Tomorrow 2020 will truly be hindsight and like many, I will be glad. There has been so much sickness and death from the Covid-19 pandemic virus. In this post I want to focus on the good this year. My personality is that I must be doing. This post is to document the things accomplished, books read, quilts made, and other happy, good things.
First off, let's show the big woodworking project I tackled in January 2020.
This was way out of my league and it has so many flaws but here almost a year later, I still love the piece.
A faux printmaker's cabinet. There drawers along the top and three doors that open on the lower part.
Next are the quilts I made in 2020. Bottom center, Quarantine, was published in the Dec/Jan 2021 issue of Quiltmaker.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this hobby and want to do more in 2021.
With the pandemic and being off work about 6 weeks I got in more quilting, painting, and book reading than I would normally. All the books 'read' this year were done using either the Audible app or the Overdrive Library app (audiobooks) on my phone. Next up is my book list for 2020: (patience, it is long)
- Dec-Jan The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah. Story of two sisters and their experiences in France during WW2. Inspired by the true events of a women who lead downed allied pilots thru the Pyrenees mountains to Spain for safety. Very good book.
- Jan - Buried Deep by Margot Hunt. Man commits murder. Didn't really like this one.
- Jan - The Home Front. Just ok. About life in America after WW2. I think this was an Audible Original.
- Jan - Body of Proof by Darrell Brown. Ok. Audible Original.
- Jan - Promised Land by Robert Whitlow. Good. I like all of his.
- Feb - The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. Interesting story about the history of the periodic table of elements. Stories of the scientists who discovered them and lots of info of that they did, etc. A little geeky but I loved it.
- Feb - The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate. Story of a single mom trying to start over in the Outer Banks. Rents from an old woman who dies leaving her to clean out her historic home were she finds boxes and boxes of written prayers that tells a story of a life well lived. Good book.
- Feb - Break Shot. Audible original of James Taylor's early life. Ok.
- Mar - Secrets at Cedar Cabin by Colleen Coble. 'eh, ok, not great.
- Mar - The Gold Finch by Donna Tartt. Surprised that it was not great. It won a Pulitzer Prize; just can't see it. Lots of drugs/addiction. Boy's mom dies in a terrorist attack at a museum and he steals a painting.
- Mar - In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. Good story, more of a documentary about the treadegy of the Whaling Ship Essexx, around 1830.
- Mar - Educated by Tara Westover. True story of a girl growing up with bipolar father in unltra-conservative home. Good.
- Mar - The Huntress by Kate Quinn. WW2 story. Good.
- Apr - Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn. Too light and unrealistic. Did not like.
- Apr - The Lake Home by Kate Morton. After WW2 a family, a stolen child grows up. Very good!
- May - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. WW2 era - up to 2011. Story of a women with a secret past that is unraveled by her daughter. Great book.
- May - Then She was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Story of an abducted girl and the child she has that grows up and is found by her grandmother. Pretty good book.
- May - The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattock. Rather dark WW2 era. About the wives of men who tried to overthrow Hilter in Germany. Pretty good.
- May - Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. Great story about a boy and his family ~ 1906. Good book!
- Jun - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morten (see a pattern with this author?) About Eliza Makepiece who was orphaned but ends up returning to her mother's wealthy estate in Cornwall, England. A great mystery story.
- Jul - Hurrican Season by Lauren Deaton (?) pretty good. Single mom story.
- Jul - The View from Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble. Just ok.
- Jul - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Ok, but ended terrible.
- Jul - A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. Early Christians in Rome. Love this series.
- Jul - The Cuckoo's Cry. Girl shows up at an elderly man's house during the pandemic. Ok, not bad.
- Aug - An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers. Book 2 of the series of early Christians. Great book.
- Sep - As Sure as the Dawn by Francine Rivers. Book 3 of the series of the early Christians. Great book.
- Oct - Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers. Pretty good.
- Oct - Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. Great book about Christian topics.
- Nov - A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, About a 16 year old who shoots a deputy. Always like his books.
- Dec - The Confession by John Grisham. Good story about a convict who finally confesses to a crime.
- Dec - Follow the River by James Alexander Thom. Based on the true story of Mary Draper Ingles who was kidnapped by Indians, escaped, ad traveled ~1000 miles to get back home to her settlement. Amazing story.
- Dec - Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Great story set during the depression about the 'blue' people of Kentucky and the Book women who traveled the hard to reach areas bringing books to the Kentucky mountain people.
The new author Kate Morton, I found this year, is awesome. I am currently reading another of hers called The Shifting Fog.
Goals for 2021:
--- Make 8 quilts
--- Get 2 quilts accepted for publication
--- Build something
--- Paint something frame worthy
--- Paint and hide 8-10 rocks
--- Read about 20 books
--- Back to the gym 2-3 times a week (after the vaccine)
--- Learn something new (in quilting, painting, a recipe, or something totally new)
--- Run 350-400 miles
--- Pay a bill/fix a meal/pay for a meal/buy groceries for someone in need
--- Daily bible readings
--- Pray more every day
--- Serve others; make others smile; show compassion and caring
--- Focus on being a good influence on the grandchildren and my son and daughter-in-law while they are living with us.
This year I have so much to be thankful for. The biggest thing is to have my son and his family back in the states. So, so thankful for that in these trying times.
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