Winding down the year . . .

Here we are . . .  standing on the end of what was 2014  and on the precipace of what will be 2015.  I don't know about you, but I think this year just flew by!  It seems to have passed ever so quickly.   I think time is speeding up and everyone I speak to says the same thing.   Or maybe we are just all getting older!  I don't know which, but my days seem to pass by in a blur!  I thought it would be fun to do a little recap this morning of the year that just passed.  Hang onto your hats!



I thought it would be fun to look back on my year and see what all I got up to.  Hang on to your hats!!




In January amidst frosted blooms I was thinking about seed catalogues and waxing poetic about winter things . . .  I was released from my calling in Relief Society.  I was quite disappointed about that as I had really loved that calling, but was eager to serve wherever it was that the Lord decided to call me next . . .



In February our camelia bush bloomed early.  It was so pretty.   I lost a friend to lung cancer and so the blooms were a reminder to me of the eternal round of life and the transitions it brings.   I was reminded to dwell on the positives and the small joys we find in each day  because of the fragility of the here and the now . . . making the most of what we've been given.   My friend had been diagnosed the same time as my mother had been diagnosed.  My mother was still here and well again.  I was grateful for that.



In March I shook the blues by taking imaginary tea . . .

I had a little tea party,
This afternoon at three.
'Twas very small,
Three guests in all.
'Twas I, myself and me.

Myself ate up the sandwiches;
While I drank up the tea,
'Twas I who also ate the pie
and passed the cake to me.
 ~Jessica Nelson North    


And I brought you along because I could.  I didn't hear anybody complaining. ☺



We took a drive in April . . .  past fields filled with wishes, and promises . . .  in the season of blossom-tide . . .  petals fluttering down from spring bloom like big frosted flakes, but smelling much nicer.   We celebrated the advent of Spring.

 

And enjoyed bluebell woods . . .

May, Oh May . . .



May brought loss . . . my son and his wife lost their baby . . .  so there was a great deal of sadness . . .





It is hard when you see your children hurting . . .  sometimes it is hard to understand such losses.   Maybe we never will.  Grateful for the peace the Gospel brings and for eternal families.



I celebrated Britishness in June, along with our beautiful garden . . . June is when it is at it's best.  I love the month of June.  I think it is my favourite month.



My craft CD was a sell out on the Shopping Channel.  It ended up being a bit of a disappointment financially as I did not make a fraction of what the sales were on it . . .  I had expected more, but it was also exciting at the same time.   People were buying what I had created and liking it.   So it was  a bit of a mixed bag of feelings.

 

My best friend turned 56 in July and my mother turned 82.  July has always been a month of celebration in our family with two birthdays and summer at it's nicest.    I explored the joys of the season and my bucket list of things to do.




Ariana came into our lives in August and I turned 59.   The  month was a blur of getting her settled in and getting used to having someone else in the house and the adjustments that come with transitions like that.   It's all settled very nicely.   She's pleasant to have around and life is a bit more interesting.   It's nice to have another female voice on things . . .

The husband of one of my oldest friends died all of a sudden and unexpectedly, reminding me once again of the fragility of life.



In September I began doing something I had never done before.   I began selling originals of my artwork.  Our printer broke down and I still have not been able to find a suitable art paper to print out on the new one . . .  so I am not really able to sell prints of my work anymore . . .  but people seem to like the originals.   I hate parting with them, but c'est la vie!  I signed contracts with an Art Licenser.  Autumn began to arrive . . .

 

I celebrated everything autumn in October.  With all of the losses we have experience over this past year . . .  the here and the now has become even more important.  We enjoyed our Church's bi-annual conference.   We filled out papers for a Service Mission.



In November Todd and I celebrated fourteen years of wedded bliss and marveled at how quickly the time has passed.   We are so grateful to have found each other and spent our anniversary as we always do  . . .  in the Temple of the Lord.  Eternal marriage.  Not everyone's cup of tea, but our cup of tea.   Bliss.  In each other we have found the perfect companions.



Much of December has been to do with Christmas.   Baking.   Trimming.   Enjoying the blessings of family and of love and friendship  . . .  and of course most of all . . .  the blessing of the Saviour's birth.   A screen test for a show on ITV towards the end of the month was a tad bit exciting and one more thing to cross off on my bucket list.



It hasn't been a really exciting year.   There hasn't been any fancy holidays or totally exciting adventures.  Money has been extremely tight.  Some years are just like that.   A bit of loss . . . a bit of gain and . . .  a lot of love intermingled with it all.

You can't really ask for much more than that can you?

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

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“Hope Smiles from the 
threshold of the year to come, 
Whispering 'it will be happier'...”
~Alfred Tennyson
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I am talking about my top ten recipes for 2014 in The English Kitchen today  . . . with a few surprises and a few not so surprising recipes.

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Whoever you are with, whatever you are doing, wherever you are, I wish for you each a very Happy New Year's celebrations tonight.  Be safe and be happy.   All the best in 2014!

I'll see you next year!