It’s supposed to rain all weekend so this afternoon, the HH and I are going to stop by the library to load up on movies and books for the weekend. 

The last few times we’ve stopped by the library I’ve loaded up on the What Women Create magazines. As someone who loves making things, I find them fascinating.

Have you read any good books lately? I feel like I’m always asking this question but I seem to plow through so many of them as I’m hooking rugs or painting that I’m always in need of more suggestions. 

Penelope A Love Story by Paul Bochner is next in my queue. Have you read it? I suspect is will be similar to Raising Hare {which I loved!}. 

I don’t know about you, but I plan on staying in my pj’s all weekend. With nowhere in particular to go and a cupboard full of tea and plenty of cheese in the fridge, why not stay home and have a lazy weekend.

You can never go wrong with one of those. Especially this time of year. 

~ Mavis

OTHER

The post Have You Read Any Good Books Lately? appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

100 tulip bulbs? No problem. 

But paperwhites are grown indoors and well, it’s not like we have a ton of places to put them so it looks like I’ve found my hostess gift for the holidays.

I found this cool antique copper planter this past summer at an antique store and thought it would look fantastic in the center of the kitchen table planted with flowers. 

It’s hard to believe these bulbs will be in bloom in just 4-6 weeks! 

If you’ve ever grown paperwhites before then you know how fragrant they are. Some people love the smell and others, well, others not so much.

Here’s a peek at a few of the containers I planted. 

Once the green stalks get going I plan on covering the bulbs in the copper planter and the ones in the wooden boxes with a little bit of dried moss.

I ended up having a few extra bulbs so I went around the neighborhood on my bike and passed out the extra bulbs. 

I brought along a few of my filled containers to show peeps how I planted mine and let’s just say, there are way more indoor gardeners in the neighborhood than I thought!

How cool is that!? And yes, in case you were wondering, I’m wearing the cashmere sweater I found alongside the road last fall. 

All we have left to do now is compost the pumpkins, plant the amaryllis bulbs and get the snow sticks in the ground and we are done with garden chores for the year. 

How about YOU? What’s left on YOUR list? Is the weather in your neck of the woods similar to mine? Curious minds want to know. 

~Mavis

OTHER

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I spotted a giant box of Christmas bows at Costco the last time we were there and it reminded me of when I was a kid and how all the presents had bows like these on them.

Do you still buy bows? I think it’s been at least 20+ years since I’ve bought a box of bows. 

If you need a recommendation for an electric blanket, The Berkshire Life Heated Blanket from Costco {online} is fantastic! The blanket is soft, has duel controls and you can even toss it in the washing machine when you need to.

They sold out last year before I could get one so as soon as I spotted them online, I snagged one. 

If you’re looking for one fancy pants recipe to make this holiday season, try this recipe for Christmas Stollen. It’s worth the time, money and energy that goes into it. And, it freezes well too. 

And last but not least, Amy Sedaris gives a tour of her apartment. Yes the video is 7 years old BUT if you haven’t seen the video yet, I want you to know it’s worth all seven minutes and ten seconds of your time. 

Also, I want to add that if I lived alone, my abode would either have 5 things in it {bed, couch, table and two chairs}, or totally look like her place. There would be no in between.

I’d also like to point out that I never thought about owning a magic wand before, but now I have one in my Amazon cart. Thanks Amy! 

~Mavis

OTHER

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Yesterday we took down all the Halloween decorations… The bats, the buoys, the pumpkins hanging from the garage and now the house looks so naked! 

It almost looks like a normal house. And kind of boring too.

Thank goodness we have a barn to store everything in. Now comes the hard part, digging out the Christmas decorations. 

Luckily we have a few weeks before we need to do that. 

I was hoping to find some giant turkeys, or something Thanksgiving related this year but never did.

The pumpkins in front of the fence will have to do. 

I don’t think they’ll last until Thanksgiving though, but we might as well leave them out until they start to rot. 

I finally got around to trimming back the chive plants. I started them from seed at the beginning of the year and they did really, really well out front. 

Not only do we have a perennial that will stay green from May to November but next summer we’ll get a round of purple {chive} flowers too. Set it and forget it baby… That’s what it’s all about.

According to the weather app on my phone we have two more days of sunshine headed out way. After that, it’s supposed to be non-stop rain for six days straight. 

Who knows though. If there is one thing you can count on here in New England it’s the weather. And by that I mean you never know what’s really going to happen until it happens.

I took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine to refresh the red paint on the lobsters.

What a nutty idea. It’s still hard to believe I talked my husband into hanging lobsters all over the front of the house. Who does that? HA HA HA. 

Crazy people. That’s who.

I’m beginning to think we are going to have a mild winter and we won’t get much snow. I hope that’s not true. 

I hope we get truckloads of the stuff. 

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. I hope you have a good one. 

~Mavis

OTHER

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Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

The first year we were here we got a handful of kids. Last year, zero. This year we only got one. And he wasn’t even wearing a costume. 

He said he was tired of wearing it. HA HA HA. We had a long discussion about costumes and candy and it was so sweet, it made my night. 

Did you get any trick or treaters? I’m about ready to give up on the whole thing. I just don’t think it’s as big of a deal as it was when we were kids.

In The Kitchen

The best thing I ate last week {besides lunch at Kiln Guy and The Chef’s place} was homemade meatballs. 

I used the same recipe I use for our favorite meatloaf. I cooked all the meatballs in the oven, added sauce, served a few for lunch and then popped the rest in the freezer for another time. 

The HH pointed out that we either have meatballs or pasta. But never both at the same time. I never thought about it, but I guess he’s right.

Kitchen Goals For This Year

• Master the pear frangipane tart from Standard Baking Company. 
• Put my Weck jars to use. Working on it!!
• Use two bins of beans {Working on it}

Rug Hooking

That new batch of pillows I need to stich together so I can get them listed is still sitting on the arm of the couch. I think I like to hooking part about 10x more than the finished part. 

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.  {4 down 6 to go}
• Hook 27 of the patterns from the “someday I’ll hook these” bin. {17 down 10 to go}

Go New Places – See New Things

Driving somewhere would be nice, but I just don’t think I have the patience to sit in a car for an entire day {both ways}. What was that thing called on Star Trek and you could be beamed somewhere? Why hasn’t anyone invented that yet?

Maybe I should just pack a bag and show up at the airport and look at the departure board and pick something.

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.

Places I’ve Been So Far This Year

• Boston {Birthday getaway}
• NYC {Girls getaway}
• John Mellencamp Concert + Stockbridge, MA

Walk And Stretch More

Nearly all of the summer people and tourists have packed up and gone home for the season. No crowds! I love it. 

Walking on the beach has been really nice lately and even though hardly anyone is around, there’s always something new to see. {And collect!}

I still haven’t gotten into any sort of stretching routine, but now that my feet are feeling better, {more on that later} I think I might be up for the 5k and 10k that were on my original goals list for 2026.

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

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

Garden

On the agenda for this week: Plant 100 paperwhites and 6 amaryllis bulbs. 

I think I may have gone a wee bit overboard in the paperwhite department, but I figure if I have too many, I can give some away as holiday gifts, right?

Garden Goals For This Year

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

Paint

After the HH finishes patching the drywall {from removing the tracklighting} it will be my job to paint the ceiling.

I’d rather paint the ceiling myself than pay someone to do it but painting ceilings always makes my neck hurt. Even when I use a roller. 

Does anyone have any cool tricks or tips for making the job a little easier? I’d love to hear them. 

Hey! It’s November already. How crazy is that?

~Mavis

Painting Goals For This Year

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

OTHER

The post My Goals For 2026 – Week 44 of 52 appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

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