the she shed. 

Towards the end of the snow clean up my son stopped to take a photo of the sky (I assume) I thought it was such a sweet moment to capture that I quick grabbed my own phone and took a photo of him. 

He's such a good boy. 

Yesterday was a publishing day. The last one of the year. Once the day was done I went out and plowed and snow blowed the areas my hubby didn't do in the a.m. before he went to work.  It's a good partnership.  My son cleared off the back deck and front porch. 

I worked like mad on Monday to ensure I'd get the rest of the week off work. Today was kind of a slacker day for me.  Which was nice because I was feeling a bit sore from yesterday's laboring.  I did record my last flosstube video of the year. 

I pretty much covered what my crafting plans are for the upcoming year so I won't rehash any of that here. 

I'm looking forward to the new garden season, continued improved health (fingers crossed). I've been a good girl and haven't gone to the seed websites and perused, or anything. It won't be long before the big box stores start hauling out the seed displays and I'm not sure how long I'll hold up then. 

On the health front I've been gradually improving in how I feel. If I over exert too much I flare up for what feels like forever, but it is getting better. I'm feeling optimistic. 

 I've been thinking of changes in the workplace that will be coming our way. I work in an industry that is changing and we need to change with it. There's been a lot of uncertainty for several years and things have finally peaked (If that's the right way to describe it) There are a lot of different emotions going on with all of us. But if the end result is what I hope it will be, that will be a really great thing. I've been at my place for work for almost 23 years and I'd hate for the place to completely fold after being around for 72 years (Almost 73). 

If the last few years have taught me anything, it's patience and trusting that things will eventually work out. Some things just take longer than you expect. *ahem* 

In a nutshell, I recognize that next year is likely going to have some pretty big changes, but there will also be some great things happening, too.  I'm not making any great plans for anything. If something comes up, I'll just take some deep breathes and think of the best way to handle the situation. 

So that's my great and profound thoughts for the upcoming year. 

January mid-month post (I can't think of anything clever for the title)

 My first week back in the real world (aka not on vacation) has been ... something.  January is a tough month. The major holiday hoopla is all done with and now it's just snow and cruddy weather to look forward to until Valentine's Day.  Though a column I just read would talk about all the saints days that could be celebrated if you aren't quite ready to settle in for the winter and wait until it's time to start seeds.  Or is that just me that is watching the calendar until seed starting time? 

The weather has been typical January weather. The last few years we haven't had much, if any, snow in December. Over the weekend we got snow.  Enough snow that my hubby got to pull out the atv and push the snow around a little bit. It was not enough snow to warrant pulling out the tractor and using the plow and snowblower implements. What did we buy that tractor for again? *scratches head* It must have been to admire it's looks. Ha! Seriously, though, we have found plenty of uses for it. We just haven't had to use it for what we originally bought it for. Actually, I don't know whether to be happy or disappointed about that. 

I had taken a few photos of the snow in the front yard. Then decided the Sunday sunrise in the backyard would be better. 

The fiery sun trying to overcome the cold that was hanging around.  The snow was super fluffy and it sparkled like diamonds at night when I went out to tuck the birds in and had the flashlight. 

Winter and snow is here to stay. It also brought in some sub-zero temps.  The weather forecasters are predicting more snow Friday. The timing is good if it's going to be on the weekend.  No rush to get things cleaned out before going off to work. I think I've said every year for the last several years that I would be fine with one snow storm and that would be it. Clean it all up once and call it good. 

A girl can dream, right? 

A fun thing from the weekend was seeing a flock of wild turkeys near the house.  I haven't seen too many turkeys this year, except for a few times when I was sitting out in the hunting blind.  There is one spot close to town where the turkeys flock in HUGE numbers. I love seeing turkeys around the house and hope to one day have a flock of at least 50 birds in the area. 

Really, though, things have been quiet. Earlier this month I was out in the she shed and decided "I want to knit _____" and I saw a skein of yarn and thought "I wonder what that would look like knitted up as _______" so I grabbed the yarn, found my pattern and got to it. 

What did I make?  Well, I decided Furby Jr. needed a boyfriend. 

Don't they make a cute couple? Yes, he is a bit smaller than her. Remember, Furby was a big fluffy girl. 

He doesn't have a name yet. 

Furby Jr.'s Boyfriend

Project Name: Furby Jr.'s Boyfriend
Started: Jan. 3, 2025

Finished: Jan. 13, 2025

Designer/Source: Emotional Support Chicken 

Yarn: Red Heart "Favorite Stripe

Colors: Rainbow colors

Needle size: U.S. 5 (3.75 mm) 

The next morning, when I went out to the living room, those two birds were caught in a compromising position. I said "Furby! You naughty girl!"

She didn't look embarrassed.  I think she is thoroughly smitten with her new boytoy. 

Speaking of chickens, I have a chicken story. I thought it might be better told verbally than trying to write it down. 

Mist and ice

I've mentioned to a few people recently how the December weather up here in the northwoods of Wisconsin has not been typical the last couple of years. 

Right around Christmas time the temperature rose and was up in the mid-40s Fahrenheit and then it started raining and drizzling right before the temperature went back down below freezing. 

Now my back yard is an ice rink. Fun times. 

Though it has been a bit amusing to see the chickens try to maneuver over the ice.  I don't have any video. I don't carry my phone with me all the time.  Shocking, I know.  

This morning there was so much moisture in the air the local weather people put out a fog advisory. 

It looked like my house should be on a moor, or something. Photos don't do it justice. 

It was so dreary out there. 

Oh look, an ice rink in the front, too. 

I did notice something neat this morning when I went out to do chicken chores. 

Droplets on the ends of the pine needles.  I haven't seen this before. 

Very pretty in real life.  It was hard to get photos of it. 

Today was a work day for me, after having a *full* week off.  I was expecting to have a ton of emails to go through.  Nope.  I was thankful for that. I took care of the things that needed taking care of and something was brought to my attention that was an error.  Ooops. In the grand scheme it's not the end of the world. 

It's just a few more days until the new year.  How do I feel about this?  Well, I saw this meme on the book of faces this morning and thought it was apt. 

 

The last two or three years it seems I've had one significant thing happen and it set the tone (or the mood) for the rest of the year.  I'm looking at 2025 and thinking "Be nice." As a whole, I think we are all due an easy year. Right? 

I highly doubt I'll be writing tomorrow. Soooo ... I'll see you next year! 

Getting ready for the winter

 It's been a moment since I last wrote anything. 

What have I been up to? A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I actually started writing a blog post a couple weeks ago. Got distracted. Forgot what I was doing and started working on something else. 

It seems to be the thing lately.  I feel like what I've been doing lately is so boring and not very exciting. 

The long and short is that my hubby and I were finishing up the big wood splitting project. 

I had a supervisor.  

She said my workspace was a mess and I should do something about it.  Well, she wasn't wrong. 

So I sort of did something about it.  Or, I had my hubby do something about it *wink*

The final round stack of the project.

I finally harvested those carrots. it was like the final kick in the teeth to the garden season this year. Or something like that. I did not get nearly as many carrots as I thought I would.  A real bummer. 

At least the washing process wasn't so overwhelming.  I have two one-gallon bags of carroty goodness in the back of my fridge. 

I got the carrots taken care of just in time, too.  It snowed the next day and the ground froze. 

I admit, it was kinda magical and beautiful for a moment. 

Then reality set in, along with the cold. 

I am a member of one of those Aldi groups on the book of faces and someone mentioned something about homemade bacon ... 

Yeah, you know we had to give that a try. 

We used some pork we had in the freezer and I found a recipe. 

Right after pulling it out of the brine

After slicing it up and before cooking it.

One word: YUM!

One of my very good knit friends sent me a box of goodies and one of the items in the box was this fun chicken. 

Cute, right?  I put it in Furby's space for a while.  I had to move it because we both kept thinking there was a real chicken in the house. 

In the midst of all this I have been doing a wee bit of crafting. In November I really focused on my One Piece cross stitch and finally sat down and started working on the porcupine boxes. 

I really had to psych myself up for cutting the fabric on this.  

It's so cute. 

I can't wait to show off the final pieces. I'm still not done with the one.  I'm still deciding on whether to put the pom-pom trim on it, or not. 

I went digging for the cross stitch ornaments I made earlier this year.  I was so bummed when I discovered one of the frames broke. 

Fortunately I have extra frames, but it was a bit of a pain to get that cut fabric back into a new hoop. 

Oh, and a bit of other *exciting* news ... you are in for a surprise. 

We ordered more wood. 

Yes, you read that right! 

Another semi-load of wood.  My husband and I both decided it would be a good winter project and there's no rush on it. 

This past week we started working on the pile. I don't have any progress shots of what it looks like.  

Crazy, right?  Yeah, i know.  The amount of wood sitting in our yard is an immense security. However, no more wood after this! 

Last Wednesday I had an afternoon appointment in town.  This was the sky as I was leaving the Aldi.

Beautiful. 

So that's a bit of what's going on right now.  I've been pondering and ruminating a bit. Mostly about the crafting stuff. Last year I made the point of making goals for myself for 2024. Then things went kinda sideways in March. I'm debating on whether to try that again for 2025, or if I should just wing it. I seem to do really good at winging it when it comes to my hobbies.