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.
*This month I hooked my own patterns plus ones from Cammie Bruce, Rhonda Thomas, Lori Brechlin, The Simple Quite and MaggiesFarm1846.
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
Barbara says
I am eagerly awaiting your trip details as my daughter and I plan to go this year too. It will be our first time although we have made plans three times before but had to cancel due to family emergencies. I am hesitant to start all the planning/reservations because I don’t want to jinx us but I guess I should start with plane tickets. I know you have been to NYC several times in the past. Got any good hotel recommendations? And, like you, I am excited for the bakeries and museums.
Mavis Butterfield says
We are trying a new hotel this time so I’ll make sure and do a review after our stay. When I travel my big thing is staying in a great {safe, central, walkable} location. I am willing to splurge on a nice hotel if it means I can save in other areas of my trip.
eliz says
I love the bouquet someone sent you last week. So colorful and cheery! What a nice gift.
Mavis Butterfield says
Very cherry indeed! I like the mix of flowers too. Not your typical bouquet, that’s for sure.
Katie P NC says
Hey Mavis, Don’t forget to check out the free museum days in NYC. I know the Morgan Library has a free day and if MOMA is still doing it you can get reduced or free admission if you “join” the museum. But it doesn’t cost anything to do that unless you decide to renew for a second year. https://www.nycforfree.co/free-museums
I also can’t say enough good things, if you’re willing to wake up early, about being in the Today Show crowd. I had the best time, met some interesting people, and got to hug Savannah and fist bump Al (meeting Al was a bucket list thing for me- yay!).
I can’t wait to hear about your adventures.
Jeri says
How early did you show up for the Today Show? That’s something I have wanted to do, and thought I’d do it for my 50th birthday. I haven’t made it yet. Today is my 72nd birthday, lol! I’d better get on it if I’m going to go!
Carla says
I do most of my looking up on my laptop, so I use a sticky note on the top to write down things to look up/things to do so I can get them off my brain AND make my online time more efficient. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
Sue says
The absolute wonder of having so much information at my fingertips can sometimes be hard to resist. I remember pre-Internet, and it was impossible to find information easily without a going to the library, struggling with the card catalog, and then finding books that didn’t have the answer or were so out of date the answer they held probably wasn’t right.
The world is on my phone. I love it.
That bouquet is beyond gorgeous! Your heart must sing every time you look at it.
Rosemary says
I remember those days!! We had an encyclopedia set to look up stuff, but it was old . . . didn’t really help. Searching thru the card catalog, going to the shelf to find the book and then find that it wasn’t there . . . good times . . . LOL
Laura says
try doing “Classical Stretch” with Miranda Esmond-White. It’s on PBS every day or you could buy her DVDs (if people still do that) She’s also got some videos on youtube.
Mallory L. says
Poor Lucy – can’t really blame her.
We have two food-obsessed cats, and eventually had to put child locks on the pantry door. They are just simple flip latches, quick and easy to open. They also make the invisible kind that use a magnetic key. Maybe something for the husband to research – a bit inconvenient – but could avoid some potentially large vet bills/discomfort for Lucy!
Suzanne Shaw says
I didn’t realize this, but you can make your own almond paste! I saw a recipe – whilst wasting time on-line 🙂 from King Arthur. I think it was just almond flour and confectionary sugar and couple other things.
Rosemary says
I have been working in the garden to get it ready for planting – hopefully by the middle of March. Found ants in one of my raised beds – dumped a bunch of cinnamon on them – I hope they move out. I don’t like to use pesticides in the garden.
Reorganized my craft room – moved all my Etsy inventory out (put it in the guest room). Hopefully my inventory close out sale will go well – I would love to be done by April 1st. Time will tell . . .
Poor Lucy! Was that sugar? Good thing it didn’t happen during the pantry challenge!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes! My new bag of sugar!!
Honeybee says
Ah Lucy. Our cat Sweetpea was on Prednisone for a short period of time. The vet warned us to be careful about food or she might turn into a Sweetpie. I felt so bad for her as she stared at her food dish willing it to produce more food.
Lisa says
I actually do set a timer for internet scrolling. When the timer chimes, I force myself to get offline. It makes me spend my time online more carefully too — I see that I only have 5 more minutes so I am more particular about how I will spend those minutes. This really helps me limit my time online and use it more productively.
SueD says
My downfall is I have the Kindle app on my tablet, so if there’s something I want to research, etc, ‘it will only take a second’. An hour later….
If you like zoos, the Bronx Zoo had free admission Wednesdays. They asked for a donation then, and the various houses had an admission charge, unlike the other days.
My 2 mini Dackels managed to take a container off a pantry shelf, open it and help themselves to a pig ear each. In the past, they’ve also gone for potatoes and yams. Not to eat, to play with. The basket of toys not good enough I guess.
Laura says
I don’t think you want almond paste…more likely almond flour to make the frangipane. I just made a pear frangipane tart yesterday and will let you know how it tastes. I used the King Arthur recipe and it’s very good. Used it to make my own Kringle this Christmas when I decided that $10 was too much to spend for one at Trader Joe’s. I was right, made 2 huge Kringles for about $5. That felt much better!
Sue S. says
Maybe the thought of getting “text neck syndrome” can be a deterrent to too much scrolling. Found out about this at the chiropracter today. Who knew?
Spent most of last week on snowmegedon cleanup, then went to a 3day rug school. It was heavenly. Before I can think about gardening, there will be a huge mess of limbs, branches, and twigs to deal with. Fire wood starters anyone?
Katie says
I’m currently eating one of these delicious cookies with homemade frangipane. It was the first time I had made it, and I was surprised at how easy it was! If you’re not a gluten-free household like ours you may not have almond flour on hand, but since it’s one of our staples it was easy to make with pantry ingredients:
https://theloopywhisk.com/2026/01/16/gluten-free-almond-croissant-cookies/
Mrs M says
I work for the post office and read this article about a restaurant in Maine that was getting so many reservation requests that now, they only take reservations by POSTCARD! I love it!
They get so many requests for reservations that it would be like winning the lottery!
This reminded me of you because it’s in Maine, and because post cards are definitely in keeping with your slow down theme.
Mrs M says
Oh, here’s the link.
https://news.usps.com/2026/01/21/want-dinner-send-them-a-postcard/