Various ramblings by the small hobbit

I set my goals for the year in April, so it's about time I considered a quick update.

Goal No 1: Do a Themed Monthly Post
That's going well, with a monthly View from the Window

Goal No 2: Accept the Unexpected
I am being more flexible when something happens and I realise it will be impossible to complete all the things I'd wanted to complete on a particular day.  So although I don't have anything specific to point to, I have the sense that my mindset is changing.

Goal No 3: To Embrace My Personal Interests
This has to do with my ridiculous attempts to do three courses, four craft projects, read three books and write two separate ficlets in one day as well as whatever else I'm committed to on that day.  I'm learning to mentally say 'let's see how much I can do' and actually achieving more than I might expect, because I'm enjoying what I'm doing.

25 Things in 2025
Currently I've completed 18 out of 25.  Of those that remain, 3 were July to December and in progress, 1 is running behind as it won't be finished by the end of this month, but will be before the end of the year, 2 will be listed at the beginning of next month and the final 1 is for the complete year.  So I'm very pleased with how this is going and delighted I took on the challenge.

Having set my last annual goals in April 2024, it's time for my annual review.

Goal 1: To do something new each month
In January I went to London and Sadler's Wells by myself, which was something I've not done before.  February I joined the church trip to look at the heating system in Rugby - not successful as the vicar's car broke down on the M5, but I did get to ride in two breakdown trucks, something none of us had done before!  In March I met Catherine who had worked at Nature in Art at a reunion she'd organised and we went to the Elmore Chamber Group launch of their summer festival.  And this month saw the end of my reduction in meat consumption, which I was doing for Lent.  That was really successful and J and I will be continuing with eating less meat.

Goal 2: To do a monthly review
That's been achieved.  My thinking behind this was to reflect on how my life was going, and whether changes needed to be made.  Being retired means there are less specific goals now than there once were.  On the whole it established that in general things are going well, my involvement with both Gloucestershire Bundles, the charity I'm treasurer for, plus our church is at the right level.  Inevitably church commitments vary depending on the season but that's within my bounds of commitment.  I've decided that there's no reason to specifically plan holidays and activities as they tend to turn up anyway and I can just take part if they appeal.  If anything, sometimes I'm trying to do too much writing/crafting/courses/reading but that's because there's so much that appeals and one way or another it gets done - and since they're all entirely my own choice I could cut back on things - except I don't want to!

Goal 3: To complete a bigger knitting project
This one didn't work out, for cost reasons I've already explained, but I have managed to complete one new garment and am well on the way to finishing another.


Which leaves me ready now to set my goals for 2025/26!

Goal 1: To do something new each month
So far, so good.  In May I met someone new who belongs to the Shedunnit book club.  And I also got to stand on an old tank.  June I went to the farewell of the organiser for the Dare to Dabble sessions.  I also got to hold a WWII weapon at a French chateau.  July was The Daughter's graduation, for which we stayed in Birmingham overnight.  And August I took a number of online seminars of a religious nature.  All of which fall into the category of 'ooh, not sure, I've never done this before', so definitely what this goal is about.

Goal 2: To do a monthly review
With four reviews now completed I can see that I'm basically happy with the way things are currently going, but that there are areas which might be worth tweaking.  There are still several months to come to any firm decisions.

Goal 3: To complete a bigger knitting project
This didn't go quite as planned - the cost of the yarn meant I had to scale back my plans a little.  There's more than I might normally pay (worth it for a big project) and there's ridiculous.  Which is why I settled on the sleeveless top in cotton yarn, which is growing slowly.  And by not spending a huge amount on yarn for one project, I have been able to buy the fabric and threads for my new cross stitch project.  Since the main thing is that I enjoy my crafting, this is fine.

Time to see how my goals worked out over the last 12 months:

Goal 1: To complete all FutureLearn courses on my Wish List
Total success.  To be fair, there are still two courses left, but as neither of them have run during the year, I'm very happy with this.  Some of the courses I removed from the list because I decided I wasn't really interested, and a couple I started and gave up as they weren't want I was looking for, but it all counts.  I have completed 21 courses during the year, both those from my wish list and new ones, so yes, I'm happy. I'm starting a new course on Monday and my intention from now on is to just do new courses when they come up.

Goal 2: To reduce the tours on my Leger wish list, either by going on them or by having booked them
Again a total success.  One's not running at the moment but otherwise the list will be cleared by the end of June, when we go to Normandy.  There are a few I'm interested in, so depending on what The Daughter decides I may book for something next year - we're going on two this year - but they're more in the choosing something at the time variety than definite wish list.

Goal 3: To do something slightly different each month
Also successful.  At the end of January we went to Wales, which is a different time from our usual trip.  February I went to the first of a series of sessions for a new fundraising initiative for our church.  And March we went to London, stayed in Battersea and heard the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank.


And now it's time to decide on my goals for the next 12 months.  I shall continue with Goal 3, because it remains only to easy to slip into the regular routine.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, I have plenty of things which occupy my time, but I don't want to be trapped into only doing those things.  I'm really not sure at the moment what I shall decide for the others - the criteria is that they need to be reasonably attainable given a bit of effort.

1. What is on your bucket list that you want to do in the next ten years?
There are places in Europe I'd like to visit: Ghent, Prague in particular, maybe a trip down the Danube, various places in Germany...

2. What bucket list items have you completed and enjoyed?
I've been to Vienna and Budapest and Florence and Barcelona, all wonderful cities

3. What bucket list items did you accomplish but they weren't as great as you hoped or expected?
I did a battlefields tour by myself (normally I go with The Daughter) which worked really well.  It was the war poets, and by the end I felt I'd seen all I wanted to see, and didn't come back with as much of a buzz as previously.

4. What short term goal(s) are you currently working on?
My three goals for this year (May to April):
a) Complete all FutureLearn courses on my wish list - there are only four left and I'm partway through one.  The others aren't currently available.
b) To reduce the number of Leger Tours on my wish list - I began with four tours, one of which I've done, and we're booked on two more for next year (one different and one which combines two on the wish list), leaving only one tour outstanding (at the moment!)
c) To do something slightly different each month - August I was involved in the church holiday club; September I went away by myself; October we went to Scotland by train and were away for longer than usual.  This month probably different things for the charity I volunteer for.

5. What middle term goal(s) do you have, and are you working on them?
I'm not sure I have any middle term goals.  If you were to ask me where I saw myself in five years' time I'd have to say I've no idea; things may be the same as they are now, some things may well be different.  Getting older means no longer having aims for what I'll do in ten or twenty years time, if there's anything I really want to do then I need to do it now (by which I include next year).

Since they are my goals there's no reason why they shouldn't run from some time in April to some time the following April, rather than a strict 1st to 30th.  Which means I can officially start working on my new goals.

And here is the review from the past year:

Goal No 1: To use dates without specific commitments profitably

As I've noted before this hasn't been a particular issue, as there haven't been that many days when there's been nothing scheduled in my calendar, so such days have had a full list of things which I need to get done because they haven't been done on other days.  In fact it's been slightly quieter over Easter, so I've begun to look at doing something which I haven't done - and in this case needs doing.


Goal No 2: To do a couple of extra crafting activities a month (or one large one)

I had fun doing my papercraft kit.  And otherwise extra crafting has been cross stitch as I've been stitching both cards and my main project.  This wasn't quite what I had in mind when I made the goal, but I'm enjoying it which is what matters.  And if I want to spend longer stitching one day, because it's wet and miserable outside yet again, then I can.


Goal No 3: Continue updating my blog posting

That's more or less as I want it.  My local events drew to a halt as I wrote about events within the calendar, my last two being Mother's Day (cards I received) and Easter (cakes we made).  I do need to look a bit harder at my Fannish 50, which is a bit behind - so far I've written 12.  Perhaps if I look at some of the series I read...


Overall, I'd say I achieved what I was aiming for.  Always difficult to judge when the goals aren't particularly specific.  Which means this year should be different, but I'm still capable of adjusting them if I think it's justified.

I set my goals during April, so the first half is more of an update, but I've added a note of my aims for 2023 in various areas as well. snowflake_challenge  

Goal No 1: To use dates without specific commitments profitably

As I said in my October review, this was set when I expected more free days each week.  Now, I normally have one day during the week without specific commitments, plus some Saturdays.  Which means that my weekday is used for catching up, generally admin tasks, and extra writing/course following/crafting.  Saturday is more of an unstructured day, as suits the weekend.


Goal No 2: To do a couple of extra crafting activities a month (or one large one)

Having spent the autumn months on Christmas crafting of various sorts, I now have rather less to do.  Not that I'm forced to do crafts, but there is an attraction to stitching cards, knitting little presents etc.  I was given a papercraft kit for Christmas and I'm working at that, which currently counts.


Goal No 3: Continue updating my blog posting

Snowflake has been good for this, but I think I shall just ease back on little so I don't feel obliged to post.


All of these goals are somewhat vague, so as I start to consider what I might decide on for goals from the beginning of May, I think one of my aims will be to set more tangible goals.

My other aims are:

• Written word count for the year of 115,000
• Goodreads challenge of 75 books read
• Complete the J H Dearle Golden Lily cross stitch which I began at the beginning of the month and start Klimt's The Kiss

I set my goals at the end of April, so I thought it was time, at three months in, to see how I'm getting on.  And then I decided I would do some cross stitch and listen to an audiobook instead.  But, some hours later, I'm here.

Goal No 1:  To use days without specific commitments profitably.

Looking back over the last three months, I've generally had one day each week without specific commitments, which is less than I'd expected.  And I have managed to use them reasonably well, as I do try to use them to tick off all the various projects I plan to make progress on during the week (which follows because it's normally Saturday when there's a selection of things I've not done earlier in the week).  So generally I would say I have done things, even if not necessary the ones I expected.

Goal No 2:  To do a couple of additional crafting activities each month (or one larger activity)

So far I've completed my lovely painting by numbers, and done a picture using pastels.  I had been thinking of doing another pastel picture, but have started a cross stitch project for my mother instead - quicker and I should finish it by when I visit her next.  I've also completed a number of cards using my new cross stitch alphabet magazine, with some more on the list, so that's all to the good.

Goal No 3:  Continue updating my blog posting

With last month's sunshine_challenge I wrote quite a few blog posts in the month.  This month looks to be a bit on the low side for entries, but we're only a week in, so I may be inspired to write about something new.

Overall, I'm pleased with what I've done - although I do feel this year's goals are a bit fuzzy.  I also suspect the crafting activities may revert to yarn crafts again - I never seem able to stick to the art side, but if I'm happy with what I'm doing I don't suppose that's a problem!

For any new people who are now following my blog, my goals run from May to April, which I find more realistic than starting them on January 1st, so I decide on them in the middle of 'normal' life, or at any rate, what passes for normal.  I shall be writing my final goal review for 2021/22 either at the end of this week, or the beginning of next.

I have thought hard about whether to continue with making annual goals, but it still seems to be a good idea, if only because I then feel accountable to myself to achieve something.  I have no intention for my goals to be unrealistic, but I feel they should be slightly stretching because there's always the temptation to stay where I am and not want to branch out.

Last year's goals were based on the start of my early retirement and how that was going to work out, and consequently my first goal was to do with achieving my To Do list, and thereafter to keeping that up-to-date.  Now things are ticking along and I have a better idea of where my time is going to be spent.  I've become aware that while some weeks are busy, because I have weekly commitments and also monthly commitments (which almost inevitably happen on the same week) at other times they are quieter.  And while having a completely free day can be great for getting a list of things done, I don't like to get to the end of the day and feel like it's been a waste.  Constructive relaxation is never a waste, idling around is what annoys me!

Goal No 1:  To use days without specific commitments profitably.

My second goal is in some ways related to my first.  Over the past year I've worked steadily and regularly with both cross stitch and knitting and I've got into a routine (of sorts).  Which is great.  But I also have some other kits which I want to work on, and I've just ordered a couple of cross stitch magazines and I feel it would be good to do more than look at the pretty pictures.  Some days there's only time to do a few stitches/rows, but other days I could do something different - which I would enjoy if I only got on with it - so I'm going to have a rather more specific goal here.

Goal No 2:  To do a couple of additional crafting activities each month (or one larger activity)

My third (and final) goal relates to last year's one of updating my blogging.  I'm freer in when I blog which is good, and I shall continue to record how much (little) I write on a monthly basis, plus a monthly craft post, but I need to revamp the book post.  I'm going to revert to numbered posts, probably about monthly but not being forced to fit.  Audiobooks and Courses will have separate posts, as and when there's sufficient to talk about.

I'd also like to write a monthly themed post, but as yet am not sure of the subject, which could be quite wide.  I have had one suggestion of Local Events, as a follow up to this year's Local Places, which is a possibility.

Goal No 3:  Continue updating my blog posting

Set some goals for the coming year.

I set my goals towards the end of April, so this is more of an eight month review.

Goal No 1 (Revised): To set aside time each week to keep up to date
That slipped badly for the last couple of months, when I had extra commitments taking me out of the house, or which required additional preparation, not to mention time spent preparing for Christmas.  However, with a bit more downtime during the Christmas period I've about caught up and am starting the New Year with the intention of doing better at this, which will probably mean writing the commitment in my diary each week.

Goal No 2: To listen to everything currently on my To Be Listened To list (by the end of April 22)
I began 2022 with three books left on my TBL list from April 2021, and have started listening to one and have a second downloaded ready to listen to when I'm driving.  You will not be surprised to learn I have also started a 'To be listened to by the end of April 23' list.

Goal No 3: To update and continue my blog posting
That's working okay.  There's been a couple of times when I've seen a meme and thought I could do it but haven't, but that's been because there's been too many other things to do.  I'm happy with the topics I'm blogging about - they reflect my life fairly accurately.  Long-term I may revise the Books/Audibooks/Courses monthly post but as yet I'm not sure how.


And a summary of my aims for 2022:
Craftwise I have posted my plans here at get_knitted a comm for all crafts: knitting, cross stitch, crochet etc
Writingwise I'm aiming for 135K this year, with my favourite writing comm ushobwri 
My reading plans are here and I'm joining kingstoken  book bingo