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I ran away from teaching to the country to grow veggies. There are also some chooks and a pair of troublesome goats who were so much trouble they had to go! My simple green life isn't always as simple or as green as I'd like...but I keep trying!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Why New Year's Resolutions suck


The problem with New Year's Resolutions is not that they are so often not kept, it is that they are made without fore-knowledge of what will happen in the coming year.  





If we could tell what was about to happen in our lives, wouldn't our NYRs be better thought out and more likely to succeed.

Take 2011 for instance.  
If I had known 
what the year would bring, 
I would have made 
some humdinger resos!

Who could have guessed that Granny Camp would be such a hit with the grandchildren...or the Grandmas (and the goats)?

If you had told me that we would be baby-sitting a willful teenager with bad habits I would have laughed.

Or that because we did have that teenager to stay, that my Great Nephew would trade some of his time and expertise to help me build the outdoor kitchen.


At the beginning of the year the outdoor kitchen was only a seed of an idea.  I didn't have an inkling that the project would turn me into a scavenging, demolishing collector...

...leading me to retrieve the dunny door from the family home.

Nobody could have foreseen The Cook transforming into a chain-saw wielding lumberjack!  If you know her, you will be able to vouch for what a radical, mind blowing event this was.


Put up your hand if you thought that The Cook's tree-felling skills, combined with the Great Nephew's and my building attempts could change the view from the lounge room so dramatically.






Given the organisation in my sewing/crafting room, your may have thought that 2011 was the going to be the Year of Crafting.  Nope!

When making resolutions at the beginning of the 2011, I would NEVER have said, "This year I am going to write gardening articles for a web-site."  But it happened!  Daniel, from Fat Fruit Greenhouses, delivered this greenhouse bartered for a couple of hundred articles on his web site about gardening and greenhouses.  Who would have thunk it?


I could not have known that the chook population would explode to over 20 (with Hortense sitting patiently, ready to deliver more in the new year).

My granddaughter existed in 2010...just.  But I was only hoping, not expecting, a visit from her and Mr Muscle in the middle of the year.

My recent trip to the U.S. to visit them was certainly a surprise.



 Painting the house brown...???


Well...nobody can ever predict what goats will do.  To use the words 'resolution' and 'goats' in the one sentence is an oxy-moron.



In her 95th year, Mum left her home of over 60 years for an aged care facility.  I wish I had half the resolution she has.




I am sorry, I don't want to sound rude, but absolutely nobody on Earth could have been prepared for The Cook's sudden decline into madness!  Giving up a safe and cosy life, cooking, reading, resting and retired to return to the workforce. And no-one, least of all me, would have cast me as her 'side-kick' in this adventure.  I get to race about the countryside taking photos to add some colour to the publication she is editing.

Just to underline the severity of the Cook's condition, I give you this photo of her impersonating someone famous in a photo shoot for the front cover of the mag.   


So as the sun sets on 2011.  
I have decided to make only one New Year's Resolution... 

...be prepared for ANYTHING 
because that 
is what is likely to happen.

16 comments:

  1. Wise words Hazel.
    For me,no resolutions but a to do list and a head full of ideas.
    Writing my Christmas newsletter I realized how much a couple of retirees can fit into one year and how the year was interspersed with the unexpected, both good and the not so good.
    Happy New Year Hazel and The Cook.
    HDW

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  2. Nope, no resolutions for me...only hopes and dreams this year, because we have things this year that we are hoping with all hope come to fruition for us...so me being a rather fly by the seat of my rather large pants kind of person, no resolutions suit me fine.
    Happy New Year to you ,the Cook and the menagerie at your house..x

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  3. I never have NY resolutions - they just don't work do they?
    What a great and exciting year you have had. Great photos and I've enjoyed reading your blog thru 2010.
    Best wishes for 2012. Onwards and upwards. cheers Wendy

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  4. Well would it be New Year without a few resoloutions,but then again as the late John Lennon said "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans"
    So resoloutions or not Have a Happy New year.

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  5. Happy New Year glorious Ms Hazel and the Cook!

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  6. Happy new year Hazel. I know only too well about the 'anything can happen' It's already happening to me. No resolutions for me either. I just want to be 'happy'.
    Cheers Susan (Maa)

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  7. I enjoyed you final post for 2011. Brace yourself for 2012. Happy times, I'm sure, my friend.
    Deb

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  8. I like your attitude Hazel. Be prepared for anything and everything. Some people dread Retirement because they think they'll have nothing to do, but others (yourself included, evidently) see it as the big opportunity thay have been waiting for.
    Best Wishes for a happy 2012!

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  9. HAPPY NEW YEAR HAZEL! Sure has been a humdinger of a year. Bring on 2012!

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  10. YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Here's to GREAT adventures and happy times in 2012!~

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  11. I don't make resolutions anymore. I just take life as it comes.

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  12. That is a great resolution Hazel, Happy New Year.

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  13. Yes, here's to a great New Year for you and everyone.
    I have a few *plans* Hopefully will see a few through to the end.

    Barb.

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  14. Great year in review! Happy New Year!

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  15. Happy new year to you and the ciik. I love your new years resolution may I use it too!

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