A bittersweet year
2020 was a bittersweet year. So many things have changed for all of us this past year. Did you ever think you’d be spending a holiday on a zoom call? I could never have imagined this, and yet now it seems almost normal. As I look around my studio, I realize my Bunny Hill lock-down partners have been affected by this virus too. Bless their little hearts…
Tweety and Chelsea spend the day with me.. Tweety usually sleeps in a little drawer, and Chelsea in her heated donut bed.
And sometimes they switch beds just to change things up.
Chelsea is a social dog, so I keep her routine as normal as I can. We still walk every morning, but I can’t make up for the visitors she normally greets. Even the UPS man is off-limits now.
Just before this pandemic began, we had to say goodbye to our sweet Peanut dog. It will be a year on January 31st. To say I miss her wouldn’t be saying enough. Peanut would have done well during this Pandemic because she hated leaving our house. Now her behavior would actually be considered normal.
My grand-daughter Alyssa left for college in August. She’s at San Diego State and will soon be through her Freshman year. You may not know that Alyssa’s been my hand model for our Bunny Hill Petite patterns, so telling her goodbye was really bittersweet! I taught Alyssa to sew at a very young age (you can find my “Sewing With Children” tutorials on this blog), and she still loves to sew! She’s been making tons of masks and took her sewing machine and stacks of fat quarters to college with her. I dare say she might be the only one with a sewing machine in her dorm room. A girl after my own heart!
Just before this virus hit, I was into organizing my pantry. You may remember, I did a giveaway in exchange for your pantry organizing ideas. Such a sneaky thing to do, but I got so many good ideas from you! I don’t have a large pantry, but I’m thankful I have one. Here’s the before and after pictures I promised you:
Pantry before re-organizing
Pantry After Organizing
The white cans came from Ikea. One of you told me about them, and I’m so glad you did! We now use the larger one for recycling bottles, and the smaller ones are for cat and dog food. I keep a large scoop inside so I can easily fill their bowls.
Just after I took this photo, I gave my husband the talk about how it was just the two of us, and we no longer needed to buy a case of everything. He agreed to change his purchasing style. Then the pandemic hit. People started talking about shortages and how we might not be able to even purchase toilet paper. Shelves everywhere we empty, and my husband panicked right along with everyone else. He happily stood in long lines at Costco. And he searched every store for things he couldn’t find. Boxes of toilet paper arrived from Amazon! And paper towels arrived from Home Depot. Who does these things, right?
My kids in Germany sent photos of empty toilet paper shelves there too! This increased my husband’s panic, and soon my pantry exploded! I’ve lived with pantry chaos for almost a year now. It’s much worse than the first picture I showed you. I have to step over things stacked on the floor just to get to a jar of spaghetti sauce. And the chaos has spread to my garage. I’m afraid they may want him on the hoarder show before too long, so I have now taken over the grocery shopping. I order online and have everything delivered.
How are all of you doing in this new environment? Do you still go to the store? And, if you order online, will you continue to do this after we get through this pandemic?
As we begin 2021, there are so many things to look forward to! Many of you have finished quilts and projects you’ve had on your list forever. Doesn’t that feel great? To those of you who have shared your completed quilts with us, thank you! Once again, we’re pulled together because of our quilting passion.
I hope to keep up a little better this year with my blog posts, but I’d like to know if you use FaceBook and Instagram? Or, is Pinterest your favorite place? Are newsletters better for you?
I’ll be back on Friday to show you my Sewcialities block for the Fat Quarter Shop sew-along.
Anne
28 Comments
Catherine
Greetings from Northern Saskatchewan! I love getting the newsletters! I have never been on FB. I rarely go to Pinterest. And Instagram is full of advertising. Every second picture from someone you like and then all of a sudden there is a sponsored ad. I’m getting sick of it. I hope you stay with newsletters and the blog!!!
I’m very thankful for quilting and embroidery that has kept me busy throughout Covid craziness. Praying this will all end soon. I miss eating out the most.
Karen Seitz
I love seeing your after photo of your pantry. Looks great — better than mine! I was the one who told you about the Ikea bins, and I’m so glad you find them useful. Thank you again for the wonderful fabric bundle you sent my way. Happy 2021!
Gale Kohler
I love hearing from you, Your pets are so adorable. Thank you for sharing
Lynette Caulkins
Aww, so sweet – Tweetie with her loving hand on her buddy. ::melt:: I continue to greatly prefer blogs for quilting shares. Instagram feels so flash-in-the-moment showiness to me for some reason, like it’s pure “me, me, me! Look what I’m doing,” versus a real sharing of something. Probably just me. lol Facebook is great for quilting sharings, but your newsfeed can get overwhelmed pretty easily. Here’s to hoping this is a happier year, overall, for us all!
Judy
We ordered from Costco to have things delivered for a couple of months and things we couldn’t get delivered we went to the store. Now we go to the store for everything. I did get a heads up in the very beginning from my son who is an ER doctor that I should probably stock up a little bit so had plenty of toilet paper. Actually there are only two of us here so we don’t really go through it that fast. We have done some out of state traveling twice by car and then flew round trip once out of state. I felt that Alaska airlines did an amazing job of keeping things safe. Anyone who took off their mask when they were not eating or drinking something was immediately told to put it back on. The middle seat was also empty on all flights unless you were a family group. We have gone out to eat on occasion. When the weather was nice my quilting friends and I did get together by ordering take out and taking our chairs to go sit in an empty parking lot 6 ft apart so we could talk. It was a great way to see each other. Being retired my life hasn’t changed as much as I know it has for some people through this. The truth is though I am tired of it just because its always something you have to be aware of when you go out.
I am not on social media so blogs and newsletters are great for me. I enjoyed the pictures of Tweety and Chelsea and your grand-daughter she looks very sweet.
Lisa W.
I don’t do Facebook but I love Instagram!
Cynthia Arneson
I love reading your blog post that is emailed to me. It’s so hard to lose a fur baby, we miss them for a very long time. I must confess I do Facebook and Instagram. Have noticed my FB pages are more and more quilting groups, so much better to read and enjoy! Isn’t is crazy that a pneumonia like virus emptied the shelves of TP and papertowels…who would have thunk it! I do go into the grocery store and am masked up and hand sanitized. I don’t go as many times as I used to, maybe just twice a month now rather than once a week. Love home delivery! I may continue that practice. I’m choosing to be positive in this new year even though I am virus fatigued like everyone else. I’m sewing,reading and having cups of tea to help get through the days until I get my vaccine injection and can venture out and about safely. Hang in there everyone, we can and will get through this!!
Malene
I really prefer newsletter. No Facebook no Instagram, I visit Pinterest to get ideas and because it redirects to blogs or web sites. We have had the same shelves in France, why toilet paper and flour ? A great mystery. I wish you thé best
Patricia Godkin
Oh my goodness Alyssa! She is a lovely college girl now! My grand daughter, Kendall will be 17 tomorrow and learned to sew along with Alyssa usding your tutorials!
My Maggie wants to see people, loves everyone. Doggy walks help a lot. Porsche the tuxedo cat is becoming more cuddly going into his 13th year.
Being at home this year lead me to purge and organize. I just have too much of everything. I utilize an empty bedroom for storing fabric and kits. I still need a map to locate what I’m looking for!
Being a quilter and embroiderer has kept me busy and having a daily hobby routine during this time is perfect for me. I Zoom meet with friends every Monday now to stay in touch.
I like Instagram, I like Facebook for the sew a longs, but nothing is better than a newsletter. I enjoy your blog and keeping up with what is new at Bunny Hill.
Margaret Mead
I enjoy getting your newsletter and email notification that you’ve posted on your blog.
DARLENE SLOCUM
I prefer your newsletter and look forward to every one. They are easy to save if I want to.
Linda
I use Facebook and email. I always look forward to your emails, new patterns, and fabric. Yes, these times are trying, but we do our best and pray without ceasing. God is our only hope to see us through. My husband does the shopping for me, as I have asthma and several autoimmune diseases. I do not miss shopping! I do miss seeing quilting friends. Thank you for all you do to make our quilting experiences special.
Ellie
Newsletters! Please keep doing email newsletters. Since you asked, I have struggled through 2020 with the isolation. I made one quilt and lots of small projects like 150 masks, small boxes, potholders, doll clothes, etc. I’ve also done lots of knitting. I also learned to do car-side pickup from the grocery store. We had to cancel 3 trips and haven’t seen grandkids for months. I’m praying that 2021 will be a better ‘normal’. We were not created to be isolated. Thank you for writing your email newsletters. I look forward to them. God bless you!
Hildy
Yes, this pandemic hit everywhere and to tell you the truth i’m so sick of it. Homeoffice since March and not an ending in sight. I still go to the grocery store and you can find everything you need. What I miss most is just ‘normal’life. Meeting with friends for a coffee, watch a movie in the cinema, go eating in a restaurant … everything is closed here in Germany it’s so bad.
Yes, I use social media and mostly I’m on Instagram because I have the feeling that people are nicer there. I also have FB but I’m not such I a fan of it. There are something some not so nice comments. I subscribed to some newsletters but again I’m not a newsletter fan.
megan
I love blog posts, so much better and more personal than social media. However I may be a dinosaur. I love your pantry and it looks quite big. We didn’t resort to the panic buying, but it was hard to only be able to buy two tins of canned tomatoes for months on end and one bag of pasta and rice when it was in stock. I feel for people on limited budgets who can’t panic buy and may have gone without when the shelves were empty. I must say it was annoying but also weirdly funny that people wanted to buy so much toilet paper. How much do they use? We two retired people who don’t go out a lot use one roll a week I buy from Who Gives a Crap and they want to send a 48 roll box every three months but I can go almost a year without reordering. Your pets are so cute and look very devoted to each other. My dog was affronted by people recoiling from her on her walks, wash your hands after you touch a dog is my advice, Molly had no idea why she wasn’t being patted! Still in Australia we have been fortunate and despite some mismanagement we have coped very well we are very very fortunate. Love your posts and all the lovely photos, keep it up when you have the time. Very best wishes to you and your family four and two legged ones.
Linda H.
I love your newsletter and blog. I have found it hard to motivate myself to sew. I guess I have covid fatigue. Thank you for sharing pictures of your sweet fur kids and granddaughter.
Joanie
Please keep your blog on email.
Josefina
I enjoy your newsletters. Your organized pantry looks great! Hubby and I are empty-nesters too. But we still buy in bulk. It’s a habit that limits trips to the stores. All items stay in the garage pantry which was a mess until hubby retired. Since hubby retired, he helps a lot! So thankful! He understands now what I used to do with my day before he retired. Hahaha
In January 2019, we lost our 18 year old cat to kidney disease. Hubby just adopted a kitten this past Christmas. We’re so happy to have another fur baby in our home. I enjoy reading about Tweety and Chelsea. Thank you for sharing.
Andrea Hickman
I follow you on Blogger but hadn’t thought about Facebook! I really enjoy your posts, especially when they include your fur babies. We ordered groceries for a while, but I really like browsing the veggies and fruits myself! We ended up with dreaded “scourge” in early December. We never could determine where it came from. I’m just as careful after having it because I don’t want it again! Thankfully we had mild cases, but I’m still amazed at the residual effects of Covid. I did enjoy the family down time with my busy teenagers and husband and the extra time I could spend on my sewing.
Therese
Your babies are ADORABLE!! I am adopting my first dog this weekend and I am hoping he and my 7 month old kitten get along as well as your furkids do. Any tips?
Newsletter or social media…either is fine for me. I always love reading your newsletter!
Marge
The photos of Tweety and Chelsea put a smile on my face and warmed my heart. I do not use Facebook or any other social media platforms so please don’t stop sending your lovely newsletters. This is still a stressful time as we must now scramble to find COVID vaccinations. It’s a pleasure to hear from you. 😊
Gudrun
I love to read blogposts! Please don’t stop them! I barely browse Pinterest, once a month Instagram, so blogpost is my choice!
Karen S
Newsletters are great, and I enjoyed this one along with the post. Yes, everything is definitely different. I don’t use Facebook or Pinterest, but I have an Instagram account that I use. Looking forward to seeing your new quilty items in 2021!
Jan
I also appreciate the newsletters as I’m not on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. I feel like those platforms are time wasters as I hear people say they went to look at 1 post which led them to another & another & then they realize they’ve been on for hours. I have a niece who said her anxiety disappeared after she dropped off of them. It’s like an old friend dropped a line with the newsletters.
Becky
It was so nice to read your blog today and also see your family photos!! I do prefer newsletters, as I do not visit any social media sites.
Mary B
Always look forward to your newsletters! They work better for me. I can sympathize with you regarding grocery shopping. I fractured my hip and my husband has been doing the grocery shopping. He goes to the store weekly, since we eat a lot of fresh foods. I found out that very detailed grocery lists work the best. But, It’s been an adventure….to say the least.
DeAnna Dodson
Those pictures are so sweet! And my babies do that, too. I don’t know what initiates it, but they suddenly change places. I guess whatever makes them happy. I miss Peanut, too. I’ve never seen such a sweet face.
Bev hovis
Facebook and email! Love your patterns!