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12 Goals for the New Year

My Big List of Goals I’m Going to Accomplish in 2022 Week 35 of 52

By Mavis Butterfield on - 27 Comments

Here’s my big list of things I want to accomplish in 2022:

Remodel The Kitchen 

It took me nearly all week to get the kitchen primed and ready for paint because of the dark blue paint that was there before, but I finally got that part done. 

After The Girl heads back {she’s here for the long weekend} I’ll get the paint on the walls and the final coat of paint on the window trim and once that’s all good and dry, the HH will be able to install the new window covering and hang the light fixture. 

I’m hoping that by this time next week the light fixture and shade will be in and we can then start to make a game plan for ripping out the rest of the cabinets {and the sink and dishwasher}.  

Sell Enough Rugs to Buy an AGA Stove DONE!!!

I hit my goal of selling enough of my 2022 hooked rugs and pillows in my Etsy shop to pay for my new Duck Egg Blue AGA cooker.  I have now shifted to saving my rug hooking funds for a “research trip” to England to find the perfect scone {so I can duplicate it in my new oven}.  

Fill the Canning Cupboard 

This past week I canned more tomato ketchup and hot sauce to the canning cupboard. Yee-Haw! It’s filling up. 

So far this year I have canned:

Not canned, but in jars:

Earn Enough Money Selling {?????} To Pay For Our 2022 Grocery Tab By The End Of The Year.

I’ve decided to wait until fall to list my beach finds. I know this is cutting my selling season a bit short, but with so many other things going on right now, I just don’t have the time to add another thing to my to-do list.

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables.

It’s all about the tomatoes right now. 🙂 I can’t get them canned fast enough so I’ve been giving them away. I do think we grew just about the right amount though this year, and will probably plant as many next year.

But hopefully I will have come up with a few more recipes by then.

Keep The Crafts… In The Craft Room.

It’s not so much that the crafts are in the dining room these days… it’s the tomatoes! 

Tap Our 2 Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup {DONE}

It was a good experience, and we’re going to do it again next year {although I would like to find a few more trees to tap so our yield is a bit higher}. 

Make a Quilt Top

This is the stack of white fabric I need to cut into 2 1/2″ squares and it’s still collecting dust. But September won’t be as crazy, right? I’ll get it done. I’m just not sure when.

1 Craft / Blog Free Day a Week {I’ve had 33 craft/blog free days this year so far.}

I wasn’t planning on taking Friday off from the internet but I woke up not feeling so well and ended up going back to bed and sleeping until 9am and then taking a 2 hour nap later in the day. 

I was back to normal on Saturday though so I probably just over exerted myself canning. HA!

Be More Intentional With My Time

I threw a frying pan {more about that later}. 😉

Keep My Husband Busy 

The HH was pretty busy this past week. He did the yard maintenance, installed two garage door openers, sanded the trim and doors in the hallway, filled the propane tanks {for canning} and played dock boy for me and The Girl. 

The HH’s Honey Do List {so far} for 2022

  • Take over cooking {I’ll still do the baking and canning}
  • Cut down the cluster of trees in the backyard DONE
  • Build a new set of stairs down to the water. 
  • Fill the field {with soil} DONE
  • Remodel 1 bathroom
  • Replace fireplace tile
  • Build window boxes for the front of the house
  • Build an arbor for the wisteria {We decided to move the wisteria to another location instead}
  • Order 4 cords of firewood by the end of May and stack them DONE
  • Sand the floors in the entire house DONE
  • Install new garage door openers DONE {new addition}

My House Projects For This Year {so far}

It was a good week for me too in the house projects department. I primed the walls in the kitchen and painted the trim on the window in the kitchen as well {it still needs another coat of paint though}. 

Things I need to get done this year:

  • Finish painting the outside of the house
  • Finish painting the inside of the house 
  • Make something to hang above our new console table
  • Make it look like people actually live here {working on it!}
  • New window treatment for the kitchen window {ordered!}

Try 24 New Recipes {17 down, 7 to go}

This past week I shared a recipe for tomato ketchup. Also, the Duck Lady mentioned that now that her farmstand is slowing down a bit {summer people heading home} if I want to, I can try out her AGA in the afternoons when she’s not baking. 

I think I might take her up on it too and bake a loaf of bread. 

So far this year I have shared the following recipes:

Listen to 12 Audiobooks {12/12 so far} DONE

I’m still working my way through Linda Tatelbaum’s book Carrying Water as a Way of Life: A Homesteader’s History.

Audiobooks I’ve listened to this year:  

Get a Fishing License and Catch a Fish

I saw him out there twice this past week on the dock trying to catch something… But so far, no fish. Maybe he needs better bait? 

My List of Garden Projects For This Year I want to Accomplish

Check out this beautiful head of cabbage I harvested last night. Isn’t it beautiful!? 

One of the goals on my list this year is to grow 500 pounds of food this summer. 

So far we’ve harvested: 511 pounds and 9 oz. 

  • Cabbage 31 pounds 7 ounces
  • Radishes 3 pounds 14 ounces
  • Broccoli 3.5 ounces
  • Lettuce 1 pound 4 ounces
  • Chives 13 ounces
  • Tomatoes 315 pounds 7 ounces 
  • Blueberries .75 ounces
  • Shelling Peas 7 pounds 4 ounces
  • Green beans 16 pounds 1 ounces
  • Zucchini 42 pounds 7 ounces
  • Cucumbers 28 pounds 1 ounces
  • Carrots 20 pounds 15 ounces
  • Eggplant 3 pounds 12 ounces
  • Cauliflower 2 pounds 13 ounces
  • Peppers 8 pound 5 ounces
  • Garlic 9 ounces
  • Onions 3 pounds 7 ounces
  • Beets 11 pounds 8 ounces
  • Potatoes 2 pounds 11 ounces

My garden projects for this year:

  • Map out this year’s garden by April 1st – Done
  • Plant apple or pear trees – Done
  • Plant raspberry and blueberry bushes  Done
  • Plant asparagus and rhubarb – Done
  • Grow 500 pounds of food Done
  • Expand the lasagna garden We created a new garden plot instead Done
  • Finish clearing the front of the property
  • Get some garden pots for the front an back patio/porches Done

Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns and/or Kits Done! {27 out of 12 finished so far}

My next Etsy shop update will be on Saturday {September 17th} at 8pm EST and I’m hoping to have 2 more patterns/kits ready to share by then. It’s a good thing I have multiple hoops to use, as Lucy has taken up to curling up in my 16″ hoop. 

New Rug Hooking Patterns/Kits For 2022

Have All My 2022 Ornaments Finished by April 1st. Done!

I’m done with garden markers and ornaments for the year. 

52 Walks {We’ve gone on 20 of 52 so far}

We went on a nice walk this week and it only reminded me that I need to get out and walk more. 

Visit 12 Towns in Maine That I Haven’t Been to Before

So far we’ve visited:

How about YOU? How did you do with working towards your goals for 2022? 

~Mavis

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Comments

  3. Diana says

    Mavis, Have you considered canning pasta sauce? I have canned Pasta (Spaghetti) sauce for years. You have all the ingredients in your garden and it uses alot of tomatoes. So many uses. Just a suggestion.

    Reply

    • Mavis Butterfield says

      I usually do, but we already have a bunch in the pantry from last year so I think I’ll wait to can it again until 2023. 🙂

      Reply

  6. Virginia says

    How about canning tomato basil soup? Once you open a jar to heat it up, add cream to your liking. (Think Panera Bread’s creamy tomato basil soup.). Add a nice grilled cheese or other sandwich and you’ve got a delicious, quick winter meal.

    Reply

  7. Katie C. says

    Hey Mavis, have you seen/are you using a strip ruler to cut your quilt squares? If not, they’re AMAZING and make the work go so quickly. Just in case you don’t know, you fold the fabric in half (selvages together), then in half again (selvages and the fold together), then cut your fabric into strips (2.5” in your case). Then, keeping those strips folded, cut those strips into 2.5” squares. There are lots of videos on it if you’ve never used a strip ruler before. I always find the makers of specialty rulers have great video tutorials on how to use their rulers as well.

    The strip ruler I own and have loved for ten years is on a great sale right now. I’ll link it below.

    https://www.amazon.com/June-Tailor-Shape-Cut-Ruler/dp/B000YZ7SJM

    Reply

  8. Wendy C says

    This past’s weeks goals were: 1) cooking all meals from home and not eating out-done. 2) do school prep for the next couple of weeks (I added a new class I will be teaching-totally unexpected, but I just could not turn down the money)-will be doing tomorrow on Labor Day. 3) make muscadine jelly-done, and making more this afternoon 4) do something with the pears from our three pear trees-made pear pie filling yesterday and working on pear preserves this afternoon.

    This week: 1) no eating out and using what we have here to stay out of the store (totally doable, just have to do it :)) 2) can salsa next Saturday 3) get the lessons prepped 4) keep the family in clean clothes and a reasonably cleaned house while working a part-time job. 🙂

    Reply

  9. Patty P says

    For fishing…try corn (just a kernel on the hook) or a small piece of hot dog. Also, if he isn’t already, he may want to use a bobber to keep the bait suspended in the water and not just dropping to the bottom.

    Reply

  10. marie says

    Perhaps try attaching all of your small fabric squares to long strips of the white fabric to ease the amount of piecing you are attempting for your quilt. Then trim the white and blue pieces together to form an even rectangle. Join the rectangles and viola!
    This method stabilizes the smaller squares when piecing together so each “set” has a “sister”. You may also want to use piecing paper to stabilize each as you begin as it holds the seams straight as you build your blocks. Those small pieces have a way of twisting and becoming ill shaped as you go forward and if the center blocks are not exact, the entire block will be out of sync.

    Reply

  12. Gail says

    Re: Tomatoes. I can vegetable soup base with whatever of the following I have in the garden at the time: tomatoes, onions, sweet pepper, green beans, corn, okra, squash, etc. When I open a jar to eat, I add whatever vegetables and/or meat are in the fridge, plus maybe a carbohydrate like rice, potatoes, or noodles. This way you have a head start on making your soup, and no soup meal tastes the same.

    Reply

  13. Karen aka Lace Faerie says

    Your home canning cupboard is beautiful!!

    Might I make suggestion? Canning jars are heavy! Save yourself some tears and bulk up the shelves and add a full length cleat on on the inside back of the cabinet.

    Enjoy the fruits of your labor! You have a magic green thumb with gardening!

    Reply

  14. Lissa says

    hot doggies are winners for us. Won’t your pretty new window covering get all dirty if you hang it now? It’s wonderful you have your Duck Lady to give advice about the Aga 🙂

    Reply

  15. Brianna says

    You can make a simple minestrone soup and leave out the pasta to can. I love the simple and fresh ingredient recipe for Giardino Minestrone. It is full of so many garden fresh ingredients and tastes wonderful. She wrote an Italian cookbook and the recipes are so simple and taste authentic.

    Reply

  17. Gigi says

    Why about waiting to install the window treatment until after the literal dust has settled from the cabinet demo and install? What’s a few more weeks at this point.

    Reply

  19. Cheryl says

    Your energy amazes me. May I have some please? 🙂

    My mom canned ketchup aka catsup one tomato “banner year”, and it turned out pretty good! Who am I kidding? There were two huge gardens planted yearly, so EVERY year was a banner year! Every September, right after school started, all of us kids would come home, change our clothes and head out back to the grinder and grind bushels of tomatoes until dark. I really miss those days….

    Reply

  20. Tracee says

    I love to read your goal progress!!! If you enjoy sun dried tomatoes have you thought about trying your hand at those?

    Reply

  21. Emily E. says

    Wow Mavis! You are getting it done girl! Good for you! This has been a very productive year for me as well so I’m reveling in the feeling of getting it done! I was admiring your canning cupboard for the millionth time and just a quick question about the wek jars: is the canning process for them the same as regular canning jars? Thank you!

    Reply

  22. Terry M. says

    If you have a dehydrator, I would suggest dehydrating the tomatoes, then grind them up into a powder. It’s great to add flavor to soups, sprinkle in your scrambled eggs or even in your grilled cheese sandwich. Add some to cream cheese with garlic to make a spread for bagels, or add to sour cream with other herbs to make a dip for your veggies.

    Reply

  23. VBarron says

    Mavis, please write a post about your new love, the baby blue stove. I’ve only seen the AGA online so I’m mostly curious why is it so appealing? Does it save energy or provide heat or both? Have you used one before? I try to imagine what it would look like in my small-ish kitchen, because it looks huge! BTW, love the color!

    Reply

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