My Goals For 2026 – Week 3 of 52

Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

What a great week it was! The weather was crazy around here. Sunny and 40 degrees for a few days {perfect for walking on the beach and collecting shells} and then snow {again}. 

I love winter in Maine. Well, I love it when it’s not 12 degrees and windy. 😉 

We went to the library for the third week in a row. Each week I’ve been selecting 1 cookbook, 1 craft type book, and 1 gardening book to bring home. I also grabbed a few back issues of Where Women Create {I LOVE that magazine!}. 

I’ve been doing a little hooking in the evenings and then reading my library finds before I go to bed. 

It’s been a great way to STAY OFF the internet/social media before bed so my brain can shut down before I go to bed.

In The Kitchen

I am still enjoying my $100 a month for groceries challenge.

The HH, not so much. He’s basically had to fend for himself {he’s not used to that} and although he’s done some cooking {mostly eggs and hot dogs, and a few Trader Joe’s meals from the freezer} he’s ready for the month to be over already. 

I’ll try and get some more photos of what he’s eating but I can’t make any promises as I am eating next door this month.

I did put off my third trip to the grocery store an extra few days due to the weather {snow and ice} and I’m so glad I did.  I can’t wait to show you what I bought for this week’s meals. 🙂 🙂 🙂 

If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning then you’ll probably have a good laugh because it’s like I’ve come full circle in a way.

More on that on Friday. I wouldn’t want to ruin the “surprise” for everyone else. Ha! 

I will say though that I am REALLY looking forward to doing some serious baking once this challenge is over.

Kitchen Goals For This Year

• Master the pear frangipane tart from Standard Baking Company. 
• Put my Weck jars to use.
• Use two bins of beans.

Rug Hooking

I’ve been keeping busy drawing patterns and making kits for my Etsy shop as well as creating a list of all the wool I need to start dyeing again. 

Things are moving at a pretty good clip. I think I’m still on track to finish by the end of March.

The last thing I want to do once gardening season rolls around is be stuck inside so I’m trying to get 95% of all wool related stuff done before then. 

Squeezing 12 months of work into 3 is really, really hard but I know it will be worth it in the end.

Rug Hooking Goals For This Year

• Finish drawing out all my patterns by January 31st.
• Finish making all my kits by February 28th.
• Finish dyeing wool  by March 31st.
• Release 10 new rug hooking patterns/kits. 
• Hook 27 of the patterns from the “someday I’ll hook these” bin. 

Go New Places – See New Things

Thank you for all your input on Nova Scotia. It seems like fall might be the best time to go so I think the HH and I wait until then. 

Jenn and I still haven’t figured out where our next adventure will be. 

Driving in Italy is out. 

And although it looks like there are plenty of trains to get us to all the different places we’d want to go, it honestly seems like a big headache and I don’t want to dedicate a ton of time to figuring it all out.

I told her we should just go someplace easy. Like England {my FAVORITE place} but she wants to go someplace new.

Travel Goals For This Year

• Travel someplace {internationally} that I’ve never been before.
• Travel somewhere in Maine {overnight} that I haven’t been before.

Walk And Stretch More

I finally got some walking in! And Miss Lucy got to sun herself in the backyard. 

It was 40 degrees out but she didn’t care. 🙂 My new walking shoes arrived but I think I’ll just wear the old ones for as long as I can as the roads are slushy and they’ll just get ruined.

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

• Get into some sort of stretching routine
• Fast walk a 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon

Garden

I started my lavender seeds yesterday under growlights and I’ve also begun collecting cardboard for the bottom of the new garden boxes. 

I am SO stinkin’ excited about finally being able to have a good sized garden again. Also, I think I’ve narrowed down what I want to grow this year.

A big thank you for all your suggestions on what tomatoes to grow this year. I looked all of them up and now have 12 different varieties of tomatoes on my list. 

You can never have enough tomatoes, right?

Garden Goals For This Year

• Rework the driveway and garden areas 
• Go crazy and plant a ridiculous amount of flowers 
• Step out of my comfort zone and plant some flowers I’ve never planted before.

Paint

I finally finished all my Valentine’s Day decorations! I ordered a vinyl stencil so I could paint a sign for the front door and it turned out great. 

This was my first time using a peel and stick type stencil and now I have about 10 million other things I want to make. I loved that I could choose the font and size.

I have no idea what type of machine they used {maybe a Cricut?} but I want one!! Does this look familiar? Does anyone know what kind of machine makes these stencils?

Painting Goals For This Year

• The Van Gogh wall
• The gallery wall down stairs
• The captains wall in the hall
• Trim and walls

How are YOU doing on YOUR goals so far this year? Curious minds want to know. 

Have a great Monday everyone, 

~Mavis