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12 Goals for the New Year

My 14 Goals For 2024 – Week 36 of 52

By Mavis Butterfield on - 31 Comments

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

I did a great job of filling up on fruits and veggies last week. But I do miss seeing all the different and beautiful salads from the shops in England. There were so many different combinations!!

Visit 24 {new} Bakeries / Coffee Shops

I think we must have visited at least a dozen new bakeries/coffee shops on our trip and I’l be sharing some of those with you soon. I took over 1200 photos!!! And probably a quarter of them were food. How crazy is that!?

New Bakeries / Coffee Shops I’ve Been To This Year {That I liked}

Go On An Adventure

Our trip to London and the Cotswolds was a HUGE success! We had SO MUCH fun. I don’t think it would have been possible to have more fun in fact. 🙂 Every hour of the trip was interesting. 

I told the HH it was probably the best trip of my life. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to top it.

Contribute to 12 Free Little Libraries. {7 town down, 5 to go}

I brought some  books along to donate to a couple of free little libraries on our trip but kind of forgot about them until we spotted the second hand bookshop at Snowshill Manor and ended up just donating all the books there instead. 

Book sales benefit the manor and the gardens though so I think it was a win-win in the end. 🙂

Towns I’ve donated books to:

  • Snowshill, England
  • Gardiner, Maine
  • Nobleboro, Maine
  • Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Cape Elizabeth, Maine
  • Raymond, Maine
  • Bellevue, Washington

Spend More Time At The Beach

I didn’t make it to the beach last week but I did find the lobster rope that I grabbed when it washed ashore this past spring in the barn. 

I plan on using it for a must anticipated craft project in the next few weeks that I am CRAZY excited about. Stay turned for that!!

Read or Listen to 24 Books {7 down, 17 to go}

I am currently listening to The Dress Maker in Paris. Historical fiction and autobiographies are my two favorite subjects so if you have any good recommendations, I’m all ears. 

I also ordered a few audiobooks {on compact discs} to listen to this winter while I’m holed up in the studio working on hooked rugs. 

Tea+Hooking+Books. Winter. I am looking forward to it this winter, that’s for sure.

Books I’ve Read or Listened To This Year: 

Paint 

I am currently painting the front stairs. Maybe I’ll find some more paint by numbers to paint this winter. Maybe I’ll just concentrate on hooking. I’m not sure yet.

So far I’ve finished:

Hook 6 “Big” Rugs.

No new rugs this past week but I did hook this three roosters rug earlier this year. Late fall. That’s when I think I’ll be back hooking again. There is SO MUCH to still do before the weather turns.

Large Rugs I’ve Hooked This Year

Visit 6 Greenhouses {4 down 2 to go}

We visited my all time favorite greenhouses at Kew Gardens and I have loads of photos to show you. But I think I might wait until this winter to share them. There is so much other stuff going on right now that I want to share.

Grow Baby Grow

When we were in England one thing that really stood out to me were all the incredibly sturdy and well made growing structures for growing flowers and vegetables. 

Ones that are really, REALLY hard to find here in the US. So now I’m on a mission to find some for my backyard garden before the spring planting season arrives so I’ll be ready to go. 

If you know of any companies, I’d love it if you’d let me know in the comment section below.

Donate to 12 Different Organizations in Maine

And last but not least, a few days ago after reading an article about the Grammy Rose Dog Rescue program I decided to donate to their worthy cause. What a unique set up they have!! You can read more about them HERE.

So Far This Year I’ve Donated To:

So how are YOUR goals for 2024 coming along? I’d love to hear about them. 

~Mavis

Goals I’ve Already Completed This Year

In Stock and Ready to Ship by March 15th/ March 30th Now April 15th DONE!

I finally finished up all the major wool dyeing and pattern/kit making I had hoped too. All the “extra” wool is tucked away in bins so if I run out of wool in my Etsy shop I can whip up some more bundles in a jiffy. A summer off from dyeing wool… It’s going to be pretty rad.

Tidy Up / Clean Out / Purge DONE

We cleaned the whole house, inside and out. And then we sold it. Yee-Haw!

  • Barn
  • Garage
  • Closets 
  • Dresser drawers
  • Kitchen 
  • Sideboard
  • DVD collection
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Comments

  2. Mel says

    One of my goals was to celebrate holidays more, so I am in the process of making our toddler a Christmas-themed quiet book. I f I can finish in time, I think I might give it to him for St. Nicholas day so he can enjoy it for the whole Christmas season.

    Reply

  3. Erin says

    I recommend almost anything written by Kristen Hannah, but I just recently finished “The Women” & it was fantastic. It follows the story of a woman & her friends during the Vietnam War & the war’s repercussions in their lives. She’s such a great historical fiction storyteller. I’ve read & listened to several of her books & enjoyed both methods.

    Reply

  4. Jeni says

    Consider looking for a local blacksmith or metal fabricator for the garden structures. They’ll be able to make pretty much anything you want.

    Reply

  5. Sarah S says

    I recommend reading any of the books by Kristin Hannah. She is a great author and writes some historical fiction books. I have read “The Nightingale”, “The Four Winds” and “The Women”. All of them have been so good

    Reply

  6. Paris Pastry says

    You can try recreating the salads at home!! For reading recommendations have you tried reading books by Beatriz Williams? She has several that might interest you. Also The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar might be of interest. The Key by Kathryn Hughes is also a possibility. I assume you have read The Briar Club by Kate Quinn if not look it up.

    Reply

  9. Susan says

    Welcome home Mavis! So glad that your trip was great, just as it should be :). I have been reading Madeline Martin books recently. I would start with “The Last Bookshop in London”, she also wrote “The Librarian Spy”, “The Keeper of Hidden Books”, and her new one “The Book Lovers Library” which I haven’t read yet. Enjoy!

    Reply

  10. Marlene Wurtzbacher says

    Gardener’s Supply has an Essex Square Obelisk – 5’ and 7’. They say it can be left out all year round. May not be the heavier type you are looking for.

    Reply

  13. Denise says

    I just finished listening to Matthew McConaughey’s autobiography. He is the narrator and he does a wonderful job! It’s funny and inspiring. The name is Green Lights.

    Reply

  16. Richelle says

    I’ve listened to books by all of these: Whoopee Goldberg*, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tiffany Haddish, Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci*, Jada Pinkett Smith, Anderson Cooper, Patrick Stewart*, Barbra Streisand*, Andre Agassi*, Sam Neill, Kerry Washington, Chita Rivera, Ralph Macchio, David Sedaris*, Matthew Perry, Prince Harry*, Viola Davis*, Cicely Tyson*, Wil Wheaton, Ron Howard*, Megan Mullaly, Kristin Chenoweth, Leslie Jordan*, Matthew Perry, John Cleese*, Heather Gay, Anna Kendrick, Bob Odenkirk, Seth Rogan, Lily Singh, Busy Philips, Carrie Fisher, Britney Spears, John Stamos, Matthew McConaughey*, Henry Winkler*.
    *I thought these were the best, but all of them were interesting.

    Reply

  18. Linda says

    I have a local welder. He has made garden things for me. I am quite sure you can locate a welder local to you to make your dreams come true. Find pictures for you inspiration, copy, and share with him. You can have one-of-a-kind structure.

    Reply

  19. Dawn says

    I know of an artist in Maine, Mike Billings, who makes pretty much whatever you like from recycled metals. twistedfateforge.com.

    Reply

  20. Amber says

    Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres!!! I have quite the list for you haha.

    1. The Miniaturist & The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
    2. The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (all of hers are great, but this is the one I read this year)
    3. Authors Martha Hall Kelly and Natasha Lester (I read so many of their books this year)
    4. The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec (it’s also a mix of fantasy, but still very good)
    5. The Post Card by Anne Berest
    6. Author C.W. Gortner – she has books on real people, but they are fictionalized with historically accurate events.
    7. The Siege Winter by Samantha Norman
    8. If you enjoy a mix of fantasy in with the historical fiction, Paula Brackston has a few that are really good.
    9. Author Lisa See. I haven’t read a book of hers that I didn’t love.
    10. Author Michelle Moran has a few on ancient Egypt that I loved reading.
    11. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian (this was sort of hard to read, because of the subject, but was very good)
    12. Author Lauraine Snelling. The Blessing series is the one I’ve read – it’s historical fiction, but does have some elements of romance and religious themes. It’s a good series, though.
    13. Last one. Author is Angela Elwell Hunt, and the series is Keepers of the Ring. Roanoke, Jamestown, Hartford, Rehoboth, and Charles Towne. This series is my absolute favorite.

    Reply

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