My 14 Goals for 2020
Goal #1 – Take Full Advantage of Having My Husband Home 24/7
The Girl and I took Lucy the puggle dog to the beach TWICE last week because the weather was so nice. That pooch! She loves exploring and walking through the beds of seaweed and kelp. I’m not so sure she likes the baths I give her afterwards though. 😉
Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself.Â
I put myself in time out. {More about that later.} Also, the zipper on my Patagonia jacket broke and well did you know for a $5 shipping label fee you can mail it back and they will replace your zipper for free? How cool is that? The whole process took about a month.
Goal #3 – Get Organized
The plan:
- March 1 – 7
Finish Up Hooking Projects for Etsy Updateand Finish Tile in Kitchen HA HA HA - March 8 – 14 Paint Kitchen Walls, Trim Doors and Office Door {Find new project for HH to get started on}
- March 15 – 21 Paint Master Bedroom Walls, Trim and Doors
- March 22 – 28 Make/Hang Window Treatments
- March 29 – April 4th – Finish up New Etsy listings
Goal #4 – Get Proper Window Coverings on All Our Windows.Â
Still not a stitch of fabric in sight. The afternoon sun though… it’s lovely.
Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over
I saw this rug in person at someone else’s house and just fell in love with it. I think I am going to order the rug for the master bedroom. Also, I’m thinking I might go the curtain route {so I don’t have to make shades in that room} to speed up the whole makeover process and get on with my life.
Goal #6 – Kitchen Update
We tested out the Delorean grey grout color and well, it pretty much looks like the charcoal color. I think if maybe the tile was spaced at 1/16″ instead of 1/8″, the dark grout would look dramatically different {way less bold}. Anywho, I decided to go away for the weekend and leave the final decision up to the HH. I just didn’t want to think about it anymore, it was making me crazy. All I know is the HH promised the backsplash would all be grouted when I got back.
Still need to:
Repair drywall, put up tileInstall new hinges on all cabinetsÂ- Swap out the 3 can lights that don’t match the other 2}
- Paint walls
Decide if the chalkboard stays or goesSTAYS!Decide if we should get a rubbed bronze facet for the sink orkeep the polished nickle one {keeping the polished nickle one
Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden
With the warmer weather we’ve been having lately {highs in the 40’s lows in the 20’s} the snow is finally starting to recede. Which can only mean one thing of course, gardening season is fast approaching and it’s crunch time. This winter went by SO FAST! I do think it will be fun to see how this pallet of boring brown nothingness will come to life over the next few months though.
FYI: If you still haven’t ordered your seeds, Botanical Interests is currently offering 30% off online seed orders with code SEEDS30 at checkout.
Goal #8 – Explore More of MaineÂ
My buddy Heather from Massachusetts and I made it to Alewives Fabric Store to load up on prints for a baby quilt she wanted to make for her little nephew. I’ll share some more pictures of the trip soon, but man oh man, what a cool store!
On the radar for exploring Maine this month:
Bar Harbor, MaineLincolnville Center General Store in Lincolnville, Maine- Wallace’s Market in Friendship, Maine
Alewives Fabric Store in Nobleboro, Maine- Harpswell, Maine and Bailey Island
Goal #9 – Host Some Sort of Get Together
Summer BBQ perhaps? 😉
Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books
I listened to A Piece of the World a second time {just in case I missed something the first time and because it was so good} and now I’m on the hunt for another historical fiction audiobook.
Other Books I’ve Picked Up From the Library This Year:
- Olive Kitteridge
- Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites
- Natural Color: Vibrant Plant Dye Projects for Your Home and WardrobeÂ
- The New Bungalow KitchenÂ
- Container Gardening by Stephanie DonaldsonÂ
- A Piece of the World
Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft
My neighbor has offered to teach me stained glass and I’m looking forward to carving out some time to try it.
Goal #12 – Visit 12Â Museums, Historical Homes or Botanical Gardens {and bakeries too!}
I haven’t totally penciled out March yet, but I have a feeling checking out various islands off the coast of Maine will be on the list {as well as the rest of the year}. I’ll just need to remember to bring along sunglasses … because whoa Nelly, it can get windy up here.
January
- Maine Maritime Museum
- Maine Mineral and Gem Museum
- The Island MarketÂ
- Cafe DiCocoa
- Hungry Hollow Country Store
February
- Two Fat Cats Bakery
- Portland Museum of Art
- Speckled AxÂ
- Atlantic Baking Company
- Rockland, St. George, Cushing and Port Clyde Maine
Goal # 13 – Reach 5,000 Etsy Sales by the End of The YearÂ
As of this morning, I have made 3181 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st. I updated my Etsy shop with a bunch of new pillows on Friday along with 3 new rug hooking kits. I’m looking forward to getting back to the dye pots later this week so I can add some more bundles to my shop as well.
Goal #14 – Once a Month Menu Planning {for 2}
Looking forward to having the kitchen wrapped up so we can stock up the freezer with freezer meals for the beginning of gardening season!
Have YOU made any goals for this year? If so, DO TELL! We all want to hear about them.
Have a great Sunday everyone,
~Mavis
Mrs. Hillbilly’s Update
There is no post from Mrs. HB this week as she is still on her adventure and left her laptop behind. 🙂
Christa H. says
Week 10 of 52:
1. Do things to support the local birds, butterflies, and my bees- My pollinator garden fence went up, still need to finish the arbor and gate. We went with a 5-foot high wooden horse fence and it looks great. I will paint it black and then add 3 foot hardware cloth bent about 1 foot to go along the ground and two feet high that will be stapled around the bottom outside of the fence to keep the wild rabbits out. Since the area is on a slight hill, we added grey retaining wall stone to line the beds so the dirt won’t wash away and good dirt is being installed later this week.
Since I haven’t been able to garden in 3 years since we bought the land, sold our house and built this one, I went a bit crazy with my seed purchases. I spent two weekends creating Excel spreadsheets of everything I have bought so at a glance I know everything about my plants and growing them and was shocked at how many seed packets I bought. I have vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, grains, roots, bulbs, and 8 bushes. I bought seeds from Baker Creek, Eden Brothers, Snake River, Mountain Lily Farm, bushes and shrubs from Costco, and roots/bulbs from many places.
2. Start seedlings with my grow lights and plant a pollinator garden- Got my 3rd grow light, 12 seed trays and 5.9-inch thick white plastic plant markers, black writing markers that won’t fade outside, and one heat mat. My garage is insulated so it isn’t super cold out there so I’ll see if I need to order more heat mats in the future. I am behind on sowing so I will start today!
3. Continue learning about beekeeping to support my hives- The certification course I went to sign up for is closed. Looking for something else.
4. Start vermicomposting again to support my garden- bought some coco coir to use
5. Help my rescue cats live their best lives- (Lizzie-12, Mr. Darcy- 7, Mr. Bingley-3, Lucy-3)
Lizzie has a snotty clogged up nose and eye discharge. Mr. Bingley had eye discharge, a limp, and has a heart murmur that is advancing. Since the vets I have taken Lizzie to only want to give her antibiotics for her snotty nose and Mr. Bingley nothing, I have been giving Lizzie and Mr. Bingley holistic items from Vitality Science that have helped and also cosequin, lysine, and fish oil. Lizzie is almost better and Mr. Bingley’s limp and eye discharge gone.
I had a Petmedella.com scan done for both of them using their hair and saliva to see what issues they may have. I have started both on the recommended items from the scan. It’s been two weeks and Lizzie has started grooming herself again, has more energy, and her nose is almost cleared up. Mr. Bingley has more energy. I will eventually do scans for the other two rescue cats to help clear up anything before it becomes an issue. Mr. Bingley has a heart ultrasound scheduled in April.
6. Design or carve an address stamp for holiday mail- I think I will make a modern one with a fox head on it.
7. Do something with the postage stamps I collect from our mail- I have been collecting the stamps from our mail since 2001. I have a jar of American flag stamps and a second jar with all the other stamps. I only keep the stamps we receive. I am thinking of using them as the background in a painting using transparent paint. I have some canvases to use.
8. Practice wood burning crafting- I bought a Razertip SK 10 amp pyrography burner years ago that I never used. I am planning on wood burning some art on the spinning gourds I grew several years ago and turn them into ornaments.
9. Reframe old stitchery- I did cross-stitch back in the 90’s and some of the items would look nice in an updated frame and matting to match our modern farmhouse. I think I will use black frames and add glass to some of them that are open. All the frames in our house are black to match. I haven’t cross-stitched since my 20’s but I recently won a kit so I may pick this hobby up again soon.
10. Make some holiday crafts/art to display- I would like something in the hallway bathroom and above the kitchen sink.
11. Complete or give away my ornament craft stash- I have a small box of unpainted/incomplete ornaments that I would like to finish. I will give away the ones that I don’t care for anymore. I have many of them sorted now into one box to go through.
12. Beautifully wrap and personalize all presents- I hate to wrap presents. My step kids wrap beautiful gifts so I am going to try to make mine look nice.
13. Try 20 new food items- tried cape gooseberries and bought Buddha’s hand to slice and put in some honey, some castelvetrano olives, some different kimchis, and some healthier salad dressings from Tessiemae’s. Tessiemae’s Caesar and ranch taste the same to me and quite peppery.
14. Clean out magazine stash and tear out recipes I want to keep- not started
15. Do something for my health and/or husband’s health- got him started on Noom and he’s down 26 pounds. I am cooking a lot of healthy items as usual but he is learning portion control. Happy for him.
Mavis Butterfield says
26 pounds! That’s great.
eileen says
I live in Colorado and I have heard for years what a great quilt shop Alewives Fabric is.
Lindsey says
If you like historical mysteries, I cannot recommend C.J. Sansom’s series set in Tudor England. The writing is so dense, so elegant, so evocative…And if you have not listened to the Young Adult novel set in WW II England, called The War That Saved My Life, please do. It is about a kid who comes form a very difficult background and is evacuated to the country, where she has to learn that loving someone does not make you weaker. Beautifully written.
Mavis Butterfield says
Read The War That Saved My Life, and it was great! I’ll check out the other one. Thanks!
Melanie says
Have you read its sequel The War I Finally Won? It’s good, too!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thank you! I just requested it via audiobook.:)
Teresa Young says
We Must Be Brave, The Summer Before the War, The Gilded Hour, & the Call the Midwife books (non-fiction) were my favorite audio books from last year. I’m drawn to the British accents!
Carrie says
I have been reading Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia’s founder). They are an amazing outdoor apparel company. If any item of theirs is defective/you broke it they can repair it or give you credit to their store. My manfriend had a rain coat that started falling apart, he sent it back and it couldn’t be repaired so they gave him store credit! I have a fleece from the late 1990s that is still in great shape although not a flattering cut but I am hoping the trend with come back around. 😉 They also recycle old clothing and gear, only use organically grown cotton, pay their factory workers a living wage and donate some of their profits to environmental endeavors. The quality of their flannel shirts is tremendous compared to a Gap flannel that was gifted to me for Christmas.