My Goals For 2026 – Week 9 of 52

Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

I wasted a solid 8 hours on the internet last week looking up total nothingness. Why do we do this? Why do we allow ourselves to get distracted so easily?

Unplugging is hard. 

Teaching yourself NOT to pick up your smartphone or crack open the laptop for the answer to something that just popped into your head is super difficult sometimes.

I need to come up with a solid plan.

Maybe I should keep a notepad nearby and just write what I want to look up and if I’m still interested at the end of the day then allow myself a certain amount of time {say 15 minutes?} to look everything up and that is it. 

Set a timer. That’s what I need to do.

In The Kitchen

Now that my one hundred dollars a month pantry challenge is over I’m looking forward to trying some new recipes. 

Yesterday we went to a soup party at a neighbors house and had a great time trying all the different soups people had brought {I think there were 13 to choose from}. My favorite was a short rib stew and the HH liked the chicken gnocchi the best.

We did a big grocery stock up trip yesterday but I forgot almond paste so my pear tart recipe testing will have to wait another week or two.

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

Last night I added some new finished pieces to my Etsy shop. It’s been a productive winter so far. I’ve been doing almost all my hooking in the evenings while listening to audiobooks. 

I don’t know how much time I’ll have to work on rugs as soon as the snow is gone so I’m trying to get as much hooking time in as possible right now.

I have a few smaller pieces plus a large whale rug I’d like to get done before it’s time to head outside and play in the dirt. 

Fingers crossed I can get everything done before it’s time to pack it all in for the summer.

Rug Hooking Goals For This Year

• Finish drawing out all my patterns, making kits, dyeing wool by March 31st.
• Release 10 new rug hooking patterns/kits.  {3 down 7 to go}
• Hook 27 of the patterns from the “someday I’ll hook these” bin. {2 down 25 to go}

Go New Places – See New Things

It’s official, Jen and I are headed to NYC this spring. So far we have our flights, 1 tour, 1 broadway show and 1 restaurant reservation lined up. 

I am excited!! As with pretty much anywhere I go, my main focus will be museums and PASTRIES. 

Who knows what the weather will be like when we go, but I would imagine we’ll get some serious walking in too. 🙂

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

Poor Lucy. I think she has cabin fever. Every time she is left alone she tries to break into the pantry cupboard.

Just when we think it’s safe to put something in there {even high up on the top shelf} she figures out a way to get into it. What a little stinker. It’s kind of funny, but it’s not.

We need the weather to warm up a bit so we can start going on walks with her again. Her old bones don’t like the cold and this winter has been a bit of a challenge for her to stay out of trouble. Oh Lucy! 

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

• Get into some sort of stretching routine
• Fast walk a 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon {signed up for a half marathon}

Garden

No gardening going on this past week but I did get a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Aren’t they pretty? I LOVE cottage roses! And snap dragons too. 

What a treat to see those so early in the year.

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.35

Paint

There was no progress on any of my painting projects this past week. I was so busy dyeing wool and drawing patterns that I didn’t have much time for anything else. 

Hopefully I’ll be able to work on my sunflower paint by number kit and get the entryway painted this week. 

Call me crazy, but the older I get it seems like the busier I am. Or maybe I’m just slowing down. Who knows. 

How was YOUR week? How are you coming along on YOUR goals? Curious minds want to know. 

I hope you have a great day,  

~ Mavis

Painting Goals For This Year

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