My Big List of Things I’m Going to Do in 2021 – Week 24 of 52

Stay Healthy! 

Waking up to this view every morning sure puts me in a good mood. Yesterday we spotted a Mama turkey and her 8 little babies making their way across the yard. It was the sweetest thing ever. 

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

Weigh-ins are the first Sunday of each month.

• My June 6th weigh in was 129.6
• 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 

It was another busy week for the maintenance guy… mowing, lifting heavy things, changing out all the outlets in the craft room from almond to white, leaving the house to do all the things people leave the house for because someone {who shall not be mentioned} doesn’t want to go anywhere. Ha.

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 {we did raised beds this year instead}}
• Build a boatload of birdhouses for the {soon to be} bird sanctuary 
• Create a garden path/walkway for the front garden {DONE!}
• 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

Griddle boy is still at it with the Blackstone Griddle. Luckily though we have guests coming soon so he can talk about it with THEM… because seriously, I think I’ve heard everything I need to know about the thing. 

• 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 {Going the picnic table route instead}
• A set of 4 Adirondack chairs for the fire pit area  {I LOVE these chairs!}
• BBQ {He bought a Blackstone Griddle instead!}
• 2 More Kayaks

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

Boating and kayaking with Lucy, I don’t think it gets any better than that!

• 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} {14 down, 10 to go!}

New recipes I’ve made this year:

• Rhubarb Pineapple Pie
• 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}

I finished Finding Freedom on audiobook. Also, the HH bought me 7 books from the for sale table at the library {5 or books set in Maine or by Maine authors} and I was pretty excited about that. I may not have time to sit down and read them all now, but I know I will this winter. 

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

1. Christina Olson Her World Beyond the Canvas. 
2. Finding Freedom
3. Maine’s Favorite Birds
4. At First Light: Two Centuries of Maine Artists, Their Homes and Studios
5. Bernard Langlais at the Colby College Museum of Art
6. The 3,000 Mile Garden
7. 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}

I think I’m up over 2,500 pictures again. Gaaa. Why do we all feel the need to take so many pictures? 

Clean Out My Closet

I still haven’t worn about 50% of the clothing in my closet this year and so it’s looking like I’ll be donating a bunch of stuff to the little church in town towards the end of the year. A thinned out closet… it can be very liberating. 

My House Projects For This Year

I wasn’t planning on painting the craft room this year but since our next round of guests will be staying there {and the double twin room} and we needed to pull pretty much everything out of the room for the air mattresses, we were like… hey, we should go ahead and paint in here now while it’s empty. And so we did!

• 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 
• Paint the hallway bathroom {DONE!}

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

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 {Done}
• Install a sunflower patch {decided for a row along the side of the barn instead}
• Plant 2,500 flower bulbs in the fall {Why 2,500? It seemed like a good number to start with}

The sunflower seeds I planted along the barn are up. Yee-Haw!

Reach 10,000 Sales on Etsy {as of this morning I’ve made 7674 sales on Etsy}. Only 2326 to go! 

While I added some new wool bundles at the beginning of the week, since then I haven’t had any time for rug hooking or dyeing wool. I think summers in general are going to be pretty busy around here, and so I may have to figure out a plan to get all my rug hooking and wool dyeing done during the winter months instead of trying to do crafty things during the summer.

It may take a year or two to work out a plan, but I’ll figure it out. 

Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns or Kits {5 down 7 to go}

I finally finished the Cape Cod 1829 New England Whale and Sailboat Rug I was working on available as a finished piece, a kit and a pattern. I also have the whale pillow above available as a pattern as well.

New Rug Hooking Kits I’ve Created This Year:

• Cape Cod 1829 New England Whale and Sailboat
• Nantucket Whale
• 1820 Flower Basket
• Bunny Love
• Old Mr. Squirrel

Create 12 New Ornaments for 2021

I pulled another batch of loons out of the kiln this week and added them to my Etsy shop. Lately I’ve been working on a few new designs plus getting a few of my bestsellers re-stocked and ready for this holiday season. 

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
• #4 Whale Tail Garlands

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

We have recently found a local cheesemaker, lobster shack and flower farm which I am excited to share on the blog soon. 

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! 

Lighthouse adventures have been put on hold until the fall {when tourist season is over} and that’s fine by me. 🙂 

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
• Hedgerow Market in Martinsville, Maine
• 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