It's the end of January (already!) and time for an update on my 20 for 2020 plan! 20 things mended (2/20) Just two this month - a seam of one of Peter's shirts, which I fixed with the overlocker, and a zip on my rucksack. At one point I thought I was going to have to throw the whole rucksack away - both fasteners had come off the front pocket zip, and the zip itself had come away from the casing, so the pocket didn't fasten at all. Somehow (with a lot of swearing) I managed to undo some of the stitching, reattach both fasteners, and sew the zip together. Hooray! 19 letters written (4/19) A bit of a flurry this month as I posted out late Christmas presents. I've not counted cards here, but I included three longer letters with various presents, and wrote a separate (rather too long) letter to an old school friend. 18 days with internet (0/18) None yet 17 new books read (4/17) I generally adopt a serendipitous attitude to book reading - whatever takes my fancy in the bookshop or the library, or occasionally a recommendation from someone else. Some of them never get finished, and I'm happy to have several half-read books lying around. I've got a half price subscription to Audible at the minute, and I've been listening to audio books in the car. I'll be cancelling that once the half-price offer ends, so I've also subscribed (for free) to the audio book service from the local library. I've read a couple of people disparaging audio books as not being 'proper' reading but I'm having none of that nonsense in my house. 'Reading' a book is taking the contents into your own mind - and as far as I'm concerned that can happen by whatever means. So this month I've finished...
16 household items or pieces of clothing made (8/16) This is an exciting one. I made my hot water bottle cover of course, and then I bought an overlocker, and have had a merry time making several pairs of pants, then a batch of cleaning cloths and face flannels. I'm counting the cloths and flannels as just two (rather than 18 individual items, which seems like cheating). Each pair of knickers though was quite an undertaking so (for now, at least) they're getting counted individually, bringing the total to eight. 15 meals with friends (2/15) I'm just counting meals Peter and I have with friends together (not me meeting a friend for lunch on my own) so this month's tally is two - lunch with a friend in a cafe the other day, and a trip to stay with our friends in Birmingham last weekend (where we went out for brunch). 14 meals from home grown produce (0/14) None so far - this will be more an item for the summer. 13 evening lectures (0/13) None yet - lots of different groups seem to have not restarted after Christmas yet. 12 donations to food bank (0/12) None yet - I kept forgetting every time I was at the supermarket. Must remember to make a note. 11 solo days out for me (0/11) None yet, but I've got an idea of where I might go for the first one. 10 loaves of bread made (0/10) Nope - the breadmaker is still in the loft. 9 bike rides (0/9) None of these either, oh dear! But in my defence the weather has been rather vile lately. 8 organised runs (1/8) Just the one - I went to my most local parkrun (which isn't actually that local at all) for the first time. I enjoyed it, although at just over 39 minutes it was very far from my fastest. I discovered yesterday that my local athletics club has a group working up to 5k which is five weeks in (out of nine), so I'm off to join them on Monday. While I'm not exactly a beginner (having been running on and off for about 14 years), I'm also rather slow and would like to get faster. Watch this space. 7 new places visited (1/7) We went to the ballet! We've never seen a ballet before, so it was quite a novel experience, and we'd also never been inside Buxton Opera House before (it was on my list of things to do last year but I never made it). We probably won't be going regularly, but it was quite exciting as a one off. 6 attempts at cheese making (0/6)
None - although we have no acquired a working hob in the kitchen so this is now possible at least. 5 'No Quibble' weekends away (0/5) None - we'll set a date for the first one in February (even if we don't actually go until March). 4 pairs of socks made (0/4) None. I very nearly bought some sock wool the other day, but then remembered I have two balls of speciality wool that have been sitting around for years - one from the North Ronaldsay sheep in Orkney who live on the beach and eat seaweed, and one from my friend and permaculture diploma tutor Hannah in Lincolnshire (well, her sheep, of course) so I'm going to find a simple cable knit pattern and do some experimenting. 3 days volunteering (0/3) None yet. 2 LAND centres visited (0/2) No - I'm anticipating this will be more of a summer thing. 1 holiday! (0/1) No - we should get on the case and set a date soon though! So there we are. Great progress in some areas, and none in others. I suppose it was always going to be like that, and anyway some things are more seasonal than others. I've enjoyed having this as a backdrop to the month though (and I confess I was pretty excited when I managed to fix my rucksack so I could add it to the list). I wonder what February will bring?
1 Comment
Amanda Schofield
3/2/2020 05:01:19 pm
Great start! I have a list of my own, inspired by you, which I enjoyed putting together and will enjoy achieving during the year 😃. Look forward to keeping up with your progress x
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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