A Little Review

 Hello, Hello,

Happy New Year's Eve.  Fletch and I will be tucked at home.  We stopped going out New Year's Eve decades ago.  Too many crazy folks out there and on the roads.  Usually I make a crab quiche and we have champagne or Prosecco.  This year I am going to make crab cakes instead and we will have some roasted asparagus to go along with the cakes.  And Prosecco, of course.

After a somewhat dark/moody/overcast and damp start to the day yesterday, the temperature rose a bit and the sun came out.While Fletch was still waking up, I took myself out to the River Walk in Valley Forge.  Although the temps had risen to the low 50's, there was a pretty strong breeze and I was thankful to have my fleece ear band to wear.

Such a blue, blue sky.  The river on the left was calm.  And, with a nod to Juliann, here is my picture looking down.

This rather small tree trunk was across the trail and I loved all the moss on it.  So pretty.

Now it's Tuesday and I am hoping to get out for another walk in another location this morning.  Usually on Tuesdays I post a Tiny Needle update, but there has been no stitching in a couple of weeks, so instead I thought I would give a brief review of what I made and read in 2024.

During the year I knit 12 pairs of socks and one hat.  No one wanted the hat - made of Lopi and very itchy, so that was donated.  The socks were a mix:  some for me, some for Fletch, some gifts and some for Colin.  I was surprised to find that I had actually made 12 pair!  Two shawls were started and I hope to get to them pronto and finish them up.

I completed 8 stitching pieces and enjoyed them all.  The Blessing (by Examplars From The Heart) is my current stitching project.  Still quite a bit to stitch on this one and I hope to get back to stitching sooner rather than later.  Nothing is a race though - the idea is to enjoy what you do.

It was a good year for books!  I read a total of 52, of which 43 were "real" books and 9 were audio.  I have a Kindle, but have not used it for a long time.  I prefer to read a book to a screen.  Apparently I did a pretty good job of choosing books:  I rated 14 of them as 5 stars and 21 of them as 4 stars!  Four were 3.5 stars, 8 were 3 stars, 2 were 2.5 stars and 3 were 2 stars.  Breaking it down further, 36 were fiction, 9 were memoirs/biographies, 4 were non-fiction, 2 were essays and 1 was poetry.

It is difficult (impossible for moi) to pick one favorite out of the books I read.  But, some favorites include:  James, Clear, North Woods, Suite Francaise, Musical Tables, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, the two Solstice books by Nina MacLaughlin, and The Ride of Her Life.  See?  No way I could choose just one above all others.

Meanwhile, the reading continues.  I've been doing more reading and no knitting or stitching!  Yesterday I picked up 3 more books from my library, so I have plenty to carry me into 2025.

I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions, so there will be none of that here!!  However you celebrate (or not) and whatever you do (or don't do), I hope you slip into 2025 with a smile on your face and joy in your step.