After the Holidays....
Good Grief! Where does the time go?
Well, looking at my last post, I have an idea that I have been knitting to the exclusion of almost everything else! I did get two of those pairs of socks done in time for Christmas, but the third pair was only one-half done by Christmas day, with the second sock just started. I gave them to him anyway, and am still working on it now. Give me another week or so and I should have it finished. Then I am taking a BREAK from socks and finishing up some other projects this winter. I'll start on socks again in the spring when I don't want a heavy project to drag around.
This fall has not been the kind to curl up with a cosy pile of knitting in your lap. It has been unseasonably warm all though New Year's. We may have had a couple of days where the overnight temperatures got down into the 20's, but most of the past 2 months have had daytime highs in the upper 30's or 40's and overnight has been in the upper 20's or 30's. I even went out on New Year's Day and dug up some cilantro that was still growing in the garden! I brought in the cilantro and some dill (it was fairly wilted) just in time.
Other than knitting and preparing for the holidays, I have kept busy with all the other drivel of life. Another thing that I did over the holiday season was to read my favorite seasonal books. After Thanksgiving, I allow myself a little time to read two of my absolute favorites: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, and Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon. Both of these books really help me to get into the holiday frame of mind and I cherish the time that I have to sit and read them.
When I was not sitting and reading or knitting, I have had some success with my dog. Since I blogged last, I have been to two competitions with my youngest dog and got qualifying scores at both. Quite good for such a young, inexperienced fellow. I am quite proud of him. These competitions were in the sport of Rally Obedience. I teach classes in Rally at my Training Club, so I am glad that my youngster is doing a good job and being a credit to me! I think it will be fun as I continue to compete with him. I want to keep at it while he is young, before he becomes jaded and apathetic like some of his relatives..... they started out well enough but learned that they didn't get rewarded in the ring and just shut down in competition. Let's hope my boy isn't THAT smart ;-) Like I said, I want to keep him in competition while he is young!
Another sport that we are training in is Agility. I started my youngster a year ago now, when he was barely 4 months old! He has loved every minute of his training and has really impressed us (my instructor, the other classmates as well as myself) with how well he has done. But doing really well can have it's drawbacks.... Mr. Puppy was so good and so happy to perform the obstacles that he was doing some of them too fast and got into trouble. He missed his footing on the full-height dog walk and fell off backwards - not once, but several times. Evidently that was one time too many and now he doesn't want to go onto it at all. This entire fall session, he refused to engage the dog walk, so it was recommended that he be placed in a different class. Oh, no! the shame of being "held back". Fortunately, my instructor took pity on me and my scheduling issues and allowed me to stay in the more advanced class, avoiding the dog walk, and we promised to lay out this winter session and do our remedial training on our own. Today was the first day that I was able to get back to training after the holidays, and I was blessed with the assistance of another trainer during my private training time. She had a wonderful idea for helping him, and we made real progress. I am so grateful to her and proud of my boy for being so cooperative and brave! Now if I can continue to work with him, I think we can get through this hang-up and get on to some real cool stuff.
Now, while I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions, I do have some things I want to spend my time and energy on, now that the holidays are past.
1) I want to become more healthy.
2) I need to get some sewing projects done.
3) I really want to get my kitchen and family room painted and redecorated.
That is enough for now. I'll get back to you on how I progress with these ideas after I get a chance to organize my time ;-)
Blessings to all of you in this New Year!
Well, looking at my last post, I have an idea that I have been knitting to the exclusion of almost everything else! I did get two of those pairs of socks done in time for Christmas, but the third pair was only one-half done by Christmas day, with the second sock just started. I gave them to him anyway, and am still working on it now. Give me another week or so and I should have it finished. Then I am taking a BREAK from socks and finishing up some other projects this winter. I'll start on socks again in the spring when I don't want a heavy project to drag around.
This fall has not been the kind to curl up with a cosy pile of knitting in your lap. It has been unseasonably warm all though New Year's. We may have had a couple of days where the overnight temperatures got down into the 20's, but most of the past 2 months have had daytime highs in the upper 30's or 40's and overnight has been in the upper 20's or 30's. I even went out on New Year's Day and dug up some cilantro that was still growing in the garden! I brought in the cilantro and some dill (it was fairly wilted) just in time.
Other than knitting and preparing for the holidays, I have kept busy with all the other drivel of life. Another thing that I did over the holiday season was to read my favorite seasonal books. After Thanksgiving, I allow myself a little time to read two of my absolute favorites: Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher, and Shepherds Abiding by Jan Karon. Both of these books really help me to get into the holiday frame of mind and I cherish the time that I have to sit and read them.
When I was not sitting and reading or knitting, I have had some success with my dog. Since I blogged last, I have been to two competitions with my youngest dog and got qualifying scores at both. Quite good for such a young, inexperienced fellow. I am quite proud of him. These competitions were in the sport of Rally Obedience. I teach classes in Rally at my Training Club, so I am glad that my youngster is doing a good job and being a credit to me! I think it will be fun as I continue to compete with him. I want to keep at it while he is young, before he becomes jaded and apathetic like some of his relatives..... they started out well enough but learned that they didn't get rewarded in the ring and just shut down in competition. Let's hope my boy isn't THAT smart ;-) Like I said, I want to keep him in competition while he is young!
Another sport that we are training in is Agility. I started my youngster a year ago now, when he was barely 4 months old! He has loved every minute of his training and has really impressed us (my instructor, the other classmates as well as myself) with how well he has done. But doing really well can have it's drawbacks.... Mr. Puppy was so good and so happy to perform the obstacles that he was doing some of them too fast and got into trouble. He missed his footing on the full-height dog walk and fell off backwards - not once, but several times. Evidently that was one time too many and now he doesn't want to go onto it at all. This entire fall session, he refused to engage the dog walk, so it was recommended that he be placed in a different class. Oh, no! the shame of being "held back". Fortunately, my instructor took pity on me and my scheduling issues and allowed me to stay in the more advanced class, avoiding the dog walk, and we promised to lay out this winter session and do our remedial training on our own. Today was the first day that I was able to get back to training after the holidays, and I was blessed with the assistance of another trainer during my private training time. She had a wonderful idea for helping him, and we made real progress. I am so grateful to her and proud of my boy for being so cooperative and brave! Now if I can continue to work with him, I think we can get through this hang-up and get on to some real cool stuff.
Now, while I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions, I do have some things I want to spend my time and energy on, now that the holidays are past.
1) I want to become more healthy.
2) I need to get some sewing projects done.
3) I really want to get my kitchen and family room painted and redecorated.
That is enough for now. I'll get back to you on how I progress with these ideas after I get a chance to organize my time ;-)
Blessings to all of you in this New Year!
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