Here’s my big list of things I want to accomplish in 2022:
Remodel The Kitchen
Currently in love with the look of 2 pull out drawers for the bottom cabinets. Or should it be 3? Part of me thinks 2 drawers would be too deep and 3 drawers might be a better option.
Sell Enough Rugs to Buy an AGA Stove {$7383.85 of $22,000 earned so far}
I didn’t sell any new “AGA” earmarked pieces this past week to add to my total, but I’m on pace to have 14 new pieces ready to go for my March 5th Etsy update on Saturday at 6pm EST.
Fill the Canning Cupboard {This is where the canning cupboard will go}
There is still no sign of the canning cupboard {it’s probably sitting on a barge somewhere} so right now the dining room bench is in its place with a bunch of wool stacked on it. 🙂
Jams I’ve made to fill my canning cupboard so far: Ginger Pear Jam and Spiced Christmas Jam.
Earn Enough Money Selling {?????} To Pay For Our 2022 Grocery Tab By The End Of The Year.
I haven’t actually listed them yet, but I plan on selling rocks, shells, driftwood and a few other found treasures to pay for my groceries this year.
Lucy, The Girl and I are planning on hitting the beach again this week to look for more finds. Hopefully Lucy doesn’t jump in the water like she did last time though… that wet dog smell is…. S T I N K Y.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
We are currently swimming in fruit. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.
Keep The Crafts… In The Craft Room!
Success!
Tap Our 2 Maple Trees and Make Maple Syrup
Today we are going to tap the trees! Yee-Haw! I am so excited about this. Hopefully we will have enough sap by mid-week so The Girl and I can boil it off. We’ve never done this before so I’m pretty optimistic about the whole thing.
Make a Quilt Top
I was able to get a few of the white squares cut yesterday {this is SUCH a tedious task!} and will be back at it again tomorrow with the hopes of having all the squares for the top of my quilt cut out by tomorrow evening. My thread arrived, so that means I’ll be ready to start stitching the squares together soon.
Be More Intentional With My Time
It was a good week for staying off the internet. I didn’t doddle, spent a whole 4 minutes on social media, didn’t go down any rabbit holes or fritter away my online time. I got online, did what I needed to do and got off. 🙂
1 Craft / Blog Free Day
So far I’m 7 for 8 this year. 🙂
Sunshine, snow on the ground and a wee bit of scrounged firewood… it’s the perfect combination.
Keep My Husband Busy
This past week the HH replaced the old tile in front of the fireplace with the same tile he used in the front entryway. He still needs to apply the sealer today to shine it up a bit and then this project is complete.
I plan on breaking out my painting supplies next weekend so I’ll give the fireplace brick a fresh coat of paint and then all that’s left to do is paint the ceiling and sand the floors in the dining room {and maybe hang something on the wall} and then this space will be done.
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
- Build a new set of stairs down to the water.
- Fill the field {with soil}
- Remodel 1 bathroom
Replace fireplace tile- Build window boxes for the front of the house
- Build an arbor for the wisteria
- Order 4 cords of firewood by the end of May and stack them in an artful way {like they did in the book Norwegian Wood}.
My House Projects For This Year {so far}
- 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 HA HA HA
- New window treatment for the kitchen window
Try 24 New Recipes {7 down, 17 to go}
No new recipes this week but so far this year I have shared the following recipes:
- Hash Brown Waffles with Bacon and Cheese.
- Apple Cinnamon Granola
- Mrs. C’s Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Ginger Pear Jam
- Lentils with Carrots and Thyme
- Dutch Oven Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- Dutch Oven Olive and Rosemary Bread
Listen to 12 Audiobooks
I am currently listening to Mill Town by Kerri Arsenault.
Audiobooks I’ve listened to this year:
I was finally able to figure out the free audiobook app for our library and so for the past few days I’ve been listening to
- No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox 10/10
- Night Road by Kristen Hannah on Audiobook. I’d give it a 9/10.
Get a Fishing License and Catch a Fish
The HH is in charge of procuring all the fishing gear. So you know, there’s lot’s of research to be done first. 😉
The ground is covered in snow again which means I get to spend another week inside. Wahooo! 🙂
My List of Garden Projects For This Year I want to Accomplish
- Map out this year’s garden by April 1st
- Plant apple or pear trees
- Plant raspberry and blueberry bushes
- Plant asparagus and rhubarb
- Grow 500 pounds of food
- Expand the lasagna garden
- Finish clearing the front of the property
- Get some garden pots for the front an back patio/porches
Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns and/or Kits
The plan was to create at least 1 new pattern each month. So far I have added 6 new patterns/kits to my Etsy shop and I am planning on adding another 2 or 3 next weekend when I update my Etsy shop.
- Folk Art Chicken
- Valentine Kisses
- 1736 Tulips
- Large Valentine Heart Runner
- Antique Flower Basket
- Love Grows Fraktur Bird
Have All My 2022 Ornaments Finished by April 1st.
I’m taking a break from ornaments right now and working on garden markers instead.
52 Walks {We’ve gone on 2 of 52 so far}
This past week the temps got all the way up to 60° so the HH and I ventured outside for a nice long walk. I don’t know why, but I am constantly amazed at the trash we pass alongside the road on our walks.
Cherry liquor. All I could think about after seeing that little bottle was the thick {and totally gross} cherry cough syrup in the heavy brown bottles I’d have to take by the spoonful when I was a kid. GAG. What was in that stuff anyway?
Visit 12 Towns in Maine That I Haven’t Been to Before
So far we have visited the town of Hope Maine and checked out the General Store there.
Now after reading the book Mill Town, the towns Mexico and Rumford Maine are on my list.
How about YOU? How did you do with working towards your goals for 2022?
~Mavis
Becky-TN says
Always love to read your goal list, Mavis!
I have a quick question: if I am growing vegetables in a vertical grow container tower, should I use potting mix or potting soil?
Thanks!
Mel says
Last week I ordered the crib for our nursery, so I just need to order a few more pieces of furniture and then figure out decor. This weekend and next weekend I’m painting the nursery and the adjacent bathroom. We also need to follow up with the flooring people in the next couple of weeks and use that to time when to buy/assemble the rest of the furniture.
J in OH-IO says
Mel, glad to hear your nursery is coming together! Looking back I wish I hadn’t put up a baby wallpaper border in our baby’s rooms because the babies grow up way too fast!!!! So fast in a blink of an eye! I am not a big decorator/diy home improvement person so those baby borders are still up and the children are teens… one border was put up by a friend with vinyl adhesive so that is not coming off anytime soon… just passing along my two cents of something to think about when considering decor.
Mel says
Thanks! I’m not doing anything permanent or difficult to change. I have a loose theme in mind, but I’m sticking to decor items and removable vinyl wall decals for it (they have no adhesive and peel right off), so it will be easy to swap out when our kid is past the baby stage. At the same time, if he doesn’t end up having strong opinions about his room, I think everything will be age-neutral enough to work at least through elementary age.
Mavis Butterfield says
It’s a boy! 🙂 I’ve been waiting for you to drop a hint {I didn’t want to pry}. Exciting!
Love you Mel {we all do}. Take care of yourself. We are all excited for you.
Mel says
Yes! We’ve known for a while now (and my hunch before that was that it was a boy), but I’ve lost track of who I’ve told! And thanks for all the well wishes!
Nancy S says
Glad to hear that you and baby are doing great. Have fun getting the nursery ready.
Mel says
Thanks! So far so good. If I can, I’ll try to send Mavis an update on the nursery and bathroom I’m doing. There’s still a lot left to do though.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes, we would all love to see some pictures/a post if you want to share!!
Mel says
I’m definitely hoping to send some! I only recently got my energy levels back, and I realized I needed to do things like paint before I got too big to climb a ladder, so I’ve just started making tangible progress. Still waiting on shipping, etc., but I’ll update as soon as I’ve made enough progress to share.
Elle says
On the drawers, depth depends on how you intend to use them. I have 3 drawers, using them for my glass bakeware and my kitchen linens. The bottom drawer is seldom used items. In my 80s’ home kitchen, I used the bottom drawer for all my baking sheets/pans-lightweight and easy to ‘unstack’. Now I have a cabinet with just 2 shelves and my baking sheets and cooling rack stand on end on the top shelf next to my stockpot.
Love the tile! Simple and elegant.
Leigh says
Oh I love that Pic of the trees in the snow! Looks amazing. Can’t wait to hear all able the maple tapping… I’m fascinated! In South Africa that is not a thing so very interested to see how that works out for you.
KC says
I’d go with at least one deeper-drawer segment for the clunkier pots and pans (measure the biggest ones you have, maybe? And then figure out how many drawers they’d occupy and add a bit of margin?). The drawers also don’t have to be evenly split – you can have a shallow silverware drawer on top of two somewhat-deeper drawers. But definitely have some shallow drawers as well – less fishing around!
(I’ve found that narrow spaces are great for baking sheets filed vertically, if you end up with any odd “leftover” bits; a narrow cupboard door in front and you’re good to go, and it’s easier to pull the sheet that you want out from vertical cookie sheets than from horizontal ones, in my experience.)
I hope you get a kitchen that is just-right for you!
Margo says
I like the tile at the fireplace. Well done HH! I have 2 deep drawers under my built in stove and really like it. Holds baking pans, muffins pans, pie plates, loaf pans, etc. No regrets not putting in shallow drawers.
Jody says
We have 5 sets of drawers under our kitchen counter and they are graduated in size. The top drawers are the shallowest, and the bottom ones are the deepest. (4 drawers in each set.) It works really well.
Pj Truman says
I vote for three drawers. That narrower top drawer is great for spatulas, potato masher, large spoons, lemon squeezers, etc.
Susan says
I agree, 3 drawers and the fireplace hearth looks GREAT! Congrats!
Dee says
agree with other comments, shallow and deep drawers all have their uses, so do both
Vivian says
I am with you on the amount of trash to be seen on walks! I decided to do something about it. Yesterday I picked up 2 huge bags of trash and that was only on one side of the street 1/4 of a mile long and I didn’t even completely finish it as my bag broke. I am hoping that people will how much nicer it looks and will stop littering!
Cecile says
I agree, three drawers not two. Narrow, mid size and deep IMO. I was looking on Pinterest today at the Tiny House ideas and thought of you. Your kitchen area is pretty small, maybe looking at ideas from Tiny Homes might be a good idea to see how they best use their space to make yours work most effectively.
Claire says
I have deep drawers and inside where there is vacant space at the top hubby put in shallow drawers. They’re great for shallow tins of sardines and tuna, crackers etc. They then don’t need a fancy drawer front.
LindaT says
I remember going to Rumford as a kid. We could smell the strong paper industry aroma (stench) but our relatives who lived there had acclimated to it. The Arsenault book brought back a lot of memories for me.
Rita says
Your HH did a very nice job on the tile. Have you considered removing the woodburner and putting in an insert in the fireplace? That view would be even more awesome than it is!
Karen says
Now that is a good idea, and the wood stove could be moved to the new workshop.
Mrs. M says
We’re also remodeling our kitchen and opted for 3 drawers in graduated sizes.
However, I just heard that some rv ‘s are being made with large pull out drawers that have a plug in the back… you can use your appliance on the pulled out drawer.
I’m not sure how I’d feel about this, but it may be worth an internet search.
Stephanie says
Please consider hanging your beautiful hooked rugs on your walls. The two rugs I bought from you have added the perfect touch of homespun warmth to our home.
Patty says
Mavis- We remodeled the kitchen at our cottage last winter and used 3 drawers in place of lower cabinets and I LOVE it! It is so much more accessible than cabinets with a door and so much easier to keep things organized. I am looking forward to seeing your new kitchen!
Have you used a rotary cutter for the quilt squares? It’s a huge time saver!
Melonie says
The fireplace tile looks lovely!