17 Things I Want To Do In 2023 – Week 22 of 52

Earn $1,493.04 {Last Year’s Grocery Expenses} Selling Totally Random Things Online

You know those goals you set for yourself that you can never find the time for… Well, weirdly enough, this is one of them. With the to-do list getting longer each day, having to prioritize my time is getting tricker. 

One day I will list all the stuff I’ve been collecting. And one day it will sell. 

Sold so far:

• 1 Box of “Native Organically Harvested Maine Driftwood” for $89.95
• 1 Box of 12 Heart Shaped Rocks for 24.95
• 1 box of 6 Heart Shaped Rocks for $22.95
• 1 box of 2 Folgers Coffee Cans for $29.95
• Set of 3 Brim Coffee Cans for $39.95
• 1 Martinson Coffee Can for $19.95

*Money earned selling random stuff so far $227.70

* At the end of the year I will deduct all the shipping/supply/selling fees from the grand total. 

Go On a Staycation/Craftcation With The Girl

Québec City is still at the top of our list. Some place in Old Town with breakfast in bed. I can’t decide if we should go during the holiday season when everything is decked out for Christmas, or during the summer when everything is in bloom. Hmmm.

2023 Rating Card by Etsy Seller MaaePaperCo

Send 52 Cards To 52 Different People. {18 of 52 mailed so far}

Make 12 Totally British Recipes In The AGA. 

Still no new British recipe but hey, I did manage to burn dinner the other night. The simmering oven in the AGA can be a little testy… I need to use it more to figure out its quirks

British recipes I’ve made in the AGA so far:

• Currant Scones
• Sticky Toffee Pudding 

Turn The Craft Room Into a Proper Studio Space

It was a slow week in the rug hooking department for me as there were soooo many garden chores. But I did get the newly finished pledge flag up on the wall. {The pattern is by Polly Minick.}

I’ve decided to challenge myself a bit and have a small collection of rugs with the American flag hooked within them finished by June 14th {flag day}. 

I figured if I pinned the rugs to the wall as I went, it would motivate me to keep going. 

With so much going on outside, I don’t get as many rugs hooked during the summer months, but it’s nice to pick up a rug and work on it in the evening hours when everything else is done.

Changes I plan on making to the space:

• Rip out the old gross carpet and replace it with pine floors
• Fresh paint
• A proper light fixture
• New serger
• New work table {I bought 3!}
• A sitting area with a spot to hook

Hook 100 Rugs {53 of 100 done so far}

Currently working on rugs #54 and #55.

I’ve decided my next update for new pieces will be on June 14th {Flag Day}. There will be 2 new patterns and a few designs I haven’t hooked before.

Create 15 New Rug Hooking Patterns 11 of 15 completed so far}

My latest rug hooking pattern is called Mable’s Kittens.

New patterns I’ve added to my Etsy shop in 2023:

• Fair Isle Sheep
• Olde Hares
• Antique Hearts and Flowers
• Fat Cat with Easter Eggs
• Fat Cat with Shamrocks
• Fat Cat with Hearts
• Horse and Hearts
• Valentine Kitties
• Little Chicken
• Hit and Miss Flower Basket
• Mable’s Kittens

Revisit An Old Friend.

I’m working on it! I’m nearly there. I’m just waiting for 1 more thing to arrive. 

Grow 1,000 Pounds of Vegetables In The Religious Family Sized Garden

With 5200 square feet to work with this summer, I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to hit our goal of 1,000 pounds of homegrown vegetables. 

That being said, yesterday was cold, wet and windy with overnight temps down to 42 degrees! With all my tomato and pepper plants in the ground {117 tomatoes, 49 peppers} I’m a little nervous to go out and see if they survived. 

Gardening in Maine. It’s not for sissies… That’s for sure.

Empty The Canning Cupboard / Fill The Canning Cupboard

We had some guests over this past week. They went home with a few jars of our home canned goodness. {Hooray!} They also rearranged my kitchen a bit {which is a whole nother story} and I love the way it looks now. 

Sometimes you just need a fresh eye on something. I’ll have to snap some pictures and show you because now it looks like people really live here. HA HA HA.

Note to self: Start the craspedia seeds. The dried flowers would look great popping out of that long basket. 

Make $500 Selling Plants, Flowers or Vegetables {I’ve made $48 so far.}

I don’t think I sold any plants at The Duck Lady’s stand last week. I was going to bring over some bush bean starts but I decided to plant them in our garden instead. 🙂

The HH put up the trellis and I planted the pole beans below it and decided to put the bush beans in front in hopes the birds will stay away. It probably won’t work but we’ll see.

So far I’ve sold:

{9} 6- packs of pea starts @$2 each {then I upped the price to $3} = $24.00
{4} Daffodil bouquets @$3 & $4 each = $14.00
{4} Chives @$2 each = $8.00
{1} Basil @$2 each = $2.00

Buy 12 Handmade Items {From 12 Different Artists} 7 down, 5 to go

So far this year I have bought:

• {3} Linen Aprons from BedCult
• {2} Charcuterie boards from FarmHillWoodShop
• {3} Fair Isle Hats Rachel of Barkland Croft
• 2 Quilts from ZoëDawn Shop 
• 1 Handmade braclet from a little girl’s lemonade/craft stand
• {2} Watercolor Palettes 
• {1} Fair Isle scarf from Mati Ventrillon

Update Every Single Recipe On The Blog To A Printable Format 

Recipes… What recipes? 

26 Official Date Days With My Handsome Husband {11 down, 15 to go}

There were no dates this past week… Just work to be done in the garden. I did pick a beautiful bouquet of French breakfast radishes though. 🙂 Aren’t they pretty?

It was a good day!

• Date #1 Thomaston Cafe for lunch. It was lovely. 
• Date #2 Rising Tide Co-Op
• Date #3 Oysterhead Pizza
• Date #4 Oysterhead Pizza 
• Date #5 Schanz Family Maple
• Date #6 Camden, Maine for lunch and candy
• Date # 7 The Quiet Girl movie
• Date #8 Rockport Farmer’s Market
• Date #9 LL Bean & Solo Pane e Pasticceria
• Date #10 Jameson Point Lobster
• Date #11 Marshall Point Light, Hedegrow Market
• Date #12 Bet’s Fish Fry

Goals already accomplished 2023:

Go On A Solo Adventure.  Done

A solo adventure to Fair Isle. I don’t think I could have picked a more unique, isolated and cozy spot to spend a few weeks. I’m already dreaming of going back. 

Take An Adult Education Class Done

The Girl and I took a 3 day British Baking Classics course at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont and had a good time. My favorite thing we made was the sticky toffee pudding. 

Set Aside 200 Items For A Yard Sale DONE!

The yard sale was a great success! The Duck Lady and I were both able to get rid of a lot of items we didn’t want and as an added bonus, I only had 1 box of stuff to drop off at the thrift store. Yee-Haw!

How about YOU? How are you coming along with your goals for this year? 

~Mavis