The fresh vegetables are finally starting to roll in. This week we harvested fresh green beans, zucchini, a few Sun Gold tomatoes and 5 bouquets of English lavender. 

We’re still a few weeks away from having boatloads of tomatoes, but we’re getting close.

Everything is so healthy and green. 

The weather has been really nice lately. We’ve had a couple of good rain showers lately and I think that has really helped, especially with the lawn.

We have 32 tomato plants this year. Did I tell you that already?

I planted carrot seeds 90 days ago and they are still so teeny tiny. 

So are the beets. Slow and steady wins the race I guess. 

Look at all the green beans I picked yesterday. I planted them at two week intervals so we should be set until fall.  

Last night we had green beans and baby potatoes for dinner and they were delicious.

And check out all the English lavender I harvested!!

I felt SO GUILTY out there with my shears with the bees buzzing around me. It was like it was theirs and I was stealing it. 

We have 6 lavender plants in bloom right now and although I would have loved to cut it all, I left most of it for the fuzzy bumbles.

I started some more lavender from seed this spring and planted a row of it behind the boxwoods. 

If all goes well we should be swimming in lavender next summer. Boxwoods and English lavender… Two of my favorite plants to have in the garden.

The Shasta daisies I started from seed are doing well too. I planted a border of them in front of the picket fence. 

We probably won’t get any blooms this year, but next year, with a little luck the daisies should be about 3-4 feet tall.

Knowing the plants wouldn’t get very big this year, I snuck in some small pumpkin and gourd seedlings behind them. Hopefully in another week or two they’ll throw out some tendrils and latch on to the fence.

I like to squeeze as many plants in as possible. 

Well that’s the garden report from Bird Cottage. I hope you have a great weekend.

It looks like it’s going to be sunny and 70 all weekend. And you know what? That sounds pretty perfect to me. Peace Out. 

~Mavis

OTHER

The post Green Beans And Lavender Bouquets appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

I don’t know why, but every time we go to the grocery store I always look at the price of candy bars. 

Probably because there’s nothing else to do while I’m waiting for the person in front of me to be rung up. 

Kit Kat bars are now $1.50 at Market Basket {the local grocery store}. $1.50!!! It always makes me feel old when I see how much things cost these days. When I was a kid, candy bars were only $0.25.

At Home Depot though, that same 1.5 ounce Kit Kat Bar is a whopping $3.48!!  And NO, that is not for a “King Size” bar. It’s for the exact same, four little sticks of chocolate coated wafers. 

Talk about a serious price difference. 

It makes me wonder how many Kit Kat Bars Home Depot sells in a day vs Market Basket. I like candy as much as the next person, but $3.48 for a run of the mill candy bar? Umm no.

~Mavis

OTHER

The post Would You Pay $3.48 For A Kit Kat Bar? appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Did you grow up in the 80’s? Did you wear Esprit?

Well if you wore Esprit or had an Esprit bag {those were all the rage at my Jr. High!!} then you might want to hurry over to Costco because they’ve got Esprit crewneck sweatshirts for $16.99!! 

Maybe you want one for yourself? Or maybe you are looking for something quick and easy to re-sell? 

Apparently the Esprit sweatshirts are going quick and being re-sold on sites like Poshmark and eBay for $45- $60 each. How wild is that? 

I didn’t buy one but I thought I’d pass along the news just in case you were interested. 

Esprit bags, Benetton corduroys, Guess jeans, Jessica Mc Clintock/Gunne Sax dresses, white Levi jeans with the cuffs rolled up!!

Swatch watches! It’s so fun to see those old brands and styles pop up every now and again. It always brings back so many memories. 

What were some of the brands you remember from when you were in school? 

~Mavis

Fact: I LOVED my freshman year homecoming dress SO much that when I found the same one on eBay a few years ago, I bought it.

I’ll need to do a few trial runs with the Aqua Net first before I can recreate the photo though.

OTHER

The post Esprit Sweatshirts At Costco!! appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

The local farm stand recently opened for the season and it’s already packed with all sorts of amazing fruits and vegetables. 

I LOVE this little stand. The ladies that work there are always so pleasant and it has just about everything you could need in the way of produce.

The place is always hopping too. Last Friday was the first day for corn so everyone was especially excited. 

Fresh corn! You just can’t beat the taste. 

This year corn is going for $0.85 an ear at the stand. How much is corn going for in your area?

I’m tempted to go back and buy a giant sack and freeze it. Have you ever done that? It’s SO EASY! → How to freeze corn.

Look at those gorgeous heads of lettuce!

And the tomatoes!

It makes me think that next year, maybe I should start my seeds a little earlier and use row covers.

But if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to go to the farmstand, right?  

I think I’d miss it.

I snapped a photo of the price board so you could see how much fruits and veggies are going for here in Southern Maine this summer. 

Do they compare with the prices in your neck of the woods?

The thing I look forward to the most this time of year {other than fresh corn} are the wild Maine blueberries. Luckily I was early enough to snag a flat of these little beauties. 

We gobbled down a pint and then I packed the rest away in the freezer for pies. I might have to go back for another flat. We’ll see. Summer! We’re finally in the thick of it and it tastes so good. 

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful day!

~Mavis

OTHER

The post Corn Is $0.85 An Ear This Summer appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

There were even more guys there this time. Maybe 12-15. It was hilarious. 

I love being on the cusp of things. But when they become too popular {like the hipsters finding out about corduroys}, I’m out. We might go one more time though, we’ll see.

In The Kitchen

All I’m baking this summer are my favorite chocolate chip cookies. 

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 worked on a few more sunflowers while waiting for the HH to get zapped. I think he only has about two more weeks to go and then he will be done. 

His poor ear. It’s swollen and red and he says it feels really uncomfortable. And apparently it will continue to feel that way for some time afterward. 

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. {6 down 21 to go}

Go New Places – See New Things

We went to check out a few antique stores and I spotted a celery vase. I had no idea that special vases were made to display celery, did you?

I love going to antique stores. They always bring back so many memories from childhood. 

I have yet to come across the conquistador lamps my grandparents had in their living room though. 

But a celery vase, who knew?

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}

Walk And Stretch More

I’ve been doing a bunch of power walking lately. The air was thick though on one of the days and after a few minutes I decided to head back home. 

We are still eating mass quantities of peaches. I think we still have three more weeks to go with the peach subscription. 

We have yet to do anything with the peaches other than eat them fresh or in cereal or salad which is sort of surprising to me.  Oh well. I thought for sure by now I’d have a freezer full of peach puree. 

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

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

Garden

We picked out the first zucchini of the season!!! 

The HH made fried zucchini, onions and scrambled eggs with it. The first of anything from the garden is always the best isn’t it? 

Pretty soon I won’t be able to give them away for free.

Garden Goals For This Year

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

Paint

And last but not least…

The buoys out front have been such a hit this summer that the HH had to make me another batch. 

Between painting buoys, Dr. appointments and taking care of the garden, it’s been a busy summer so far. Here’s hoping things will slow down a little in August.

I hope you have a great week. 

~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 29 of 52 appeared first on One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Related Stories

• My Goals For 2026 – Week 28 of 52
• My Goals For 2026 – Week 27 of 52
• My Goals For 2026 – Week 26 of 52