2024 Journals

I mentioned a few days ago that I had ordered two journals for 2024. In 2023 I kept one journal for my stitching, one for meal planning, one for the garden and one that’s more like a junk journal where I write down everything. The two that arrived yesterday were for meal planning and cross stitching. I have an idea of what I want for the junk journal and the garden journal can be something simple from Walmart.

Garden Journal:

For the garden journal, I keep notes as to:

• When I start seeds
• Which seeds I start
• Seed germination progress
• Bug/Pest issues/solutions
• Fertilizer
• Weather that may have affected plants/production
• Yield

Most any info I think will be helpful for next year’s garden goes into the garden journal.

Cross Stitch Journal:

This is where I have fun. I keep a list of each project started during the year, as well as a list of projects finished during the year. Want to guess which list is longer? 🙂 I do keep Project Sheets for each project I start during the year.

I also have kept a list of charts I’ve purchased as well as linen I’ve purchased.

I also will write almost daily about what I’m stitching, or about a flosstube I’ve watched, make a note of any projects I saw that someone else was working on that I’d like to pull out and maybe start. Almost every month I intend to show a picture of my journal and then realize there’s something I wrote that I don’t want the world to see. I’ve been busy canning and my journal writing has been a bit sparse so far this month so August is an ok month to share.

I start out with the projects I intend to work on listed on the left side.

I don’t usually have a theme in this journal. I just add stickers that make me smile or catch my attention when I see them. I tend to use too many stickers and it probably looks like something a pre-schooler would create but I have fun with it.

Next year’s cross stitch journal has a different format. I will have more room for writing.

Cooking Journal:

I’m taking advice from Jessica at Three Rivers Homestead and using a teacher’s planner next year.

It only has Monday – Friday for days for entries, which is fine. I only plan menus for five days each week because we sometimes have leftovers and/or we go out to eat or Vince will come in and say “Can we have this for dinner?” Its hard for me to deviate from what I have written down but it’s pretty easy for me to move Wednesday’s meal to Thursday if he wants to do something else on Wednesday. If we end up not eating out or not changing anything, we’ll just grab leftovers from the freezer or something in a jar and I’ll still almost have a day off from not cooking.

There are seven vertical columns and I think that is for the teacher to plan for each period. I will print stickers for all seven columns and, as of now, I think they will be:

• Menu
• Preps – Say on Monday I need to start beans soaking for Tuesday. On Monday’s preps column, I will write “Rinse and soak black beans”. It could be “feed sourdough” if I’m making bread on Tuesday; it could be “Season pork butt” if I’m smoking a pork butt on Tuesday. When I look at Monday’s preps column for the last time on Monday, anything I need to do for Tuesday’s meal should be checked off.
• Leftovers – This is where I write down everything that goes into the fridge or freezer as a leftover sufficient for another meal. Sometimes when I make meatloaf, I’ll make two and one goes into the freezer. Technically, a whole meatloaf is not a leftover but I don’t want a separate column for freezer meals. I will also add a list to the back of the book for “Leftovers/Freezer meals” and I will make a notation as to which fridge/freezer they’re in so I can find them easily, then I’ll mark them off that list once they’ve been used.
• Canning – I will list items I plan to can. There are many things we keep on hand such as red beans and sausage, chili, taco soup, split pea soup, roast, chicken, coleslaw, etc. I will also add a list in the back with items I’ve canned and how many and I can mark those off as we use them so we don’t run out without me knowing we’re out.
• Baking – If we’re having hamburgers, I need to make buns. It’s much easier for me to have the bread baking planned. We try not to buy any bread so I make rolls, buns, a couple of different types of bread each week.
• Grocery List – This will be a list of items that may come from Walmart, Sam’s Club, Aldi, Azure Standard and it will include everything from real groceries to plastic wrap to a new cutting board to fertilizer for the garden. Whatever we need to pick up when we go to town will get added to the list.
• Extras – Basically, anything I need to remember that doesn’t fit in the other categories.

Here’s my current menu planning journal and I think the new one will be much easier to keep me on track.

Junk Journal:

This is the one where I write down everything that isn’t written down somewhere else:

Things we did or where we went:

• Propane tank filled
• Aldi – Carthage
• Highlander/battery minder
• Orange cat in the back yard

I will also have an area to write down things I need to do and I will have an area where I write down whatever I want to write . . kinda like “Dear Diary . . ” Not every day will I have a lot to write and I don’t feel like I should write every day but on the days I feel like writing, this is where it will be. It may be about something going on in the world, or about something Vince and I have discussed or about a conversaiton with a friend.

I think that’s about it for my plans for 2024 journaling. Those books arriving really have me anxious to start on the new formats.

There are so many ways to journal and it probably isn’t for everyone. I do love it. My journaling has changed through the years and will probably change in future years. As long as I love it and as long as I look forward to writing and it doesn’t feel like something I have to do, I’m going to keep doing it.