Winter Bucket List

And Fall Bucket List Reckoning!

Happy Winter, reader dear!

Or summer for my Southern Hemisphere friends! It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we are at the turn of another season. I know there are more than enough 2020/Longest/Shortest Year ever memes out there, but man, does that one hold some truth!

Sometime back in 2019, the lovely Leslie of Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After invited me to play bucket list with her and her friends. Some seasons have gone pretty well, others, abysmally. Just like life, right? So imagine my surprise when I looked back at my Fall 2020 Bucket List to find that I made some progress! No, my life isn’t all neat, tidy and picture perfect. It never will be; it’s life after all. But it seems to be making steps in the direction in which I feel called to travel, so that’s progress I’ll take. Even if it’s the one step forward, two steps back kind! Eventually I’ll swap those numbers!

For fall, I simplified my list items, with one in each of three categories, Health, Home and Garden. Let’s reckon with fall and see where winter will go!

Health

• FALL 2020: Move. Every. Day. It might be big, like a long bike ride, or small, like 20 minutes of yoga. Just keep moving. I’d like to say I did this, but I’d be a liar! I can give you all the excuses in the world, but they’re just that. Excuses. On the plus side, I don’t think I went more than two days without moving vigorously. Note to Self: Factoring in weather and sunrise are key to the success of this!

WINTER 2020/21: To quote myself back in the fall… I think for winter, I’m going to put purely fun and entertaining items on my bucket list. That reminder completely changed the way I was looking at what to put on my list! Unfortunately, I struggle with connecting the words fun and health. Especially this year. I know I’m not the only one, right? I really was enjoying our weekend bike rides, so a new bike for Christmas would be awesome! Getting out again for bike rides would be fun AND good for me! (We let that slide when the extra chilly mornings and Mr. CP’s school schedule got the better of us.)

Home

• FALL 2020: Declutter one item from each zone daily. If I can’t find an item, I’m not looking hard enough! Then it’s time to head to the garage. (That’s where I can declutter one item each Saturday and Sunday.) Success! But not how I expected. (Sounds like life, doesn’t it?) We made a TON of progress in the garage. Bit by little bit. Old paint cans, unused kitchen items and… The largest item? My scooter. And our son’s canoe. It’s hanging in his garage now! Huzzah! Inside, I’ve been filling up a box just about weekly to take to Goodwill. Less inventory to manage makes me happy.

WINTER 2020/21: How to get fun and home in the same bucket list item? I’m struggling with this one. Problem: I’m not a TV watcher. Watch a movie each week? Play a board game? Maybe a combination of the two? Let me know your thoughts. I could use some more home fun ideas that don’t involve ingesting carbs. (I’ve got those below…) Thanks!

Garden

• FALL 2020: Spruce up our planters front and back. They’re looking leggy and bedraggled after this soggy and hot summer. I need to research some happy cooler weather crops that are patio planter happy, and choose something to put behind our daisies in the front to help them transition into fall. That and they need a good haircut! I completely ignored the planters both back and front. There are still dead tomato plants out back. The front is faring better… (It had been looking grim, too!) Now that the holidays are here, the dead daisies have been chopped back and pine branches fill the empty space. They should hang in there for all of January. Yay.

WINTER 2020/21: I’ve never been a gardening kind of woman, but part of me would like to be! I’d love some suggestions on how to ease into/learn to love gardening. I love the look of a garden and the idea, but the work in the heat and the dirt? Not so much. But I know I can learn! Since the goal is fun, my bucket list item is S’mores around the fire pit! I love S’mores more than any adult human should (Monthly would be awesome, but I’ll take even just once.)

How About You?

Do you make a seasonal to-do or bucket list? Are yours practical, fun, or a combination of the two? Do let me know what you’re thinking. And don’t forget to share some non-food home fun ideas! And ways to learn to love gardening… Do you love gardening? How did you learn? I love to hear from you!

Stylishly yours,