2020 - Looking Back

When we look back at the big picture, 2020 will go down as quite something.  Starting with drought and half of the NSW east coast on fire, followed by good soaking rain, with floods in some areas, followed by one of the best seasons and a record breaking grain harvest. Then there was the shock of a world wide pandemic and the chaos of the American Presidential elections.

On a more personal note, it was also a year of great change for Mick and I, as Mick retired.  It was supposed to be semi-retirement, but due to COVID-19 became more like full retirement, which he didn't mind at all. Having said that, he has been doing some work since the start of November.  I am still working three days a week, and continued to go into the office right through the restrictions.  This did, however, give us four day weekends together.

Therefore, it is a little difficult to determine whether it was COVID-19 or Mick's retirement that framed how we spent a lot of our time during the year.

The one downside of COVID-19 that touched us personally, was the restrictions on Aged Care facilities, as both our Mums are now in residential aged care.  Other than for medical appointments, my Mum has not been to town since February.  We were unable to visit her in person for several months and now have to make an appointment and wear a surgical mask.  I'm so pleased that she has her crochet and knitting to keep her hands and mind occupied. We were very fortunate in that she was able to visit our home a few times, and in particular for her birthday and for Christmas.  We appreciate the care given by the Nursing Home during the year, as it must be so difficult for them.  We look forward to a time when we can just pop in to visit them and take them out once again.  Let's hope things improve to that level.

I just did a recap on the post I did at the end of 2019.  There was so much that we hoped to do that did not come to fruition, but we still did so much, just not what was originally planned.

On the home front, Mick built a little potting shed/greenhouse and added to the vege garden.  

We also revamped the front garden.

Now that Mick and I had more time together we decided to plan some fun things each month.  Friday Fun Day was a great initiative.  We had some small outings and also some bigger days out.

We did have some of our travel plans curtailed.  We were going to have quite a busy autumn, attending an Atlantic Caravan rally, Scrub Stitchin' and the Ulysses Motorcycle Rally, all of which did not go ahead.  Our planned trip to New Zealand in October has also been put on hold for now.  We have until the end of 2022 to use our plane fares, so fingers crossed, we will get there at some stage.

Having said that, once restrictions were eased in June, we have been out and about in our van quite a bit, always heading bush, rather than to more populated places.  Being in the van, we were able to travel whilst maintaining social distancing and being self sufficient.

We travelled to Lake Cargelligo three times.

Were able to experience the wild flowers in the Pilliga Forest.

We visited Chooky and Miss Jules twice.

We travelled to Bingara and Inverell, where we met up with some friends from Queensland, once the borders opened.  We were so lucky to time it when we did, now that restrictions are back in place.

These trips suited us well, as we much prefer exploring regional Australia to the coast at the best of times.  There is so much to see in NSW, that there is no need to travel further at this stage.

Motorcycling didn't happen as much as we would have liked, but that is OK.

I did manage to read a book each month.  I'm pretty happy with that.

Closer to home, we enjoyed many walks around our area.

During the cooler months we baked.  This was such a fun thing for us to do together.  Mick has never baked, as he has always been busy with other things and I have been the one to do the baking, when it occasionally happened.  He is now quite comfortable making a slice or biscuits while I am at work.  We had fun making favourite recipes as well as trying some new ones.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins were a new favourite.

As was Apricot Shortcake.

Now to the stitching side of things.

It was the year of goal setting, and happily, goal achieving......until November, when I seemed to lose all interest in stitching.

I made my blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but am yet to assemble my cushions.

Once again I participated in One Monthly Goal, which really kept me on track.

Splendid Sampler 2 finally became a flimsy, after working away at it for two years.  I hope to have it quilted this year.

I started Moda Blockheads 3 and kept up to date until the end of October.  I am a little behind now, but will get back to it soon.  I just have 10 blocks to go.

I joined in with One Project a Month and managed to complete at least one project each month.  I actually completed 23 projects.  Very happy with that.

Joining in with Cheryll's WOOFA Challenge was also great fun.  I managed to complete 7 UFOs and worked on an eighth.  The UFO list is definitely getting shorter.

Lou and I also had a little Christmas Stitching Challenge, which was fun to do.

My main project that wasn't planned, was the Trail Mix quilt.  It was such a fun way to use up some of my scraps and stash.  I just love it and can't wait to put it on our bed next winter.

A wonderful thing to come out if 2020 was Zoom get togethers, arranged by Chooky.  This started as a substitute for Scrup Stitchin', but has grown to so much more.  It has been wonderful sitting and stitching with fellow bloggers from around the world.  There are ladies I have been chatting to through our blogs for ages, and have now been chatting to in real time.  I have had a more social stitching year than I have in ages.

So, all in all, 2020 has been a pretty good year for us.  We do appreciate the fact that Australia, and in particular, regional Australia, has been very fortunate in how little our life has been changed since the arrival of COVID-19.

When I look back, I can sum things up in one word "THANKFUL".  We have so very much to be thankful for and have learnt to appreciate what is important in life.