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Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Another year drop-kicked out the door and a very nice birthday (is that an oxymoron?)

Isn't it always the case that the end of the year seems to cram two-times the events into every day.  I'm not sure if that is so that you feel like you're getting your money's worth, or that it will make sure you are glad to see the last of the past year as you head towards the new.


Some highlights of the last four days of my year:
Inching along, literally, on my sister's
boyfriend's sock

The last of Marianne's pumpkins and it
was a humdinger!

My year wouldn't be complete
unless it contained one last morning spent
at my mechanic's.

The bonus of sitting at the mechanic's - I'm well
on my way towards completing one sock!
The end of an era



My egg journal, following 11 years and
written on every inch of available space.

Clive has a new hairdo!

Found while cleaning out the
sheep barn - I keep forgetting
to put it elsewhere and scare myself
every five minutes.



What was supposed to be my sister's
socks, but I couldn't part with the
yarn!  (Theresa, you know me so well...)


While I didn't get half of the things done that I wanted to, I decided to go with the flow, so to speak, and just enjoy the time off.  Due to a blip on the car front, I stayed home Saturday and Sunday and managed to get the sheep area cleaned up.  That's where I found the snake skin - I love these weird things - and toted it into the house.  Unfortunately, I left it in a place where I often put my hand for balance, as I remove my barn boots.  There is much squeaking in horror during the day.  You'd think I'd remember to move it, wouldn't you?  It must be very entertaining for the dogs.


I also got to see Marianne for an hour, as she drove down to get a few buckets of llama beans and we had a cup of tea.  Then, Monday, I was back up to the mechanic in the wee hours (he was squeezing me in and the early bird gets squeezed in first...)  I had a lovely maple latte, thanks to my sister's gift card for our favorite coffee place, and my knitting.  I settled in and got inches knit!  I have one more appointment to install a hose that didn't get delivered in time, and then I am HOPING that I can avoid the mechanic for a few months.  I got to stop and see my parents afterwards and do a couple of errands.  Then I was home for the rest of the holiday.


Tuesday, I had invited a friend for dinner and figured to have the entire day to clean the house, make dinner and do more knitting.  However, as is my normal, nothing went as planned.  I got an invitation for a birthday breakfast from a dear friend, then, on my return, I got a surprise and delightful phone call (it's amazing how enjoyable an actual phone call is!), then another friend, the daughter of my favorite neighbors, stopped in for a cuppa, then I scrambled to get dinner ready!  I did manage to bake myself a birthday cake.  While this may be called a Flourless Chocolate Cake, I would say that Death by Chocolate is more fitting.  Gah!  I mean, yummeh, but holey cow.
Slab 'o chocolate!
Had I not been rushed, I would have put it on a more appropriate plate - this one caused a dip in the top.  Which was filled with a chocolate glaze.  Ah, well.  One must suffer at times...snort.


So, it was bon voyage to 2018 and Aloha to 2019.  If the beginning is a taste of what this new year has in store, I'm aboard with bells on!  If nothing else, it will be interesting.

15 comments:

Mama Pea said...

A very happy (belated . . . I'm such a failure!) birthday to you, dear Sweezie! Personally, I don't think anyone should be allowed to be born within a month of Christmas or New Year's. Sort of like having a "Christmas" wedding. Who has time to celebrate anything other than Christmas or New Year's during the holidays? (Just to show how dumb [and young?] I was, I did plan on a Christmas wedding but wisely changed my mind before it was too late.) Anywho, glad you got some home-time which I know you enjoyed. Now, about that intact snake skin . . . eeeeeuuwww!

jaz@octoberfarm said...

happy birthday and happy new year!

Michelle said...

Methinks that on some subconscious level, getting scared is entertaining YOU, as well as the dogs! Sign of life, perhaps? So glad you had lots of birthday love, and I think a shallow pond of glaze in one's flourless chocolate cake is perfect planning.

I, for one, am hoping that January 1st in no way sets the tone for the year....

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I just love the beautiful colour you've chosen for sister's boyfriend's socks! And flourless chocolate cake is always too rich for me too -- just TOO chocolatey, if that's possible.

DFW said...

Happy belated Birthday! A New Years baby? Loking forward to hearing about your escapades in 2019. B-T-W ... that cake looks delicious.

Lynne said...

A very Happy Birthday to you!! Socks look good and the cake looks yummy. Hope your car is all set for a long while. It's nice you had some time off, even if it was catching up on things around the house. The best New Year to you !!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday... I love the snake skin story, can just picture you in my mind jumping and squeaking.

All 3 of our vehicles are on the fritz in one way or another right now. My mechanic just says "which one now" when I call him. LOL Such is life.

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

Happy Belated Birthday Dear Friend! Why does it seem when we have plans they don't work out, and we always feel rushed? It never fails!!!

I hope your visit to the mechanic was routine, and not a problem. It's good you brought your knitting to keep you busy while you had to wait. It looks as if you're done with your sock??

2019 will be a good year for all of us!!!

Hugs, and Love To You!!! Give your furbabies a scratch for me :-)

AnnieK said...

Oh hippo birdie two ewe !!!! Please please explain the egg journal !!! Is the left column how many eggs you are getting??????

Katie C. said...

Happy birthday!

I’m planning to get back to my knitting this new year too. I have a sweater waiting that I started last year and I AM going to conquer a pair of socks!

That snake skin would scare me silly. My two cats would probably drag it around and leave it in unexpected places. Not good.

ellen abbott said...

happy birthday. I also indulged in making a chocolate dessert but it took me two tries and wasn't a complete success but was most definitely edible. and yeah, the egg journal...I see the date and the weather and what I thought was the number of eggs except for the ones that are fractions. you can't possibly be getting the number of eggs in the first column, can you?

happy new year. this one should be interesting. or else devastating. i'm going for interesting.

Leigh said...

You kept an egg journal for 11 years?! I'm impressed! I'd have lost it about ten and a half years ago. Happy Birthday! Knitting looks good, cake looks good. Chocolate glaze fixes everything. :)

Susan said...

Happy Birthday and Happy New Year. First days of the year filled with knitting of beautiful wool and time with friends sounds darn near perfect. Let's forget you were at the mechanics.

Xmas Eve morning, mere hours before hitting the road for ten days, the wood stove fell apart (our essential heat source) and the toilet broke, not safe to sit on. What kind of karma was that! I comfort myself with filing them under end of year not beginning of new year.

Birthday love. Sue

Buttons alias Grace said...

Happy New Year and happy belated birthday. I think kicking the year out and in with a new will be good for you. I have no doubt about that. I love your humour and your stories you make the bad things seem bearable and the good things monumenta. I think your attitude is the best I have seen we all need more of that. Happy knitting and all those other things that fill your life daily. Hug

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Well, Happy Birthday! I just got back from a trip, and trying to catch up on blogs today.