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12 Goals for the New Year

My 14 Goals For 2024 – Week 44 of 52

By Mavis Butterfield on - 22 Comments

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

It was the all mighty cocoa bean that filled me up in the fruits and vegetables department this past week. Hot chocolate season has begun and I just can’t get enough! 

Have I told you how much I love this time of year?

Visit 24 {new} Bakeries / Coffee Shops

A few days ago I told you about FIKA in Saco, Maine and now I can’t stop thinking about taking a “research” trip to Sweden to find out more. Wouldn’t that be fun!?

I LOVE pastries… Always have … Always will. Have you been to Sweden?

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

Contribute to 12 Free Little Libraries. {8 down down, 4 to go}

I finally got a set of books in the mail to Cindy in Colorado for the new Little Free Library she helped set up at her church. Hooray! 

Now I just need to find 4 more to donate to and then Ill be able to check this goal off my list.

Towns I’ve donated books to:

  • Snowshill, England
  • Gardiner, Maine
  • Nobleboro, Maine
  • Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine
  • Cape Elizabeth, Maine
  • Raymond, Maine
  • Bellevue, Washington
  • Colorado!

Spend More Time At The Beach

T’was an excellent week for walking the puggle princess on the beach. Except yesterday. Yesterday was cold and windy and the HH did all the walking. I stayed inside and hooked all day. 

C’mon Snow…. I’m ready for you!

Read or Listen to 24 Books {12 down, 12 to go}

I finished Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict yesterday {fantastic!}. Next up, White House By The Sea by Kate Storey. I suspect now that the garden chores are over and I’m spending more time inside, I should be able to whiz through 2-3 audiobooks a week now.

Books I’ve Read or Listened To This Year: 

Paint 

I’ve started working on the Christmas decorations!!! First up, lobsters {in all shapes and sizes} because hello, this is Maine. Totally acceptable! Right?

Paintings I’ve finished this year:

Hook 6 “Big” Rugs.

Now that I’m hooking in earnest again, I’ve made some good progress on my Chicken Stroll by Crow Creek Farm rug.  It’s a big one, and I’m hoping to have it finished by this time next week.

Visit 6 Greenhouses {4 down 2 to go}

No greenhouses this week. 

Grow Baby Grow

The amaryllis bulbs that we planted a few weeks ago are starting to take off. I was hoping these would be in bloom around the middle of December but it looks like maybe they’ll be Thanksgiving amaryllises instead? 

If I would have known that I would have chosen a different color! Oh well. Maybe I’ll have to start some stinky paperwhite so I’ll have something in bloom for Christmas.

Donate to 12 Different Organizations in Maine

Last week we donated to the Dempsey Center. The Dempsey Center provides a tremendous amount of free cancer care related services {support groups, education, wellbeing support, counseling, wigs and so much more!} You name it, they are there to help.} You can find out more about The Dempsey Center and all the amazing services they provide HERE.

So Far This Year I’ve Donated To:

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

~Mavis

Goals I’ve Already Completed This Year

Go On An Adventure DONE

I’d say that spending over a week in England totally counts as an adventure. No, I didn’t try the sugar cane juice. Have you ever had it? How did it taste? 

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
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Comments

  1. Mel says

    One of my goals was to celebrate holidays more, so I am making a Christmas quiet book for our toddler. My goal was 10 pages, and I’ve done 7, so just 3 to go!

    Reply

  2. Nancy Settel says

    I have a long sleeve t-shirt that says It is always Fika time. With the way I drink coffee I should wear it everyday.

    Reply

  3. Jamie says

    Sweden is awesome, you should go. We particularly love Uppsala. Easy to get to from Stockholm, very walkable, fantastic baked goods and historical sites to visit. Oh, and it is very easy to drive there.

    Reply

  4. Holley says

    One of my goals this year was to donate 100 handmade cards to charity. After I get this next box of 50 in the mail, my total will be 215! I think I smashed this goal out of the park. I wish all of my goals were this enjoyable!

    I can’t wait to see the Christmas lobsters! I think I’m going full on gingerbread this year! They are my favorite in both Christmas decor and cookie! Keep calm and craft on!

    Reply

      • Tonya says

        That sounds amazing. I love hot chocolate.
        My favorite was some hot chocolate we had in Orlando at the Ritz Carlton. It tasted like melted chocolate bar! It was decadent.

        Reply

  7. Mrs. C. says

    Didn’t you go to Sweden when you picked up your car? I’ve been reading your blog for so long that I vaguely remember something like that!

    Reply

    • Mavis Butterfield says

      Yes! But we were there for only 1 night. If I remember correctly we went to an amusement park the first night, picked up the car then went to a Botanical garden before driving on to Denmark, Germany, Amsterdam and then Brussels.

      We didn’t have a navigation system {or Google maps!!}. I have no idea how we did that. Ha! I’d love to map out a trip to Norway, Sweden and Finland. I wonder how much time we’d need.

      Reply

  8. sandy says

    Did you cut out all of those lobsters? I love them. my nephew dives for lobsters in CA-he would love one.
    Great job !

    Reply

    • Mavis Butterfield says

      Nope. A guy in Louisiana made them. The HH didn’t want to buy a giant band saw/scroll saw whatever it would take to make them. Too much work. Too many opportunities to lose a finger!

      Reply

  9. Jen says

    Sweden is amazing. I could spend weeks in Stockholm. The city is completely walkable and if you need to go any distance you can take a train.

    Reply

  10. Chris says

    On my way to the office today Morning Edition did a story on The Dempsey Center and interviewed Patrick Dempsey (AKA McDreamy).

    Reply

  11. Carolyn Rust says

    Well, I spent my weekend prepping for a craft fair/holiday market. It is the first time I have ever tried to sell my hand knits publicly so I set things up to get a dry run for my table. I am a bit nervous, but it should be fun.

    Reply

  12. Honeybee says

    You went to Sweden to pick up your car? Must of been before I started with your blog. Please share the story again.

    Reply

    • Mavis Butterfield says

      It was around August 2012. We did 7 countries in 7 days. It was nuts. The stories are on the blog somewhere. I’ll have to dig around and find them.

      Reply

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