2008 in review

Once again, Alda at the Iceland Weather Report leads the way and I shamelessly theft an idea. :)

It's 2008 in Review!

January

Tired of being frustrated by the spinning wheel that Anti-V had kindly loaned me (to create space in her own house), I decided to sign up for lessons. Although I started the classes in December 2007, January finds me reporting on what I'm learning.

February

February was all about the new elliptical machine and a recommitment to exercising. I wanted to be healthier for my trip in May. Yo... husband, stop laughing out there in the background.

Not blogged about at the time but I also started a new job in February. More on that through the summary.

March

March saw us in Toronto for Canada Blooms, and a stay at our favourite sinfully luxurious hotel - the Cosmopolitian, an annoying confrontation with NYPD helicopters, and the single finest meal I think I've ever had.

April

In April, I'm sure there was a lot going on in the garden, but apparently I was too busy getting ready for my trip in May to blog about it. My big excitement seems to be updating my blog with a gorgeous picture in the header bar.

May

May saw us heading off to Scotland and Iceland for the whole month, for our long overdue honeymoon. Perfect weather, lots of ancient places to explore, and just so much to see and take in. Iceland even gave us a rather memorable send-off with an earthquake on our last day there.

Believe it or not, I'm actually rather shy, so I didn't introduce myself to distant relatives in Scotland, or to Alda while I was in Iceland.


June

June saw me getting back into the garden, and trying out the One Local Summer thing again. I eventually got off the One Local Summer thing - while I was still eating locally, I found I didn't have the stick-to-it-ness to blog about it weekly. The whole year has seen my blogging diminish considerably from previous years.

The new job mentioned in February is a mat leave position, and I ran into the first major kink in June when my assistant moved on to another position. I can't blame her - this was temporary, and what she moved to is permanent, but it did create some instability and extra work for me.

July

July gives us some reporting from the garden, and the fiber side of life. We held a get together in the backyard to make glass beads in a new smelter that Neil's working on, and I co-opted the firepit to put some dye pots on.

Ahh yes... and Darrell delivered the bird feeder.

August

Birds, gardens and squirrels - oh my!

I also started with that Facebook thing - very absorbing.

And then there's that pesky job thing. The person hired to replace the assistant who moved on, moved on himself! It's August, on the cusp of the single busiest time of the year and I'm training someone new again!

September

September disappeared into a black hole. Literally, I have no memory of anything but getting increasingly short of hair available to pull out. I was very very very busy.

October

Marginally better, work-wise, in that the new fellow is working out well. But my laptop at home started to malfunction and it took weeks to get fixed. Actually, we finally discovered that the repair place was nuts, and it was just easier to get it replaced entirely.


November

November brought a new challenge at work when the guy that my position is a back up for, got sick. Very sick. Of the not yet back variety. And I've been doing two jobs for two months now.

I'm surprised that I blogged at all in November, but I'm not surprised that it was a meme. Brain power is something I that had little extra to spare.

Oh, and the snow hit us early and hard. We still have mulch in the driveway that wasn't distributed and leaves that never got properly collected or mulched into the lawn. I didn't get a chance to plant bulbs, and the two trees that came down are still largely in piles in the back yard. I'm going to pay heavily for this in the spring.


December

December was better job-wise, mostly in that the students all start to get focussed on exams and leave us alone for awhile. Perhaps somewhat in that I might now have the hang of a few things. And I got some reason to hope that things will get better in the new year - but more on that in the New Year. :)

At home, Neil bought some skyr from Palssons in Manitoba - the only place that we know of that makes skyr in Canada. I've been trying to make more at home, and not having a great deal of success.

More on making Skyr at home

But first, a recap - here's a summary of all previous posts that mention Skyr, including the recipe that I'm working from, and previous results.

We get our skyr shipped from a small grocery store in Arborg, Manitoba, by the name of Palsson's. As far as we know, it's the only place in Canada that makes and sells the stuff. They make it in their dairy section.

When I have it, I keep trying to make some more. I just tried again yesterday - draining the results tonight.

*sigh* Let's just say I don't have the hang of it yet. 4 quarts of milk reduced to approximately 2.5 cups of something that only vaguely resembles sky and tastes ...... Neil kindly says "not bad". I didn't like it.