“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
My goals for 2018
Goal #1 – Write Like No One is Reading.
“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver
Goal #2 – Slow Down
Every.Single.Day.
Goal #3 – Shop Small
This week at the recycling center I picked up another stack of books, a wooden spoon, 2 frames {which I’ll use to frame samplers this winter} and a proper sized RICE KRISPIE pan for my husband. You know, so he doesn’t think I am setting him up for failure the next time I ask him to whip up a batch. 😉
Goal # 4 – Have a Designated Meal Prep Day It’s Not for Us
I threw in the towel early on this one. Meal prep, and cooking in mass quantities is just not for my family at this stage in our lives. Although with the addition of a new freezer, I may have to whip up some new freezer meals. We’ll see.
Goal #5 – Install a Vegetable Garden
Yes, this years veg patch is in. Is it the vegetable garden of my dreams? No, not yet. This fall we will begin clearing an area in the back for a much larger, formal {I’m hoping} garden. One with wood chip paths and a much more refined border.
Ideally, {and maybe I’m crazy in thinking this is possible} I’d like to create more of a “set it and forget it” type garden that I only have to attend {pull weeds and maintain} once a week {and pick vegetables at my leisure}. Because seriously, we’ve found that working in the yard anytime between 9 am – 9 pm this summer, has been pretty much miserable because of the skeeters and the heat and humidity. We need a better plan. Like real soon.
Yes we knew summers were warmer here… But 80-90 every single day PLUS 95% humidity? Ummmm no. We were’t counting on that. 😉 Maybe I’m high on hope, but there has got to be a better way. And yes, I know getting outside and gardening between 5 am and 9 am would be ideal…. But that is also the time I do my writing each day. Something has got to give.
Goal #6 – Clear Land for a Chicken Coop and Future Raised Garden Bed Area
Lucy’s babies are LOVING their new chicken coop the HH built for them. Once the HH finishes my end of the driveway vegetable stand, we will begin on the chicken run {I’m hoping to get the posts in the ground next week!}.
We haven’t totally finalized the chicken run plans yet, but I’d like to use 8 foot posts {so the run will be 6 feet tall} so we can stand up and walk around in there with the chickens. I’d also like to have room for a few garden boxes to grow greens for the chickens {the garden boxes would have screens on them to keep the chickens out until the greens were ready}. Things are moving a little slower than I anticipated, but oh well, as long as everything gets done, right?
Goal #7 – Grow 500 Pounds of Vegetables
So far this year we have grown 54 pounds and 7 ounces of backyard garden produce this summer. I’m not sure if we are going to make it to 500 pounds this summer, but I sure hope we can get that number up there once the tomatoes and squash start rolling in.
And the vegetable stand? It’s coming along. But honestly, I think the HH designed it specifically so he’d be able to move it up and down the driveway with his tractor. Men, they’re funny that way.
Every time I go outside to check on his progress, I am reminded of the old man from Toy Story 2 who said, “You can’t rush art!”
Goal #8 – Hook 100 Rugs
Only 25 more rugs to go before I can check this goal off my list! Weeeee. This past week I finished another bee pillow, a flower basket rug and a mini 1795 hooked piece. I plan to update the listings in My Etsy shop on August 25th so I better get cracking if I’m going to have over a dozen new items to offer at the end of the month.
Goal #9 – Make a Set of Dolls
I plan to make a set {or two} of primitive dolls later this year after the garden has been put to bed.
Goal #10 – Make a Sampler, Frame it and Hang it on the Wall Done!
Goal #11 – Visit 22 Bakeries
This past week I told you about Head Tide Bakery in Damariscotta, Maine. Next week I’ll share the Lobster shack we visited up in that area.
Goal #12 – Start a Collection
Still on the hunt for butter molds and wooden potato mashers.
Goal #13 – Read {or listen to} 26 Books
Last night I started Beauty in the Broken Places and so far so good. Note to self: I need to put together a list of all the books I’ve read/listened to this year.
Goal #14 – Try 12 New Canning Recipes
I was hoping to can some blueberry jam this past week but instead I tucked all the berries we picked into the freezer instead. We need to come up with a better system than just throwing bird netting over the berries for next year so we’ll be able to walk under the bushes more easily.
We did manage to can about 6 pints of cucumber relish though…. Which I happen to LOVE mixing in egg salad. Anyone want the recipe? Just let me know.
So far this year I’ve canned:
- Pickled Beets {without the funky spices}
- Cherry Almond Jam {freakin’ AWESOME}
- Susan’s Lilac Blossom Jelly
Goal #15 – Secret {for now} Holiday Project
I currently have a love/hate relationship with my secret project right now. I’d say I’m about a month behind on the trial and error stage and it’s a little frustrating. I am hoping though that I have everything figured out by the time Mrs. HB comes to visit me at the end of the month so I can send her home with a little something.
My husband tells me I need to watch some YouTube videos on the subject, but I’m old school and just can’t seem to sit through them. Figuring out how to do something on your own can be both difficult AND rewarding at the same time. Call me stubborn, but I’d rather figure it out my way. 😉
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2018? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2018 Goals HERE.
Stephaniez says
Is your secret hobby making bathbombs?
Em says
How tall are your blueberry bushes? Loved the pic of the chickens.
Mavis Butterfield says
5′-7′ tall.
Em says
Thanks. I have a young one that was here before I got the property. It is maybe 4′ tall.
I learn so much from your blog and the comments!
samantha surovec says
My uncle built a cage around the row of 7′ tall blueberry bushes he had with wood posts and finer wire mesh on all the sides and top. He can just walk around them and pick them. I have seen them a few places here in PA.
Jennifer says
I’d love the relish recipe! And I agree your chicken pic is excellent!
I made 8 goals this year and just like you, some are going well/some not as well.
(1) Reduce disposal plastics use. Was going GREAT until a major series of events turned life upside down for awhile. (2) Build a garden. Did. (3) Lose weight. Haven’t. (4) Learn Python. Took a course, need more courses. (5) Get rid of 400 things. Up to 100, but I don’t really think I have much stuff to get rid of these days. (6) Use my stored textiles. Have done, will do. (7)Learn more memes (kids’ suggestion). Mostly doing this. (8) Try 26 new recipes. On track.
Katelyn says
This summer has been unusually hot and humid! They aren’t all like this, I promise.
Mavis Butterfield says
I sure hope sp. Wondering though if a warmer than usual summer means a very SNOWY winter.
Mim says
I second what Katelyn says. In 50+ years of living in New England, I have never experienced a summer like this one. For the first time in my life, we put a window air conditioner in the bedroom. I NEVER thought I would do so. Down to the basement it goes as soon as this spell is over!
So hang in there. And really, try using bug repellent instead of suffering in long pants and sleeves. I can’t even imagine going outside in anything other than shorts and sleeveless in this weather. And the only mosquito bites I’ve gotten have been on the occasions that I was outdoors without bug repellent of some kind. And, knock on wood, not a tick have I found in spite of being in the meadows and woods every day in shorts, etc. The stuff works.
Your chickens are gorgeous and your husband is a gem. As long as he can build things like the coop and the vegetable stand, I,would let him play with the tractor as much as he wants! Too funny.
Helen in Meridian says
He now has fun big boy toys. Since my grandfather and dad had a John Deer store, I am glad your dh went Green.
Jamie B. says
Just wanted to chime in ,this summer has been more humid than usual. I have lived about a hour and a half north of Boston for 20 plus years.
Susan says
Want to agree with the comments about this unusually hot and muggy summer. Vermont has its hottest summer on record. Ever! Global warming is real. It really does sap all energy and make it tough to sleep, eat and feel motivated. Good for tomatoes, though!
Gee says
This weather is why the “city” folks have always headed for the mountains … which have lakes … which allow swimming. Those of us who live in the boonies already have a local swimming hole. Is there one around you? Ask the neighbors. Then … try it. 🙂
Mrs. Mac says
I have a hankering to start some type of yarn art. A spinning wheel would be a good start. Love your rugs!!
Heather says
I completely agree about the set it and forget it garden. I started a totally different career this year and have realized gardening is still my hobby, but it has got to be much less labor intensive. I planted asparagus, blueberries, and strawberries to help the theory along!
Julie says
We’ve had the hot, humid days with 5+ inches of rain every week or so this summer. Tired of being wet and sticky!
Have been considering a garden poundage goal much like you do….do you weigh straight out of the garden or after the veggies have been cleaned up ie beets, onions, corn, etc?
Peggy says
Your week looks like it was a great one, everyone seems to be happy. 🙂 It’s nice to see the HH having fun with his tractor and building things. For the garden, you’ll find what works for you, and believe it or not, you’ll start to get used to the heat and humidity too. You’ll learn when and when not to venture out, it’s just a learning curve. I plant my garden, which is pretty big in 25 – 30 ft. sections with grass paths going up through the garden and I mulch every row and between the rows by laying down cardboard. It might not be the prettiest sight until the plants take off, but it keeps weeds down, way down, and helps regulate temperature for the plants. It means for more work in the spring, but way less in the summer. You live a really nice life, I’m happy to see you enjoying it so much. My hubby is coming up with a plan for our blueberry bushes too, he’s thinking posts in the ground with a light frame in which we could attach floating row cover when the berries are ripening, so we could walk under and pick the berries easier. It’s nice Mrs. HB is visiting and whatever your holiday project is, I’m sure it will be great. 🙂
Helen says
I’d love to have your cucumber relish recipe please! We’ve got a glut
Jen F says
Love the bee pillow!
Tracy says
Your chickens are positively beautiful. Such gorgeous soft grey feathers.
I’ve lived in New England all but about five years of my 60. And in my experience, over the last 15-20 years, we experience about Six to seven weeks of 85+ temps, and almost the whole summer is pretty humid. Given some of your other posters said this summer has been unusually awful (and I truly hate heat, love winter), I checked the national weather service and believe it or not, this summer has only been 1.5 degrees hotter than normal, to date, although the month of July was unusually wet. So….I think this is what you’ll experience in years to come.
I’m a very addicted gardener, of both ornamentals and veg, and I tend my 3,800 sq ft of mixed borders/beds between 6-8 a.m., usually. I take advantage of those rare, odd cool days and dive in hard on weeding, cutting back, doing the heavier work then. I’m also not above working a full day, usually weeding, in the pouring rain if it’s cool enough. (I mean, once you’re wet, you’re wet!). The only way I can stand veg gardening in our summers is to do so in raised beds, because they’re much easier to maintain. With drip irrigation. I’m out there night and day in May and through June, getting everything set up, soil amended, irrigation system up, tested, and running, all supports in place, and heavy mulch laid. With raised beds, really good soil, sturdy supports and irrigation, I only have to do a quick walk around the raised beds, tying, weeding, harvesting, or clearing and replanting a few times a week to keep everything in good shape…and pretty.
New England has weather extremes in both summer and winter, and the amazing Springs and Falls (and winters if you’re like me) make it worth it.
I really encourage you to consider your more formal garden to be underlaid with landscape fabric, gravel paths, and raised beds. Wood chips just break down in this climate and become weed beds. It’s beautiful, and lower maintenance than any other composition I’ve managed. And do bite the bullet on air conditioning for your house…life is unbearable without it!
Linda Noss says
I’d love the cucumber relish recipe I hope you get a snowy winter, but weather is so strange these days. Love your blog. Living the dream!
Heather says
I love the pic of you chickens! Okay. I actually love all of your pics! You have the type of house I have always dreamed of….maybe one of these days! (I think my husband is getting tired of me showing him pics of your home.). I would enjoy trying your cucumber relish, please and thank you!
Btw…I think your holiday project is weaving…just a guess. I would love to learn how and have taken a class even. However, the set-up process always gets me. I could weave all day long if someone would set the loom for me.
Marti says
Mavis-Do you mulch your garden? I have a huge garden and it is very heavily mulches. I use thicknesses of newspaper and cardboard covered with grass clippings and leaves saved from the fall. Some people use straw but I don’t have that readily available. We have a huge lawn and use those clippings plus get from a couple of neighbors. The cardboard comes from wherever I can score some. This summer “I made friends” with a burger place and raided their recycle bin constantly. He was happy to have it go to a good use rather than pay to have it hauled away. By fall most of the paper and clippings are decomposed and the process is finished over the snowy winter. So nothing to clean up in the spring. Just till and the garden is ready with fat worms for the next season. Mulching also helps keep the veggies clean, and moisture in the ground during a dry spell. My garden is away from a water source so moisture control is important. I only need to work in the garden in the early part when the little plants are just sprouting and then I just watch for those pop up weeds in the row, but it becomes pretty maintence free until now when it is producing like crazy and the canning/freezing season is in full swing.
Gwenn says
I’d like to chime in about wanting the relish recipe. Once we move into our new house (which is currently set up as a 2 family) I’ll have my very own canning kitchen upstairs!
One question…..can you can on a glass top stove? I’ve only ever canned on gas or electric stoves and the upstairs kitchen has a glass topped stove. I’m worried about having a heavy pressure canner on a glass top stove long enough to can quarts of stock or soup.
Lynda Silveira says
Would love the relish recipe. Could I use zucchini? Have more than enough of them. Smile. Is yellow ware what I call bee hive bowls? Only have a small one right now. It is a sweet memory bowl. Was fed out of one when I was a toddler. I enjoy your posts so much. God bless you and your family.
Karen says
Flood lights that will allow you to garden between 9pm and midnight. Just kidding but you might have to switch to writing at night.
Cheryl says
I actually did this when I lived with my mother. My work schedule was one where I didn’t get off until 8:30pm, so after work, I’d weed, feed and water. Had a large garden then, didn’t want to lose any melons.
Karen Andersen says
An idea for your chicken run: With the hen house in the center, create large, square runs on 2-4 sides. Only allow the hens on 1-2 sides per season (one at a time, for a good long time). They’ll go for the bugs, the worms, add fertilizer, etc, as they turn the soil in the run(s) to which they have access. Plant your veggies in the other runs, and rotate each year. Bring out the hen house bedding and droppings to create a compost pile with the veg plant leftovers in the center of one of the runs, too (keeping the hens out of it until it is finished and then they’ll spread it for you). I saw a great example of this type of Permaculture-inspired chicken run on the OSU website awhile back. You’ll need a fenced pathway to the hen house, and gates to each run from the hen house, too. I’m not certain if this is applicable to the East coast.
Mavis Butterfield says
I love this idea!!!
Marybeth says
I weed in the early morning or after dinner. Tuck dryer sheets into your socks and on rubber bands around your wrist. It helps keep the bugs away. If you figure out how to have a garden with a little work please share the secret.
Mavis Butterfield says
What brand of dryer sheets are you using?
Stacie Malone says
HI! In your goals you mentioned some items you picked up at the recycling center. Is this a thing!? I loved your suggestion about asking the garden center for containers they were throwing out and wondered if you have info I’m not aware of regarding recycling centers.
Mavis Butterfield says
Our local recycling center has an area you can drop off your used books, housewares and small furniture and anyone in the community can take it home for free. It’s a great way to pass something along and keep it out of the landfill. I love looking each time we do our recycling and usually find something to bring home.
Laura says
Of course we want the relish recipe:))) please share with us!
Nancy says
Mavis, we have been using Spartan Mosquito Eradicator units that we bought at the Farmer’s Co-op with great success this summer. Add a bit of water to the container, hang it at a certain level in a tree and it covers an acre for up to 90 days. $19.95 for two of them in a box. Worth a try!
Elaine says
Hi Mavis,
I’ve been in the process of moving so have missed a few blogs (and came down witjba case of Shingles to boot. Fun times…)
I LOVE the chicken coop! It was fun seeing it go from a plan to a finished, painted coop!
Your comment about the heat made me chuckle… welcome to the NE. And as another reader suggested; you might have to switch your writing time. Gardening with sunrise is best time for me but you will get used to it. Cold damp rag around your neck helps (they make a cooling neck wrap with some sort of beads-it works. Got mine at REI. (I work outside 85% of the day) and a wide brimmed hat will keep you cooler too (one that can breathe). Sunshirts (rash guards) are good too. Lightweight, easy to wear in heat.
I’m going to suggest to our DPW to start a community recycling center!! Love that idea. I just threw out a perfectly good grill after leaving it at the curb for 3 days! I hate throwing away good stuff but previous owner left it and I just have no need/room for it.
Good luck with your gardening and vegetable stand. Stay consistent and word will get around and people will come to you! Our little town does a Saturday farm stand right in town (on Church lawn) so convenient!
And please share cucumber relish recipe!
Indio says
I’ve lived in Northeast, splitting my time between CT and ME (caring for family relatives), for almost 30 years. It seems as I’ve been saying for the past 5-10 years that it’s an unusual Winter or unusual Sumer weather, but now the norm is the unusual weather. An extended heat wave in early July is almost unheard. August is usually dry as can be and my honeybees remind me of that fact. As a longtime gardener, I’ve come to accept the fact that climate change is upon us and we are seeing it play out in these unusual weather events.
After doing this school science project with my kids where we measured our carbon footprint, I’ve taken measurable steps to improve our impact on earth. If you’re interested in seeing what your footprint is, here’s the link: https://www.earthday.org/take-action/footprint-calculator/
We haven’t produced a bag of garbage in over 5 years. We recycle and compost everything. Drive a fuel efficient car that gets 50mpg. It’s not big but it gets us from point A to B. Now I’m considering adding solar panels and a heat/cooling pump to reduce our colling costs. In winter we heat with wood pellets in a pellet stove, but even that produces emissions. Don’t eat a lot of meat, but when we do it’s usually poultry. Donate unused books, clothes, CDs, etc. Grow, can and dehydrate as much food as possible because it won’t go bad in an extended power outage. I won’t buy from companies that are damaging the environment, BP included.
We all owe it to future generations to do what we can now to reduce our footprints.
Mary3M says
Love your blog! Am concerned though about the wooden spoon. It looks mangled at the top. How are you going to disinfect it? When my spoons get that way I dispose of them – rather than taking a chance on germs and intestinal worries from not cleaned spoons. Just wondering! Looking forward to seeing some interpretations of the hooked rugs you saw at the SPINEA (I know – old name) house you posted about. No such thing as a maintenance free garden – spoken from a non gardener for that very reason.
Mavis Butterfield says
I picked it up for my wool dying. 😉
Sunny says
All good things. I looked through the comments and it looks like no one has mentioned Goodreads. It’s a social media tool for book nerds. You can “friend” people if you want but it’s really great for tracking the books you’ve read or ones you want to read!
Vickie says
Mavis, you keep me motivated. Is your surprise project a loom? I live in Missouri and several friends weave. I recycle unwanted fabric and old clothing into rugs by using a small loom that applies the technique of twining.
Tammy says
Here’s a secret for watching YouTube videos you want to watch but don’t want to spend the time watching: watch them in 1.5 speed. They go so much faster and then you have the benefit of having watched them.
Edna Mocanu says
Wrong, when the temp hits 95 the pollen dies on tomatoes. We (California) have had weeks of 95 degree temps. I haven’t had a fresh tomato for weeks. Hopefully on tuesday. Watermelon i have. They took over my garden. Oh, your squash looks like a gourd.