17 Things I Want To Do In 2023 – Week 28 of 52

17 Things I Want To Do In 2023 – Week 27 of 52

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

Good news! The dried pumpkin stems I listed on Etsy sold for $39.95! How cool is that? I have some small dried gourds I’m going to try and sell next. 🙂 

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
• 26 Dried Pumpkin Stems for $39.95

*Money earned selling random stuff so far $267.65

* 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. But then I came across a French pastry shop on Cape Cod that I just have to visit. A staycation of pastry and crafts would go together pretty well, don’t you think?

Send 52 Cards To 52 Different People. {21 of 52 sent so far}

No cards sent this past week. But Lucy sends her best wishes.

Make 12 Totally British Recipes In The AGA. 

Not a whole lot of cooking going on around here lately. I think I’ll have to pick this goal back up in the fall. 

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

• English Muffins
• Currant Scones
• Sticky Toffee Pudding 

Turn The Craft Room Into a Proper Studio Space

No new improvements happening in the studio lately, but I have been working on dyeing wool and should have oodles of new bundles to list on Etsy tonight. 

Changes I plan on making to the space:

• Rip out the old gross carpet and replace it with pine floors {the HH wants carpet}
• 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 {56 of 100 done so far}

I am currently working on hooked rug #58. I finished the cats and flowers rug and now I’m onto pumpkins. Since the weather isn’t cooperating lately, I might as well start on my fall projects.

Create 15 New Rug Hooking Patterns 12 of 15 completed so far}

My latest rug hooking pattern is called Betty’s Big Chickens with American Flag. This is the 12th new pattern I’ve introduced for this year. Only more to go and I’ll be able to check this goal off my list. 

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

• Betty’s Big Chickens with American Flag
• 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

Guess what’s on the horizon for later today… C’mon GUESS!

A flood warning! Yep. 1 to 2 inches is expected to fall in Maine tonight. Good times people. Good times. 

As you can see, things aren’t growing so well in the religious family sized garden these days. My guess is it’s going to be a long winter with lots of beans and rice. It’s going to be AWESOME. Just AH-SOME.

Maybe we’ll get sunny skies on Monday the 24th. Maybe we won’t. Who knows. 

Empty The Canning Cupboard / Fill The Canning Cupboard

We polished off the last jar of cinnamon rhubarb jam yesterday. I actually still have rhubarb growing in the front garden right now so maybe I should make another batch. Might as well, since I don’t think I’ll be doing any other canning for a while. 

Make $500 Selling Plants, Flowers or Vegetables {I’ve made $84 so far.}

I dropped off a tray of potted herbs {mint, oregano and rosemary} and some fresh chives and mint yesterday to the Duck Lady’s farmstand to sell. I also put together a boquet of my favorite Endless Summer Bloomstuck Hydrangeas to sell as well {$7}.

I meant to take a peek at her garden but totally forgot. Maybe I’ll pop over there again this week and see how her garden is doing so I can show you. 

So far I’ve sold:
{8} 6-packs of corn @ $3 each = $24.00
{4} 6-packs of basil @ $3 each = $12
{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

Bread bowls I bought from ZoëDawn Shop. I’m excited to use them and to get those cool lines on the top of my loaves of bread. My friend Zoë, she’s pretty amazing. Check out her tutorial on How to Make a Rope Basket…. I think they’d make great hostess gifts.

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 
• 3 Bread Bowls 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 

Hey! Lots of progress was made this past week on updating my older recipes to a more user friendly printable format. Hooray! Here’s just a few of the recipes that got fixed:

• Heirloom Tomato Salsa 
• Strawberry Basil Jam
• Strawberry Streusel Bread
• How to Freeze Pesto

26 Official Date Days With My Handsome Husband {14 down, 12 to go}

No date days this past week… We just stayed in and watched the nature channel and waited for the fog to lift {spoiler alert: it didn’t}.

• 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
• Date #13 Moody’s Diner
• Date #14 Beth’s Farm Market

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