“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
My goals for 2018
Goal #1 – Write Like No One is Reading.
“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~ Barbara Kingsolver
Goal #2 – Slow Down
I spent half the day yesterday cutting and dying wool. It was lovely.
Goal #3 – Shop Small
This week at the local recycling center I picked up a new {to me} cheese grater, the perfect sized coffee mug for a Kuerig machine, and a stack of books to mail to a friend. As we were driving back home the HH asked if there was anything good in the shed {he hasn’t stepped foot in it yet!} and I said… “I don’t know, someone dropped off a wood planer while I was in there.”
And then he flipped out saying that he could have used one of those for the doors. “HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT? Maybe you should go look inside next time because what I think of as a treasure isn’t the same thing you’d be interested in!”
He makes me crazy.
Goal # 4 – Have a Designated Meal Prep Day It’s Not for Us
I threw in the towel early on this one. Meal prep, and cooking in mass quantities is just not for my family at this stage in our lives. Although with the addition of a new freezer, I may have to whip up some new freezer meals. We’ll see.
Goal #5 – Install a Vegetable Garden Done!
Any experienced corn growers out there? How am I supposed to know when it’s time to pick the corn? Talk about stressful! I am seriously thinking about just growing Indian and popping corn next year. Also, I saw a sign for local corn priced at $7 for a dozen ears. What do you think about that price? This was LOCAL, backyard corn, not big box grocery store corn.
Goal #6 – Clear Land for a Chicken Coop and Future Raised Garden Bed Area
The chicken coop the HH built has been in use for a few weeks now and we are currently in the “planning” stages of the chicken run. Which really just means the girls and I are waiting for the HH to go to the lumber store and buy everything and then GET BUILDING! This week maybe?
All I know is that it then hens are getting close to the laying stage and I’m not going to go hunting through the woods looking for their eggs so be better get crackin’.
Goal #7 – Grow 500 Pounds of Vegetables
So far this season we are up to 85+ pounds of homegrown backyard goodness. Even though I’m a little disappointed the number isn’t higher for this time of year, it makes me feel better knowing that next year will be better. Getting settled and the garden up and growing this year has been a bit of a challenge. Dealing with the heat, all the side projects, oddball distractions and just getting to know the property has been a real eye opener. Next year, things will be better next year I keep telling myself. 😉
Goal #8 – Hook 100 Rugs
Only 22 more rugs to go before I can check this goal off my list! This past week I finished 3 small pillows, cat and pumpkin heads, another bunch of sunflowers and dyed a boatload of wool. I plan to update the listings in My Etsy shop on August 25th and I want to be able to include a bunch of fall/pumpkin rugs so I need to get a move on.
Goal #9 – Make a Set of Dolls
I plan to make a set {or two} of primitive dolls later this year after the garden has been put to bed.
Goal #10 – Make a Sampler, Frame it and Hang it on the Wall Done!
Although my finished sampler is hanging on the wall, I’ve been collecting frames in case I want to make a few more this winter. I have a feeling I am going to need a lot of projects to keep me busy. 😉
Goal #11 – Visit 22 Bakeries
The HH and I tried out a new place. I’ll tell you more about it soon.
Goal #12 – Start a Collection
No new treasures this week.
Goal #13 – Read {or listen to} 26 Books
I stopped by the library yesterday to pick up a few travel books. My parents will be visiting next month and my Mother would like to go to Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket. I’ve been to the Cape, but not to the islands so I’m not sure which one would be a better day trip.
Also, the HH and I have been watching some sort of travel show about walking through Scotland this past week and so I grabbed a book about exploring Scotland as well. Who knows…. Maybe we’ll go searching for Nessie next year.
Goal #14 – Try 12 New Canning Recipes
This past week I canned a batch of blueberry jam {without the mint} and have already sold 3 jars at my little end of the driveway vegetable stand. I think I’ll can some peach jam this week.
So far this year I’ve canned:
- Blueberry Jam {without the mint}
- Pickled Beets {without the funky spices}
- Cherry Almond Jam {freakin’ AWESOME}
- Susan’s Lilac Blossom Jelly
Goal #15 – Secret {for now} Holiday Project
I had a bit of a breakthrough this week. When I started on this secret holiday project, there was one particular thing I wanted to make. Over the past few months though, I’ve found myself getting pulled in a different direction and for some reason, I’ve been fighting it and not really trying hard enough to explore the idea. When really, I think this “thing” I’ve been resisting, is really what I was meant to be making all along.
Once it’s up to my standards…. I’ll show you what I’ve been working on these past few months. But until then, my lips are sealed.
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2018? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2018 Goals HERE.
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Kathy says
When the tassles turn brown and the cobs start to swell, harvest that corn! $7 a dozen seems steep; here in NE Ohio it’s been going at $3 for 10 at the farmers markets and yard stands. I suppose each state is different.
Lissa says
I remember my mom buying it for .10/ear.
Katelyn says
$7 a dozen is pretty standard in Vermont, more if it’s organic.
Tracy Tidwell says
Oh dear Lord. Down here in Texas it is 10 cents an ear. On a bad day its 5 for a dollar. Robbery is $7 for a dozen.
Mrs. C. says
Yes, the price really is regional. If someone in my neck of the woods charged that for homegrown corn, they wouldn’t sell an ear!
Laurel says
The corn in the picture is very young, but when you can grab a hold of it, and it fits your hand, you can feel that the kernels are developed. Also the husks will be dark green on outside as well as the tassels brown. Give it time! 4-5 dillars a dozen is the going rate at farm stands in VA.
Claudette says
I agree with what folks are saying about when to pick—wait until the tassels are brown. Then you can peel back the husk just a little to check the kernels. Pierce one to see if it’s juicy. Don’t pick them until right before you’re going to eat them for the very best taste.
One thought about pollination—if you want to make sure that you get a full cob of corn, you can hand pollinate. Each tassel represents one kernel, which means each one needs to be pollinated to get a full cob of corn. If you count on the wind, you might get gaps in the cob. The time to pollinate is when the tassels are young and bright green (like your pic). Strip the pollin off the top of the corn plant and sprinkle it on the tassels, making sure to get each one. You might think it’s too much trouble, but I find it kind of soothing.
Deborah says
You go girl! You are doing awesome. Keep up the good job you are doing. As for husbands, they all make us crazy at times. But, we gotta love them. They do good things for us, too.
Lynne says
The going rate at farmers markets in Pittsburgh PA seems to be $5 for a bakers dozen. That’s at least twice the price of supermarket corn, but the farmers always sell out. Yummm.
Tanya says
Mavis, I can so sympathize about the HH thing! The same thing happens in this house but I giggle because I have done and said the same situation to him, not understanding why he didn’t know something was important to me!, lol.
I am in love with your hook rug sunflowers, cats and pumpkins.
Keep up this wonderful site. I am a transplant from the Tacoma area living in FL now, I so miss the gardening and get to live vicariously through yours.
Paula says
I really love Scotland. It is one of my favorite places. My husband and I did the island of Islay, Glasgow and Edinburgh last year. We did not do the highlands. We do plan to do the highlands in 2020. Islay is known for their smokey, peaty Scotch. (my husband’s favorite). Glasgow is not my favorite. Edinburgh is a must. My favorite resturant in the world is in Edinburgh. It ‘s called Aizle. It dosen’t have a menu. They list 21 items that you will recieve during your meal. It is all in season and local items. Unbelievable!!! At the end of the meal they give you the menu of what you had. It is a tasting meal with many courses. You pay in advance for the meal when you make a reservation. The price was fantastic for what you received. The food and service is that of a Michelin Star resturant. I can’t believe that don’t have one. Love, Love, Love the place! The museums are also fantastic in Edinburgh!
Mavis Butterfield says
We’ve been to Edinburgh and were supposed to fly to Islay to tour a scotch factory but our hopper flight there got canceled due to bad weather and were super disappointed as I thought checking out the island would have been fun. Thanks for telling me about Aizle. I will have to look it up.
Susan Webster says
Mavis, I’m still a believer…I think you’ll make your 500 pound goal. One sweet potato can easily be a pound all by itself! Keep the faith, you are doing very well!
I love your blog!
Susan
Mavis Butterfield says
Thank you Susan!
Laura says
Corn in WA is going for 75 cents to a dollar an ear this summer (and it was the same last summer). Last summer I kept waiting for a deal, but it never came. We used to get grocery store corn for about 3-4 for a dollar at least 4-5 times a summer. I would stock up those weeks and eat a lot when it was a deal. Last deal we had was Memorial Day weekend when Safeway had it 6 ears for a dollar. Hoping it would come back but it hasn’t yet. So disappointing! I kept thinking of the bushel the HH got for you every year for your anniversary….So, $7 for 12 doesn’t seem to bad to me based on our local prices, but I am used to less than 50 cents an ear!
Elise in the SF Bay Area says
I, like Susan, still believe that you can make your goal in the garden! We’re cheering for you Mavis!
I’ve been away off the grid (LOVELY) for a week, so just spend 90 minutes catching up on your blog (thanks to your super-convenient weekly digest post!).
My question:
If hubby loves to drive in a random starry-shaped pattern, didn’t he turn the car around to go back for the wood plane!?!?!?! (I live up a big hill, it takes a tenth of a gallon to get from the bottom to the top, so I do everything I possibly can not to drive up more then 2x a day, including my trip home from work, and weekends too. Drives my kids a little crazy sometimes… I challenge myself to walk some errands – from the top of the hill and back again #ineededawalk on FB).
Enough about me 🙂 I LOVE your stories, they make me smile 🙂
Rats (I believe) took most of our ripening grapes and are still chewing off the tops of the pole beans, but the beans are sortof bushing themselves as a consequence, and I have flowers this week 🙂 I have 2 female pumpkin flowers so far (on one vine, nothing female on the other one yet). I planted strawberries along with everything else around June 10 pinched off the berry shoots at the time, and I’m getting lots of leaves and runners, but NOT ONE more flower since then. Hm… First time with strawberries, so… I picked 2 bets before leaving for camp a week ago, they total about 3 oz without the greens… They’re still in the fridge. The greens are wilted but not spoiled, so I’ll saute them up tonight and enjoy them myself if nobody else wants any 🙂
Susan says
There’s a place called Chuck’s Produce in Vancouver (2 locations) and once a year they sell local (Washington/ Oregon) fresh corn-on-the-cob for .10 each!
They use the whole garden area for this and had it on sale last week..
Teri says
Did the HH turn around and go back for the planer? Maybe next time he’ll go in and check it out! Off topic but I’ve been wondering where you are buying your tp and soap etc. Don’t seem to show it from Aldis. Are you still ordering from Amazon?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, he didn’t go back!!! Made me crazy. Amazon is where I buy the tp and toiletries. 🙂
Lissa says
We were in Edinburgh last year and thought it was so beautiful. Climbed Arthur’s Seat which was amazing–especially for us lounge lizards :). You might get the yen to move there next.
TEL says
We lived in Europe for 3 years and traveled quite a bit. Edinburgh was by far my favorite trip! I felt so at home there. It was lovely.
Shirley says
The $7 price is probably the first corn of the season price and likely will settle to about $5 a dozen. That is the usual way – at least up here in Manitoba. For readiness, I go by several factors, dry silk, the full feeling of the cob and last but not least the “peek” test. All that being said I have just frozen 12 cups of oven cooked freezer corn. I think our hot weather has pushed the corn to mature faster this year. By the look of your corn you may have chosen a long season corn. Do you know how many days to maturity? In our short season I look for earlier varieties.
Mavis Butterfield says
I can’t remember how many days the corn was…. 90? I’m not sure. I sure will miss all that free anniversary corn though this year.
Chris says
Your recycle center seems to have surprisingly nice things. We drop stuff off at ours a couple times a month. The guys that run/monitor it always get first dibs as folks walk in. Maybe that’s why I’ve never seen anything that I would bring home – ha!
Mavis Butterfield says
Luckily, we are in a small town and I think that helps a bit. Or maybe not? I have noticed though that if we go later in the day there’s more stuff.
Julie K Whitmore says
Your corn will be ready when the raccoons visit.
Mavis Butterfield says
That’s funny!
Naomi says
How in the world are you dyeing wool in this heat/humidity?! I’m in Connecticut, and canned tomatoes one day. Had only two pots going. When I dye, I typically have three pots on the stove and two on camp stoves on the deck. It’s like a rolling hot flash for a whole day!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yesterday and today I dyed wool on the camp stove in the rain. It was lovely. 🙂 I may have to add canning / wool dying kitchen to my husbands project list though {with fans!} for next summer.
Naomi says
Great idea!! I floated that idea to my husband, but he’s not willing to give up his mancave.
Mim says
Hi Mavis,
Both the Vineyard and Nantucket are beautiful, but for a day trip, I would recommend Martha’s Vineyard, as the ferry ride is much shorter. (Unless you want to take the puddle jumper to Nantucket from Boston….) Nantucket is definitely worth a few days/weeklong visit at some point, though. We used to rent a house there every year and it was absolute heaven. Almost no cars, bike everywhere, and you feel totally detached from the rest of the world. Gorgeous, deserted beaches.
I think you and your parents will love the Vineyard, though.
Also, if your folks like fishing, on another trip, it’s worth chartering a fishing boat for a half day and going out for striped bass and bluefish. Great fun and the fish you catch — with these incredibly skilled captains and crew who know the waters like the back of their hand — are incredible. AND, the crew guts and cleans them for you, right on the boat. You just need to have your cooler ready back at the car.
Have a blast.
Nancy says
There is a fast ferry you can take to get to Nantucket which is only an hour from Hyannis.
Amy says
Mavis, are there any books you recommend on learning about rug hooking?
Mavis Butterfield says
Honestly, your best bet is watching a bunch of Youtube videos to watch how a rug is hooked. While there are a bunch of rug hooking books out there, most of which have patterns, tell you how to hook and how to dye wool, I think it’s much better to watch a video and give it a try {or take a class} and see if you like it before you invest a lot of money into it. Like many other forms of art, you are either going to like it, find it easy to do, and be good at it, or you are not.
But no, there isn’t one particular “starter” rug hooking book I can recommend. They are all pretty much the same and your local library should have one in stock or be able to get one for you. I’m sorry if that wasn’t super helpful.
SandyF says
I am a master food preserver-and we are required to label our jam in the following manner:
EX:
Blueberry jam
8/11/2018
blueberry, sugar,pectin
water bath method 10 minutes
made by: Mavis
I know-sounds weird, but if you are going to sell it, it may be a good idea -not that your wonderful jam will last more than a week once the customers buy it-I am sure it is yummy. People that can will be impressed!
Carrie says
Hi, it’s not tassel it’s Silk. The silk is the part at the top of the ear (that looks like blonde hair). The tassel is at the top of the plant. When the silks start turning brown then check your ears for fullness of kernel.
TEL says
In NE (corn capital), backyard farmers sell for around $5-6 a dozen so I don’t think $7 is so bad for good sweetcorn. I don’t know how much it is at the stores. I always buy it roadside.
TEL says
*capitol Oops! Also that’s Nebraska, not Northeast.
Gina says
I once saw a program on Martha’s Vineyard and they talked about how everything on the island like furniture got recycled from yard sales because it was so difficult bringing stuff over. Thought that was interesting.
E in Upstate says
When you go to Scotland, just know you will now, bring an extra suitcase for all the wonderful WOOL that is made there. For me, it would be yarn skeins, but believe for you it would be all the wonderful plaid fabric.
UpstateNYer says
Marconi Beach is a nice place to visit on Cape Cod. Stunning views and no cheesy boardwalk to navigate.
Cass says
Everyone already said what I was going to say….So “go Mavis, Go, Go Mavis” I just know you will make your goal when you weigh all the root crops.
Leslie J Honcoop says
Back in the PNW, (Whatcom County), corn is 3 ears for $2 so $7 a dozen is pretty good!
Marybeth says
I paid $3.50 for 6 ears of corn at a farm stand yesterday. They are huge. In the store recently I got them 10 for $2. I don’t mind paying a little more to someone directly.
Marti says
I freeze a lot of corn and pay $3 a dozen. The best part is I get to go out to the field to harvest it so know that is totally fresh and not sitting for a couple of days. Nothing better than the freshest corn. Some of the produce stands charge $5 a dozen but seldom more. (Wisconsin)
Rhona says
Mavis, good choice on books. Did you know that the author of the “Family Cow” resides in North Western Maine?
Mavis Butterfield says
I didn’t know that!
ANNE says
Love those hooked sunflowers!!
C says
For some reason thinking your secret project is glass blowing, lol.