Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

....from the homesteading journal

. . . harvested more kale and froze some.





. . . used my salad spinner to remove excess water and help lower the dehydrating time for the kale I put in the dehydrator (can't believe it's still producing, but thankful).


 . . . pulled all the broccoli plants from the garden.  Hubby mowed them down, but they grew back.  Silly man. 



 . . . pulled the brussel sprout plants that didn't do well this season.



 . . . good day for drying blankets and laundry outside too.  My electric bill was only $79.00 this month. Washed my barn jacket, which got me out of cleaning the coop today, ha ha!



 . . . restocked a few of our needed supplies.  I use the organic (non-gmo) corn syrup for making homemade teriyaki sauce and other recipes, including Christmas candies.


 

 . . . got another good hour of outdoor work done before dark cutting up the tree limbs.  Got the truck loaded and unloaded. Photo is a bit blury.  I was trying to take one in a hurry, as Hubby was yelling at me to "get back to work."  I had gone in to fetch my safety glasses.
  
. . . yesterday was day two with our new dog Tank.  I'm already writing a novel "Raising Tank."  SeriouslyI am.  We'll see if it amounts to anything down the road.

. . . family funny!  Our 16 year-old has been dubbed the "chicken lady" as she tended to the last ill hen (which is healthy now).  I commented to her that she looked like she had no sleep last night, when she proceeded to tell me her dream.  She dreamt that her cat Jasper laid three eggs, and let them sit in the window to hatch.  They hatched three hot pink kittens, one which she named "Marshmallow."   We all had a very good laugh this morning.




 

8 comments:

Kim said...

Progress, it feels wonderful doesn't it? I can't wait to hear all about "The Saga of Tank". That kale will keep right on through the winter. It is like pansy's, it will lay down and rest and then stand right back up and take off and you can have small batches of fresh greens all winter and then next spring you can replenish the freezer before you plow it under to plant the garden.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Kim, unfortunately my book about Tank ends today. We returned him. Unfortunately, during his vet visit this morning, he viciously went after the vets assistant's arm, almost biting her. Nothing like I've ever seen before. They were not doing anything painful or aggressive either. Scary. With the vet's suggestion, after talking to me about his behavior over the last two days, he highly suggested to return him. I called Hubby, and got his answer (his dog). He could not live with himself if the dog attacked our kids. Or the animals here. It was totally unexpected, but they told us it can take 3 weeks to see the true behavior of a dog. He had an extreme aggression with food also. If we even waved our hand, he'd jump up and snap his jaw, thinking it was food. We put that with today's behavior and made the decision. We both could not live with ourselves if he bit off a hand to anyone.

Susan said...

That is too bad about Tank. He will need a special home with someone who can work with him on his aggression issues. Do you have any rescue groups that foster their dogs? That is how I've adopted all of mine. That way, the foster is the one who assesses their personalities and you don't really get too many surprises by the time they come to you. Well, most of the time. :)

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Susan, I will be looking into fostering, thank you. It was totally unexpected.

Mama Pea said...

Don't you know you're supposed to wash your barn jacket AFTER you clean the chicken house? ;o]

So sad to hear of Tank's issues. You can't blame the poor pup. I sure would like to "starve" the human for a while who neglected him so badly.

Isn't kale wonderful? Talk about getting your money's worth out of those seeds?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Ha ha! Mama Pea, I'll most likely wash it again after this week. I'll be trading it in for a thermal jacket. We sure did get our money's worth of the kale. Yes, the poor dog can't blame himself. Who ever had him before did a rotten thing to him.

RB said...

Your daughter's dream is hilarious. Ever wake up from a silly dream thinking...
"What in the sam hill was that about?"
I do sometimes. LOL
BTW, What were the names of the other two pink kittens that hatched?
Ha Ha
Read the comments here before posting. So sorry to hear about Tank. I hope they can help him and don't have to put him down. He's a gorgeous guy, but sometimes one just can't overcome the aggression.
God bless.
RB
<><

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

RB, thanks. I thought daughter's dream was so funny too.