Last month I mentioned how I’d found something that was working better than resolutions for me.
I nailed my colours firmly to the mast of monthly experiments, and even outlined what they would be for January.
And now I’m back with updates, and new experiments to share.
Failure at resolutions used to make me feel like a failure as a person. 🥲
Monthly experiments, however, feel a lot lighter and more fun. Like, what do you mean I can just try something out and not have the outcome change how I feel about myself?
I’m free to play around a bit and see what sticks? Fantastic.
So let’s see what stuck from January.
(If you just want the lowdown on February’s experiments, you can skip to right here.)
An update on my January experiments
January experiment update #1: Birdwatching
I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t think this one would bring me as much joy as it has.
I assembled the feeder, ran out to buy food to fill it, and then agonised over where to place it.
Ultimately I decided to attach it to the railing around my back deck. That way I might actually be able to see the birds. 🐦
(The other option was down by the trees at the back border but I figured it would just be inundated with squirrels.)
Thankfully my mother-in-law had already forewarned me to practice patience with this one. She said it would take a while for the birds to spot it, and even longer to come to rely on it as a safe and consistent source of food.
Sure enough, it took about 10 days before I had regulars to my little bird café. 🐦⬛
It’s the same birds who return each day (at least, I assume it is), but they bring me immense amounts of joy.
And what a cheap hobby! I bought a bag of bird seed for $7, and used less than half of it to fill the feeder. And the feeder is still nowhere near empty.
Absolutely worth every single cent I spent.
I can now recognise the species of birds that visit (that one above is a black-capped chickadee and seriously, how cute is the name chickadee?! 🥹), and know some fun facts about them.
But the best thing of all has been seeing the male cardinal stare into the camera. He’s such an inquisitive little guy. It gives me a giggle every time.
This experiment was a roaring (chirping?) success and will continue to brighten my days forevermore.
I often share snaps of the birds on my Instagram stories if you want to follow me over there.
(Side note that you don’t need a fancy feeder to do this. I just got lucky ‘cause my in-laws had a spare, but you can fill any ol’ container with seed and stick it somewhere you can see the birds coming and going.)
January experiment #2: Crochet clothing
This is still a work in progress so I can’t say how it’s going to turn out, but so far so good!
I genuinely thought this would be beyond my capability but once I sat down and got started, it was easy enough to figure it out.
Now, I’m sure there’ll be many bumps in the road as I work on sleeves and start piecing things together. And there’s absolutely no guarantee that it’ll fit or wash well.
But I’m on the way and that’s what matters.
Stay tuned!
(Yes, I am 100% in my ‘grandma hobbies’ era and I love it!)
January experiment #3: Get my YouTube groove back
I uploaded 3 videos in January so I’m gonna call that a win. It’s not the 4 I would have preferred but it’s letting the algorithm know I’m still alive.
If you missed them, here they are:
This first one above was a New Year’s Day vlog where I explained all about my monthly experiments.
This second one is part of a series because it’s an annual video I publish. In it I share the habits I adopted the past year that I plan on continuing into the new year.
This gave me the idea for the next video…
This third one was where I reviewed all my previous habit videos in this series. I came clean about which habits actually stuck around and which ones fell by the wayside.
Feel absolutely free to subscribe, to further signal to the algorithm that I’m still in the land of the living. 🙋
My February 2026 experiments
In addition to continuing the 3 above, I have a few extra I’m adding to the roster. In no particular order, they are:
February experiment #1: Operation Green Thumbs
Technically I have two slightly different experiments here but they’re mostly similar so I’m going to lump them together. I want to create a sort of plant and gardening journal or database.
I’ve had some moderate success with indoor plants the past few years, meaning my previously black thumbs are now tinged with a little green.
I’ve also had some success, though slightly less so, with growing some vegetables outside.
This year I want to kick things up a notch.
I’ve been watching some plant channels on YouTube (shoutout to my current favourite, Sheffield Made Plants), and following the tips has improved my success rate.
My plants are the healthiest they’ve ever been.
I’d like a place I can monitor their progress and growth, and keep any notes on their particular needs.
Ditto for outdoor growing. I tried doing this last year but didn’t keep on top of it (mainly because I was overcomplicating it).
I’m starting again, noting down which gardening tasks are done in each month, the best time to plant certain vegetables, how best to help them grow, etc.
I also have a compost bin that hasn’t actually been doing much at all. I want to try revive that and maybe even start a second.
Again, I’ll be noting down what works and what doesn’t.
I’d love to be able to provide a lot more home-grown food for my family, and this will hopefully be a big step towards turning that into a reality.
Also, have you ever tasted a home-grown tomato? Store-bought is nowhere near the same.
February experiment #2: Become kitchen goddess
This is another different-but-similar one, this time involving cooking and baking.
Running a home bakery requires that I double down on bestsellers, but I also need to innovate and try new things.
Last summer I spent weeks creating the perfect s’more cookie. My long-suffering husband taste-tested many attempts before I finally nailed it. (It remains his favourite cookie of mine to this day.)
I will say, I do try to test out a new recipe almost every week, but I’ve been kinda stumped for a spring collection. So I want to find at least one great recipe I can offer this season. (If you have perfect springtime recommendations, I’d love to hear them!)
Some of you will know that around the same time I started the bakery, I stopped cooking. My husband now takes care of all that and I couldn’t be more grateful.
However, I borrowed a library book recently, written by a blogger whose baking recipes I’ve had great success with. (Her banana bread is what opened the baking floodgates for me.)
I figured I’d flick through the baking section, but actually found quite a few cooking recipes I’d like to try.
So that’s on the agenda for February.
February experiment #3: Reclaim the toy room
Longtime viewers of my YouTube channel will know that our house has a toy room. We moved into this home when our daughter was 5, and wanted a place she could keep all her stuff without it taking over her bedroom.
Well, she’s on the cusp of turning 13 now and the room has become a bit of a dumping ground.
It’s also where I store some of my bakery stuff. However, the rest is in the basement, and it’s a pain to drag it up and down the stairs every week when I need to bake.
So it’s time to reclaim the toy room as a bakery storage space. (Sorry, Barbie, but you’ve gotta go.)
I certainly don’t plan on getting it all done in the month of February but I’ll make a start, slowly clearing out all the toys (with my daughter’s help).
I’m also not entirely sure what the setup will look like for bakery storage so I’m just going to take my time with it and figure it out as I go.
After all, that’s what experiments are for.
This is a slightly daunting one, not only because of the sheer volume of toys in there, and the difficulty I’m going to have convincing my daughter to declutter most of them, but also because it feels like a big commitment to the bakery.
I said from the beginning that this was a hobby business, and I’d do it for as long as I liked it and stop the second I didn’t.
And now it’s almost been a full year, and I’m planning a party to celebrate the anniversary, and I’ve bought a second oven, and am redecorating to fit my life around it.
But yeah, I can quit any time I want to. 🙃
If any of these things felt forced (as can be the case with resolutions) I know I’d be getting that gnawing feeling in my gut right around now. The one that says I’ve committed so I can’t back out.
I have to see it through to the bitter end, and a failure to succeed at a goal somehow means I’m a failure as a person. ☹️
Thankfully I’m older and wiser now, and these monthly experiments feel much more manageable.
It’s not about success or failure, it’s simply about trying. It’s about figuring out if something is a good fit for me or not.
As a perfectionist, monthly experiments give me grace when I might not otherwise give it to myself. 🙇
Have you implemented them in your life? How are they going for you?
And check back in next month to see how I fared in February.
