well! here we are in 2010. i am always very optimistic and inspired at the beginning of a new year. i like the excuse to look over what i accomplished in the preceding one, and what i hope to do in the coming one. 2009 was pretty good to me, though it was entirely transitional. at this precise time last year, i began my 3 1/2 month farm-sitting gig in upstate new york, after moving out of my brooklyn apartment. i ended up living on my dear friends’ farm for eleven months, even though they came back in april. searching for a homestead in 2009 was quite the emotional journey (i fell in love with, tried to buy, and then lost out on two houses before finding this one) but of course now i’m convinced it was all meant to be.
here are some highlights from my year:
all year, the majority of my possessions (i.e. the former contents of my apartment) lived here in this mouse-infested storage unit. i am still unpacking (and washing) stuff but it’s been a joyful reunion to see it all again!
in 2009 i had my most successful craft fair ever, followed soon after by my least successful ever. the lesson learned is that demographics are everything!
i also made a good new friend up here, jill (a.k.a. jilldrapermakesstuff; that’s her spinning at Garrison). we joined the Ulster County Handspinners together, sold our handmade goods at several other local craft fairs, and joined teaching forces as double knot studio.
i spent more time outdoors than possibly in my previous 18 years combined (that’s how long i lived in nyc)! ok, that may be an exaggeration, but getting to work in a garden, and tend the animals, and even doing my hodge-podging in the semi-outdoor studio were all very gratifying and exactly why i moved up here.
one of the unexpected treats of living on the farm was making friends with my little housemate hattie. she was just over one year old when the farmers returned home, and i got to be very fond of the little miss! gertie also learned to be much more toddler-tolerant.
i wrote 25 project tutorials for craft stylish. you can see all of them right here. i also had articles or projects published in a few magazines, and then oh yeah, my first book came out. did i mention yet that it’s gone into a second printing? yippee!
all in all, quite an exciting year it was, that 2009.
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