2023, A Year in review

I have not written in a very long time. Here is a recap of what I have been up to.

DAVE

It’s been 2 years since we met and he is still making me laugh. We are still seeing each other every weekend and we are having tons of fun.

DOG SITTING

It has been 4 years since I started dog sitting. I have met some really nice people and watched some great dogs. But since I have met an amazing human, I have taken a step back from watching dogs, so I have my weekends free to enjoy my time with Dave.

This year, Bentley still came every Wednesday. I did watch a couple of other dogs here and there, but now its just Bentley.

Bentley has separation anxiety and barks when his mommy leaves him here. He settles down pretty quickly, once she is gone. During drop off, his mommy would have to carry him into the living room, so I could put up the gate, and she could leave, with out him running to the door. NOW, after 4 years, all of the sudden, he is walking into the living room all by himself. The first time he did it, we were both shocked. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks??

Sadly, one of my other long time doggy guests went over the rainbow bridge this year. Love and miss you Maggie.

HOUSE PROJECTS

I really wanted to have my kitchen renovated this year, but the interest rates were so high, I decided to do smaller projects instead.

I needed better curb appeal, since a huge new house was built next door. So we updated my gardens out front. The flowers were getting out of hand and I HATE weeding! It took a couple of weekends but I love the new clean look.

We, I mean Dave, also enlarged my little deck out back by adding 3 more feet to the length and a step down on the new side as well. What a difference it makes.

Dave also built me a 2nd, smaller shed, from a huge packing crate. Now I have a place for yard tools and other stuff. It freed up more room in the big shed.

UNEXPECTED THINGS

I had 2 leaks in my roof and had to have 1/4 of my room replaced. $$$$

A couple large limbs, from my neighbors tree, fell into my yard and broke my fence. I had to have the fence repaired and the limbs removed as well have another limb cut down to prevent future damage. $$$$

TRAIL WALKS AND TRIPS

We tried to get out as much as possible this year. Here is where we went;

1/2/23 Ken Weber Trail https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/rhode-island/mary-mowry-trail-to-ken-weber-trail-loop

Albion Falls https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/rhode-island/albion-fallssecret-waterfall-in-ri/

3/12/23 Quequechan River Trail https://www.traillink.com/trail/alfred-j-lima-quequechan-river-rail-trail/

3/18/23 Cutler Park https://www.mass.gov/locations/cutler-park-reservation

3/26/23 Goddard Park https://riparks.ri.gov/parks/goddard-memorial-state-park

4/7/23 Went to North Adams MA for a long weekend https://wordpress.com/post/heleftnowwhatblog.com/5572

4/28/23 Went to NJ for the weekend to visit family. Stopped at State Line Lookout and definitely need to go back to see all of it. https://www.njpalisades.org/stateline.html

5/27/23 Went to PA to visit family and stopped at Whippany Farm in NJ https://www.arboretumfriends.org/about-the-arboretum/

6/4/23 Went to Ponaganset Falls https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/rhode-island/ponaganset-falls-waterfalls-near-me-ri/

6/18/23 Buttonwood Park Zoo https://www.bpzoo.org/

6/24/23 Met some friends in Boston and went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum https://www.gardnermuseum.org/ and Kings church http://www.kings-chapel.org/

8/24-8/29/23 Went to Canada to visit family, it was a great trip! One of the cool things we did was went to the Bata Shoe Museum https://batashoemuseum.ca/

10/15/23 Went to Stepstone falls for the 2nd time and loved it again. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/sports/outdoors/2022/04/22/walking-rhode-island-hike-to-beautiful-stepstone-falls-arcadia-management-area-is-scenic-treat/7343359001/

10/29/23 Went to Star at the Sea Preserve https://dnrt.org/starofthesea/

11/4/23 Went to Waterfire for the first time in years https://waterfire.org/

CRAFT SHOWS

I did 10 craft shows this year! So much time, energy, and money goes into doing shows, but I really like doing them. Dave has been a tremendous help! We has created new ways to display my art, every time I came up with new ideas. He helps carry everything into and out of the shows and stays the whole time with me and keeps track of the sales.

Some shows have different size spaces so I draw a map, of the space, on paper, to see how I am going to set up. This year, I have been in 10×10, 8×8, 10×5 and 7×6 spaces. It takes some creativity but I have learned to adapt to the space that I am given.

This was my set up at the 2 day CCRI Show in Warwick RI. It was a 10×10 space.

I am also constantly working on my Etsy store, so if you cant make it to one of my shows, and are looking for something for yourself or a gift, check out artbylynnealbright.etsy.com

It was a fun and busy year. Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season. See you next year and thank you for reading!