On My Mind Mondays: In the Midst of the Holidays

Our Christmas celebrations were great.  There seemed to be a dearth of anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed/underprepared.  Our cats have even decided (after a few discouraging sprays with the water bottle) to leave the tree alone although Mulberry has been after all and any baked goods:  German gingerbread cookies, fruitcake, fortune cookies, etc.  I think he's doing me a small service by requiring that I dispense of the mauled carbohydrates. 

1. Food and fermentation:  I got Sandor Katz's The Art of Fermentation for Christmas, and I'm reading Dan Barber's The Third Plate.  Yesterday (a glorious day for so many reasons), I started some kefir (some of which I drank today) and some kombucha.  Yep!  I'm getting cultured!  I find that these two books really work with the whole wabi-sabi philosophy (also got Leonard Koren's Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets, & Philosophers for Christmas).  It's good reading for a new year.
2. The new year and a plan:  Despite my desire to continue the bliss of yesterday (reading, cooking, crafting, sigh), I did some schoolwork today, which just reminds me that the luxury of time that I'm experiencing right now is about to come to an end.  But I'm looking for balance (again...always) and am going to work on a new framework/schedule for the coming year.  This time, however, I plan to have both a weekly guide as well as a yearly guide.  I want to think about some of the ways I can spread my work out throughout the year, and when I say "work" in this context, I mean both writing and creating.  I have a lot of ideas, and I think that with a more global view of the year, I might be able to find the time to engage in more of my activities.  
3. Crafting:  I managed to do quite a bit over the last year, thanks to my PiC and our year-long challenge (which I hope to give a year-end review of here soon), and just the other day, I went to the studio and whipped up a wrap-around skirt from Chic and Simple Sewing.  I also received this excellent pattern with money for fabric for my birthday from my mother-in-common-law, and I hope to make that soon.  But wait, there's more!  I've also joined the 15 in 2015 hat challenge from Stash and Burn. I made two hats in December (allowable for the challenge) and am ready for another one.  All this is to say,  I'm hoping to continue my hardcore crafting over the year.  There's lots to make!
4. Cycling:  Of course!  I'm back on my bike now - yay!  My knee is much improved, and I'm going to test it out at shinny (pick-up hockey for my American friends) on Friday.  It hasn't been very cold, but it's supposed to drop down tonight, and I have the feeling that'll be the end of our mild spell.  As soon as the snow comes, I'm putting the studded tires on.  I also got some great cycling gear for the holidays (which I'll save for another post).  Whoo-hoo!
5. Blogging:  Sure, I haven't kept up with my Friday posts on what I've read, eaten, seen, and what-not on the internet, but the intention is still there.  I hope to continue with regular posts throughout the week and will, yes, schedule them in my weekly framework.
6.  The finessing:  My newly renovated office is giving me such pleasure (yes, another post with lots of images) that my curating and organizing impulses are bleeding into other areas - even my computer desktop.  One area that I've started to work on is the fridge.  I'm dumping items that we don't use (or didn't buy in some cases) as well as engaging in my personal project of using the last inch of jam in numerous jam jar.  There's just enough to top a few jars of homemade yogurt.