I am still thinking about and listing all the things I got right and am proud of in 2023. It is a fun exercise in this curious lull.
But the mud. This is not on my Nice List. The mud just keeps getting worse. No cats are allowed inside until they have cleaned their feet thoroughly.
Ton was such a mess yesterday, from being in the mud, that I had to carry him to the dog shower for a wash before he could settle down in front of the fire for the night. He takes it well.
I could just see Neville ( the cleaning robot my son got for me) bristling in his corner as mud was tracked in on paws.
Boo is too heavy for me to carry so I told him to go to the shower ahead of me and followed him wiping the floor with a rag.
Neville harrumphed and settled back into his charging dock.
I loved this collection of images from my Instagram gallery. That is in the Success List.
It is probably all I like about Instagram, but I still love to scroll through the gallery and follow the colors of the seasons.
The 2023 Success List
My first list for the 2024 sheet is what I did well in 2023. My successes.
TKG Take Ten ( this has been a huge success) it is the perfect extension of the daily blog. So I wrote this into my success list and then in the next column – HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER.
Image clarity. I need to work on that. Make it better viewing. OK.
So this weekend I am working on getting a better, clearer image plus the sound. (The sound is good) So, after writing yesterday I practiced my new video protocol. A better system. Everything has to be easy and smooth because I need 5 great TKG Take Ten vids a week. To get 5 I film 10. I work on them every day. So the process needs to be slick and fast and easy.
The new system takes a bit longer but starting Monday you will see the results.
I am continually hampered by crap internet but I just have to work with it.
* TKG stands for The Kitchen’s Garden.
And then what.
AND THEN WHAT has been one of my great successes this year. Now I am going to extend it.
You know how we say ‘and then what’ when we make a purchase so that we can follow what happens to the product or to the packaging and make a really good decision about the impact our purchase has on the environment we live in.
To extend that I’m going to add ‘and then what’ to my Success List in my 2024 sheet. A third column. Just to see where it takes me.
Here is the formula. A column each.
SUCCESS:
HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER:
AND THEN WHAT:
Eg. Success with Mother In Laws recovery – ‘how to make it better’ – ‘and then what’ – hmm.
The Barn
Success:
The barn is working well this year.
How to make it better:
I have asked John’s son to help me clean it out and repair it and reset it for spring. (do you remember The Tall Teenager? Still tall. No longer a teenager.)
This is a big job! I work alongside him. I have not had help in the barn for a long time. But we did two more corners yesterday and I know that this is a good initiative. Though filthy!
And Then What:
How can I improve my use of the barn. You see?
Do you have a success you can apply this formula to? I am enjoying this!
It is certainly more fun to work on my successes. I am not looking forward to facing my 2023 failures.
There is green moss everywhere.
The fence posts are beginning to look English.
With all the rain and warm weather green moss is growing on everything. It is very unlike our winters. Usually our colours are fading down into frozen beige by now.
They were not kidding when they said El Niño was going to bring warm temperatures.
The lilacs and rhododendrons are still in bud. Which is a bit frightening. I might take some cuttings to grow more. We might have some plant fatalities when the winter cold hits.
Surely it is on its way. The cold. We are continually bracing ourselves for it.
Have a great day!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
20 responses to “Start your Success List Today”
My mother, who was a reluctant farmwife, hated the mud. So no animals were allowed in the house, ever. (except for the odd calf born in a blizzard) I was surprised she let Dad and the brothers in the house, but they had to shed their muddy clothes before entering the main part. I love reading your success list.
Your Mum was right! Now, if the men would get on their knees and clean the mud up I would not care at all!
Like that is going to happen!
It’s so true! List keep everyone organized so we can work more efficiently. Tre🌟🤗
Yes, Tre! I am loving making my success list!
Good for you! Us too! And the “whatever else needs to be done” list also! We’re focusing on blogging these days. Might one day go back to accessories, but this is so much fun, we’re just so happy to be here. 🤗
No mud here, but some trees still have leaves that should have been shed months ago, the grass is green and actually very slowly growing still and this is supposed to be our snow season. It was actually well over 60F just north of here yesterday. I wonder if I will live long enough to see this corner of the USA be considered sub-tropical? Don’t want that at all.
I hope you live a ong and healthy life but lets not hope it gets sub-tropical by then. It feels like a NZ Hawkes bay winter so far.
Looking back, I’m sure you surprised even yourself with how much success you had! Amazing, all that you did
I love the idea of a success list!
It’s been really warm here for weeks, but there’s a big storm brewing tonight. I think I just got home in the nick of time. 45 mph winds again!
I followed some of your links yesterday and had a great time starting a year review. Thanks!
I love making success lists. It’s the first thing I do when I write a report before my fortnightly meetings with my coach. And a big one at the end of the year is encouraging. I always find I have more to celebrate than I thought. And then what . . . hmm, that’s a good one. I like provocative questions. They take me places.
Congratulations on all your great initiatives. I got sick on our summer holiday and found watching/listening to the farmyard was very soothing.
One year, our rhododendrons bloomed four times, well into the winter. They did survive, but they pouted a bit.
I like the idea of a success list. I will have to think.
I think my hydrangeas are quitting through sheer fatigue and lack of light. I love rhododendrons/ there are just so many varieties!!
I have done my success list to prepare for 2024 and never really considered “and then what’, so now will. do that. I ended the year thinking I had not been at all successful in my goals/intentions, until I broke it down to discover there was only one area I had not completely succeeded but had progressed. I am now in a much better frame of mind to welcome the New Year!
Oh, the mud… We are having wave after wave of thunderstorms here, with daily storm and flood warnings coming in to my phone. It’s getting hard to find a dry enough patch to put the chooks on for the afternoon without the risk they’ll turn it into a muddy hell-hole. The laundry is carpeted with dog towels so if I fail to catch Higgins on the way in to wipe his paws off, at least some of it is wiped off on the towels. I’m currently listing ‘Getting through the day’s chores’ as success due to chronic energy lack…
I feel you on those muddy paws. They are like little kitchen sponges!
I am so sorry you are still so lacking in energy, that has to be hard. Getting through the days chores is MORE than enough!
Happy New Year, Celi. I know where the cold went. We are holding on to it for awhile. It will go down to 8 degrees next week but very little snow. Portland appears to be staying wet with more wet. It is always nice to have another set of strong hands to do big jobs. My son is coming into his old age already at 56! Scary. I am privileged to welcome in another year. A nice surprise for me with my younger sister visiting for a couple of days. I don’t get as much time to read or post during the holidays, but looking forward to catching up in the next few weeks. So sorry about the mud. I’m not a fan either. We need snow for water later.
And a great day to you Celi!