Stay Healthy!
I had my check up with the surgeon who cut out my thyroid and she said everything went according to planned. Pathology came back and it turns out there were 3 cancerous tumors in my thyroid. 1 in the left {the one that was biopsied} and 2 small ones on the right side {which were a surprise}. All the cancer was contained within the thyroid so that part was great to hear.
I am SO GLAD I went with my gut and had the entire thyroid removed.
Next stop on the medical train: a blood test in 5 weeks to check my TSH levels. I’m feeling good, and running at about 85% and not too tired. So I’m VERY happy about that.
Weigh What I Weighed When We Got Married {128 pounds}
Weigh ins will be on the first Sunday of the month. My January 3rd weigh in was 140.7. Basically, the goal is to lose a pound a month.
Keep My Husband Busy
I kept my house boy busy this past week by having him chauffer me around and keeping up with household tasks. Cooking, cleaning and picking lobster claws out of the lawn were his highlights this week.
How a lobster claw landed in our lawn is beyond me. The HH thinks a bird flying overhead dropped it. Life in Maine. It’s never dull, that’s for sure.
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. {He’s handy, he’ll figure it out}
- Build a picnic table near the birch trees for summer lunches
- Build 4 or 6 garden boxes for his little lady
- Build a boatload of birdhouses for the {soon to be} bird sanctuary
- Remodel the bathroom in the hallway
- Install some sort of driveway border
- Install a workspace for me in the basement for dying wool.
Things We’d Like to Buy
- A dingy for zipping around the nearby islands and for summer ice cream runs
- 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
- A set of 4 Adirondack chairs for the fire pit area
- BBQ {Sayonara smoker?}
Unplug As Much As Possible {but still keep the blog, FB and Instagram}
My phone is still on silent mode. And I’m loving it.
This year I plan to step back more and cut the noise.
- Goodbye Amazon Prime {Done!}
- Goodbye Hulu {Done!}
- Goodbye Netflix {Done!}
- Goodbye keeping my cell phone in my back pocket and checking it constantly
- Limit time online to 3 hours a day {for writing, working, and Etsy}
Try 24 New Recipes {and remember to link them here}
The HH tried out a new soup recipe {and I’ll share it on the blog soon}.
Read {or Listen to} 12 New Books about Maine {or written by Maine Authors}
My husband visited our local library for the first time last week! Not only did he come home with a few DVD’s and a book on rug hooking for me, but he also purchased 2 used books for $0.50 a piece. One was a cookbook, and the other was Christina Olson Her World Beyond the Canvas.
The book was published in 1998 and if you read Christina Baker Kline’s book A Piece of The World and loved it, you’d be happy to know there a ton of old photos of Christina, the Olson family and their friends in the Christina Olson Her World Beyond the Canvas book. There’s even a photograph of Walton in there.
Well done HH!
Get 24 Stories Off My Phone and onto the Blog
Working on it.
Get the Photos on My Phone Down to Less Than 1,000 {started the year with 2863 photos}
There are currently 2447 photos on my phone.
Clean Out My Closet
I turned all the hangers around in my closet and so far 95% of them are still backwards. I suspect though that will change once I leave Pajamaland and get back to the real world.
My House Projects For This Year
All house projects are on hold for another week or so, but we did have a big storm yesterday and whoa Nelly was it windy out there. Just look at all those whitecaps!
- 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
- Paint the entryway trim and doors
- Paint the dining room walls and trim
- Paint the master bedroom walls and trim
- Paint the barn and add a new fixture {okay, so the HH will be adding the fixture}
Have I ever told you how much I like to paint? 🙂
My Garden Projects For This Year
I ordered my seeds from Botanical Interests and Johnny’s and I’m patiently waiting for their arrival. We also decided that since we will be painting the house white {eventually} that blue is the color we’ll use for our front and back deck pots. Now, I just have to wait for the local nurseries to open so I can buy them.
- Install a simple flower bed border in front of the house
- Install a boatload of birdhouses/feeders in the side yard
- 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
- Install a sunflower patch
- Plant 2,500 flower bulbs {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 6043 sales on Etsy}
Only 3,957 to go!
This week I added heart garlands, ornaments for Valentine’s Day and a handful of pillows to my Etsy shop.
Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns or Kits
I have my next pattern drawn out and ready to hook! But first, I need to dye some wool. Hopefully though, I’ll be able to get started on it later this week and have my first new pattern of the year available by the end of the month.
Create 12 New Ornaments for 2021
2021 Ornament #1 ♥ Ladybug Heart ♥
Discover 12 Made in Maine Products and Share Them on the Blog
I am working on a list of shops/people to visit and am VERY EXCITED about this goal!
Visit 6 Lighthouses in Maine
I was texting my friend Heather yesterday and we decided we’re long overdue for a girls weekend. We’re thinking sometime in March and either going to Vermont or island hopping in Maine. If we do the island hopping thing, I have a feeling we’d be able to knock this goal out of the park. 😉
Lighthouses I’ve Been to in Maine So Far:
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
Mel says
Glad you’re recovering!
I’ve mostly chipped away at health and house goals the past couple of weeks.
-I’ve kept up with running/rowing/weights and hydration
-I’ve been using up freezer meals
-I’ve reorganized about 95% of the coat closet and the master closet (waiting to pick out a few more shelves and things before I finish)
-I decluttered about 45% of the basement (the rest may need to wait until it’s warmer)
-I hung a shelf and a glass magnet board on the wall
-I reorganized the kitchen junk drawer
-I installed a temporary pantry cabinet until we get around to a kitchen remodel, which has been a huge help. I reorganized all my baking stuff so it’s all labeled and accessible, and all my canisters of flour, sugar, chocolate chips, etc. have their own easy-to-grab spots.
-I replaced our pie carriers, so I just need to replace our cupcake and cake carriers (the ones we had before were too bulky and had to be stowed in the basement instead of the kitchen)
-I also wanted to experiment with a cleaning schedule. I’ve kept up with that, and it has actually been life-changing. I wasn’t expecting it to work because I’d had trouble finding one I liked in the past, but I think I finally found a good system. It’s so much easier to keep up with everything, I actually get more done with less effort, and the house stays so much neater and cleaner in between!
Kathy says
Hi Mel. What cleaning schedule is working for you? I’ve tried several too and they were either too complicated or just didn’t work for our home for other reasons.
Mel says
It’s a free app called Tody. You enter all the areas/rooms in your house, and then you enter all the tasks associated with each room or area (this took a good bit of time to set up, but it was worth it, and it’s a one-time thing). When you enter a task, you enter the frequency it needs to be done (e.g., daily, every other day, once a month–whatever) and tell it what the current status of the task is (how close you are to needing to do it again). It then creates your daily task list based on that information, and you check things off the list in the app as you do them. So, you don’t have to prioritize all the tasks, remember when you last did them, etc.
If something pops up on your task list that doesn’t need to be done yet (or that you don’t have time to do), you can pause it until the date of your choice, and then it will continue the original frequency you set for it. You can also see ahead to task lists for other days, so you can work ahead if you have extra time (I’m nearly done this weekend’s tasks because I want to spend Monday sewing) or if you notice a disproportionate number of tasks will come due the same day. And if something needs cleaning before it’s scheduled to be cleaned (like if you spill something on the rug and have to wash it), you can “force” it to be due early and then it will revert to the original frequency you set from there on out. You can also set seasonal chores. So, come April, it will start reminding me to do things like clean the picnic table, but it removes that task from the list in winter.
The key for me was making all the tasks very small. So, for example, instead of dusting the whole house, I have it set to remind me to dust each room separately. Certain rooms get dusty faster because they see more traffic, so it makes sense to dust them at shorter intervals. And I only need to set aside 5 minutes or so to dust one room instead of 30-40 minutes to do the whole house, so it’s easier to keep up with.
Kathy says
Thank you!
Christa H. says
Week 3 of 52:
1. Take better care of myself- still working with my Naturopath; about to get retested
2. Take a stock market course- bought the course
3. Take another beekeeping course- enrolled locally to become a certified beekeeper and have had two classes so far
4. Learn a new craft
5. Build back yard vegetable garden- 4×4 fence posts went in this past week; cardboard is down in with rocks on top in one area to kill weeds; silage tarp was bought
6. Start mushroom log garden- tagged the oak trees to cut down; bought the spawn
7. Increase apiary
8. Paint garden fences
9. Complete one embroidery project
10. Complete one painting
11. Reframe old stitchery
12. Clean out magazine stash and tear out recipes I want to keep- two completed so far
13. Design or carve an address stamp for holiday mail
14. Do something with the postage stamps I collect from our mail
15. Beautifully wrap all and personalize all presents
Marcia says
Glad you are recovering. That’s a good long list. You can pry Netflix and Amazon prime out of my cold, dead, hands. Even though I don’t have much time to watch TV.
My goal for the year is continued survival with working at home full time and two kids in virtual school.
Why the high school weight? You look great.
Peg says
I personally think a person can never go wrong putting her phone on silent. I did it in April 2018 when I left for a 12-day trip to Israel, and it’s still on silent.
Mavis Butterfield says
You are a Rockstar Peg!
Lolly says
Xo. Glad that the surgery went well and that they got that horrid cancer out of you! Praying for your continued good health!!!
Lol about your phone on silent! Mine stays on silent mode 97% of the time. I turn it on when the kids are out and about without me (dd is a new driver), or when dh and I are out without the kids or are separated in a store. Kids are homeschooled, so they aren’t off doing their own thing all that much…youth group, band practice, and getting my walmart pickup order! 🙂
I looooove the ornaments!!! I wish I had a smallish kiln, cause I ADORE making things with clay, but trying to get things fired locally is $$$.
I’ll be honest…no goals set for the yr. I did sew a bit the past two weeks, which has been fun. Made two quick baby blankets for a baby shower, finished cloth napkins for two friends’ xmas (fabric got stuck in the mail for weeks), and made a few new napkins for ME!!! And traveling is always something we love to do…I have a trip this month to visit a cousin in SC and one in Feb to visit family in PA. Dh wants to get our rv in for a yearly checkup (for the warranty on it) and for getting two roof fans put in…so we can go camping SOMEWHERE in March. (So HE is working towards HIS goals!) Who cares where…two months without camping is ROUGH! Lol! We also prefer winter camping…cause we live in the deep south and NORMALLY we can have 60-70* weather whenever, but we’ve actually mostly stayed in the 40’s-50’s during the day…30’s at night, which isn’t pleasant sitting outside in for some reason! 🙂 🙂 We get chilled! So March will prolly work out just fine for more camping!!! (Summer is 90’s+…which isn’t fun for camping, either!!! We tend to camp for ds’s bday in late september, and we normally sweat to death…though temps tend to be more like 85 than 95 by then!! This yr we went to WV for his bday, and we had highs of 55-60, lows in the upper 30’s and low 40’s!!! It was so wonderful to NOT SWEAT the whole time!)
So IF I did a few goals…travel and sewing would be them… Also keeping the house picked up a bit better. Our last rv trip was just after xmas, and I STILL have a pile of stuff that needs to go back out to the rv…sitting in a chair in the kitchen. Prolly need to make it a goal to get that OUT this week! 🙂
Ashley says
Love your list this year. Especially like the local books idea. Glad you’re on the mend!
Phyllis says
So glad you are recovering quickly. I love all your plans forvthe new year. Just wondering is HH retired ? Sounds like a great guy.
Carrie says
This week I decided to set a few goals and I am doing pretty good.
1. Wash the dishes in the sink every night (my boys are busy and I am usually exhausted by the end of the night, we are up early so I usually do then then). This has actually been easy and so nice!
2. Fast 18 hours every day. I have started Intermittent Fasting (look up Dr. Jason Fung). I am loving this an am seeing great results.
3. List 2 things in EBay. I am chicken to do this. I have a huge pile of good quality outdoor clothing my boys have outgrown. I am hoping to seek them and then purchase new gear they eed with the proceeds.
4. Trim down a quilt for binding and make the binding. I lost my extra sewing table and I have been putting this off.
I guess today will give me a few hours to cross the last 2 off the list
Hawaii Planner says
So glad to hear that the surgery was successful. Sending lots of good thoughts for your recovery.
My goals are slowly meandering along:
Finances – we’re working on paying off our mortgage. This month is a refi, focus on grocery shopping, & continued side hustle. I’m almost at my side hustle goal for the month
Family – We’re still spending lots & lots & lots of time together, because COVID
Fitness – I’ve lost & a pound & am pretty focused. But, I’ve definitely lost some of my energy. With lupus, I find my energy level ebbs & flows a bit. I’m in a bit of a low point, and convincing myself to work out is a struggle for sure.
Personal – volunteering is going well, but haven’t done any writing for fun, and my crafting has slowed way down
Pj Truman says
Happy to hear the situation was contained, removed and you’re healing well. ❤️ I was happy to see your update today. I had to laugh at HH’s workload… you know that’s a full time job… right?
Kathy says
I am really glad that you trusted yourself and followed through with your Dr. and your instincts.
Randini says
I’m looking forward to a post on the birdhouse sanctuary/complex/housing unit.
I have a dozen birdhouses that I had used as decor around the house. HH doesn’t love them and now with new paint, I’m hesitant to re-hang them. My favorite birdhouses are ones with old car license plates as roofs. Weather-resistant and reminds me of places I’ve been
Mavis Butterfield says
My friend Heather makes the license plate ones, they’re super cute!
Lynda says
I love these too!
tia in boise says
Mind
Say what you mean; mean what you say–I’m not exactly sure what this looks like, but I’m afraid of leaving a situation regretting not having said something or said something I didn’t really mean…
Read 50 books–I’ll finish book #4 by the end of the day.
Spirit
Plan one fun outing a month–This will probably be a masked walk with a friend.
Have one date a month with DH–We went for a walk in a park we hadn’t been in for a long time.
Work
Work 1 hour/day to plan, prep, grade–We’ve only been back one week and any “extra” time has been spent getting ready to go back in-person next week. I have to do some minor planning this week and grading–but I’ve left school at a decent hour, and that’s the important thing! With kids back on Tuesday, I’ll be able to better monitor that hour to stay focused.
Home
Put away the thing–NOW–I think this will be a lifetime goal. It took 50 years to develop into a lazy, procrastinating person….but I did make myself put something away the other day when I said the goal aloud… (baby steps?)
Complete 1 cleaning/organizing project/month–Haven’t done anything for January yet…I’m contemplating organizing the spices…alphabetically? They were organized somewhat by savory vs. sweet at one time–that didn’t really take.
Create and implement cleaning schedule
Try out 1 new recipe/month–Made buttery garlic salmon last night. DH liked it–I thought it was a dud–not tasty enough.
Decrease credit card debt (1) by 33.3%–No payments made yet, but I have a couple “bonus stipends” coming in March that will pretty much take care of this…barring any unforeseen expenditures (like last year’s $5000 AC replacement).
Health
Lose 20 pounds–Last time I had checked, I had lost one pound–since I haven’t been running, I haven’t weight.
Always have water–I was doing well with this goal until Christmas Break–got a fun water bottle for Christmas, washed it and set it up–starting on that path today!
Run a 5k, 10k, half, and marathon–(These will probably all be done virtually.) Banged the 5k out January 1. After that had a suspicious mole on my foot removed and have not been allowed (BOO) to even walk (for exercise). Stitches come out tomorrow, and I’m hoping doc will at least let me walk. (He had said no running for 3 weeks–that leaves another week.) I plan to complete the 10k in February.
Track daily exercise–I had seen a cool tracker calendar where you colored in each day your run–the idea being you don’t want to break a long streak. I ran until my procedure and then did basic exercises until I had a tired day/night and let myself break the streak. The bad thing was, once I broke it, I didn’t have any motivation to start the next one–so I went 3 days not exercise. Got back to it last night.
Track desserts–This is a similar goal to working out. I’ve gone 2 stretches of a week at a time with no dessert (so desserts this year). That is very helpful for me to see that it can be done. (I am allowing myself hot cocoa or a small treat after lunch–only called a full-on piece of cake/pie, etc. “dessert”.) It helps me stave off cravings if I can say: I get to have dessert Saturday night. I can hold of until then if I know I will be rewarded.
Mavis Butterfield says
Say what you mean; mean what you say. That’s a great one! And I really like the put the thing away NOW.
Heidi P says
I’m so pleased that you are recovering so well from your surgery and decided to have it ALL removed. Saved a lot of heartache and pain down the road.
Hearing about your husband caring for you makes me smile. When I was very ill my husband stepped up and cared for me in ways I never thought possible. His kindness and care warmed my heart & reminded me why I love him so much. You’ve got a good guy. Loved the library visit. Beyond thoughtful.
On a side note, I was at Wilco yesterday and bought a few seeds for the garden. As I was at the register the sales lady said, “We put these out this morning and I’m glad you’re buying some now because last year within days they sold out”. Shocked me. I knew there was a run on seeds last planting season, I just didn’t know how in bad it was. Plant on people….Its a good thing!
Heidi P says
Oh ya, love the heart garland. Hopped over to Etsy before even finishing reading your post and bought one! My little red cardinal ornament broke before I could hang it on my tree. Totally my fault the klutz that I can be but I needed to replace it with another “Mavis Butterfield” original.
Mavis Butterfield says
While I think the seed companies {online} are ready for the insane amount of orders again this year, it will be interesting to see how quickly everything sells out. I feel like more and more people were thinking ahead it’s going to be a you snooze you lose kind of thing for seeds this year.
I must say I was pretty shocked last summer when I couldn’t’ place an order for flower bulbs… This year I’ll be placing my order as soon as they’re available.
Kristina says
I was the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange website recently & because of the increased interest& demand they listed other smaller local seed companies, making things easier for themselves & sharing business with the littler guy. I thought that was the way things should be.
Planning the garden & ordering seeds is on my list for this week!
Reneé says
Prayers for a speedy recovery. My eight year old special needs son had major hip surgery last week so I have not started on my goals for the year but you have definitely inspired me. He will be totally bedridden for about four more weeks so I have been trying to get my goals organized and get any supplies I need. I tried to order seeds today. I was able to get everything I wanted except radishes and turnips. I may try another company later today. I bought canning jars and lids last fall so at least I won’t be trying to find them this summer.
Julia Park Tracey says
Hello Mavis — so glad you are recuperating and that they got all the cancer. Such a relief! I look forward to your goals post every Sunday. Week 3:
1. Learn a new skill: I downloaded Duolingo and have been practicing French. I took it a long time ago in school but was never really able to speak it. I want to be able to converse. So I’m starting with Duolingo. (in progress)
2. Take a class — I signed up for a class in SEO (for social media and websites) and I also took a class in using Scrivener (a writing program) yesterday. So this goal is DONE.
3. Buy fresh flowers every week. So far so good. I *love* this goal. It’s less than $10 for some very pretty flowers.
4. Earn 20K with my writing. So far I’m puttering along. I will need to do a lot of work to hit this goal.
5. Revise novel/send out to agents, etc — I have set aside Feb. for 4 weeks of intense revisions. My “revision-palooza”.
6. Garden: This goal is non-specific, but in general I will work on landscaping the empty yard of this big double lot. I got roses in and am working on a brick pathway. This week I finished putting in all the bulbs I had on hand (about 300 or so) and put up a metal archway/arbor. I really love working in the dirt.
Thanks for keeping us honest here.
Nancy D says
Glad you’re feeling better Mavis!
S says
I have decided to make goals this year, and I started this by taking 7 minutes and creating a word bubble of anything I could think of that I wanted to accomplish this year, and I will use that to create my goals. I am thinking I will probably have 9-10 of them.
Leslie says
Recently went to Cancun on a much needed vacation. Because we had to leave the house at 4 am for our flight, I forgot my work phone and my personal cell phone. Of course, my family had cell phones so all was well, but I was without my “tether”. And I survived. A few funny things happened, but really it taught me that (even though I’m a minimalist in my home and personal life) with work and social habits I can be a minimalist too and I’m much happier for it. I wish we could go back to old ways like long, hand-written letters and visiting each other in person.
Linda T says
Mavis, I’m happy to know they got those tumors out of you-You didn’t need them dragging you down. Besides, you are close enough to perfect without anything extra!
Lots of prayers have been said for you.
debbie in alaska says
Here in Alaska bald eagles have been known to carry (and drop) things like crab claws, deer skulls, dirty diapers, small pets, and baby goats just to name a few. So yes, likely the lobster claw was from a bird.
Crystal says
Low thyroid can cause you to gain weight, and losing weight when you have a thyroid condition can be extremely hard. Just keep that in mind as you work on that weight loss goal.
Hanna McCown says
I’m so happy that you got a good report and are feeling better. I did make goals for the year and I’m blogging about it. I used your outline from the email you sent out about making your goals, as a starting point. I also have weight to lose. I lost 25lbs last year and have 50 more lbs to go. It should be easier as I get stronger and more active but we’ll see. I so love reading about your adventures that I put on my list to discover more of Ohio. I hope to be more consistent in my blogging, that’s the main reason for blogging about my goals. Thank you for so much inspiration. Hanna
Randi says
Glad to hear your are doing well Mavis. My goals are 1) lose 10 pounds so weight then is 125 pounds at 5 foot 3 inches height (all my weight goes to the belly, ugh) 2) read at least 20 pages in a book five days a week 3) drink 8 glasses of water a day 4) spend less time on phone and be more mindful of family and 5) Drink less alcohol, would like to cut back to once a week. I have a tendency to drink 2 glasses to three glasses of wine when stressed which is happening more lately – up to 3 times a week, ugh!
April Myers says
I just peeked in after several years away and saw you had just come out of your surgery. I am five years now since breast cancer treatment. Still surreal. Getting diagnosed and the surgeries really stink. I had an inexperienced doctor that was not too fun to work with. But then when things settle a bit, you get to start every day knowing you are on bonus time and that gives life a little sparkle. Also got me going to church which has been a real plus in my life. I unplugged from all social media and just cancelled Prime. Wow so much more time! Other thing cancer taught me, I don’t have to “do” the next five years or even one year. It truly is one day at a time!
April Myers says
One more note…check out the Libby app if you haven’t already. Uses your library card to download free audio and kindle books.