Every year I look back through my blog and write up a little retrospective. I think that it’s valuable. It usually seems like a longer time ago to me and there are always things that I have forgotten. I’m especially surprised at all the headache complaints.

In 2008, I was reeling from the loss of my furchild, Squirt, but I felt strangely freed as well. I didn’t understand it at the time, but the thing that I had dreaded most had happened, and my load was lightened. I understand better about the damage that living in a negative future can do to your psyche, and I turned my energy toward art. I learned a lot about letting go and living authentically.

So here are what I gleaned as the highlights of the blog last year.

In January 2008, Sandy was rehired. I changed medications and got on with my life, especially my creative life. I planned and explored some paths that didn’t work out, but I did begin weaving the tapestry bag.

February brought the finished tapestry bag, the beginning of the labyrinth tapestry, woven ATCs, the discovery of podcasts and free audio books, the rediscovery of discussion lists, and beginning to fix up the house.

In March, I was thrilled to finally earn the trust of Mama Kitty after 12 years! I got heavily into the woven ATCs. Usual garden stuff. After years of grousing, one of my major goals of replacing the SUV was completed by the purchase of a purple Honda Fit.

April 2008: “By the Sea” tapestries. After photos of the Back Forty, with my favorite photo of Mama Kitty. Obsession with the free book shelf at Ed McKay’s. A LOT of time hanging with Mama Kitty on the deck.

The Back Forty is at its most beautiful in May. I went to Art and Soul and bound my first book and carved my first stamp. Mama Kitty went home. I changed my mind - this is my favorite photo - from 2007 just seconds before she whacked the bunny. I miss my feline garden friend.

In June we took our annual week-long vacation at Lake Waccamaw, with an unwelcome wildlife encounter. Cherry picking. Heat wave from hell. Most significantly, I made my first paper with the help of Susanne.

July was all about papermaking, binding books, journaling, and spending lots of time in the studio. Said goodbye to my friend John at the celebration of his life. These artichokes, from which I would later make beautiful paper, were in bloom.

In early August we put up a gazebo with mosquito netting in the very back - a wonderful place to relax and journal nearly bug-free. Recycled papermaking, altered journals, and more small bound journals.

I actually went to Slow Food Nation in San Francisco in late August, but I killed my camera and didn’t blog about it until September. I started back to school as an art undergrad (for the third time!) but I dropped my design class because I was frustrated with the Mac and physically hurting from being on the computer all the time. My need for blogging decelerates quickly. Finished the Labyrinth tapestry.

October brings another loss with the passing of Miss Peanut. I take an incredible week-long class in book arts with Daniel Essig at John C. Campbell Folk School.

Naturally, as an Obama supporter I was excited about Election Night in November. Guido had dental surgery, while I had the fun of forcing antibiotics down his throat twice a day for weeks.

And I didn’t blog much in December. Did the usual holiday family stuff. Had a lot of pain problems with my hip, but my attitude is pretty good. We bought some new furniture and painted the porch. Picked up and shelled a lot of pecans. Greatly disappointed with Obama and his lack of vision for our food future, but happier than I would have been with the alternative. A pretty laid-back Christmas, all-in-all, and focusing now on 2009.

Well, that was a nice break. I hope that you all are having wonderful holidays.

We spent ours at my sister’s in Chapel Hill and then to Marietta to visit my mother for a couple of days. Ate WAY TOO MUCH food. I felt (and look) like I swallowed a soccer ball.

I don’t normally make these kind of resolutions at New Year’s, but the timing is right for a weight loss resolution. I was dismayed at my last doctor’s appointment to see that I’m close to my heaviest weight, and I don’t want to go up a size in clothes. All my fat clothes are either business casual, professional, or sweats. At work I am fortunate to be able to wear jeans and nice shirts, and my jeans are uncomfortably tight!

Part of the problem is that I have not gotten the kind of exercise that I normally get in the garden. My hip has had a growing problem since early September or so when we laid the cement pavers for the gazebo. Finally it got painful enough that I went to the chiropractor this month and he says that I have tendinitis in my hip. The ultrasound they did on it made the pain much worse then after I stopped that the adjustments and the electrotherapy helped me back to…essentially where I was before. Except with an adjusted spine. So now I’m hitting it with lots of ibuprofen and my next trip to the store will include a purchase of a large bottle of fish oil capsules.

I did feel better enough that I finally cleaned up most of the Back Forty, finally. The only things I have back there that are edible right now are turnips, leeks, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. In storage, I have some canned tomatoes, cured garlic, and frozen peas and butterbeans. Not as much as I would like.

The hip thing is kind of getting to me because I had a terrible time with it for years about 20 years ago and it was very depressing and frustrating. At that time it was way out of whack from a fall that I took when I was 23, and subsequently mistreated and misdiagnosed by several MDs. The fall involved a flask of Southern Comfort, a cafeteria tray, snow, and a beckoning steep hill on a local college campus. Students, hear my lamentation and take heed.

I’ve been cooking a lot, and froze chicken stock and turkey stock from the trimmings and bones that I’ve saved over the last few months. If you cook a whole bird, don’t throw it out until you get that last bit of goodness out of it. I’m so glad that it is soup season again.

Sandy and I thought about taking a vacation trip these last few days, but decided to spend it at home getting the house clean and painting the front porch, since yesterday and today are mild and sunny. The porch has needed painting for several years, but it was nearly impossible with Mama Kitty and Miss Peanut in residence. Sadly, their passing left us no excuse to take care of it before the neighbors come after us.

This painting and cooking is exactly the kind of activity that my chiropractor told me NOT to do, so dammit, I’m in pain again and will be eating leftover turkey tetrazzini and ham sandwiches for the next day or so. Neither of which are up to my usual ethical food standards, but sometimes flexibility is called for. I’ll be able to go to the farmers’ market and Deep Roots for the first time in several weeks this weekend.

This is getting long, so I’ll blog about my art doings later. And I have my usual end-of-year and New Year’s posts to think about. Since I’m going to try to force myself to sit and heal, blogging might be a good thing right now.

Hey y’all. If you check in regularly here, you’ve noticed that I haven’t had much to say. This is a good thing in my opinion, since I had plenty to say in the last three plus years and I don’t want to repeat myself or bore myself or you about doing housework, etc. I also find it difficult to write about art and my feelings about it. So this blog is in a downturn, not because I’m feeling bad or too busy or any of that stuff. It’s just not fulfilling my needs right now. If it disappears, that’s because I’m considering taking it private, maybe forever, maybe for a few days. I’ll keep the web site up because I use this site for my personal portal. Just wanted to give those of you who care fair warning so that you don’t worry about me.

As much as anything, I feel a need to detach from the computer when I’m not at work. It had gotten to be an addiction, and I’ve wasted an enormous amount of time on it. Not that it has all been a waste - I’ve also gained many friends and a lot of information. But I’ve noticed that I use checking my email to delay beginning projects that I love once I begin them. Once I check my email, of course, I’m off cruising the net and the few minutes I meant to spend becomes an hour. You probably understand.

Also, the headaches and eye strain - oy vey. I’ve got pixilated pupils.

So I’ll catch you up on what’s happening here at Chez O’Neill. First, Guido is galloping around and making as much trouble as ever, so he’s fine.

Second, we bought some new furniture at a great price - a display sofa and big chair and ottoman from our favorite little furniture store that went out of business :-(. We gave our old sofa to a coworker of Sandy’s and the treadmill went to his exercise room at work. I also bought a small armoire for the TV and moved the huge entertainment center to my studio where it is perfect for storage space. The living room looks beautiful and it is very conducive to cocooning with a good book with the wood stove cranked up. We could both easily sleep in this room if our power went out, and last weekend I cooked on the stove. So we’re ready to hole up for Great Depression II.

Third, I did end up staying on the board of Slow Food Piedmont Triad, although I’m doing it as an advisor through a transition to new leadership and have passed on my former duties as webmaster and list mama to other fine women. I don’t plan to do more than I want to do, and if I get stressed out I’ll step out. I arranged to do a seed exchange and potluck at Pat and Brian’s farm in January, where we’ll talk about seed saving and the Ark of Taste and RAFT, all of which are my favorite parts of Slow Food. The biodiversity mission of Slow Food is often overshadowed, and I am more of a gardener and historian than a cook. Anyway, after that event I hope that the new leadership will be on their way to their own new ideas. There is a lot of energy in Winston Salem that can be tapped.

Today I’m planning to make some Christmas cards from my handmade paper and some pattern weaving samples I’ve saved from a while back. I’ll have to bundle up to work in the studio, but if I can get part of it done back there I can move to the warm house. It’s just that the cats love me too much and want to be all over me, or they howl and wail if I go into the second bedroom and close the door. Earplugs are a good thing for me, but Sandy is trying to sleep.

If you don’t hear from me again soon, I wish you all happy holidays, whatever you choose to celebrate.

A more practical call-to-action concerning the department of ag appointments is here:

http://asap.sustainability.uiuc.edu/members/rebeccaroach/citizen-groups-lobby-to-shape-obamas-usda-posts/