My Big List of Things I’m Going to Do in 2021 – Week 20 of 52

 

Stay Healthy! 

Mrs. HB is coming to visit next week and I couldn’t be more excited! I can’t wait to share my favorite walking trail with her and to do all the fun stuff I have planned {I haven’t given her ANY details.}. And to have her drive! 🙂 

And YES, I am STILL waiting for the daffodils on the side of my house to bloom! How crazy is that? 

Weigh What I Weighed When We Got Married  {128 pounds}

Weigh-ins are the first Sunday of each month.

• My May 2nd weigh in was 131.0
• My April 18th weigh in was 129.9 {after 18 days of being on the low iodine diet}
• My April 4th weigh in was 133.4 {a few days into the low iodine diet}
• My March 7th weigh in was 135.6
• My February 7th weigh in was 137.3
• My January 3rd weigh in was 140.7

Keep My Husband Busy 

On the HH’s to-do list for today: Mow the field, hang the towel rack and take me to get pie and ice cream.

I was originally going to plant oodles of wildflowers in the field, then we realized that if we grew flowers {and didn’t mow the field} it would be a hot spot for ticks, and well we can’t have that {been there, done that}. I have a new plan for the wildflowers though, but it will have to wait for Mrs. HB to get here.

Towel Rack. After having Monkey Boy and The Girl stay here {and using the hall bathroom} we decided we DID in fact need a towel bar in the bathroom. So I ordered the one that matched the other hardware in the room and now I’m just waiting for it to be hung. 

The HH’s Honey Do List {so far} for 2021 

• Build a new set of stairs down to the water. The old set… it’s not exactly useable.
• Build a firepit near the edge of the property. {DONE!}
• Build a picnic table near the birch trees for summer lunches {Done!}
• Build 4 or 6 garden boxes for his little lady {re-thinking this one}
• Build a boatload of birdhouses for the {soon to be} bird sanctuary 
• Create a garden path/walkway for the front garden
• Remodel the bathroom in the hallway {DONE!}
• Install some sort of driveway border
• Install a workspace for me in the basement for dying wool
• Install a fence in the front for Lucy {DONE!}
• Build a set of 3 bookshelves in the dining room for me {DONE!}
• Install a trailer hitch on the car {DONE!}

Things We’d Like to Buy

• A dinghy 
• Archery Set {every camp should have archery!} 
• Kitchen table and chairs 
• Sideboard 
• Bench for the entryway 
• A full size washer and dryer set {the house came with a small stackable w/d set} 
• Deck chairs and a patio table set {I think we might go the picnic table route instead}
• A set of 4 Adirondack chairs for the fire pit area  {I LOVE these chairs!}
• BBQ {Sayonara smoker?}
• 2 More Kayaks

We picked up a few more Kate Dolamore prints from Etsy and hung them on the wall in the guest bedroom here at Camp Butterfield. I LOVE her prints! They go great with the barn wood frames from Tammy’s Elegant Frames on Etsy. 

Unplug As Much As Possible {but still keep the blog, FB and Instagram}

I actually turned OFF my phone for TWO days last week. It was pretty awesome. 

• Goodbye Amazon Prime {Done!} $119 a year
• Goodbye Hulu {Done!} $54.99 a month *
• Goodbye Netflix {Done!} $7.99 a month
• Goodbye PicMonkey {Done!} $50 a year
• Goodbye keeping my cell phone in my back pocket and checking it constantly {so far so good}
• Limit time online to 3 hours a day {for writing, working, and Etsy} 

* Hulu is actually now $64.99 a month for the live tv version {live sports, live news}. You can get it for $5.99 a month but all that does is play tv shows and old movies {with ads}.

Try 24 New Recipes {and remember to link them here} {13 down, 11 to go!}

New recipes I’ve made this year:

• Creamy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
• Chicken and Green Bean Casserole 
• Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies
• Lemon Meringue Pie
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples
• White Beans and Ham
• Colcannon
• Tuna Wiggle 
• Grilled Steak Tips with Garlic Butter
• Seville Orange Marmalade
• Jalapeno Cheddar No Knead Dutch Oven Bread
• Hearty Cheeseburger Soup
• Meatballs and Brown Gravy

Read {or Listen to} 12 New Books about Maine {or written by Maine Authors}

The HH went to the library to pick up an Elizabeth Ogilive book for me but the library didn’t have it so the librarian gave him the book A Walk Down Main Street by Maine Author Ruth Moore instead. 

I haven’t started reading it yet, but did have a little laugh when I took a look at the inside cover and noticed that the last time the book was checked out was 8 1/2 years ago. 

Small town libraries… they’re pretty awesome. 🙂 

Books about Maine {or written by Maine authors} I’ve read this year:

1. Christina Olson Her World Beyond the Canvas. 
2. At First Light: Two Centuries of Maine Artists, Their Homes and Studios
3. Bernard Langlais at the Colby College Museum of Art
4. The 3,000 Mile Garden
5. Becoming Teddy Roosevelt 

Audiobooks I’ve listened to {or attempted to listen to} this year: 

• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah {I give it a 10/10}
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig {I’d give it a 7/10}
• Wintering by Katherine May {Hit the return button after 7 minutes}

Get 24 Stories Off My Phone and onto the Blog {I now dislike this goal!}

Stories I’ve Taken Off My Phone and onto The Blog:

• Ale House Inn – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Chicken Foot in the Pot Pie
• Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine
• Sheepscot General Store and Farm in Whitefield, Maine

Get the Photos on My Phone Down to Less Than 1,000 {started the year with 2863 photos}

You know you’re getting old when you remember buying candy for $0.25 and now they’re selling it for $1.99. SERIOUSLY!!!! What a rip off!

Currently at 2142 photos on my phone. 

Clean Out My Closet

I broke out the shorts and short sleeved shirts this week! But still, I haven’t worn about 50% of the clothing in my closet this year. 

My House Projects For This Year

The HH just came home with a load of bricks for the new garden walkway. Yee-Haw! So the next project on my list is to help him lay those, and then gather all the supplies for the “camp improvement project” I have planned for Mrs. HB.

Everybody that comes to stay at Camp Butterfield has to do a “camp improvement project.” 😉 Just wait until she finds out what hers is. Bahahahaha. 

• Figure out new window treatments for the back of the house
• Come up with a game plan for the kitchen remodel {for 2022} 
• Paint the family room walls and trim {DONE!}
• Paint the entryway trim and doors {DONE!}
• Paint the dining room walls and trim {DONE!}
• Paint the master bedroom walls and trim
• Paint the barn and add a new fixture {okay, so the HH will be adding the fixture}
• Paint the hallway bathroom {DONE!}

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

Last week I was able to get my garden beds prepped. This week I’ll start planting. Happy days are here again!

Still left on the list:

• Install a simple flower bed border in front of the house {Done}
• Install a boatload of birdhouses/feeders in the side yard {re-thinking this one}
• Transplant evergreen saplings to the side of property for a privacy border
• Clean up and prune the area that faces the road
• Install a vegetable garden {Working on it!}
• Install a sunflower patch
• Plant 2,500 flower bulbs in the fall {Why 2,500? It seemed like a good number to start with}

Reach 10,000 Sales on Etsy {as of this morning I’ve made 7387 sales on Etsy}. Only 2,613 to go! 

I’m sure there are worse places to cut wool. 🙂

Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns or Kits

This week I finished the second pattern that I’ll be sharing on my next Etsy shop update on June 4th. With the addition of those two, I’ll be up to 5 new patterns for this year once I get them listed. 

New Rug Hooking Kits I’ve Created This Year:

• 1820 Flower Basket
• Bunny Love
• Old Mr. Squirrel

Create 12 New Ornaments for 2021

Last night I added a new loon ornament to my collection. I just LOVE how it turned out!! 

2021 Ornaments I’ve Made So Far

• #1  Ladybug Heart 
• #2 Strawberry
• #3 Mr. Turkey
• #4 Whale Tails
• #5 Bee Skep
• #6 Loon

2021 Garlands I’ve Made So Far

• #1 Heart Garlands
• #2 Bunny Garlands
• #3 Strawberry Garlands

Discover 12 Made in Maine Products and Share Them on the Blog

I’ll be doing another Made in Maine giveaway this week… stay tuned. 

Made in Maine Products I’ve Discovered in 2021:

• Hearth and Harrow Tea Towels in Rockport, Maine
• Royal Rose Syrups in Newcastle, Maine
• Ash Cove Pottery in Harpswell, Maine
• Uncas Farms Pure Maple Syrup

Visit 6 Lighthouses in Maine

2 down, 4 to go! Mrs HB. and I will have to visit a new one when she’s here. 

Lighthouses We’ve Visited So Far This Year:

• West Quoddy Lighthouse in Lubec, Maine
• Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Bristol, Maine

Lighthouses I’ve Been to in Maine Before 2021:

• Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse
• Marshall Point Lighthouse
• Portland Head Light

Other places in Maine We’ve Been to This Year Are:

• Owls Head General Store
• Longfellow’s Greenhouses and Nursery in Manchester, Maine
• Fresh Off The Farm in Rockport, Maine
• Wasses Hot Dogs in Rockland, Maine
• Langlais Sculpture Preserve – Cushing, Maine

So that’s it. That’s my progress report for this past week. How about YOU? Did you make any goals for 2021? Have you checked any of them off your list yet? 

Have a great one, 

~Mavis