Writing Wednesday - 'Harvesting' The Past

 WAAAYYYY back in March of 2009, I joined in on a trend at the time - making a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. 

Ok...this is not my list of things - thanks to AI - however, it does come close on a lot of things.

Anyway...

My birthday is right around the corner. I will be 69 this year. Believe me, I have zero idea that I am 69! It's impossible. At least mentally. Physically, the thought it there.

But it did get me thinking and I revisited my list from 15 years ago. Out of the 101 things, which included revisiting my list far more often than I did, I did manage to complete a third of the items. Things like treating myself to fountain pens to creating a herb garden were accomplished.

And at the end of 2020, I revised my list of 101 things. 

1. Buy my own home - did it!
2. Publish my first book - working on it
3. Take a writing workshop - online or in person - Publish & Thrive!
4. Create my author platform online with social media - in progress
5. A week at the beach with the family - rent a house
6. Work on my family tree - working on it on and off
7. Go to DisneyWorld with Lady K - basically done - she will go in 3/27
8. Create my family cookbook - almost done
9. Put Savvy and Texter's writing and art in book form
10. Do Ancestry DNA (or something similar)
11. Write at least one letter once a month - pretty much a habit now
12. Find a writing group - online or in person - did it, and I'm not a group person
13. Lose 50 pounds
14. Have my finished quilt tops quilted and completed
15. Visit at least 10 North Carolina waterfalls
16. Visit Biltmore (finally)
17. Hike 10 North Carolina trails
18. Visit all the state and federal parks in North Carolina
19. Visit 12 botanical gardens in North Carolina
20. Finish one fiber project a month
21. Do some poured acrylic paintings - attempted and failed
22. Walk part of the Appalachian Trail
23. Get a bike and bike rack for car
24. Walk part of the Mountain to Sea Trail
25. Visit 5 National Parks outside of North Carolina
26. Take one 'nice' vacation yearly somewhere
27. Create a garden sanctuary at my new home - a work in progress
28. Do a $5 challenge or the 52 week challenge (or both) for one year
29. Get a new Mac Desktop 
30. Save a $15,000 emergency fund
31. Take a class at the John Campbell Folk School
32. Visit Monticello and Mount Vernon
33. Visit Williamsburg
34. Visit New York City and shop
35. Travel back to Montana and see places I didn't see before
36. Stay 2 or more weeks in another country
37. Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway - have drive a good part of it
38. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway
39. Establish a consistent writing routine
40. Actually 'retire' - did and back at work
41. Donate to one charity or blogger or YouTuber a month for 12 months
42. Take Lady K on a 'rocking' outing
43. Join an orchid society
44. Have a greenhouse or sunroom at my new home
45. Have one outing with Lady K a month
46. Attend 5 Renaissance Faires
47. Remake garb for the family 
48. Visit most of the thrift stores in the area
49. Attend 5 fiber festivals or mineral shows in one year
50. Attend a Mannheim Steamroller concert
51. Attend a TransSiberian Railroad concert
52. Buy season ticket to musicals
53. Have a monthly bookstore time
54. Improve my physical flexibility
55. Try 1 new recipe a month
56. Reduce my yarn, fabric and needlework stash - and it still needs reducing
57. Take 3 quilt workshops
58. Get another tattoo
59. Audit classes and/or finish my degree
60. Learn more about aromatherapy 
61. Take cooking lessons for cuisine I am not familiar with
62. Study tarot more
63. 'Disconnect' 1 day a month, building up to 1 day a week
64. Try acupuncture - tried it
65. Explore the Seagrove pottery area
66. Create a new Photoshop tutorial a month
67. Enter a writing contest
68. Create my own Christmas cards
69. Index my journals
70. Have a spa weekend
71. Recover the chaise lounge - ditched the chaise lounge!
72. Create or obtain a 'Green Man' wall hanging
73. Work on a Botanical Art certification
74. Have my cards read again by a 'professional'
75. Set up a vermiculture bin
76. Be debt free except for my car and home
77. Decorate and furnish the home based on what I want
78. Get my own pet - Slider, Domino, Simi!
79. Tone up my flabby arms
80. Three weekends away with Lady K a year
81. Decorate my home by season or holiday for a year
82. Visit Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden in Columbia, South Carolina
83. Have a bird feeding station(s)
84. Join a CSA - thank you Bush-n-Vine
85. Start my second book in my series
86. Create a library/sitting room - sort of
87. Treat my car to a quarterly deep clean
88. Take Lady K cherry picking
89. Do a 'big tub' at Elijah Mountain Gems
90. Flip a piece of furniture
91. Buy a new sewing machine
92. Do yoga every day for 30 days in a row
93. Walk 10,000 steps for 30 days in a row
94. Go to Farmer's Market once a month for fresh veggies and fruit
95. Try 10 new restaurants 
96. Buy a 'nice' leather purse
97. Take Lady K to a corn maze
98. Go to Carowinds with Lady K
99. Visit 5 public gardens in other states
100. Review this list quarterly
101. Put $25 in savings for every item completed on this list

So 27 items on the list completed or a current work in progress. I'm ok with that. 

Which leads me to yet another revision of this list...

70 Before 70!

I'll be 70 in 2027. And I thought I would update the list yet again. 

Foxy, Lady K and I are all together in the same house again. So I have gone from being an empty-nester to an overflowing nester. I am in the process of relearning Lady K's likes and dislikes after not having her with me 24/7 in the past few years. And realizing at 13, she has her own thoughts and not afraid to express them. 

So...

I am in the process of creating my new list. Many of the items on the above list are still something I wish to do. Some of new items which are things I want to do in the house and garden. 

Stay tuned as I will reveal them next week!