My 14 Goals For 2024 – Week 16 of 52

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

I ate quite a bit of pineapple and chocolate this past week. Not in its original form though. Chocolate. Is the cocoa bean a fruit or a vegetable? Anyone know for sure?

Visit 24 {new} Bakeries / Coffee Shops

On Friday I shared about our latest bakery adventure. All I’m going to say is some you win, and some you lose. Just because something looks good on the outside, doesn’t always mean it is on the inside. 

On to the next one!

New Bakeries / Coffee Shops I’ve Been To This Year:

• Ritual Bakehouse and Patisserie
• Caramel Patisserie
• Standard Baking Co. 
• Saltwater Farm Cafe
• Coffee Roasters of the Kennebunks

Go On An Adventure

My first adventure of the year will have to wait just a little bit as I have something else in the works that I need to concentrate on first. 🙂 But I am SUPER excited about where I have chosen to go. Never in a million years would anyone guess where it is. I’m sure of it.

Contribute to 12 Free Little Libraries. {3 town down, 9 to go}

Has anyone been to Switzerland? Doesn’t it look magical? I was organizing the travel books on my bookshelf and now I can’t stop thinking about it. I wish I could take a year off and just travel the world. Wouldn’t that be grand? 

Towns I’ve donated books to:

• Gardiner, Maine
• Nobleboro, Maine
• Kennebunk and Kennebunkport

Tidy Up / Clean Out / Purge

Has anyone tried a Dolly Parton cake mix? I was tidying up the sideboard and found a box tucked into the back corner. The Girl gave it to me last fall. I should probably make it.

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

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

No new books this past week.

Books I’ve Read or Listened To This Year: 

• Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service by Gary Sinise. 10/10
• 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

Spend More Time At The Beach

I went to the beach for some fresh air and to look for heart shaped rocks and found a pair of children’s sunglasses, a winter hat and 1 shoe. Why is there always just one shoe!? How do you lose 1 shoe in early spring?

Summer I can understand {maybe it drops out of your bag?} but 1 shoe when it’s still 40 degrees outside? Weird.

Paint 

This past week I continued to work on “Goldfish” By Henri Matisse. I’m not sure if I like it and I can’t decide if I should just stop and toss it, or keep going. Maybe I’ll feel differently if I keep going. Maybe I won’t. 

So far I’ve finished:

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

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. It feels SO GOOD to have this goal checked off my list! Now I can spend as much time as I want to OUTSIDE this summer!

My etsy shop is stocked and I have plenty of back up so I feel really good about that! I’ll probably work on a batch of big bundles at some point {mostly because I love coming up with new colors} but there’s no big rush.

Hook 6 “Big” Rugs.

I finished hooking the Yankee Doodle rug {pattern by Lucille Festa} and am planning on making it available in my Etsy shop towards the end of the month along with a few other patriotic pieces. 🙂 I really like the colors in this one and at 33.5” x 28.75” it counts as a “big rug” in my book. 3 down, 3 to go!

Large Rugs I’ve Hooked This Year

• Three Roosters
• Hidden In The Garden 
• Yankee Doodle

Visit 6 Greenhouses {that I’ve never been to before}.

No visits to any greenhouses this past week, but I already know which one I want to go to first. 

Grow Baby Grow

The daffodils are finally starting to bloom here in Maine and it’s so nice to finally have some pops of color. It always seems so strange to me not to see them in bloom until late April. 

In the PNW they’d always be in bloom in March. Everything here is always about a month behind though.

Donate to 12 Different Organizations in Maine

I made a monetary donation to the Travis Mills Foundation in Mt Vernon, Maine this month as part of my giving back to 12 different Maine organizations this year. 

“The Travis Mills Foundation supports veterans and their families who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses-paid, barrier-free experience in Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s outdoors. “

You can read more about Travis Mills and his mission to help others HERE.

So Far This Year I’ve Donated To:

• New Hope MidCoast {50 pairs of new socks}
• Humane Society {180 trays of cat food}
• Travil Mills Foundation

*I still need to Drop off the art supplies to Camp Sunshine

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

~Mavis