One Hundred Dollars a Month

My 22 Goals for 2019

Goal #1 — Spend More Time Doing What I Love

Gardening season. It’s the best, don’t you think? A high of 58 is predicted for today, which can only mean one thing…. I’ll be outside most of the day. Wahoooooooo!

Goal #2 — Garden, Garden, Garden

I am a big believer in making a home YOUR OWN. And that includes any gardens which you inherit when you buy a place. I did my duty last year and didn’t pull anything up {well except a holly bush, an ill placed pine tree, an overgrown Normandy spruce, multiple rhododendrons and a really ugly juniper nest} because I wanted to wait and see exactly what the previous owners had planted in the garden.

This year though, I plan transform the small garden plot under my kitchen window into a herb garden, totally transform the area along our front fence where the previous owners had a bunch of {albeit lovely} random shrubs and well you know, make the garden mine.

Somethings I’ll be able to move, and others will be cut down with the handy dandy reciprocating saw the HH gave me a few years ago that got me into so much trouble with the HOA at our last place. But in the end, by the end of summer, I’m hoping the garden will be more to my taste {and contain a LOT less orange day-lilies}.

Seeds I planted so far this year:

• Mesclun Lettuce
• English Lavender
• Rosemary
• Green Globe Artichokes

Goal #3 — Plant an Orchard

Maybe in late April?

Goal #4 — Gussy Up the Potting Shed

The floor of the potting shed has been cleared and is ready for a nice thick layer of crushed rock.  Which will be delivered on Monday. Yippee!

Goal #5 — Grow Enough Extra Vegetables, Eggs and Flowers to Earn $1500 at my little roadside vegetable stand.

A few weeks after we moved in last year, I weeded this exact area and all you could see was dirt, exposed stones and a few shallots shooting up through the soil and three rhubarb starts. And then it seemed the entire backyard just took off and everything became so overwhelming {weeds, ticks, the HUMIDITY} and well, I just ignored the area and it turned into a weedy mess.

Not this year though…. This is the year I am going to be ON TOP OF MY YARD. 😉

Weekly garden updates start Tuesday…. and this little patch {15′ x 8′} will all be cleared by then. Sound good? Good. Because I need you to hold me accountable. 🙂 I shall not be defeated this year!

Goal #6 — Finish Every Single Unfinished Rug Hooking Project in My Pattern Bin + 10 Things from back Issues of Magazines/Books I’ve Been Meaning to Make. 

This past week I hooked 3 more rugs for my next Etsy Shop update on Friday, March 29th at 6 pm EST and this Bunny Express rug was one of them. Only 2 of the 3 rugs came from my project bin though but still, I was able to get a few more done so I was happy about that. I have hooked so many pieces this month and it’s been fun to see the stack of finished pieces grow.

I started the year off with:

• 73 rugs {now down to 58}
• 183 hooked flowers {finished 73, now down to 110}
• 10 “things” from back issues of magazines {finished 0}

Goal #7 — Create 12 New Rug Hooking Patterns {with at least half of them being large ones}

I hooked 2 new rug hooking patterns up this past week and hope to have the new patterns listed in my Etsy shop at the end of the week. After I get those listed, I’ll start on my giant turkey rug that I drew out a few months ago. The turkey rug will be the largest one I have ever made, so it will take some time but I’m hoping to have it finished by the end of May. I plan to document the entire process from start to finish and post the picture tutorial when I am finished.

New Rug Hooking Patterns I’ve Created And Added to My Etsy Shop This Year:

• Old Fashioned Double Tulip
• Fat Brown Hen
• Busy Little Bee
• Queen Bee

Goal #8 — Split and Stack 2 Cords of Wood for Next Winter 

The ground finally thawed last week and so the maintenance crew 😉 was able to get the 3 cords of wood stacked up on pallets and out of the way. It won’t be long now before we start pruning and hopefully fell a tree or two so we’ll have enough wood {5 cords} to burn for next winter. Wood heat. It’s pretty awesome.

Goal #9 — Do Something with the 5,002 Photos on My Phone

Ehhhh.

Goal #10 –Lose the Muffin Top

I am hoping Muffy will just fall off during gardening season. Miracles can happen, right?

Goal #11 — Run, Walk or Crawl a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon

I haven’t signed up for anything yet because I am lame.

Goal #12 — Read or Listen to 26 New Books

Early last week I finished up Where’d You Go, Bernadette {and totally loved it, even the ending, because really, how else would you expect the story to turn out}.  And then I listened to about half of This is the Story of a Happy Marriage on audiobook before hitting the delete button because having to hear the term Iowa Writers Workshop 500 millions times, was getting on my nerves. Also, there really wasn’t anything extraordinary about the story.

And then, on a whim, I downloaded the book Secrets of a Charmed Life and whizzed though it in 2 days!! Oh my goodness! If you like historical fiction, Secrets of a Charmed Life is a great read and has moved into the #2 spot of favorite books I’ve read this year.

I am waiting my turn on the library wait list for the following audio books:

• The Four Tendencies
• Before We Were Yours
• The Coddling of the American Mind 
• The Alice Network
• 12 Rules for Life

Books I’ve Read or Listened to So Far This Year:

• Secrets of a Charmed Life #2
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette #3 
• Carnegie’s Maid #4 
• Marilla of Green Gables #1 favorite
• Finder’s Keepers
• Delicious!
• Will’s Red Coat.
• Following Atticus

Goal #13 — Try 52 New Recipes.

8 down, 44 recipes to go.

No new recipes this past week.

Goal #14 — Clean Up 52 Old Recipes on the Blog

Seven recipes down, 45 to go.

Goal #15 — Fill 100 Canning Jars

4 down, 96 to go.

So far this year I’ve I canned 4 jars of Almond Pears.

Goal #16 — Finish Furnishing Our House

While I didn’t bring home any treasures this week to furnish our house, The Girl and I did spot a few things alongside the road on our drive to King Arthur Flour. 😉 Garage sale season…. it’s almost here! Weeeeee.

Furniture pieces I’m still on the hunt for:

• Coffee table for the family room
• Console, cupboard or sideboard for the one and only tv in our house which is in the family room. I could totally live without a television, but my husband says the tv stays.
• Long rectangular table for the craft room.
• Table for the formal dining room {We moved the kitchen table to the dining room and so mow we are looking for a table for the kitchen/keeping room area}.
• 2 wing back chairs for the family room.
• I’d also like to decorate the mantel in the keeping room as well as put up some sort of decoration above the other 3 fireplaces in the house. I’m not one for a lot of things on the walls, but it would be nice to throw up a little pilgrim bling on the plaster.

Goal #17 – 52 Dates with the HH {9 down, 43 to go}

So, apparently winter markets {as in winter farmer’s markets} are kind of a big deal around here. Who knew? 😉 I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow after I weed through all the photos I snapped. But it was goooood. Real goooood.

Goal #18 — Take One Adult Education Class 

Not only did I sign up for a class with my neighbor {I’m keeping mum about it for now, but it’s in May}, but I signed up for a second adult education class {wooden spoon carving!} with my buddy Heather from Massachusetts. I have been wanting to learn how to carve a wooden spoon for a solid 5 years now and so I’m CRAZY excited about taking the class.

The spoon carving class is an all day affair and so I’m glad Heather is taking the class with me. I have a really hard time sticking with something if I’m not good at it right out of the gate, or rather if I know it’s something that is going to be a total waste of my time once I get going.

I can’t stand chit chat, and so the idea of being in an enclosed, and small class environment kind of freaks me out a little bit {it’s just my personality type, I know that now} but still, the need to bolt for the door is always a real possibility and well Heather, {like Mrs. HB.} she gets me. And so I feel better about going.

Goal #19 — Secret {for now} Holiday Project {On hold, because I don’t have the patience for it}

I’ve 100% decided to ditch my first idea. But, I feel good about my current idea {even if I have no idea when I’ll get started on it}. Show and tell date is still set for the first Friday in September.

Goal #20 — Create 12 Wowie Zowie Party Platters

3 down 9 to go. I want to make something special for Easter…. Any ideas?

Goal #21 — Visit 12 General Stores

2 down 10 to go and with a little luck, I’ll be able to knock store #3 off my list next week on date day. This past week The Girl and I visited Dan and Whit’s in Norwich, Vermont.

Goal #22 — Compete with Carole….. Get on My Front Door Game On

The giant carrot has been painted and hung on the front door where it will stay until Easter. After that, I plan to hang a wreath until it’s safe to break out the hanging flower baskets. And that my friends, is when the real fun begins. 🙂

Front Door Bling I’ve Made So Far This Year to Compete with Carole:

• Late January : Valentine Heart
• Late February : Shamrock
• Late March : Giant Carrot

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How about YOU? What are your goals for 2019? If you told us about them HERE, check in! We want to know how you are doing. Because seriously, it’s so much easier to get those goals checked off your list when you have people rooting for you! 🙂

♥ Mavis

You can read more about my 22 goals for 2019 HERE.

Have a Great Sunday!