NEW YEAR = NEW GOALS PART 2

 I know you probably don't find it very interesting listening to me whine talk about the inner workings of writing a blog but seriously folks this has been a rough couple of days trying to figure things out and you can thank Mr. O that we have gotten this far. I lost my previous a.k.a. "old header photo" and for he life of me I could not get it back. I was trying to change the photo and after deleting the old one could not get ANY photo back AT ALL! I think we may be ready for lift off so I am going to write and hope for the best.

Get ready for a lot of rambling cause we have a lot of catching up to do!

As you can see I have changed my header photo to include our next to newest family member. I have posted another shot of her lounging in the sun.  Please meet Bella. She is our 2 year old Siberian Forest cat. She came to live with us at the red brick house with the yellow door on Jan.4, 2023.  She had her first litter of kittens on April 1 and let me tell you that was a trip! I didn't give birth to them but I was a key member in raising them and making sure they made it the 8 week mark before saying goodbye to them. 

Bella has a specific blood type that causes some complications in the first 48 hours of the kittens life. because of that the kittens need a wet nurse for the first 24-48 hours of their life and then after that life is smooth sailing for the wee ones. Mama cat has to be wrapped in an elastic belly band to keep her babies from nursing and they are given to another nursing cat for a short spell. Not too much of an issue, but there are factors to consider. it is imperative that Bella's milk does not start to dry up, and to avoid that happening she has to be manually milked. All I am going to say to end this story is that I am now able to add a new skill to my resume. Yes I know how to milk a cat! The End!

free picture courtesy of freepik.com

You may also have noticed a little caption on that new home page under the title that says, did you eat a frog today? for those of you who have been with me from the very beginning you might remember what that means, but in case you don't you can go back to my very first blog post  on June 2009 and read it. https://wendy-itiswhatitis.blogspot.com/2009/06/it-was-simpler-than-i-thought.html. Don't forget to come back for the rest of this post though!

free picture courtesy of unsplash.com 

I bet you never even noticed that I said Bella was our next to newest family member. We had an even newer addition 25 days after Queen Bella join us. We had a new great grand baby arrive on the 26 of January. A beautiful baby boy! He was a little guy who appeared a month earlier than planned but he is a lovely healthy almost 1 year old already and we love him to pieces! he started out a 4 lbs plus but he has grown by leaps and bounds. Meet our little champ Rocky Hachey Reimer who will be 1 on the 26th of this month!

Okay Okay, enough with the history... let's talk New Year = New Goals

I am not a resolution maker as such but it seems that we tend to like to start the new year trying to get healthier, slimmer, in better shape, more organized etc etc etc. 

I set new goals last year too. No I did not meet them all but I achieved some and that counts for something, so I am setting new ones. I am not at home right now but I will write a more complete list and post it later.

I have a fairly healthy library of quilt books and magazines. I got to thinking a couple months ago that I acquired these books because I "loved" so many of the patterns and needed  wanted to make them and a great deal of them are still on a "to do" list and not on a bed or a table or wall. 

My goal is to change that this year. I have a goal to pick a feature book and then make at least 4 projects from said book. I will make a note of what I made and put it on a library card and attach it to the inside cover.  I also have a new Quilt journal that I won from an online giveaway by @antiqueneedleworker on a Flosstube channel so it will be recorded in there as well. (more on that later)

I received 2 new quilting books for Christmas and my birthday and I might just choose one of the new books to work from. A new book with all brand new projects might be just the motivation needed.

As well as a quilting goal, I am also setting a cross stitching goal. I have numerous pieces that I have finished cross stitching, but they are not completely finished to the point of being usable. ie framed or made into a bag or a pillow or pin cushion etc. I am shooting for all stitched pieces to be completely fully finished by year end so I can start the next year with a clean slate.  

The Oxford dictionary says a goal is the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. I would like to add that it is also a dream.

"Friends, they are kind to each other's hopes and cherish each other's dreams."

I may reassess in a couple months to see where I am with all these lofty goals... you never know...I may be able to add a few more to list. 

Don't laugh! I can hear you laughing! 

I just finished reading Willard, Susan Branch's newsletter and she said; 

" You got to have a DREAM. If you don't have a DREAM; how you gonna make a DREAM come true?"

What are your dreams for the future?...go get them!

 P.S. A special thank you Mr. O .  He helped me a little bit with this PRODUCTION!