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12 Goals for the New Year

My 14 Goals for 2020 Week 21 of 52

By Mavis Butterfield on - 28 Comments

My 14 Goals for 2020

Goal #1 – Take Full Advantage of Having My Husband Home 24/7

The HH’s major project this week has been scraping the old paint and gunk off the garage windows and re-glazing them. Not a fun task at all. Hopefully though he will have them done within the next two weeks so I can get them painted and get yet another project checked off our to-do list for this place.

Goal #2 – Take Better Care of Myself. 

Sleeping in, more hearts and a few trips to the ice cream stand. Life is grand.

And I finally got around to painting the whale!

Goal #3 – Get Organized

I also painted the tiny entry way, the trim, the doors and today after I get my gardening chores done, I’ll be painting the front of the stairs, the walls and the trim going up the stairs. LIGHT, BRIGHT and WHITE. That’s what I’m going for.

The plan for May is:

  • May 3-9 Paint Master Bedroom Door, Writing Desk and Clean Up and Prep Canning Room for Painting
  • May 10-16 Paint Canning Room, Organize Everything on Shelves and Make a Simple Linen Curtain for Window
  • May 17-23 Paint Double Dutch Door in Kitchen
  • May 24-30 Paint Entry Alcove and Paint Front Door

Goal #4 – Get Proper Window Coverings on All Our Windows. 

All that’s left is window coverings for the sunroom. Which I’ll probably finish this fall because right now, we are enjoying the sunshine that streams through the windows all day everyday.

Goal #5 – Master Bedroom Make Over {almost done!}

We hung the window treatments and I am loving how the sunlight floods the room every morning. I also painted my little writing desk last week {I used this paint}.

Still left to do:

  • Paint Writing Desk a Glossy Black
  • Paint the Creamy Closet Doors White
  • Refinish the Floors {late summer project because I don’t have the supplies and the windows will need to be open all day because of the fumes}.

Goal #6 – Kitchen Update

I ordered a new rug for in front of the kitchen sink and I’ll be painting the double dutch doors this week and then the kitchen will be done! 🙂

Goal #7 – Install Vegetable Garden Done!

Garden To Do List for May

  • Mulch flower beds
  • Do something with the leftover bricks near the garden boxes {Neighbors took half of them}
  • Map out a master plan for beds for growing vegetables Plan, we don’t need no stinkin’ plan
  • Prune yew hedges to allow for more light near the asparagus patch
  • Plant beans, sunflowers, zucchini, cucumbers and other vegetables towards the end of the month.
  • Plant hydrangeas
  • Figure out a border for the raspberry/asparagus patch

Today I’ll be planting more sunflowers and for the first time ever, zinnias! I’m excited. Zinnias look like such a fun, happy flower.

Goal #8 – Explore More of Maine 

On the radar for exploring Maine this next at some point:

  • Bar Harbor, Maine
  • Lincolnville Center General Store in Lincolnville, Maine
  • Wallace’s Market in Friendship, Maine
  • Alewives Fabric Store in Nobleboro, Maine
  • Harpswell, Maine and Bailey Island
  • Camden, Maine

Goal #9 – Host Some Sort of Get Together

Eh.

Goal #10 – Read/Listen to 12 Books

No new audiobooks this past week but I’ve been catching up on old episodes of The Office and the HH has started to watch 11.23.63 on Hulu.

So far I have read/listened to:

Goal #11 – Learn A New Skill or Craft

Not yet. Thinking seriously about buying a glass kiln though {and so is my neighbor}.

Goal #12 – Visit 12  Museums, Historical Homes or Botanical Gardens {and bakeries too!}

The HH and I headed up north last week on a mini adventure and stopped at the Puzzle Mountain Bakery Pie Stand in Newry, Maine. It was lovely and I am already looking forward to my next pie adventure, Head Tide Oven in Damariscotta, Maine.

January

February

March

May

Goal # 13 – Reach 5,000 Etsy Sales by the End of The Year 

As of this morning, I have made 3995 sales on Etsy. That’s up from 2804 on January 1st and it looks like I am on pace to hit 5,000 sales by the end of the year {maybe even the end of summer} which is VERY exciting to me.

This past week I added a whale to my yet to be named rug and added 40+ new bundles of wool to my Etsy shop. It was a busy week of dyeing wool and gardening, that’s for sure.

Goal #14 – Once a Month Menu Planning {for 2}

Meal plan ideas for the rest of the month: Eggs and toast for breakfast, BBQ for lunch and dinner and pie and ice cream for dessert. Sounds like a solid plan to me. 🙂

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Have YOU made any goals for this year? If so, DO TELL! We all want to hear about them.

Have a great Sunday everyone, enjoy the sunshine.

~Mavis

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Comments

  1. Katelyn says

    The best part of zinnias is the more you cut, the more they bloom so cut with abadon and enjoy them inside and out! If you put them in the fridge the first night you cut them (in their jar of water, of course), you’ll get longer life out of them. They’re one of my favorites!!

    Reply

  2. Mel says

    I feel like I’ve had to revise my goals a million times this year already, so here’s where things stand now:

    1. HEALTH: I originally wanted to do a better job keeping up with running, hydration, healthy eating, etc.) and catch up on doctors appointments I had to delay from fall. I knocked out all the appointments right before everything closed, so that’s done. I’ve also mostly kept up on the rest, but I fell a little behind on running and healthy eating the past couple weeks due to a marathon of garden work. So, back to that stuff this week.

    2. HOLIDAYS: I originally wanted to organize all our holiday stuff and carve springerle molds. I still might do the organization, but I think springerle might not happen this year with everything else going on. We’ll see.

    3. COOKING: I originally wanted to make sous vide yogurt, brioche, and spice mixes for recipes we make often. I made brioche, but the yogurt will have to wait until milk is less precious and we can shop more than once a month. I’m still planning on doing spice mixes, but I need to find a good place to order bulk spices online since regular shopping is hard right now. Anyone know a good place to order?

    4. HOUSEWORK: I originally wanted to reupholster our living room ottoman and deep clean the house over Spring Break. Deep cleaning is done, but I still need to do the ottoman. I also need to pressure wash the siding and make some summer decor for the door.

    5. SEWING: I had a ton of projects lined up and finished about half of them before the pandemic struck. I switched gears and made over 100 masks for friends, family, neighbors, essential workers, and medical staff. The demand for masks seems to have calmed down a bit in our area, so I’m taking a break from mask-making (also waiting on more supplies). So, I went back and finished 10 half-finished pencil cases I was making for work this week. I hope to make some more of those and maybe finish one other project. Instead of the rest of the original projects, I am now planning to make dark-colored cloth napkins for every season to replace our worn out white napkins that I am tired of trying to keep clean!

    6. DIGITAL STUFF: I originally wanted to read two kindle books and organize my photos and Pinterest boards this summer. I finished the books, but I think I might skip the other two goals in this category. They might be a bit too dull to pair with quarantine.

    Reply

  3. Tamara says

    My favorite flower! Forty six years ago my two grandmothers and a close family member planted extra zinnias so we would have plenty for our August morning wedding. The florist was a little dubious but he did a fantastic job and they were beautiful. That was a good while ago; my father almost passed out when the florist bill still came to $106.00!

    Reply

  4. Alli Aplet says

    Mavis! I am so excited for you to plant Zinnias, there are so much fun and super producers of cut flowers. The tiny Thumbelina variety is just as much fun as the giants and I love them all and hope you will too! We are also planting a ton of mammoth sunflowers from a volunteer that popped up in our family pumpkin patch last year, so fun!

    Reply

  6. Misty says

    I planted zinnias last year for the first time and was very impressed. They don’t seem to mind less than optimal soil quality and if you cut the flower stem all the way down to the lower set of leaves you’ll get fuller plants as well as more flowers. Mine bloomed all summer well into fall and I was sad to see them go.

    Reply

  7. Diane says

    Can experienced Zinnia growers tell me if you need to stake or support the ones that are 3 to 4 feet tall? Will they flop over after a hard rain? Thanks for your help!

    Reply

  8. Adeline says

    Reading you, I just realized this past ten days, we didn’t cook a single meal but ate some combination of vegetables, olives, cheese and bread everyday. And we loved it !

    Reply

  9. Vy says

    I love zinnias, as long as you keep cutting, they’ll keep producing, until the first frost. Also agree that if you pinch down to where stems branch, you’ll get a bushier, more productive plant. I read somewhere that they used to me considered a “low class” flower because they were so prolific that all the “poor” people had them in their yards, and so they lost favor in the 50s or so. Such a waste, because they’re colorful and happy and last forever in water once cut.

    Reply

  10. Kathy Wolfe says

    You can save the flowers after they’ve bloomed and dried out in a paper bag for next spring’s planting.

    Reply

  11. Amber says

    I love zinnias. I have tons of queen lime orange and red this year, and I can’t wait until they bloom.

    One goal Im working on is finishing my many half done embroidery projects.

    Reply

  12. donna R says

    Zinnias are the best. Grandma loved them so much as they last so long as cut flowers..and, they attract the bees and hummingbirds..as so colorful and come in all sizes. I plant a 100+ row of them every year..and also sunflowers.

    Reply

  13. Brenda says

    They also self sow, if you leave some. And I have had some I needed to stake, they grow so well..

    Reply

  14. JulieK says

    You’re going to LOVE zinnias! So easy and those cheerful blooms bring in tons of butterflies. I always plant them in my garden so I have fluttering friends visiting me while I work 😀

    Reply

  15. Kelly Utkin says

    Hi Mavis! I love the whale that you painted! May I ask where you purchased it?

    Thank you from Wasilla, Alaska!

    Kelly

    Reply

  17. Dianna says

    Zinnias are my favorite flowers. So cheerful and happy to grow wherever the seeds are scattered….looking forward to my bouquets.

    Have you listened to the audiobook of Where The Crawdads Sing? I loved that one.

    Reply

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