New year, new goals

I'm finally back to posting after a very busy January. I can't believe the month is almost over! Travel and work played a big part of my absence as well as the incredibly gray and rainy weather in Portland. It made it impossible to get any good photos. Finally a bit of sun yesterday, so I jumped on it and took some snaps.

I have a few goals for the new year that I've been working on steadily this month. One is to simplify. Which means more time just to be quiet. Time to do handwork that soothes and grounds me. Time to really savor that first cup on coffee on the weekends. More time in my pajamas snuggling with my kitty.

The next is to spend more time outside seeing this beautiful city I'm living in. Exploring neighborhoods and hiking trails, walking and taking pictures. Which leads me to my next goal; attempting to become a better blogger. I got the book "Blogging for Bliss" by Tara Frey a few weeks back and am hoping it will help me improve my blog.

And the next is to FINISH MY UFOs! And, NOT start any new projects until I've finished the ones I have. I know, I know, you're all shaking your heads at the lunacy of this plan. But I'm holding firm so far and have finished the above pair of socks. Yay, me! I'm also making great progress on a couple of crochet projects that have been languishing for awhile. Now, on to that purse I started before Christmas...

happy January!

Finally getting a chance to post after the busy holiday season. I was in Massachusetts visiting my family over the Christmas holidays. It was a wonderful holiday filled with good food, relaxation, shopping, and rousing games of Rummikub.

We got a big storm a couple of days after we arrived, and it was beautiful. Winter is a favorite season for me. The fairy lights and candles illuminating the darkness, a time of reflection and renewal. And the beauty of snow. This was our view from the house windows..

We drove down to the ocean after the storm had abated and this is what we saw...

We also took a walk on the Audubon trail at the Cape. It was a perfect day to walk. Sunny, cool but not freezing, and very still. We came across a young red-tailed hawk that modeled perfectly for me...

And this is what the marsh looks like in winter...


We also found a lonely boat on our walk...

And of course I crafted while there. I saw a beautiful blanket here: http://www.yvestown.com/archive/2009/11/how-to-crochet-a-blanket-part-1.html that I decided to start making (hopefully I connected this link properly). I got several circles done. I will walk to my LYS this weekend to get the color to complete the squares. I'm thinking a very pale pink would be lovely. I will show you the results as I work on it. I also made a hat as a Christmas gift and started a pair of socks.