Last Day of 2009

......and a time to reflect on the accomplishments of the year past......and look forward to the upcoming new year and all that it holds. This has been a year of change for me. Lots of change. Some good....some not so good. It's been a good year overall though. :>) And what of the new year?? Do I have plans? Resolutions? No plans really. And no hard-fast, set-in-stone resolutions. It would be nice to finally finish (or at least make a huge dent) in my UFO pile. It would also be nice to lose about 20 pounds (yes, I have hit the point where I really need to focus on losing a bit of weight. You know it's time when you are not happy with yourself.....and I'm not happy with being pleasantly plump). Other than that.....well, I just hope to continue enjoying the things that make me happy.

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my "boys". Pictured above is my miniature schnauzer. He will be ten years old in February. He suffered a stroke and was very ill little over a year ago.....so he still has his times when it is very difficult for him to get around. The sparkle is still in his eyes though. :>) Makes me happy to see him running across the yard (when he does....which isn't very often).

Pictured here is the "big guy". And I've been told that he is very large for a Golden Retriever. He is actually a Golden Retriever mix. Mixed with what we do not know. He was the proverbial pound puppy. We adopted him when he was four weeks old. He had a rough beginning (very sick) and the vet wasn't sure he would make it. Here he is six and a half years later. :>) Doesn't have the best hips, but is still very active.....loves laying on the porch watching the world go by.....and playing with his toys. He's perfectly content to spend an afternoon sleeping in the sewing room (right in the middle!!) while I stitch away. He also loves the sound of the spinning wheel in motion. He is happy to lay next to it for as long as I can treadle. I think he finds it calming.....as funny as that sounds.

Time to share pictures of my latest finishes.....and I have had a couple with which to end the year. Yea!! The first one is a small snuggle quilt that I made from a panel that was sent to me. Really didn't know what to do with it. Inspiration hit one day.....and I had a completed quilt the next. This one is going to my youngest's college roommate. I think she needs "quilty hugs" right now. She has had a rather difficult first semester.

My other completed project was a knitting project. I finally finished the socks I have been working on and off on for the past couple of months. They are for my youngest....who loves them. :>) I call them the "Mardi Gras Socks" because the yarn reminds me of all the colors you see in association with Mardi Gras (although I've never been....but have seen lots of footage and pictures). The fiber used for the yarn was hand-dyed by my youngest. I did the blending and spinning of the yarn itself. The picture of the pair doesn't really do the yarn justice, so I took a couple of close ups to show the color of the yarn knit up. They turned out really pretty. Both socks are different in coloration so I made sure to use the same pattern for both. The sock pattern is my own. Couldn't find one that I liked and thought would work with the yarn. Happens. Just glad I'm able to write up a simple sock patterns that I can actually knit up fairly easily. :>)




Wishing everyone a new year filled with lots of love, laughter, and joy!!!