We have adapted quite well to the empty nest life after a lot of travel in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, hiking, reading, knitting, quilting, walking in our neighborhood, seeing family and friends in the post pandemic (for the most part) world. Our health is mostly good, and I am grateful.

Our travel this year was to New Zealand in February,

Philadelphia in March,

Steel ghost structure of Benjamin Franklin’s home, with modern buildings beyond

Benjamin Franklin Bridge to New Jersey, over the Delaware River

Philadelphia’s Magic Garden

and Austria/Italy in June/July.

Next year we have plans to go to San Francisco and Iceland, and possibly somewhere in the southwestern US in the fall.

Hikes – I counted 79 hiking adventures last year, adding up to 480 trail  miles and 60,000 feet of elevation gain – a bonus amount because we traveled to both New Zealand and Austria/Italy, focusing on hiking in both places. Lucky me! Among my other favorite hikes were –

Memaloose Hills in full balsam root bloom with Emily and her rose colored glasses

That peaceful spot on the Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop

Cook Meadows with surprise scarlet gilia bloom, with Helen

Cannon Beach

Multnomah Falls with Brian and Rachel

Return to Saddle Mountain

Fall color in Indian Heaven

Labyrinth trail,

and the eastern Gorge

Fall colors from the Portland Tram, especially after getting the all clear in test results.

Books – I have always been a voracious reader, with Jane Austen being the gold standard. I like to read books that allow me to experience other places, other times, in my mind…nothing too graphic or gory, but not avoiding hard facts.  My ToBeRead list is enormous, yet I keep adding to it. I look back at the 71 books I read last year, and remember a little something about most of them.

Goodreads Book Thumbnails

Traveling, hiking, and life memoirs, histories and fictional histories, novels, poetry and graphic novels all find a place on my list. My favorites of the year were : Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerrer, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton, and  A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

Knitting – I knit 8865 yards of yarn last year, and finished 18 projects, according to my Ravelry pages.

Ravelry Project Thumbnails

I always have fun knitting whimsical gnomes and other creatures. I like to give socks, hats, and  mittens  to keep people warm and loved. I made two blankets and a sweater for the Puddletown Knitters Guild service project. I finished my Slip Stitch Blanket that I love having on my bed in winter – for both its weight/warmth, and its beauty. I continue to meet weekly with my lovely group of knitting friends. Next year: I have a circular Anthology throw and a purple Hitchhiker shawl that are almost done. I plan to knit along on the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery shawl, with beads; to make myself a cardigan; and to make a pile of hats for the guild service project.

Anthology Throw

Purple Hitchhiker, in progress

Quilting/Sewing – I completed the tops for two Modern Quilt Studio Mystery quilts, thoroughly enjoying the process while learning about color use and design elements. I now have four quilt tops languishing on hangers in the closet. I plan to learn how to use my new Juki machine and finish all those tops, and maybe more. I am also participating in another Modern Quilt Studio Mystery.

Modern Mystery Quilt 2023, Front

I squared up the top to the Modern Mystery Quilt – next steps are to make the backing, then quilting.

Secret Agent Mystery Quilt fabric

Writing – Counting this one, I have completed 24 blog posts for 2023. They tend to be longish summaries of activities, which suits my purpose of keeping a record. I tend to overdocument things…but I like it, and I plan to continue. I have a lot of digital hygiene and transcribing to do to keep up…I am always trying to keep up, though always woefully behind…with too many works in progress, but the next new thing calls to me from the sewing room, the knitting stash, the book pile, the trail guide, the blank graph paper…don’t even look at the weeds that keep growing…

To be read, knitted, sewn…

Trying to keep up…

2024 – We have a political year ahead, and once again there is a knife edge, an incomprehensible lean toward fascism that I cannot understand, but I plan to do my part to enable diversity, inclusiveness, peace and stability. There are underlying currents beyond my comprehension, but I will keep paddling in my own way in the streams I can see, and hope for the best possible outcome.