We’re in that weird bit of the year, where time has no meaning and the fridge is still full of cheese and leftovers. Christmas is over for another year, and after the chaos of preparing everything, we had a really lovely day.
Baby quail are hatching today, which is always cute, if slightly loud. This year our two new cockatiels are spending their time flock calling for the new babies, which is … loud.
Cockatiels like to flock call to make sure they know where everyone is. Because Sunny and Luna are still so new to our household (3 weeks now), they don’t always flock call to us humans. But squeaking babies? Best keep an eye on those.
It’s been a good year. Amy started Highschool and finished quite well – her reports were good, but the most important thing, her teachers actually SEE her. They like her. They can see her strengths. Such an important thing.
Isaac’s knee misbehaved throughout the last two months of the year, and he spent an exhausting 6 weeks on crutches, feeling like his fibula wasn’t quite in place properly. He was in lots of pain and couldn’t weight bear properly. An MRI showed an enlarged fibula head, with a joint that is actually horizontal, rather than a 30 degree angle – probably a congenital thing, and likely to contribute to his knee instability.
Boxing Day, he woke up without pain, feeling like his knee was finally back into position. It’s such a relief, and he’s very pleased to be able to weight bear. He is on the waiting list for testing under anaesthesia and depending on what that shows, surgery to fix it more permanently.
Evelyn had an excellent year also. Once she had some accomodations in her classroom – earmuffs, chill out breaks, cool down periods – she settled in nicely. We suspect Evelyn is also autistic, so she’s on the waiting list for formal assessment now. Which will be nice, mostly to have a piece of paper to force accomodations to happen. She’s melting down much less often, particularly now she’s had a week off school. Not being exhausted helps.
Business-wise, our wholesale accounts increased a lot over the second half of the year, which is keeping me incredibly busy. We’re also still open to the public two days a week (Friday/Saturday) and our end of year markets were incredibly successful. It’s been busy, and I’m not actually going to get a holiday break, but I cannot complain about success.
Heading into the new year I don’t usually make resolutions. But I want to create more this year – whether it is art, or writing, or the occasional ridiculous pretty soap, I need a bit more to fill my soul. This year hasn’t been a bad year – not compared to some we’ve had, but it’s certainly been an intense year, where it’s felt like we’ve bounced from chaotic moment to chaotic moment without any breathing space. From Mum’s cancer, to various health related things, to kids and school and work.
Hopefully we can fill 2020 with lots of fun.
