Another Year on the Farm

Hello folks!

It's been a year! I've not been particularly active on this blog but hopefully as I go through all the things I've been up to it may be understandable as to why!

The biggest project for us this year has been getting the house renovation done and although it's progressing well - it certainly is behind where we were hoping it would be (The original timeframe would have had us moving in before Christmas)... Sonoma County kindly made sure that wasn't an option by sitting on the permits for 6 months before even taking a first pass on them. Our contractor has been working diligently to keep things moving though and although there have been a few hiccups - we're moving in the right direction!

The rest of the property has also had some great progress as we finally thinned out the back lot and even dealt with most of the poison oak back there. We need to figure out on going management but it's worlds better than it was.

Burying the lead slighty, the other major news is that I have officially joined the colonials and become a full blown American Citizen. This is a really exciting step for me and although it was a long journey, it has finally completed! And what better way to celebrate than to receive my first Jury summons for January... Sonoma County may not be rushed in assisting us but they don't hesitate when it comes to putting me to work!

And speaking of work, I continue the grind at G. It's been a rough year with the mass layoffs followed by seemingly constant, quiet cuts being made across almost every team in a rolling manner. I continue to do the grind and keep my head down and work with great people.

Tilly has continued to settle well into the country life. She is still tolerating the workers on the A Frame... for the most part! She is starting to slow down a little over the last couple of years but with age comes experience and it's paid off with a couple of squirrel marks on her collar... They are now much more cautious!

The boss has been busy developing cooking talents with broths, daal and many more recipes now regular features on the stove top. We've both been working to eat a little healthier and the delicious home cooked meals have helped that a great deal.

In combination with the healthier diet, I've finally taken the plunge into roller derby after years of wanting to. I am working on becoming a skating official and have even reffed in a few games. Going from barely standing on skates to that in ~7 months has been amazing and I'm looking forward to continue to push my skills (and hopefully shed some weight) in the future!

Meanwhile the boss has also been focused on gardening with more successes and has returned to knitting as well! Meaning I have more comfy comfy socks in my future that I am thrilled about.

There has been a fair amount of travel for me over the year but mostly with a focus either on work or miniature painting, we did however have a couple of more fun getaways - firstly a return to GenCon which we both loved, especially as we got the opportunity to hang out with a friend from the UK again. We also had a long weekend trip to Tahoe, my first trip there and the boss's first in a long time. It was lovely and I can see how it has attracted so many people. Truckee in particular is a beautiful town.

But what about all the mini painting? Well it progresses... maybe not as prolific as I had been the previous few years but still working on it. I attended a couple of weekend classes from Nikolas Mortensen and then Marc Masclans. They were enlightening and have given me a lot to work on and review in my own work. My own teaching was prolific! A weekend class at the wonderful hobby store - Herrick Games, convention classes at KublaCon, GenCon and NoVA Open. I've been pushing myself a little more artisitically over process and speed and I think it's starting to bear some fruit with a couple of contest pieces and box arts on the horizon

- Raggy, signing out