Wrapping Up 2018 and Looking Forward to 2019!

2019 is upon us.  I'm not sure how 2018 went by so quickly.  I must be having fun, right?  Time flies when you are having fun.  Lots of fun.

2018 was a huge year for our family.  We had some momentous events.  I think the very most important one was the birth of our grandson, Wilder, in May.  The news that I was going to become a grandmother came to me in late August 2017 and was one of the biggest surprises of my life as my son and daughter-in-law had told us previously that having children was not in their plan.  They did not tell anyone that they had, in fact, changed their minds until it was confirmed they were expecting.  And Wilder arrived in May.  Here he is, now 8 months old with my son, Ian.  I have been out to visit him in Oregon twice, and will be there again next month.

Speaking of my son, Ian, the second huge event this year was his graduation in June from Oregon State University's College of Forestry with his bachelor's degree in Recreation Resource Management, also earning the honor of being named "Outstanding Senior" in his major.  Way to go, Ian!
 


And of course we have had yet another year with our beloved old dog, Rowdy.  He will be 14 in April and every day with him is treasured. 

Officially on the list!

And speaking of dogs, we certainly cannot forget that Grover and I earned a huge title in agility in September, our (first) MACH, or Master Agility Championship!  We worked 4 years for it and I am so very proud of what my goofy rescue Aussie has been able to do.  We both had to learn so much!  
And then of course we also qualified to enter the AKC National Agility Championships being held in Tulsa OK in March.  We are entered and we plan to be there!





In April, Sam and I closed the Real Estate business we had taken over from Sam's Mom back in 1999.  The shale gas industry coming into our area and drilling and paying landowners to lease their land really hurt our business and we decided it was time to retire and spend our time on other things.  It was rather a 2 edged sword, as the gas industry that hurt our livelihood in real estate also allowed us to retire a little earlier than we had planned. But having a 200 acre farm, one is never really "retired".  There is always so much to do!  

We have also had losses.  One of the first alpacas we bought back in late 1999, Peg, died at almost 19 years of age in June.  She was the last of our first alpacas and a special favorite of mine.  This leaves us with only one alpaca, Truffels, who is now 15, and she shares the barn and pasture with Apples the Welsh pony and Star the Italian Maremma.  We also lost most of our chicken flock to hawk predation this past fall and have only 3 hens as of this time.

I think in all, we have been very blessed this year.  There were things that could have been much worse than they turned out, such as my mom breaking her humerus in Italy in March and the flooding we experienced here in late May while Sam was off on a fishing trip.  We had the rainiest year on record here, with over 57 inches of rain in the area, which is 20" above average, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer. This made it a rather poor year for the garden, with some of my veggies being flooded out.  I will be hoping for a year of better weather in 2019, but otherwise, 2018 may be hard to beat.





I can now post some photos of projects I have been working on that were gifts this year.  Socks for Mom for Christmas.












 

A Steelers blanket for Mary, my mother-in-law.  I was disappointed after fulling the blanket that the colors became somewhat blended and muddy.  This photo is pre-fulling.  I learned that wool blankets and small checks do not work well in the finishing.

 


 I also knitted this Death Star hat for my son in California.  He loves it and says it is "ridiculously warm".  He lives in the mountains, so it will get used.

And currently on the looms are some black and gold towels, which were a request from a customer at the Arts Center in town.  I will do 2 in black and gold and 2 in a dark red and gold, I think.  I do love the way the colors and pattern are working together so far.

                                                                          





  And also some silk scarves in natural and navy blue with just a tiny bit of wool in the blue yarn.  The threads are very fine so these are taking a little longer than the towels.  But they will be lovely, I  think.                                                                       
 
I am almost finished with the lacey beaded mystery shawl from October.  I should have that done and blocked by my next post.   

I have also been working on re-knitting the sheep hat I made for Wilder which was MUCH too small.  I have now started it and ripped it back out twice and re-started it.  I am hoping the third time is the charm.  It would be nice to finish it in time for him to wear it this year.

A rare sunny day!