The leaves are really changing color now! 

If you ever wanted to come to Southern Maine for the fall foliage, the second to third week is the absolute best time to visit in my opinion. 

So many front porches are decorated this year. Way more than last year it seems. On our walk around town yesterday I snapped a few photos to share. 

Rain is in the forecast for {all of} today so that means I can hang out in my pj’s and  watch old BBC archive videos, hook rugs and drink tea all day. Hooray! 

Here’s to taking the day off and staying home. I hope you have a lovely weekend! 

~Mavis

OTHER

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Did I tell you I started hollyhocks from seed? I did! About 3 weeks ago in little mesh bags.

I meant to direct sow the seeds in the ground towards the end of August, but I totally forgot about them until a few weeks ago.

I ended up starting the seeds under grow lights but then the temperatures started to dip and I didn’t want them to get used to being in the cozy warm house and then struggle when I planted them. 

So I moved the teeny tiny seedlings out on the porch where they hung out for a few days.

Yesterday I got them in the ground. 

I hope the roots still have enough time to spread. We’ll see. I think I might have been too late. But who knows, if it doesn’t work out I can always try next year.

In other gardening news, we finally finished cleaning out the raised garden bed on the side of the cottage. We pulled up the last zucchini plant and the basil plants that were past their prime. 

I watched as the HH chopped down all the giant sunflower stalks. 

They were more than 2 inches across!!! I love growing giant sunflowers. They’re just so stinkin’ happy. 

We’re getting down to crunch time around here. 

Gardening season is coming to a close and while I had an enormous amount of fun this summer playing in the dirt, I’m also really looking forward to a nice, long winter inside working on all manner of arts and crafts. 

Now, if the rest of my bulb order would show up, I could pack up all the gardening tools. How about YOU? Are you nearly done with YOUR garden chores for the year? 

~ Mavis

OTHER

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Yesterday I went on my annual stock up trip for groceries. I loathe stepping foot in any sort of store {especially grocery stores} from about mid-October until after the New Year. 

It always seems like people tend to be more cranky, or in a hurry. Plus the stores always seem packed with people so I basically try to avoid them. 

We don’t eat as much as we used to, and since the HH doesn’t mind popping into Market Basket every other week, I figured I’d load up on a few of our favorite things. 

Things that only I would normally toss in the cart.

Trader Joe’s was my first stop. Did you know they sell 4 mini pancakes for $3.79 and the first ingredient is cottage cheese? How wild is that!?

And bananas are now $0.23 each! The last time I looked at the banana prices at Trader Joe’s they were $0.19 each.

They even had shelled English peas! I didn’t buy them though. Fresh peas need to be FRESH {like just picked} in my opinion. Otherwise you might as well just buy frozen.

In the end I just loaded up on all our Trader Joe’s favorites. I wasn’t even tempted to buy something that wasn’t on my list.

I think the only thing they didn’t have was dried cherries. 

Have you tried the harvest blend tea? I make sure and get a few boxes every year. It’s perfect on chilly mornings. And crumpets. I put those in a big zip baggie and toss them in the freezer and then take them out one at a time. 

Do you freeze bread? I do it all the time. 

My next stop was Costco. Where I did not buy a pumpkin pie OR a churro!! 

I did buy a pack of chicken breasts for the first time in forever. 

For the last few years the only chicken we would buy was the rotisserie chicken {from Market Basket} but I can’t bring myself to buy one now because of Lucy. 

They were her FAVORITE thing!! Bringing one in the house was a big ordeal and we always kept it on the bottom shelf and if we opened the fridge she would hop down from her chair and muscle her way to the chicken shelf and wait for a piece.

It was the sweetest thing ever. 

Side note: I had no idea chicken has so much cholesterol!! Did you?

The butter cookies were the only food item that wasn’t on my list. 

I bought a bag of fuji apples too. Those and the pears were grown in Washington state. 

I figure if we need anything else, the HH can grab it. But I’m done grocery shopping for the year. Yee-Haw! 

Just two more garden projects to check off my list and then I can pack it in for the winter. Jammie season, here I come!

~Mavis

P.S. That blanket!! If you see it at your Costco you might want to grab one. It’s super soft, somewhat heavy and would make an excellent last minute gift!!

OTHER

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Never, in my entire adult life have I ever been tempted to buy any sort of giant holiday decorations for my yard. Not once. 

Well, maybe for a brief moment I thought it might be cool to have one of those giant nutcrackers from Costco on the front steps during the month of December. But that was it. 

Yada yada yada… We went to Lowe’s yesterday to buy a table saw for an upcoming project and right there, as soon as we walked in, were all the characters from the {1964} Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer movie.

You know the one that was on tv every year when we were kids? They even had the abominable snowmonster of the North!!!

And a doll for Sue!

Frosty, and the crazy rabbit were there too. It was bananas!!! I stood there and pressed every “try me” button like a 6 year old. Apparently I embarrassed my husband because he walked away and left me standing there like a big dork. HA HA HA.

Yes it’s too early to be decorating {or even thinking about decorating} for Christmas. And no I would never in a million years pay good money for giant animated lawn ornaments. But hey, it doesn’t cost anything to look, right? 

Are you seeing Christmas decorations in stores already too? Have you ever been tempted to buy any sort of crazy, over the top holiday decorations? Curious minds want to know. 

~Mavis

OTHER

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Get Back To The Basics + Learning to Unplug

I should probably be annoyed, but he is just so sweet. If only they made GoPro cameras for chipmunks I’d be able to see his stash. I bet it’s huge!

No need to sit in front of a tv or waste time on the internet when there’s so much to see outside.

In The Kitchen

We had tacos three times last week. Or rather, the HH had tacos and I just put everything on my plate. Why waste the calories on a taco shell, right? 

Cookies taste so much better than a crunchy stale piece of shaped corn.

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

I’m back dyeing wool again. I LOVE how this batch of antique black turned out. Black is my least favorite color to dye, but the color I use the most in the background of my rugs.  

It’s hard to believe that in about 6 weeks or so I’ll be hanging wool to dry with snow on the ground. 

I love hanging wool above a blanket of snow. It always looks so peaceful and yet so out of place at the same time.

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

While we still don’t have any travel plans for this year, I can’t stop checking the John Bray Estates website.

If I could live in England, I’d live in Port Isaac or somewhere in the Cotswolds. Both places are pretty dreamy if you ask me. I am looking forward to winter and getting a BritBox subscription for a month, maybe even two so I can get my British fix.

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

We got in 4 good walks last week, all at the beach! 

I didn’t find anything super exciting {I’m always hoping for a buoy or lobster rope} but something good will wash ashore sooner or later.

Walking/Stretching Goals For This Year

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

Garden

I have just two more garden chores left to do this fall: clean up the garden bed next to the barn and plant the tulip bulbs. 

We’ve received 1 box of bulbs so far, hopefully the other one will arrive this week. 

I accidentally deleted my bulb order {from the second company} and can’t remember what I ordered so I don’t want to start planting until I have all the bulbs.

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

And last but not least, I finally finished painting both sides of the picket fence. I am SO HAPPY it’s over and done with.

My shoulder still aches but it’s done!! I think I’ll take a break from painting for a week or two and then tackle the inside painting projects on my list.

How about YOU? What have you been up to lately? Anything exciting? 

~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

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