Another year is over - it really flew by... and today, my calendar reminded me, gently, that it is blogiversary day. I started this blog in December 2008, when I was starting to work freelance full-time, so it is turning seven today... which means that I have actually been blogging for about a fifth of my life.
It was a wild and crazy year, 2015, with 205 blog posts up till today; with not only one, but two books published (the
Beast, which I did together with
Gillian, and
Working Medieval Gold Embroidery, which I did on my own). I went to a few yarn fairs or other fairs, there was a Textile Forum again, and there also was the Great Relaunch of the blog and website.
I had no huge museum project to do this year, but there were a number of presentations, demonstrations and workshop, and plenty of work went into development of a few new things for the shop -
spindle sticks in different types of wood and the large
gold embroidery kit that I had been thinking about for years already, to just name two of the things.
There were also, you might have noticed, a few more pictures than before, as one of my friends told me off for not posting piccies often enough... which may have led to a few more gratuitous cat pictures thrown in with the others.
Now the year is winding down, and though I have a few more things that need to be done (as in I can hear that whooshing sound of a deadline rushing by), I can also start winding down a bit already. The seasonal baking is well on its way to being finished (yesterday saw the gingerbread baking being completed, apart from a little chocolate coating that still needs to be applied), we've made most of the plans for the holidays, and the weather is also starting to get more wintery.
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Nuremburg-style gingerbread, all baked, chocolate-coated up and waiting to go into its storage tin. The choc cooled off a little quickly, leading to the matteness and white layer on top. It will still taste fine, though - and my baking has a clear sequence of priorities that goes a) really yummy, b) lots of it and c) looking okay.
It was a good year, 2015. There's still a little bit of it left, and I plan to enjoy every little bit of it - I hope you will enjoy it right along with me!