I don't usually, but for some reason this year I was in the mood. They are:
Go to the beach more.
This is an annual item on my list, and I have yet to make good on it. We live on the edge of a continent, and not to take advantage of standing on the point where the Great Land meets the Greater Ocean seems sad.
Weed the vineyard and orchard more more.
This year I am going to do whatever it takes to keep the star thistle away from my berries, for the sake of my hands (and my legs when I wear shorts down there). It's not going to be fun, but hopefully with better vineyard management I won't have to step as carefully through the thorns to get to my food.
Keep the 20 pounds I lost this year away forever. Wine Country adds a lot of things to one's life, weight being one of them. This year I finally found a diet that worked for me and, combined with a better exercise regimen, I lost the 20 pounds I'd been carrying around since the first year we lived here. Yes, everything tastes good in this land, and there is wine with everything and lots and lots of social events featuring great food and wine. But with excess comes a price, and it must be paid one way or another. I feel much better since taking off the weight and want to keep it that way.
Don't stress so much at Thanksgiving...buying a sous vide system which should solve that problem. Let's face it, hating your "job" by 4 p.m. and feeling like you are constantly behind should be a hallmark of corporate office life, not Thanksgiving dinner at the homestead. And guests recognize the chaos. This needs to improve.
Get off the property for at least one vacation.
I know, duh, right? All work and no play makes me a resentful homesteader.
Write down and track what varieties of seeds I use so I know what works best.
Novel concept, no? It seems everyone but me does this faithfully. For years I have not done this except for tomatoes and lettuce, but now I'd really like to compare seed varieties for all my vegetable crops, especially pumpkins, squash and cucumbers.
Make more green manure in the form of cover crops.
This is happening next week, when I plant a cover crop of rye grass in my raised beds.
Sheep? Alpacas? Mini-donkeys? Goats?
This year I hope we can settle this dilemma, get fencing done and get some critters out there for weed control and fertilizer. Plus, isn't half the fun of owning country property having some larger-type livestock?
I've been reading your blog for some time and decided to finally comment. My New Year's resolution is to start reading your blog and stop reading another's. You are a class act! Love your writing and photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Molly, and welcome! Glad to see you here.
DeleteCan't wait to see what animals are on the horizon! Wish you weren't so far away, as I have a friend who breeds the most gorgeous alpacas. Your resolutions are great. I promise you'll love the sous vide! So agree with you on Thanksgiving. The first time I used it at Thanksgiving was 2013. Couldn't believe how much more I enjoyed the holiday and had TIME to actually sit and have a glass of wine with my family and even take Barbie for a walk! I remember seeing people tend turkeys in the windows and feeling like I was cheating!
ReplyDeleteMy big resolution is to do things I hate. Forgiving and forgetting people I hold unnecessary bitterness towards, working out at least 4x a week (I don't hate this actually, just bad at staying in routine), and pushing my business a little more. I don't like to be aggressive with promoting my business (as ultimately I don't think excessive promotion is as effective as clients with gorgeous hair)
...but I can certainly stand to have a slightly stronger representation of it in conversation. I realized this when someone told me at a party they had no idea I was a hairstylist! And I've known her for about a year!
DeleteI think self-promotion is much harder for creative types for some reason. Possibly because they generally use a different part of their brains than the sales/marketing types. But yes, people should know what you do, because you are good at it! And regarding Thanksgiving, you have helped me set my new goal....to go for a walk Thanksgiving afternoon and watch other people through their windows slaving over their turkeys (and maybe just feeling a little bit smug as I go along, haha). I love this idea!
DeleteI love alpacas, sheep, goats and donkeys. Looking forward to seeing what you choose.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of gorgeous hair, you certainly have it. I can't complain about my color - it's a nice shade of silver blonde, but thin. I've always wished for thick, beautiful hair.
Thank you; I have always wished for thinner hair that I could CONTROL, haha. Wish we could trade. So I will tell you a true story: When I was a teenager I used to have an aquarium in the bookcase at the end of my bed. One day one of my larger fish went missing and no one could find it. Several hours later, I combed my hair and discovered that in the night it had jumped out of the aquarium and flopped onto the pillow and got stuck in my hair. And no one noticed because I have so much hair it literally got lost in it all The moral is that thick, wavy hair is not always a good thing. : )
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