Friday, December 31, 2021

Tomorrow, tomorrow

I've always liked this picture.  Well, not this picture in particular, but this saying:




I don't really make New Year's Resolutions, I'm not good at sticking to them.  Ha, I'm not super good at sticking to many plans or goals, let's be honest.  (one of many ADHD struggles, but at least I know that now)  However, I do have a growing list of things I'm going to work on, starting tomorrow. 

** Signing up for a few options I've been tracking to try and make some income online.  Side hustles to my side hustles.  If they work, I'll try and remember to share them.  I don't like sharing stuff like that, or really sharing much of anything, until I have a chance to look into it.  

** Renewing my Stitch Fiddle account.  If you haven't heard of it, Stitch Fiddle is a super helpful site for designing patterns: cross-stitch, crochet, and knitting.  I use the cross-stitch option and have designed a ton of patterns on there.  They have a free membership, I think it limits the number of patterns you can save.  Of course, I had exceeded that, so I upgraded to the paid account and I renew it annually.  It is $5/month or $30/year.  

** Somewhat in line with the above, I would like to start selling some of my patterns and offer other things I've designed.  I have come up with all sorts of random things, as offshoots in the graphic design software I use for the laser, and would like to see how they go when offered up as digital downloads. 

** In line with that, haha, put more things up in my Etsy shop.  Goals should be specific and have a timeline attached - this is where I typically struggle.  I'll say that I have a bunch of finished or very nearly finished tack projects and custom horses.  I'd really like to get them all listed in January.  Everything that's either done or close enough that I just need to sit down for an hour or two and get. them. done.  Hopefully that's specific enough (it makes sense to me).

** I'd like to finish some of my laser products in development.  At the top of the list: jumps (top of that list: hunter style and flowers) and my little Stablemate stable.  I have plans to offer both as finished items and also as kits that a DIY person could build.  Waiting off to the side in this category: new saddle stand design(s), Stablemate shelf holders, paint holders, other jumps, horse-drawn vehicles, and more.  So much more...

** I have a few larger no timeline attached commission projects here that I really want/need to get started on.  All from patient and wonderful friends who've told me from the start "no rush at all" which is great and appreciated, but also, can make it hard for me to get started, ha.  

** I need to figure out who my next NaMoPaiMo horse is.  I have NO idea yet.  

** BreyerWest is coming and I'm going...  Barring, well, a lot of things - who knows..  potentially winter in ND will be enough of an interference.  At the moment, we're buried in snow with -40F wind chill.  But I'm hopeful and will be trying to snag a ticket and possibly a show entry, and workshop(s), and swap meet, and...

** In line with that, in particular, I want to have at least a partial new show string of custom horses for BW.  I had/have been toting around the same old CMs for a long, long time and I really need to get more new work done and out there. 


Whew, okay, yeah, that's a "start"...

What is on your list of hope to do/want to do/need to do?  Or resolutions, if you do them?


Happy New Year!

Friday, December 24, 2021

Orion

When I was a little girl, my Granddad taught me some of the constellations in the night sky.  Most notably, Orion and Cassiopeia.  Those are the two I remember the most.

Something strange has happened to me, many, many times over the years since my Granddad passed away.  It'll be dark, sometimes at night, sometimes in the early morning.  I'll look up to see the stars, or see if I can even see any stars, and I'm looking right at Orion. 

Though I have an interest in space, I never know where Orion will be but, SO many times, I turn my eyes up and I'm looking right at him.  It's happened in different parts of the world, and at different times.  Sometimes in a city, sometimes out in the middle of nowhere.  I've come to think of this as my Granddad saying hello.  Maybe it's silly, but it is a comfort.  Often, I glance up at the sky during moments of uncertainly, or before starting another adventure, and there he is. 

My response to this is usually something along the lines of smiling and saying,

"Hi, Granddad."

I'm feeling adrift in another period of uncertainty, stacked on top of uncertainty, with a side of uncertainty right now.  I randomly decided to go outside tonight, at 11pm, to empty the compost bucket and put some papers and cardboard in the burn barrel.  No, I didn't need to venture out into the arctic tundra at night to do these things, but I wanted to.  Partway across the yard, I wondered if I could see the stars tonight.  I glanced up and there was Orion, of course, right in my line of sight.  I stopped in my tracks. 

"Hi, Granddad...  Am I doing the right thing...?" I asked. 

There was no answer.  I didn't expect one. 

As I studied the constellation in the silent, cold night air, something else occurred to me.  There was a scattered pattern of clouds up there, thin, but numerous, with gaps and lines in between them.  Every star of Orion was shining bright through a break in the cloud cover.

After marveling over this, I said, "I do know that you'll be with me, no matter what." 

I finished my spontaneous late night chores and when I glanced up again, Orion was behind the clouds.

Until next time, Granddad.