It's a dark, grey day at the farmette. Except for a brilliantly sunny weekend last weekend, January has consistently been thus.
The war in Ukraine grinds on, Israel is descending into fascism and the U.S. is hitting its debt ceiling, again, with all the threats of economic meltdown that entails. Feels like that country does that every six months.
Anyhow. Last year, I read a piece about writing down whatever you're grateful for once a week, saving the scraps of paper up and taking a look at the end of the year. So I did that for 2022. It was instructive, and boy, am I ever a fortunate late-middle-aged lady (is that a thing? I'm 59).
I noted events, natural occurrences, visits and progress in my business. Plus, very small bits like Calvin the orange tabby helping me with yoga. I just put down one sentence with the date. Easy-peasy.
In early January, we got our red Honda CRV. Red is my favourite colour, and I used to drive a red Mini around Guelph, so we needed to stay consistent (ahem).
Except for a wee blip early in our experience, it's run very well, and we're thankful for having a dependable ride.
Later on, we used it to pick up groceries that we'd ordered online for the first time. What a revelation - and sooo convenient when the pandemic was still hanging in there.
In March, I toddled over to the Thorntons to help collect the sap for making maple syrup. Hard work, but very fun, and, aside from a wee bloody nose from trying to help Marley the golden retriever into the side-by-side (she jumped while I was bent over), it was a satisfying day.
Spring came and with it, a gorgeous profusion of flowers, which are always welcomed around the farmette.
Sister Sandy decided to plant Christmas trees in May, so both older sisters (Barb and I) mucked in to help. Again, a day of sore muscles, but satisfied smiles.
In June, we got the front beds overhauled. It only took one day for Jeremy and his crew to complete the job, which is miraculous, given how overgrown the yew bushes were. Rocks were entangled in the roots, and the men had to extract them by brute force. We NEVER would have been able to do this on our own.
In July, I was commissioned once again to write stories for the Food from Thought Impact report. It's one of my favourite gigs, because I get to interview smart scientists at the University of Guelph who are doing great research into trying to feed the planet during climate change. Cool.
Sandy and I did several day trips over the year, which are mostly organized by herself, for whom I'm eternally grateful. This one was with older sister Barb, and we had lunch in Thornbury overlooking the Beaver River.
Lovely day of shopping and yakking and teasing - and eating scrumptious food. Gotta love getting together with the fam-jam.
Meeting up with old friends is pretty amazing, too. In early November, Carmelle (l), Pat, Helene and I met up in Arthur, which is about midway between Guelph, where Pat and Helene live, and Durham, where I live. We all worked together at the Ministry of Agriculture back in the day.
It was a great afternoon. Lunch at the local resto, catching up on one anothers' lives and a bit of shopping at local stores was just the ticket on a sunny day in late autumn. Helene is planning another outing in Mount Forest, where Carmelle lives, in February. Can't wait.
We did many, many walks through the Thornton's maple bush - spring, summer, fall and winter. Dogs love the romp as much as, if not more than, the humans.
So that's it. 2022 in a nutshell. I'm glad I documented it with my Grateful Jar. Highly recommend the practice. I've started one for 2023. Let's see how that goes. Until next week.
Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Calvin, who's a coiled steel spring, ready for action at any moment.
