Pioneer Woman at Heart

My re-potted succulent plants had a few bits of plants break off.  We have placed them in starter cups in hopes to bring them to grow new plants.   We'll let you know if they grow this way.  According to the internet sources, I think we are doing it right.  The girls have given each one a name. 

My hens were treated with a tray of over ripe fruit.  I'll be honest, I have never fed citrus to my hens and rooster.  Those scraps always went to the goats. I wasn't sure if they would be interested, but they ate the entire tray.   I repurpo sed a tray used to bake a giant coolie with.  Cleaning has it's advantage. They absolutely love rotten bananas.  So if I don't feel like whipping up banana muffins or bread it goes to them.

These new puppies are so spoiled.  Allowed to snooze on the couch ?  Ha!

Our snow arrived, and we are going through many old towels from wiping paws off.   I'd rather have the snow then the previous pouring down sleet we had.  School closed yesterday. Jasper found the sun spot the other day.  He gets along with Zuri just fine, but King has too much energy for him. 

The day I delivered my 84 year-old Dad some home cooked meals, I gave myself a reason to visit two stores while in town.  Pssst!  You're gonna need a cup of something to sip and read through this today, ha ha! I went straight in, bought what I needed, and headed for the front of the store.  I was in the last store before returning home. I raced down the aisle, hoping the speed would burn more calories, but came to a halt.  The clearance shelves.  Yikes! There in front of me was a beautiful kitchen rug.  The kind you put in front of your sink.

The lack of snow, and abundance of sunshine is being enjoyed here at the homestead.  The ladies and Sparta are getting much needed dirt baths, exercise, grit, and sunshine.  Watching them roam about, makes this gal smile.

I bought this recipe box many years ago (old photo, hence the peaches).  I tried to contact the box company to get another one, and failed.  Then forgot about it.  Then I tr ied emailing again.  Again their email system is either not working or they are o ut of business. I went online and could not find one suitable either, or fo und the m too expensive.  I shopped at three stores, and looked a craft supply companies online - nothing.

Joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom today.

Hubby and I had a wonderful date yesterday.  It was an unplanned "date" out.  The day was absolutely wonderful for February, so we took advantage of it. We drove to town and parked the car.  We shopped at locally owned stores and even sipped a hot coffee at a popular (also locally owned, by someone who I graduated from high school with) coffee house/used book store.  I was tempted to come home with a book, but knew I better get home to read the ones I already have. After picking up chicken feed, and other necessities, we retreated to the front porch.  Ahhh, porch time.  What a blessing it was.  Fun day, and ended fun.  Hubby beat me at two games of cards too.

It seems the best thoughts and plots come to my brain when I am exercising, and I can't write them down.  I had a recorder at one time, so I'll have to do more cleaning and see if I can find it. The exercise is starting to balance out now.  The tight knots I had in my hips and back are working themselves out. I'm quite honestly running out of steam for this "extreme" clean goi ng on here.  Although, I must be spreading motivational thoughts into my kid 's heads.  I see them clean ing quite often in their rooms lately. Don 't throw tomatoes,

A week has passed, and the infused red wine was ready to taste.  I poured Hubby and I a glass just before dinner.   I paired it wi th a beef/potato/veggie pla te.  Not that I am a wine connoisseur , but anyway.... The taste? 

Remember t hat baby blanket I started four years ago ? Well, evidently, I used the wrong yellow yarn to make all 96 of those yellow center flowers, so I have to make them all over again with the right yarn.  They are too big.

The only thing, until now, that I have used coconut oil for was soap making.  I had read so many bad reviews on it, considering it's pretty solid when room temperature . Hence, I never used it for preparing any types of food s.  Until now. I purchased a jar of non-gmo/organic virgin coconut oil. This stuff is n ot cheap either, so I waited u ntil I had a $ 3 off store coupon for it (while on sale). What did I use it for?

The recent cold temperatures are bringing out the hawks, looking for food.  This one landed on our goat fence. This photo was taken from inside the house.  From the house I could not tell what animal it was, and the barn cats often sit in the exact spot, watching for rodents. 

A few have asked how I like the norwex cle aning cloths.  Well, first of all I do over an alyze, so .... Do I like them?  Well. I still have to wet them to use them, just as I would use a spray bottle of v inegar/water solu tion. I still have to use the same elbow movement to clean the area wi th.

My "date night" plan s went "ka-poot ."  Right out the window on Friday night.  Our date was planned fo r Sa turday, but Hubby w as cal led to w ork a 12 hour shi ft. By the time he would be home, it would be way too late for this g al to go out, and way too cold, so I took to the kit chen. We needed some extra heat in the house anyway.  The wa rme st hour was about feeling like 0°F.

I love shallots.  They have such a good flavor for sauces and such.  They kind of have a n onion flavor with hints of garlic in it. Some days I want to flavor my greens (other other dishes) with shallots and I don't have them on hand.

Somewhere, in all those library books I have been borrowing, I got the idea to infuse red wine with rosemary. Mountain rose herbs has a few more recipes on their site too.  I have no idea why I chose rosemary, but it intrigued me.

I have been searching the organic section of our grocer for fresh thyme (sadly I did not put a pot of it in my kitchen last fall).  They seem to be out of it often. I decided to use my dried thyme and use less of it  (dried is more potent).  Most recipes that use 1 stick of organic butter, require about 3 Tablespoons of fresh herbs, plus garlic. I did not want garlic in my herbed butter for breakfast toast.  I wanted simply thyme.  Thyme has so many healthy qualities and I love the taste of it on toast with a few eggs.

Quite honestly, it was a relief to see the snow start falling here.  I was getting concerned that the robins were already out, my bulbs were trying to sprout, and the amount of blackbirds I've seen in the trees.  I eve n saw flies.  It was sort of a peaceful type of snowfall. They kind that made you smile, hunker down and curl up with a few puppies and a good book. 

A short while ago, I mixed up a recipe for homemade bubble bath.  Just you so know, there are so many different recipes out there to try.   I got bubbles, but I have well water too.  The water turned a milky white due to the ingredients too. The bubbles were not real big, but the clove oil really stood out.  I think any good essential oil will work. It just depends on what you want. 

Saturday we has a long list of chores - inside and out.  Wood needed restocked, bathrooms cleaned top to bottom (dusting included), recycling taken out, a trip to donate items to the thrift, and much more.  I wanted some "fun " time on Sunday, so I put a limit on my deep cleaning, but 9 sc onces (light fixtures) were taken down and scrubbed clean.  I have 8 more on ceiling fa ns , and then I move to the kitchen light fixtures.  It's such a relief to get that sort of clea ning done.

Over last weekend, there was a shooting in a town where I typically grocery shop.  The man shot two people, then got in his car (with kids) and drove miles towards our area. That chase landed literally almost at the front of our homestead.  Just another reason to be prepared out here.

On a whim, yes I did it again, I tried a new recipe shared by my mother.  A recipe that was not in my "pile." Sigh. Recipes will just be getting the best of me here lately. These were so easy to make, and I had all the organic ingredients on hand too.

Baking with herbal tea leaves. . . I had to read this recipe three times to make sure I read it correctly - "contents of one tea bag."  The recipe was delivered to my inbox, and I could not locate it anywhere online, so I'm sharing it here. The tea you will need to buy, is made with o rg anic herbs and is non-gmo.  Yogi tea brands are available in most stores.  This is not to advertise their teas.  I'm just sharing, because the recipe intrigued me.  You need Honey-Lavender tea. 

Monday it was back to work.  The chicken coop needed a good cleaning, along with all my regular house chores.   Sp art a and the ladies had a grand day outside.  The sun was out for the most part. I had some din ner pre p to do early too - BBQ chicken in t he c rock pot, boiled red pota toes, fresh peppers for a delicious herbed pota to salad . Oh, and b oiled eggs for topping th e salad. I also made a new cookie recipe.  More on that tomorrow.  Sadly, three new recipes were tried total, and not one was from my recipe pile.  T wo however, came from magazines I was able to read on t he drive home over the weekend, so that was an accomplish ment.

High stress levels called for rela xing tea, and for Hubby to reach inside his date "night" jar and pull out a stick. A well deserved weekend was called for - just Hubby and me (and solitude).  We both voted for " spontaneous ." The jar holds day trips, one night trips and two night trips in it.  Our marriage revival getaway was a two night trip.  Yay for us! The drive was very peaceful.  Beautiful scenery, good driving weather, and positive thoughts along the way.