My 14 Goals For 2024 – Week 24 of 52

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

It was another glorious week for fruits… Mostly in the PIE department though as I couldn’t resist the whole fruit pies I spied at the farmer’s market and garden center {yes, they sell pies at the garden center here!}. 

In fact I think as soon as we get moved into our new place I am going to make a pie to celebrate. Summer and fresh fruit pies… They just seem to go together!

Visit 24 {new} Bakeries / Coffee Shops

We went to another bakery, Night Moves in Portland, Maine and it was fantastic. A true 10/10 if you ask me. If you’re in the area, check it out! 

We are so lucky here in Maine to have so many choices when it comes to real, scratch bakeries. I love it.

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

• The Cookie Jar Pastry Shop
• Ritual Bakehouse and Patisserie
• Caramel Patisserie
• Standard Baking Co. 
• Saltwater Farm Cafe
• Coffee Roasters of the Kennebunks
• Farine Bakery and Cafe
• Night Moves Bread

Go On An Adventure

I don’t have any adventures planned for the rest of this month but I think we are going to check out a local strawberry u-pick farm next week. Does that count?

We went to the farmer’s market yesterday and I was a little surprised that a quart of local strawberries are now going for $10!!! Yikes. I hope they’re a lot less at teh u-pick farm. 

Contribute to 12 Free Little Libraries. {6 town down, 6 to go}

No Free little library donations this past week. I need to pop down to the library to see if any new craft books have been donated so I can redistribute them.

Towns I’ve donated books to:

• Gardiner, Maine
• Nobleboro, Maine
• Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine
• Cape Elizabeth, Maine
• Raymond, Maine
• Bellevue, Washington

Spend More Time At The Beach

It was another great week for beach finds this past week. I found a bundle of rope that had washed ashore and it was in the EXACT color I was looking for!!! I felt like I had hit that jackpot. 

I’ve had a project in mind ever since we made an offer on the new place and I am excited to get started on it. The HH thinks it’s a little nuts but hey… I can visualize how the whole thing is going to look and I think it’s going to be great!

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

One of the first things on my to-do list once we move in is to get a new library card through the {much bigger} Portland library. Someone mentioned this last week {or the week before} and the selection is much, MUCH bigger. 

Hopefully then I won’t have to wait forever for a good book to become available.

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

Paint 

I didn’t make any progress on my latest paint by number {but I am about 90% done}. Too busy going for walks and eating pie I guess. I am hoping to get it finished this week though. 

After that… I’ll be checking out flights so I can go stand in front of the inspiration for the painting. {Which I am rather excited about!}

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
• Goldfish

Hook 6 “Big” Rugs.

I finished a new rug. This double whale runner with the American flag measures in at 49″ x 10.25″ so I’m considering it a big one. It’s a new take on an old Doreen Frost design I did a few years ago.

The colors are much brighter than I normally hook but I really like the way it turned out. I think it has a super beachy vibe to it.

Large Rugs I’ve Hooked This Year

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

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

Hey! We visited a new greenhouse this past week! I had been wanting to visit this particular place for a while now as I had heard they have every plant imaginable. 

I’ll tell you all about it and give you a proper tour soon but holy canolies man, it was pretty spectacular!

Grow Baby Grow

I’ve been doing a lot of walking lately and it seems that everywhere I go these days there are oodles of flowers everywhere… And I am LOVING it!

I love the winters here, but the summer season is pretty wonderful here too with everything in bloom and this urgency to soak it all in before the cold weather comes rolling back in.

Donate to 12 Different Organizations in Maine

I’ve decided where I’ll be donating to for June, and I’m looking forward to making my donation later today. In the mean time, I’ve continued picking up trash along the shoreline and collecting heart shaped rocks on my daily walks with Lucy. 

So Far This Year I’ve Donated To:

• 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

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

~Mavis

Goals I’ve Already Completed This Year

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