It’s a Wrap (Up)

I can’t believe how quickly 2011 has flown by! It’s been quite a year, with ups – buying a house – and downs – Connor escaping, twice! I’ve gone back through the 310 posts I’ve done this year and have picked your favourites, or at least the ones that have had the most comments.

1. Connor the Houdini dog. Over Labour Day weekend, Connor managed to let himself out my back door and escape. I spent a frantic 24 hours trying to find him, worried sick that something bad had happened. When I finally got the good news that someone had him, I realized that he was only a few blocks away. He was found by a lovely woman who kept him in her yard, hoping that I’d drive by and see him. But since I am new to the neighbourhood, I didn’t know about the section where she lived. Incredibly, two weeks later, he managed to nudge open a window and escape again. I am pretty sure that contributed to the grey hair count on my head!

2. My New House – After more than a year of looking for a new house, I finally found the perfect place - a 110-year old farm house with a small yard. The moment I saw it in the real estate listings, I knew it was the right house. But it was a foreclosure, so I knew it would not be a smooth path to settlement. It eventually stretched to more than 90 days, and settlement was postponed several times, but I finally signed the papers in mid-May. There was a bit of work to be done, including sanding the 110-year old heart pine floors, and painting almost every surface. But it’s been a lot of fun making this old house into a new home.  And stay tuned for more work on the house, including planning a garden for next summer.

3. Wooden Tennis Racquets and One King’s Lane – As I write, I am awaiting a shipment from OKL, but I still manage to find a lot to laugh about with their Tastemaker Tag Sales. One of the funniest was when they advertised four vintage wooden tennis racquets for $267. When a commenter said that she didn’t think they could be found, I took her up on the challenge and managed to find one in seven hours… and for six of those hours, I was at the office!And then a few days later, I managed to scare up ten at one thrift shop. I think that the most expensive one was less than $5.00. For more OKL hilarity, click here.

4. Books – One post that struck a chord with many readers was one I did in January about using books solely as decorations. As in books-by-the-yard. Or books with the covers torn off and bundled into anonymous stacks for effect.  Or books covered in white paper. Ugh.I love books too much to relegate them to being a decoration. I have stacks of books that I refer to, that I browse, that I curl up with on a cold evening, that I go back to time and time again and that I just plain love. I get such pleasure out of seeing them stacked up like happy building blocks, reminding me of all that’s possible, and all that I can do.

5. My slipcover - In a fit of insanity, I decided to make a slip cover for my long sofa. Having only been sewing for a year at that point, this was quite a daunting challenge and it took me much longer than I anticipated. But with you cheering me on and encouraging me, I finally finished. Of course, I see every flaw in it, but it looks fine. The best thing about it is that it’s washable. I couldn’t have made this without the help of some other bloggers who had posted tutorials.

Tomorrow, I will share my favourite posts, and then on Friday, I’ll share some of the great experiences that blogging has brought to me, especially the people I’ve met.