Our end of year celebrations were somewhat dampened by the news late on the 30th that after 61 days of no local virus transmission, Victoria had some positive cases. My heart sank. The authorities are doing everything possible to contain the outbreak, isolating close contacts and contacts of contacts. So far all the cases found (18 so far) are linked to a meal in a restaurant on 21st December. Who brought the virus to that meal is still unknown, but genomic testing shows that it is the same virus that has been causing problems in Sydney recently.
So for the last few days I've been back to watching the daily press conference, reading all the bad news, and vowing to avoid restaurants, and other people generally!
I've been reading lots of people's year-end summary blog posts. I guess this is mine, but between family upheavals and the pandemic, last year was not a productive one for me. My only finished quilt was a small broken herringbone made totally from scraps, finished in August:
It was donated to the guild's "Quilts of Love" program. We were all isolating at the time, so I dropped it off on the front doorstep of the coordinator. I wonder how long she left it there to decontaminate before taking it inside?
I did finish a few tops, including Trail Mix, also made from scraps and for donation:
Frolic, last year's Bonnie Hunter mystery, which I am currently quilting and hope will be my first finish for this year. And a smaller Frolic. I made X-Plus blocks, one a day for 16 days back in March/April, which will also be a donation quilt when it is finished. Possibly my favourite was the Edyta Sitar mystery which I made after I had seen the final quilt, making one block a day over 100 days between April and July:
So my list of unfinished projects is longer at the end of the year than it was at the beginning, and my focus for the first part of this year will be to finish last year's tops (while resisting the temptation to start any new projects!).
One thing I really enjoyed last year was discovering iNaturalist. The field naturalist group we belong to set up an iNaturalist project that members could contribute to, as we could not have our regular meetings or field trips. Finding new things to photograph and add to iNaturalist became a focus for our daily walks during lockdown. I ended the year with 758 observations, of 364 different species. We are lucky to be somewhere where there are lots of things to see even without leaving home. This kookaburra looking at me through the loungeroom window this morning just before sunrise for example:
Or this rather amazing butterfly seen in the garden this afternoon:
Best wishes to everyone for 2021.
11 comments:
Certainly "annus horrilibus" last year...we are still reeling from the Christmas surge here and expecting even more after this travel weekend. People just won't defer their gratification until it's really safe--if that ever occurs now! Anyway...S I G H
Pretty finishes and I do love that Trail Mix...
Take care to stay safe with the new outbreak hugs, from your self-isolating friend across the world Julierose
I keep thinking if we had done the shut down correctly the first time, the US wouldn't be in such a mess right now. Our positivity rate keeps rising. It is scary.
It was on TV News they talked about the new cases in Victoria. Hope it is controlled again, here the situation is terrible, without any aprroved vaccine yet and numbers growing and growing.
I Love your quilt for Quilts of Love as love the new tops.
You are blessed to have the nature so close your door. Beautiful shoots.
Best wishes for 2021
I hope this will be a more positive year for all. The scrap quilts are beautiful, especially the Trail Mix. It’s so exciting to see the monarchs. I did not realize they were so rare there.
Love your visiting kookaburra! I remember seeing lots of monarch butterflies when I was growing up in Bendigo. There would always be a call out for some branches ( or better still a potted plant) of “ swan plant” to feed some monarch caterpillars. I see one occasionally around here - actually think I spotted one in Coburg the other day when I was walking the dog. And once on the train to Bendigo a couple of years ago, there was a swarm of butterflies in the bush alongside the train, somewhere near Woodend I think.
Your multicolored Trail Mix sparkles! When we were in Australia and touring a wildlife park (to see koalas) I heard a birdsong and instantly knew it was a kookaburra, though I'd never ever seen one (not even in a zoo). 2020 brought new activities, some we'd never had time for and others we'd never known about. Let's hope we can keep up the good new habits this year (and not slide back into old bad ones).
Congratulations on your successful 2021, even though the success came in an unexpected way. I have enjoyed your observations from the natural world throughout the year. 2020 was the year to focus on the small things and the near at hand. We are fortunate when these can be so interesting.
I loved what you did in 2020 so I look forward to what you achieve in 2021...
Good luck xox
Very attractive quilts and great ideas for my future projects. Your blog is such a treat - quilts, wildlife, flowers. When I was young I often saw monarchs in the US.
You have some great pictures of nature! I really like your Edyta Sitar mystery top. The colors are so fresh.
I say given the year we had last year, getting ANYTHING done and finding time to quilt was both an accomplishment and a blessing! Isn't it wonderful to see a Monarch? I used to have a picture of one as my phone screensaver. One way to see more Monarchs is to grow Milkweed in your garden. Our local Botanical Garden distributed seeds a few years ago to area community gardens as part of a Monarch conservation project. Now I see them regularly (in season) as a result.
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