And Now Let Us Welcome The New Year

"And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been."

- RAINER MARIA RILKE

It really wasn't my intention to take a three week, plus or minus a few days, break. My original plan was to be back right after the New Year, but then . . . it snowed on January 3. Not much really, just 6", but it was a wet, heavy snow and it stuck around for several days. Something about the snow on the ground and my own tendencies to hibernate and before I knew it we were nearing the middle of January. But to be honest, I think I needed it. I haven't posted much on social media, either, and it's been nice.

We had a lovely Christmas and a nice, slow start to the new year. In the week between and the weeks after, I've done a lot of "puttering", one of my favorite things to do. The kind of work that you don't do all the time, and is really housework, but the fun kind, like transforming a storage room into a multi-purpose storage/office/craft room. I actually started work on that the day that it snowed, and I've been tweaking it here and there ever since, which reminds me that I need to take some pictures of it, so those details will have to wait for another day.

I've also been doing a bit of crafting, mostly cross-stitching, and finishing up a gift box for my aunt. We exchange gifts every year at Christmas, always with hand made items and it's one of my favorite gifts! We have a lot of the same preferences in colors and styles, so it makes not only receiving the gift, but putting it together a lot of fun.  We were a little late sending them out this year, and then with the snow last week (it snowed again on Thursday), things got delayed a bit more on my end. Thankfully I was finally able to get it shipped off yesterday and her gift to me is due to arrive this week, so I'm anxiously awaiting it!

The picture to the left here is of a huge pallet I made for myself over New Year's weekend. It was super cushy, and comfy and I spent the greater part of New Years Eve and day there watching the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies, which is a years old tradition in our family. It was just me this year, but I still loved every minute of it. With that, and surrounded by my books and journals and with plenty of good food to eat, it was a perfectly lovely way to begin the new year.

Yesterday I finally got around to updating my files for the year and throwing out a lot of old ones that were no longer needed, which always feels nice. The tree is still up along with all the other decorations. My original plan was to take them down and pack them away yesterday, but my daughter was off and is again today, so it looks like maybe tomorrow. I'm actually considering leaving the tree up and moving it into my office, primarily because I want to make a number of new ornaments for it this year and it will just be easier to get everything exactly the way I want it if its still up. That room is where all the Christmas decor will be stored anyway, so in some ways it makes sense. I'm also one of those crazy people who has no problem with the idea of it staying up all year, especially since it's in my office/craft room and not in the main part of the house. I won't keep it lit, just now and then, maybe if we have another snow day. The picture to the right here is of some holly that I cut from a huge holly tree that grows not far from our apartment building. I also cut a few sprigs of white pine and made a pretty arrangement for my desk in my office.

As I said, just a lot of "puttering", for the most part. I did get back to more of a routine yesterday, going back to my regular housekeeping schedule, which I'd been a little lax on over the holidays (intentionally). I still cleaned, of course, just not following a rhythm and not being quite as meticulous as I typically am. 

And now I'm back and ready to resume posting here again, and I have so much I want to share with you! I sat down for a couple of hours yesterday and looked over my spreadsheet of ideas for posts, and I've got several that I'm working on as we speak! But for this week, I'm going to start back slow, just sharing the routine happenings of my life. I'll try to take some pictures of my renovated office/craft room today and see if I can get that up tomorrow, if you're even interested! Some might consider my style of blogging a bit old fashioned, but personally, those are the types of blogs I still tend to follow and enjoy! When we shared and inspired one another just for the sake of sharing, so I hope you appreciate my small offering.

And now my friends, I'll sign off for now. I hope you have a blessed evening!

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