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~

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Random Tidbits ~ Fruit Trees ~ Car Shuffle ~ Peas, Bacon and Prosecco



Something new for the homestead - three rooster door pulls.  Love them!  They went on the master bath cabinet doors.



Something harvested at the homestead - stinging nettle.  I filled the dehydrator, but will need to cut more for "greens" for the freezer this spring.  




I took a walk out to the fruit trees.  I am happy to report that all trees have buds, and the peach tree has teeny tiny pink blossoms about to bloom.  I'm thrilled to see most of the fungus is gone on the plum tree, so my homemade neem spray is working.  My elderberry trees actually have leaves on them already.  The grape plants are budding, and I will have to buy one grape plant to replace the one that died last year.   

We are still playing the car shuffle.  Daughter's car is not fixed.  We now know the problem, but the other problem is the labor involved.  It's about an 8 hour job with her engine.  We got one quote of $800 or $900.00.  We then located another person who might do it, and they did not want to mess with it.  Finally, we found one other person, and hope we can finally put an end to this car shuffle.  I can't run to the store for stamps, chicken feed, etc. And some folks in this house have bad memory (not saying who, ha ha!). Although Vet-Tech-Daughter texted me and asked if she could pick anything up for me.  That was nice of her.

Update on the car shuttle.  I wrote this post last night, but Hubby worked over, so he never got home until after 8pmHe rolled in with a flat tire, in the pouring down rain.  And, the guy called him back about Daughter's car  -  estimate $1,000.00 (more problems than we thought).  He's calling around for a new engine.  Daughter just paid off her car too.  Sigh.....the kids that have moved out have the other half of our garage filled.  Yeah, so changing a tire isn't going to happen in the rain.  And Daughter has exams and is driving my car.
 

Before roasting
After roasting

. . .using up a bit of last year's rosemary.  I love to cook with it.  It smells like a real Christmas tree and that makes me happy.

I made Giada's (recipe is online) Peas, bacon and Prosecco (Italian white wine).  I loved it.  Just one more way to cook my peas.

And who doesn't want to try a new wine with dinner?  
 
 Pork chops with homemade condensed mushroom soup. Mmmmm!
 

6 comments:

Sam I Am...... said...

So sorry about the car problems...they can be pricey....so can roof problems(I'm having)! LOL! Your meals look great and those are really cute door knobs! P.S. I see the gloves next to the 'stinging' nettles...oh yeah....they are worse than a bee sting!

Rain said...

Kristina that looks SO GOOD...I love rosemary on potatoes, for me it smells like Thanksgiving :) I feel for you and the car repairs...last January we had to find $800 to get our front brakes replaced. And that was right after we spent around $300 for a new starter motor! We can't live without a car around here and it was something I had to take a loan out for, I hate that, but without front brakes, driving in the winter especially is terribly dangerous. I noticed a little murmur driving last time and I'm trying my best to not panic! We still have another year and a half left on the car payments...sometimes I wish we didn't need it so much!

Rain said...

PS: I LOVE Prosecco! I discovered that once when I was shopping around for a sparkling wine that wasn't too sweet. It's very delicate isn't it? :)

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Sam I Am, yes, those are thick gloves ha ha! Thanks for the compliments on the meals and knobs.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Rain, I am thankful we have the Harley as a back up, but today we are getting snow. Sigh...the agony of vehicle repairs.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Rain, yes the Italian white wine is a dry wine. I never heard of it until I saw Giada on TV use it to make the peas.