Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

I think I’ve spent more time unplugged this summer than in years past and it’s been really nice.

In The Kitchen

We tried Duke’s Mayonnaise on a BLT and holy cow man, it really does have a kick to it. Also, so far, the marmalade skies tomatoes are our favorite ones this summer. 

I don’t remember who suggested those tomatoes but THANK YOU! They are delicious and we’re looking forward to enjoying more of them in the coming weeks.

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 {working on it}

Rug Hooking

I hooked a few fall pieces and listed them on Etsy last night. 

Now I can get started on the turkeys!! I haven’t decided if I’ll hook any Christmas items this year, I might just skip ahead to Valentine’s Day. We’ll see.

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. {8 down 19 to go}

Go New Places – See New Things

We went kayaking to Goat Island and now that the kayaks are down, I want to do some more paddling around. I love being out on the water. The sound of the waves, the sea birds, the boats, I love it all.

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

I am convinced you could find everything you’d need to furnish your home just by picking stuff up alongside the road here in Maine. We don’t need a dresser, but I passed by this one on a walk.

Last week we set out an extra house, a new kitchen cupboard and an old screen door.

The cabinet was gone within 30 minutes, the screen was picked up in about two hours and the hose took an entire day to find its next owner. 

It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who loves finding treasures alongside the road.

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

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

Garden

The flowers in the garden are still going strong and we are picking ridiculous amounts of tomatoes.

I spotted a few basketball sized pumpkins growing in someone’s yard the other day and was shocked. We have a few growing along the fence but ours are still the size of a golf ball. 

I hope I didn’t plant them too late. I guess only time will tell.

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

The fence in the back still needs to be painted but I’ve been so busy with other things this summer that I haven’t gotten around to finishing. 

Plus the mosquitoes are still around and I don’t want to get bit. I’m thinking late September might be a good month to finish painting. 

House projects. They seem to come in waves around here. Right now though, I just want to enjoy what’s left of summer. 

Hey! It’s Monday already. Can you believe it? I hope you have a good one. 

~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 33 of 52 appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

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Isn’t it funny how everything we wore in high school is back in style now? But seriously, 1990 called and they want their thick, heavy, cotton jean shorts back.

This wall mounted garden hose holder and faucet set up is gorgeous!!! And the garden hose, apparently it’s the last garden hose you’ll ever need. Big bucks though.

Speaking of big bucks… There are dream homes and then there are DREAM HOMES. Wowza.

And last but not least, Duke’s mayonnaise. The HH read about it online and said it’s supposed to be the best mayonnaise on the planet.

While he was at Market Basket yesterday he spotted it on the shelf and bought a jar. I guess we’ll have to make a BLT today and find out if it’s any good. Have you tried it?

Well, that’s the latest from Maine. I hope you have a great weekend.

~Mavis

OTHER

The post Bits And Bobs – August 2026 appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Yesterday we pulled the kayaks down from the rafters in the garage and paddled to Goat Island Lighthouse. We’ve been to several lighthouses since moving to Maine, but this was the first one we had the pleasure of kayaking to.

It was the FIRST time we’ve taken them out on the water since living here at The Lobster House. How crazy is that?

I guess time flies when all you seem to do is dye wool and work in the yard.

Goat Island Lighthouse which is owned by the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, is only accessible by kayak or boat at high tide which made the trip all the more exciting.

Even though the island was small, and there’s nothing really but a lighthouse, cottage and a boathouse, I could totally live there year round. No problem. 

My Etsy packages might be delayed a wee bit in inclement weather or if I miss the tide, but hey, I’m sure I could figure out some sort of workaround, right? 

Did you know it’s my dream to live on a small island someday? Have I mentioned that before? I think I have. A few hundred times.

Treasures. I can find them anywhere.

Have you ever climbed to the top of a lighthouse before? Some of them are teeny tiny at the top. This is one of them.

But still plenty of room to sit with a warm cup of tea and cookie and look out at the sea.

If you want to head outside though, you’re going to have to crouch down and fit through a wee opening the size of a suitcase.

But the view! Totally worth it. 

I love new adventures. And this was a good one. We picked up a few bits of trash, went back with a few cool pieces of driftwood and had a great time out on the water. 

Now that the kayaks are down, I can’t wait to get out on the water a few more times before the weather turns. 

Life in Maine. It’s never dull, that’s for sure. 

~Mavis

P.S. Elizabeth asked about the shorts I am wearing. The brand is Stio and they are the Women’s CFS Drifter Short – 3″ size small. BEST lightweight shorts I have ever worn. Pockets are perfect and I’ve worn them every day this summer that’s it’s been over 72 degrees.

If you spend $150 you can get $75 off with this referral link –> https://www.talkable.com/x/G1r2IR

Lighthouses in Maine We’ve Visited So Far

• • Portland Head Light
  • Doubling Point Lighthouse
  • West Quoddy Lighthouse 
  • Pemaquid Lighthouse
  • Marshall Point Lighthouse
  • Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse 

OTHER

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It’s been so hot and humid for the past five days that everything in the garden went bonkers. I think we are officially in tomato season. 

This can only mean one thing. It’s time to can some salsa. 

Yesterday we harvested zucchini, green beans, basil, tomatoes and 2 cucumbers. This year I planted China Jade cucumbers and the taste is fantastic. I’d grow them again. 

The mini pumpkins and spinner gourds I planted along the front of the fence are finally starting to take off too. 

I was hoping they’d latch on to the fence pickets all by themselves but a few of them needed a little help so I gently tied them up with some string until they can hang on all by themselves.

Tendrils. Sometimes they need a little help. Hopefully by the end of August the entire front of the fence will be covered in vines. Won’t that look SO COOL? Yes, yes it will.

The flowers are still going strong. There’s definitely no shortage of color next door.

Our little bird friends LOVE hanging out beneath the benches when it’s really hot out. I told the HH we should build them some winter housing.

He thinks I’m nuts.

Either that or he smells another project in the making. HA HA HA.

Ahh summer. I’ll be sorry to see you and all your glorious flowers and vegetables go. But you know, I really do think fall is my favorite season around here. 

Followed very closely by winter. 

I hope you have a great day! Try and stay out of trouble. 

~Mavis

OTHER

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So. We stopped by Costco the other day and I rarely stop to look in the clothing section but I did and they had these Gap Ankle Trousers for $17.99 in black {faded black, really a charcoal color}, khaki and sage green. 

Yada yada yada, I can’t remember the last time I bought a pair of pants from the Gap but the quality looked good so I took a second to check them out. 

Long story short, I held them up, guessed at sizing and bought one in every color.

Costco doesn’t have changing rooms so I figured if they didn’t fit, I’d just bring them back the next time we were in the area. 

Well, they did fit {size 8} and they felt SO GOOD on. 

Like so good, I hopped online to see if I could order a few more pairs because that would be so much easier than going back to Costco on a heavy traffic day and hoping they still had my size left.

As it turns out, they did have them online, but the pants are $2 more a pair {$19.99 instead of $17.99 in store}. 

But then I noticed I could save $10 OFF when purchasing 3 or more {select clothing items} or $20 off 5-9 clothing items or even better, $50 off 10+ items on the same order. {Valid 8/3/26 through 8/31/26.} 

So I put 10 pairs of pants in my online cart. When I went to checkout though, I actually received $60 off my order. So, 10 pairs of new pants for $139.90 + tax shipped.

WHAT A DEAL!!! $13.99 a pair for some SUPER comfortable pants. It looks like I’m set for a while. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then you know I tend to buy my clothes in bulk HA HA HA. 

I’m only telling you this because this was such a great deal, I just had to share.

~Mavis

P.S. If you buy these pants, you’ll need a seam ripper because the back pockets are sewn shut for some strange reason. But hey, new pants!!

OTHER

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