Pause, reset

The first part of this year has been really busy. The holiday retail season stretched into January, and I worked a lot of extra hours. 

Between shifts, I could usually be found at the barn.

I didn't have a lot of time for the hobby, but what I did have was spent prepping for both the administrative and painting parts of NaMoPaiMo.

Work cooled off in February, which was good because that month was completely consumed by NaMoPaiMo,

BreyerWest,

and - always - Olive.

The Quintus medallions for NaMoPaiMo 2021 arrived during BreyerWest week. 

The timing was good in that I was able to deliver several medallions in person. The remainder were shipped in early March. 

I was hoping to wrap up the 2022 event at the same time, but sadly, the combination of NaMoPaiMo and BreyerWest turned out to be too much for me. I got really sick after BreyerWest. It wasn't Covid - I tested twice. My guess is a bad cold plus exhaustion.

I'd just started to feel better when Lilie arrived, and we had a fun, horse-filled week.

That brings us to April, and other than Olive and one busy work weekend, there isn't a lot on my schedule in April.

I've really enjoyed the downtime so far, and I've spent a lot of it in my studio. I haven't been making things - at least not yet - but I've done a lot of cleaning, organizing and thinking. It feels like I am preparing myself for the next phase of my hobby life, a phase in which the hobby will actually be a hobby rather than a job.

Whatever happens, I do plan to keep on writing about it here.  As Lynn would say, "Stay 'tooned!"