Crafts - April 2026
Apr. 14th, 2026 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitEarly, but I'm away for over a week, so I won't finish any more of my current projects.
( May crafts )
smallhobbit
End of Year Goal Review 2025/26
Apr. 12th, 2026 01:23 pmsmallhobbitSlightly early, but I've basically achieved everything I had in my goals for 2025/26.
Goal No 1: Do a Themed Monthly Post
Posting Views from the Window every month has been fun and in particular interesting as it's shown the change in the trees over the year. My last post will be at the end of the month, so I can include views from the upcoming holiday.
Goal No 2: Accept the Unexpected
We decided at the beginning of March we'd go away for a couple of nights and would take my car. Unfortunately when I got in the car that morning a warning light came on. So we had to hurriedly move everything over to J's car. Which worked fine in the end, and the car was soon sorted once we came home - no time to do anything that morning. And The Daughter and I have booked a holiday for July 2027. I mentioned it to her as being of interest, she agreed, so we booked - all within a day.
Goal No 3: To Embrace My Personal Interests
That's gone well, although I do sometimes look at my Library Want To Read list and wonder. However, it's entirely up to me and if I want to do some of the Goodreads Seasonal Challenge, then I shall. And I have bought rather a lot of audiobooks from a recent Audible sale, but I'll get round to listening to them :)
So yes, it's been a good year. I don't always achieve all my goals, but it is pleasing when I do, especially when I will carry on with the ideas behind the goals.
Goal No 1: Do a Themed Monthly Post
Posting Views from the Window every month has been fun and in particular interesting as it's shown the change in the trees over the year. My last post will be at the end of the month, so I can include views from the upcoming holiday.
Goal No 2: Accept the Unexpected
We decided at the beginning of March we'd go away for a couple of nights and would take my car. Unfortunately when I got in the car that morning a warning light came on. So we had to hurriedly move everything over to J's car. Which worked fine in the end, and the car was soon sorted once we came home - no time to do anything that morning. And The Daughter and I have booked a holiday for July 2027. I mentioned it to her as being of interest, she agreed, so we booked - all within a day.
Goal No 3: To Embrace My Personal Interests
That's gone well, although I do sometimes look at my Library Want To Read list and wonder. However, it's entirely up to me and if I want to do some of the Goodreads Seasonal Challenge, then I shall. And I have bought rather a lot of audiobooks from a recent Audible sale, but I'll get round to listening to them :)
So yes, it's been a good year. I don't always achieve all my goals, but it is pleasing when I do, especially when I will carry on with the ideas behind the goals.
The case of the missing notifications
Apr. 11th, 2026 11:58 pm![[staff profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user_staff.png){kind=small}
denise posting in ![[site community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/comm_staff.png){kind=small}
dw_maintenanceI keep forgetting to post about this: we've been troubleshooting the "missing notifications" problem for the past few days. (Well, I say "we", really I mean Mark and Robby; I'm just the amanuensis.) It's been one of those annoying loops of "find a logical explanation for what could be causing the problem, fix that thing, observe that the problem gets better for some people but doesn't go away completely, go back to step one and start again", sigh.
Mark is hauling out the heavy debugging ordinance to try to find the root cause. Once he's done building all the extra logging tools he needs, he'll comment to this entry. After he does, if you find a comment that should have gone to your inbox and sent an email notification but didn't, leave him a link to the comment that should have sent the notification, as long as the comment itself was made after Mark says he's collecting them. (I'd wait and post this after he gets the debug code in but I need to go to sleep and he's not sure how long it will take!)
We're sorry about the hassle! Irregular/sporadic issues like this are really hard to troubleshoot because it's impossible to know if they're fixed or if they're just not happening while you're looking. With luck, this will give us enough information to figure out the root cause for real this time.
Wildlife - April
Apr. 9th, 2026 03:11 pmsmallhobbitA quick first post on my encounters with wildlife, to introduce the challenges I'm involved in.
British Trust for Ornithology
Garden Bird Watch: I began this last summer, as part of my 25 Things in 2025. I continue to record my sightings (such as they are) every week.
Birds in Green Spaces: The project is running from April to June this year and asks for a count of the birds seen in specified green spaces. There are two designated green spaces near where I live, so I'm aiming to visit them once a week.
UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme
Flower Insect Timed Count: Runs from April to September, and asks for 10 minutes to count insects on certain flowers. It requires a warm, preferrable sunny, day.
Butterfly Conservation
Big Butterfly Count: Happens from the middle of July to the middle of August
Garden Butterfly Survey: I'm waiting for warmer weather and the flowering of some of our bushes
Butterflies for the New Millennium: An ongoing count, which I'm currently doing when I do the birds in green spaces count
While there may be other opportunities which are less structured, these are the ones I'm using when I go for a walk locally.
British Trust for Ornithology
Garden Bird Watch: I began this last summer, as part of my 25 Things in 2025. I continue to record my sightings (such as they are) every week.
Birds in Green Spaces: The project is running from April to June this year and asks for a count of the birds seen in specified green spaces. There are two designated green spaces near where I live, so I'm aiming to visit them once a week.
UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme
Flower Insect Timed Count: Runs from April to September, and asks for 10 minutes to count insects on certain flowers. It requires a warm, preferrable sunny, day.
Butterfly Conservation
Big Butterfly Count: Happens from the middle of July to the middle of August
Garden Butterfly Survey: I'm waiting for warmer weather and the flowering of some of our bushes
Butterflies for the New Millennium: An ongoing count, which I'm currently doing when I do the birds in green spaces count
While there may be other opportunities which are less structured, these are the ones I'm using when I go for a walk locally.
2026 Photo #7
Apr. 4th, 2026 11:17 amsmallhobbitAs usual we made Easter cakes, J baked them, I decorated them. One is for us, one for TD (posted and received) and one for TS.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Goals 2026/27
Apr. 2nd, 2026 11:19 amsmallhobbitNormally I would set my new goals towards the end of April, but this year I'm planning on beginning them this month, and running them with a month's overlap - my goals, my rules.
Goal No 1: Do a Themed Monthly Post
This is the same as this past year, when my theme was 'The View from the Window'. That will be completed at the end of the month - we're on a coach tour through parts of Germany for a week towards the end of the month, so I shall be including a selection of hotel bedroom views. I find having a theme to concentrate on for a year helpful, so this year my theme will be Water. My intention is that there will be at least one photo from the canal, plus anything else suitable.
Goal No 2: Concentrate on Some Knitting Projects
Like most crafters I have a selection of books and magazines. Many of which have projects which appeal, but remain in the book/magazine. While I shall continue knitting my jumper, it's not something I can pick up for the odd 10-15 minutes, due to the pattern, so finding smaller projects would be a good move. Last year with 25 in 2025, one of my 25 was to reduce the number of cross stitch kits I had. That worked well, and I'm continuing to do so. Also, I've finally found a knitting magazine I like, so I'm aiming to achieve 4 projects from the issues I have (I bought a number of back issues), plus at least one thing from the Christmas volumes.
Goal No 3: Engage More with Nature
I've bought a new notebook (of course) and intend to keep a weekly record of what I'm doing. Last year I had grander plans of visiting places, but this came to nothing, as it would have been too time consuming. I've realised that what works for me is to go out in the local area, so a 5-10 minute walk, and spend an hour outside (give or take, in view of the weather) two or three times a week. I should probably do a monthly post, so that I keep myself accountable. No-one needs to feel they have to comment, it's for my benefit!
Goal No 1: Do a Themed Monthly Post
This is the same as this past year, when my theme was 'The View from the Window'. That will be completed at the end of the month - we're on a coach tour through parts of Germany for a week towards the end of the month, so I shall be including a selection of hotel bedroom views. I find having a theme to concentrate on for a year helpful, so this year my theme will be Water. My intention is that there will be at least one photo from the canal, plus anything else suitable.
Goal No 2: Concentrate on Some Knitting Projects
Like most crafters I have a selection of books and magazines. Many of which have projects which appeal, but remain in the book/magazine. While I shall continue knitting my jumper, it's not something I can pick up for the odd 10-15 minutes, due to the pattern, so finding smaller projects would be a good move. Last year with 25 in 2025, one of my 25 was to reduce the number of cross stitch kits I had. That worked well, and I'm continuing to do so. Also, I've finally found a knitting magazine I like, so I'm aiming to achieve 4 projects from the issues I have (I bought a number of back issues), plus at least one thing from the Christmas volumes.
Goal No 3: Engage More with Nature
I've bought a new notebook (of course) and intend to keep a weekly record of what I'm doing. Last year I had grander plans of visiting places, but this came to nothing, as it would have been too time consuming. I've realised that what works for me is to go out in the local area, so a 5-10 minute walk, and spend an hour outside (give or take, in view of the weather) two or three times a week. I should probably do a monthly post, so that I keep myself accountable. No-one needs to feel they have to comment, it's for my benefit!