17 Things I Want To Do In 2023 – Week 30 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

I’ve decided to put my smaller pieces of driftwood to good use and make a few driftwood wreaths with them. I ordered some heavy duty wooden forms for the back of the wreaths and once they get here I’ll get started!

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

Now it’s between Québec City during Christmas time or Cape Cod in the fall. It’s s tough one. 

Send 52 Cards To 52 Different People. {22 of 52 sent so far}

No new cards sent out this week. Why is this goal so hard!?

Make 12 Totally British Recipes In The AGA. 

Not a whole lot of baking going on around here lately. I think I’ll have to pick this goal back up in the fall. But I did find the Bouchon Bakery cookbook I was looking for in the attic though. Maybe this will put me in the mood to bake.

Do YOU have this cookbook? Do you have a favorite recipe? 

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

We’ll work on painting and new flooring in the fall. Right now since I’m not busy in the garden, I’ve been busy working on ornaments again. Yesterday I pulled a bunch of bees out of the kiln and listed them on Etsy. 

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 rugs #58 and #59. I finished hooked the sunflower design and now I just need to turn my hooked rug into a pillow. 

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

So far the religious family sized garden is a BIG ZERO this year and the kitchen garden is doing slightly better. We’ve had a couple more rain storms since last week, but luckily there is only one more in the forecast for the next 10 days.

HOPEFULLY everything will dry out enough and things will grow again. We’ll see.

Empty The Canning Cupboard / Fill The Canning Cupboard

The HH popped open a can of pickled asparagus and I opened another jar of jam this past week. But honeslty, now that the garden isn’t doing so well we are not as eager to use everything up before the end of August. 

Make $500 Selling Plants, Flowers or Vegetables {I’ve made $86 so far.}

I was thinking about dropping off some rhubarb stalks to the Duck Lady’s place but decided to keep it all for myself instead. I think I might make a batch of cinnamon rhubarb jam for the canning cupboard or a rhubarb almond coffee cake with it.

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
{1} Mint @$2.00 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 
• 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 

I made some more progress on updating my older recipes to a more user friendly printable format this past week. Here we’re my two favorites:

Cucumber Relish

Rhubarb Almond Coffee Cake

26 Official Date Days With My Handsome Husband {16 down, 10 to go}

For date day this past week the HH drove me to the craft store {about an hour away!} to buy some canvases to paint on. Because you know, I don’t have enough projects to work on already. 😉 

I think we may have stopped for a pasty, but I don’t remember. Now comes the hard part. What to paint? Maybe something beachy. 

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
• Date #13 Moody’s Diner
• Date #14 Beth’s Farm Market
• Date #15 The Beach
• Date #16 The Craft Store

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