Like many people, for the past 15 months during the Pandemic, I didn’t travel much, but I have spent a lot of time working on my small home and garden and I was able to take some local day trips in my area. Instead of writing a lot about what I’ve done, it’s best to just show you through my photos…

I baked a lot – with 4 friends, scattered over the states. We stayed in touch by sharing our baking triumphs and flops via photos, texts and emails.

In order to off-set all of the fabulous baking I was doing, I tried to drink more tea, and eat healthier dinners. I decided to try a meal kit delivery service called “Purple Carrot”, just to get out of my cooking rut and it’s been so fun and delicious that I’ve stuck with it 🙂

I traveled back to Colorado last summer in order to put my condo on the market. I was very hesitant to fly during the Pandemic, but with all of the safely protocols in place at Delta Airlines, I felt safe. I was there for a week, stayed with a friend and closed on my property about 6 weeks later, so I’m glad that I took the time to do this.

I spent a lot of extra time with my pets – and no, they weren’t much help when it came to putting my new desk together – lol. JJ my border collie lab mix turned 15 in April, Cash my boxer lab mix is now 11 and little Piccalo will be 3 next month. They make me smile every day!!

I drove the short 30 miles east of here to Mt Baker national forest for many day hikes – such a beautiful area and so close.

Nature’s beauty is everywhere – you just need to take the time to check it out, even if it’s just a walk in your own neighborhood.

I’ve had a few cocktails, beers and meals on some restaurant patios and now that things are really opening up I’m excited to explore a lot more!

I found an adorable 1972 travel trailer that was mostly renovated. I’m putting on the finishing touches and working on a patio out front and then she’ll (Poppy) be ready for guests. Truth be told, my brother Eric came and stayed a few days in the RV and then my friend Caty and her dog Hildy from Seattle also stayed a few days. Thanks to both of them, and their thoughts on the place, I got a new fridge, a chair, a rug and a few other small items. This is now the perfect guest house – you can come and visit and still have your own space.

I had 7 large trees taken down a few months ago on my property. Most were dead or close to it, so now I have plenty of new split wood for my wood stove over the next few years. I’ve limbed up other trees, planted a vegetable garden in my side yard, started to clear out the back hillside and I’m halfway done with painting my house. It was really hard to pick a color – I went back for samples 7 times and lucky # 7 was the winner – it’s called “winery red” and it’s a beautiful rich color that allows all of the greenery around my home to just pop.

I’m able to do all of these things now because I officially retired at the end of March. I plan to finish all of these projects in the next few months and then I can get back out there and do some traveling…