My 14 Goals for 2020
Goal #1 – Take Full Advantage of Having My Husband Home 24/7
On Monday it snowed 8 inches, but by the time Friday rolled around the HH and I were both working hard in the garden from sun up to sun down. Our house doesn’t have gutters {maybe it’s a New England thing because of all the snow that accumulates in winter? I don’t know}. So we are moving the pea gravel a little at a time to where the snow melt hits on the ground but it’s been slow going.
Our current outdoor projects include removing the previous owners fire pit {it’s smack dab in the middle of the backyard} digging out the plants we don’t want {which is 95%} and creating new brick flower borders around the back of the house.
Oh, and there’s also a bunch of tree limbs and rotten log rounds we have to haul to the recycle center {where there’s a spot to drop off all your yard waste for free}. The HH keeps saying we need a truck. And I’m like WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? Just put a tarp down in the back of the wagon… it will fit. And it always does and it makes him crazy. 🙂
Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself.
Well, collecting heart shaped rocks along the beach is over for a while… the town closed down the beaches. 🙁
Goal #3 – Get Organized
My plan went out the window this week {too much time on the computer looking up the news, working in the yard, dyeing wool and separating a big bowl of jelly beans The Girl have me}. There’s always next week though, right?
The plan:
- March 22 – 28 Paint Kitchen Walls, Trim Doors and Office Door
- March 29 – April 4th – Finish Garden Beds {Raspberry & Asparagus Beds, 3 New Flower Beds Along the Back of the House}
- April 5th – 11th – Paint Master Bedroom Walls, Trim and Doors
- April 12th – 18th – Make Window Treatments for Master Bedroom
- April 19th – May 2nd Make Window Treatments for Sunroom
Goal #4 – Get Proper Window Coverings on All Our Windows.
Working on it. If only in my mind.
Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over
Hey! I finally got around to cutting the plastic off our lamp shades {only took 6 months}! I also painted the back wall in our bedroom white {the other walls are still currently purple} and we moved the bed and other furniture in place. Now all that’s left to do in there is paint the rest of the walls, the radiator, the windows and throw up some window treatments. So you know, it could be a month or two or it could be a year…. who knows. But I’m hopeful it will be sooner than later.
Goal #6 – Kitchen Update
Poor Mrs. HB. She is bored out of her mind…. And she doesn’t understand why I’m not. I’ve got a list of painting projects {the kitchen included} and could live on a deserted island 11 1/2 out of 12 months of the year. She needs people. And TJ MAXX and doesn’t know what to do.
Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden
The garden boxes are in place! But we still need to:
- Figure out what to do with the old pavers.
- Create 2 more brick edged flower borders.
- Till up area for raspberry and asparagus beds.
- Plant hydrangeas along the back of the house
- Create a seating area {a super simple one}
- Figure out where to put all the extra pea gravel
LAST CHANCE! If you still haven’t ordered your seeds, Botanical Interests is currently offering 30% off online seed orders with code SEEDS30 at checkout through the end of March. They are also offering FREE Shipping on orders of $40 or more through the end of the month as well.
Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine
Looking forward to my next day trip with the HH! Harpswell, Maine is on the list next, but it will have to wait a bit.
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
I think it will be a summer BBQ.
Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books
Did I wake up in Washington? Seriously! I guess mud season has arrived.
I didn’t listen to any audio books this week but here’s a list of other books I’ve read/listened to this year:
- Olive Kitteridge
- Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites
- Natural Color: Vibrant Plant Dye Projects for Your Home and Wardrobe
- The New Bungalow Kitchen
- Container Gardening by Stephanie Donaldson
- A Piece of the World
- The War I Finally Won
- Vertical Gardening
- Front Yard Gardens
- The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
- Beach House Style
Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft
Hopefully this fall? Right now I’m on a mission to get the garden in place.
Goal #12 – Visit 12 Museums, Historical Homes or Botanical Gardens {and bakeries too!}
Currently on hold. 🙁
January
- Maine Maritime Museum
- Maine Mineral and Gem Museum
- The Island Market
- Cafe DiCocoa
- Hungry Hollow Country Store
February
- Two Fat Cats Bakery
- Portland Museum of Art
- Speckled Ax
- Atlantic Baking Company
- Rockland, St. George, Cushing and Port Clyde Maine
March
- Bar Harbor and Desert Island Adventures Day One, Day Two and the Summer Cottage Rental Tour.
- Tinder Hearth Bakery in Brooksville, Maine
Goal # 13 – Reach 5,000 Etsy Sales by the End of The Year
As of this morning, I have made 3354 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st. I dyed a bunch of wool last week and updated my Etsy shop with a few new wool bundles. As far as rug hooking goes, I wasn’t able to get anything hooked this week. So far for my April 3rd listing update, it looks like it will be all wool bundles and no finished rugs or pillows.
And while I’m a little disappointed in myself for not getting any hooking done this month, it is a busy time of year for me {hello garden and house projects} but it makes me feel better knowing that come this winter the house will be done and I’ll get to cozy up on the couch and hook without distractions.
Goal #14 – Once a Month Menu Planning {for 2}
Our freezer is totally full so even if I wanted to make a few freezer meals, there wouldn’t be any room to put them. But that’s a good problem to have so I’m not complaining.
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
Mrs. HB said she will send us updates once a month now. So she’ll be back the first Sunday in April. 🙂
Dawn says
Mavis, I am completely with you on not being bored. Between garden projects and my crochet business , I have plenty to do. Pandemic quarantine life is not too different from everyday life here.
Mable says
Ditto here.
Kim says
We could use the extra pea gravel. Could you run it over to our place? We live in a suburb of Dallas, TX.
I haven’t been bored at all. We are putting in the garden, an old fashioned, in the ground one. I am cooking a ton, still need to spring clean the house, wash all the windows, etc. I have been exceedingly thankful for audio books, ebooks, and the technology to keep in touch with friends and family and church services.
Thanks for entertaining us, Mavis!
Mel says
I’m not bored either. With house work, working from home, gardening, and meal planning without grocery shopping, I have more than enough to do and think about. I am, however, getting concerned that the plans we had for this year are now on hold indefinitely, so that is very difficult.
Today, I was going to wash windows, clean the porch, and weed, but the forecast for the afternoon is now for thunderstorms, so I don’t know how far I’ll get. I may try to sew Easter bags today and then do the outside stuff tomorrow. We’ll see.
Aside from sewing Easter bags, many of my other goals are on hold since I’d need to go out and buy supplies, so I’m working on restocking our freezer. I made meat chili (made veggie chili the week before), vegetable barley soup, twice baked potato casseroles, pizza dough, and creamy tomato soup to freeze this week.
A says
Mel, in my next life, I want to be you!
Tell me about your Easter bags, if you don’t mind,
Thanks and May God blessyou!
Kathy says
I am not bored either! I have been working remotely for just over 10 years and I’m an introvert at heart. So, this time of being home bound (we are on a Stay-At-Home order here in Pennsylvania) is in my wheelhouse. We moved to a country property just over a year ago and I had no time to set up a proper garden last year, so that is happening now. Be well.
Nancy says
I could live on a mountain top with internet and electricity (solar works for me). I like getting projects completed and staying home.
chickengrandma says
Not bored either. I have spent too much time watching news. Now I need to get busy with cleaning, starting plants, working on the garden (when the snow is gone), and making Christmas cards. I have always planned on making the cards in January but never get to it. I don’t mind the seclusion if I know it is keeping us safe.
Margo says
Not bored here, either. Gardening a lot, I live in San Diego so my garden is full on, and I’ve started more greens and tomatoes as well. Sewing, cleaning out kitchen cabinets, spring cleaning, and watching hummingbirds, Orioles, hawks, etc from my own back yard. Stay safe everyone.
Jen says
I am feeling the stress. My husband works in healthcare and has kept to his regular schedule (plus 10-20 hrs of additional overtime a week) but he is not allowed to go out of the house other than to go to work. That leaves me doing all the out of house tasks like grocery shopping for three households (mine, his parents and my parents) and picking up everyone’s Rx. I have been transitioned to work from home and i am trying to juggle the expectation of putting in a full work day, keeping the kids on task with school, and taking care of elderly family members. Everyone seems to think because I am home, I don’t have to work but my boss would disagree. Now we just found out that one of those elderly family members may have been exposed through visiting his friends because no one is going to tell him what to do. I am tired of arguing with people who are old enough to know better to stop doing things that are endangering their health.
I am just venting, I know that in time this will pass. I just wish it was sooner rather than later.
Traci says
Jen – please thank your husband for continuing to work his job in healthcare. And my heart goes out to you – for many of us, myself included and it sounds like at least some of the people who have commented so far, this current situation has not really created a hardship. But I can imagine for you it is incredibly stressful to have the added responsibilities you shared! I know you said you were just venting, but you sure are carrying some extra heavy burdens right now and i hope things ease up at least a little bit. Take good care!
Diane says
Jen, Traci said it perfectly. God bless all the first responders who are on the front lines! The rest of us need to do our part to slow the spread. Stay safe everyone!
Mavis Butterfield says
Hang in there Jen!! 🙂
ann in E. oregon says
Traci said just what I would have said. Please thank your husband and know your sacrifices help him do his job, a job that is so vital right now, so thanks too you, too Traci! 🙂
Mel says
You and your husband are both heroes, Jen! I’m sorry it’s so incredibly rough, but I’m so grateful to you both.
Amy says
Jen, I think you’ve just described about 4 full time jobs you’re doing right now! I wish you well-behaved elders and short lines at the grocery store and pharmacy! Take care.
Terena says
Hi Jen.
I work in health care also, with the frail elderly. We are doing everything in our power to keep our nursing home free of Covid 19, which includes not allowing any visitors except for palliative reasons. It astonished me how many complaints were made: and several of them were of the same “Nobody is going to tell ME what to do!”.
This too shall pass. You are stronger than you know.
Stay well
ann in E. oregon says
Thank you, Terena!! Stay safe and strong. 🙂
Christa H. says
If you have enough of those flat square pavers, I would make a sitting area for your outdoor furniture or use them to put flower pots on. Sometimes plants like mint will have their roots go down through the drain holes and into the ground so the paver would prevent that.
I’m swamped with trying to figure out how to teach cooking labs, apparel, and interior design virtually as schools are closed. Hundreds of our students do not have devices or internet at home. Since we are a Title 1 school, many are eating from food banks and only 2 of my 140 have sewing supplies that I know of. Most don’t own needles and thread. I am in the country on dial up with 3 mbps, so this will be interesting once school begins again online after spring break.
Week 13 of 52:
1. Do things to support the local birds, butterflies, and my bees- Today we are adding hardware cloth around the exterior of the garden horse fence. I will only staple it on enough to hold since I will need to pull it off when it is time to paint it black. The arbor and gate are on hold due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The raised bed stone was finished and the soil/compost blend was added. It looks lovely. We left walkways wide enough for a Kawasaki mule to ride down in the future in case we ever get one.
2. Start seedlings with my grow lights and plant a pollinator garden- The local grocery stores, Tractor Supply, Walmart, and Costco had fruit trees for $13-$25 that were for our area. Most are 7-8 feet tall. I was able to find pollinators for all of them too. I bought 4 apple, 2 plum, 1 persimmons, 3 peaches, 2 crabapple, and 2 pear. I also got one blueberry bush and 2 purple muscadine grape vines. I still need a pollinator for the blueberry. Due to the limited groceries available, I am now growing mostly vegetables instead of a lot of flowers. I will still plant some flowers for the bees though. So far I have 5 seeds trays under grow lights, and artichokes and onion seeds in other containers. I planted outside French radishes, rat’s tail radish, kale, spinach, carrots, beets, and swiss chard. Snow peas are going in today once I get cages in place. I also have a ton of roots and bulbs to get in the ground.
5. Help my rescue cats live their best lives- (Lizzie-12, Mr. Darcy- 7, Mr. Bingley-3, Lucy-3)- The protocol I have been giving them from Petmedella is working. Lizzie is still grooming herself and seems healthier. Mr. Bingley seems to have a little less PTSD and has started to try to meow. It’s crackled and an incomplete meow but it’s nice to hear since he’s always been quiet. He also now grunts at birds and bugs when looking out the window.
15. Do something for my health and/or husband’s health- so far with the Noom app he’s maintaining his 26 lb. weight loss. I am cooking a lot more now that we are on lockdown and schools are closed. I bought a lot of items to use if we catch Covid-19 including supplements, NAC, a mesh nebulizer, silver hydrosol, a pulse/oxygen meter, gloves, etc. Already had a couple P95 masks from when I burn weeds. They are a little harder to breathe through than a N95 mask. Stay safe!
Lisa says
I thought you were using the jelly beans on the counter to figure out color options to paint your kitchen walls…hahaha…:)
Lolly says
Lol, I’m not even doing projects, and I am content with this hanging out at home all the time thing!! I keep thinking to myself that while dh was working nights and I had the whole evening to chill, that I SHOULD’VE done some projects…but evening came and I was content to not do projects!
This week we drove to get dinner and then ice cream at Sonic one night, and our church did Parking Lot Church on Fri (and after we got curbside pickup from a Mexican restaurant). I talked on the phone with my one sister. And that was the extent of my non-social media socializing! I texted with my bff, and several family members and friends….nothing unusual. And chatted on fb with some friends…again, nothing more than the norm. But…I HAVE read 1-1.5 books a day most days, which is unusual! AND, my laundry has been caught up ALL WEEK, with it even getting folded most of the time, lol…and that is unusual! . And dh’s schedule this week changed (THANKFULLY!!!), and he went back to 8 hr days, instead of 12-14 hr days…and so we’ve had more time to hang out with him, which is always my fave way to spend time!
I sit and have some time with God each am, and every morning I’ve told Him thank You that we don’t have to go anywhere today! Lolol!!! I know that other people are crawling their walls…and my kids miss some of their homeschool friends…and I miss our friends….but overall, I am thrilled with one more day AT HOME, with no meetings and no trips in the car and no NEEDING to go go go! (I will say that last summer and allllll of fall through most of Dec was absolute insanity, and it felt like we were slaves to our google calendars…and that is with having said no to A LOT OF THINGS! So breathing and resting at the moment feels absolutely delicious!!!).
Earlene says
Let the HH have a truck for goodness sake! He works hard and needs one more fun thing! Of course, we have 3, one snow plow/ wood , one I drive(long story), and husband’s work truck(furnace/appliance repair!
Julie says
Hi Mavis,
What color and brand of white paint are you using? I am needing a nice white paint to spruce up my laundry room. Thank you!
Mavis Butterfield says
The Home Depot – Behr Paint – Palais White 🙂
Renay Bennett says
You can use the pavers under your plants. Or use them under your seating area, using the pea gravel to make it level. Or put them along the back fence, pea gravel behind that, to keep other weeds from coming in so you don’t have to weed there, planting what you want on the inside so you have a place to get to the fence if needed.
Margaret @ Live Like No One Else says
I’m always home, but my husband did get laid off as his company is in the tradeshow industry and there is no work. So I wish he wasn’t laid off, but I do love having him home. He will now have the time to finish all the projects he hasn’t had time for before! 🙂
Mable says
I saw a poster that said, “I feel sorry for all the men during this virus. Suddenly they will have time to do all those chores they always said they did not have time to do.”
Jen M says
I’m not bored, my master closet is done…drywall patches, new trim, new light, new stained custom shelving, new blinds…just need flooring at a later date. Working on the master bath redo this week. (We already owned the supplies, just haven’t had the time.)
I am worried, though. My husband got laid off and he was our only income. We have some savings, but we helped a bunch of family and friends last year. So, not enough. I don’t want to lose my pretty house. I waited until I was 38 for my first home. 🙁