My 14 Goals For 2024 – Week 43 of 52

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

This past week I shared a recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts with blue cheese and balsamic glaze. I LOVE this recipe! I do love fresh fruits and vegetables, no doubt. But I also really like this time of year for all the comfort foods and baked goods. 

And cheese. One mustn’t forget about cheese. Cheese pretty much goes well on anything this time of year.

Visit 24 {new} Bakeries / Coffee Shops

Okay. So you know what a pastry snob I am, right? Well let’s just say I found a new pastry shop and it is HANDS DOWN a 10/10. We tried multiple items and every single one of them was a total winner. That hardly ever happens!!! I want to get a job there so I can learn how to make everything. 

I know it seems like I’m a little behind on this goal. I’m pretty sure I’ve been to at least 30+ coffee/bakeries this year but I am ultra picky when it comes to my baked goods and have zero interest in talking about something that’s not awesome. Well, there was that place in Salem I told you about.  

But that place got an A+ for their visual presentation. 😉

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

• Mike’s All Day Breakfast
• The Cookie Jar Pastry Shop
• Fortnum and Mason
• Ritual Bakehouse and Patisserie
• Caramel Patisserie
• Standard Baking Co. 
• Saltwater Farm Cafe
• Coffee Roasters of the Kennebunks
• Farine Bakery and Cafe
• Night Moves Bread
• Cape Porpoise Kitchen

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

I am STILL working on a box of books to send to a free little library in Colorado! Basically, I have the books, I just need to find the right size box so I can send them via media mail. 

Cindy if you are reading this I am sorry for the delay. 

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 LOVE LOVE LOVE taking Lucy to the beach this time of year! Hardly anyone is ever there and we get the whole place to ourselves. It’s rather lovely. It’s like being on your own private island. Except it isn’t. 

Someday maybe.

Read or Listen to 24 Books {11 down, 13to go}

I finally finished Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz. The audiobook was 25 hours long!!!  Next up, Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict. I listened to it a few years ago but when I saw it at the library book sale for only $1 I had to snatch it up. 

I really like historical fiction. It’s probably my favorite genre.

Books I’ve Read or Listened To This Year: 

• Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service by Gary Sinise. 10/10
• My Girls by Todd Fissher 10/10
• The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron 9/10
• Elizabeth The Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith 9/10
• Wait Till Next Year by Dorris Kearns Goodwin 8/10
• George VI and Elizabet:by Sally Bedell Smith 9/10
• Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson 9/10
• These Precious Days by Ann Pachett 9.5/10
• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson 8/10
• Family Reins by Billy Busch 7/10
• Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz 9.5/10

Paint 

I was organizing my craft space out in the barn when I came across some clay I didn’t know I had. And well, before I knew it I had the tunes on and was stamping out mini whale ornaments. 

I’ll need to stamp out another batch or two before I have enough to load the kiln. Hopefully I can get to that this week before the weather turns crazy cold.

Paintings I’ve finished this year:

• Portrait of Joseph Roulin 
• Red Boats at Argenteuil
• Regattas at Argenteuil
• Vase with Cornflowers and Poppies 
• Sunflowers
• Garden Path with Chickens
• Goldfish

Hook 6 “Big” Rugs.

I picked up a rug I had started working on earlier this year {Chicken Stroll by Crow Creek Farm} and started working on it a few days ago. The plan is to have it {and a smaller rug} finished by the end of the month.

• Three Roosters
• Hidden In The Garden 
• Yankee Doodle
• Double Nantucket Whale Runner with the American flag

Visit 6 Greenhouses {4 down 2 to go}

No greenhouses this week. 

Grow Baby Grow

The amaryllis bulbs I potted up about 10 days ago are really starting to take off. I have three of them in my kitchen window which faces the backyard. 

It does feel a little cluttered in the kitchen with them there, but I’m starting not to mind so much. My guess is I’ll be able to move them over to the kitchen table after Thanksgiving. We’ll see. 

Do you have plants on your windowsills? Does it seem cluttered to you?

Donate to 12 Different Organizations in Maine

This past week we donated to the Dempsey Center. The Dempsey Center provides a tremendous amount of free cancer care related services {support groups, education, wellbeing support, counseling, wigs and so much more!} You name it, they are there to help.} You can find out more about The Dempsey Center and all the amazing services they provide HERE.

So Far This Year I’ve Donated To:

• Sarah’s House
• Grammy Rose Dog Rescue
• Cleaning Up My Local Beach
• New Hope MidCoast {50 pairs of new socks}
• Humane Society {180 trays of cat food}
• Travis Mills Foundation
• Camp Sunshine
• Honor Flight Maine
• The Dempsey Center

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

~Mavis

Goals I’ve Already Completed This Year

Go On An Adventure DONE

I’d say that spending over a week in England totally counts as an adventure. Even if I didn’t know what all the signs meant. 😉

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