Pioneer Woman at Heart

Monday flew by fast for me.   For one, it flew by because I overslept.  I guess I needed it.  However, I overslept the bus arriving too, and found a daughter still in bed (yikes!!).  I had to get her up and over to school, although late.   She woke up not feeling well either. It rained all day long.  I just wanted to crawl back into bed, put on warm cozy clothes, and binge watch netflix.  Seriously, I did.   But alas, I got some things done.The TV stayed off. I didn't do much cleaning per-say, but I deep cleaned one bathroom drawer.  It holds most of the medical supplies, bandages, gauze etc.  It was a mess I tell ya'.  Only one drawer left to clean now. The rest of the day was pretty much fun stuff.  Low key, and relaxing.  I vacuumed, and did other mundane chores, but was limited to some due to finger injuries.  By the way, after putting a plantain poultice on the tips of those two blistered and bruised fi...

I am joining Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I had a very busy Sunday (just flip back one more post to read about it), and I am very happy to see it raining this morning (or it may be snow, not sure, could be snow showers again). On the breakfast plate. . .  Coffee and a piece of toast with Ginger-Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Butter. Right now I am. . . Taking a break, sipping more coffee The weather outside . . . Cold, rainy, and dark, so it's a much slower "work" day for me. Looking around the house . . . I sigh as I look at my large kitchen table, still covered with sweet potatoes, white potatoes and red potatoes.  I need to get the bin cleaned out and get the potatoes put in storage. Today's to-do list . . . ~Wash bathrobe, I got it dirty somehow.  Most likely from taking the dogs out early morning ~wash and bleach bath towels ~scrub master bath toilet ~vacuum ~bake biscuits ~write ~crochet mug sets fo...

I have been reading my library magazines and books off and on, and recently read a nice article on motorcycle camping.  A future possibility for sure.  I'm reading through many magazines to hopefully find a muse and get an article sent off. The dog flu has hit Ohio.  We are told we should vaccinate our dogs or keep them home etc.  Seems like this happened last year or the year before too.  Hubby thinks is a conspiracy to push another vaccine.  Hm. I made homemade hairspray for the first time.  I have several new facial cleanser recipes to try over winter or spring.  One requires rose water, and I refuse to buy it (very expensive), so I will wait for my own rose blooms to make that myself.  It's a long wait, but I hope to cut the cost of such supplies that my girls use constantly.   Back to the hairspray.  I found the recipe in the book "Homemade Beauty" written by Annie Strole.   The recipe calls for a bit of v...

The "more" on why I took the day off Friday, although I know my time is running out to gut the garden. . . We all have days where things go haywire, off kilter, and just agonizing.  I had one of those days on Thursday.  Everything I did seemed to go wrong - I'd drop stuff, didn't have ingredients I needed, just chaos I tell you.  Or it felt like a chaotic day anyway. I remember all too well, getting sick last December and so I ignored the garden for a day, and took the slower road on Friday.  It paid off too.  I'm feeling better, more focused, and guess what? Hubby slept almost the entire day, so we both took the day "off" (on Saturday).   It's not like I run out of things to do, ha ha! As for the barn rubble, we re-homed a mess of metal materials.  There is more to give to the happy taker too.  I'm always happy to see more rubble find a new home.  The biggest challenge?  Coming up with a breakfast, that only used 2 eggs, bu...

So I made sweet potato ginger brownies for the first time.   I used a recipe online using coconut flour (Civilized Caveman Cooking).  I have to admit, it was not our favorite.  Everyone still ate it, but I was hoping for a "wow" taste so I could freeze some, utilizing the sweet potatoes.  One daughter said, "hm, they are interesting."  Ha ha ha!  They have the top like a brownie should, but they tasted more like a texture of a cake.  Moist.  Healthy too. I took a day off from the garden (more on that later), and went through half the stack of library books I have right now.  Oh my.  I put a few on my "wish list" and found some Christmas gift ideas for 2018.    The above photo came from one of the books, and I just had to snap a photo.  Ya' know, considering I was bitten. I took the day off from "hard work" but still did laundry before the rain arrived.  I also made a double batch of sweet potato chi...

I got a little bit of time each day to catch up on handiwork. The rain helped me out, although I should have been shampooing carpets or something else, ha ha! I was thinking "from stash to cash" for this project, but I'm not so sure about it now.  Maybe just the coasters. I finished this coaster and cozy set for myself.  I was feeling the fall weather, with the dreary cold and wet weather we were getting early in the week. My "Grad" Daughter eye-spied it, and exclaimed, "I want one of those!"   She may get one.  In her stocking or for Christmas.  Maybe.  The only problem with the matching cozy, is that the granny square fits larger mugs only.  I didn't follow the pattern either.   Instead of two squares, I used one and then made the strap and added buttons.  I wanted an area to drink my coffee without getting yarn in my mouth.  I also used scrap, 100% cotton I had in my stash. I used buttons from my craft st...

It's a chilly 32°F here this morning.  Brrr.  We have not yet turned on the heat (nor burned wood).  Wood....let's not be reminded we are so far behind on that chore (gasp!). I recently used some pumpkin puree to try another new recipe - Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (Country Living, online). I purchased my pasta shells.  Barilla is certified Non-Gmo.  If you prefer, you could use homemade lasagna noodles and roll them, slice and bake in the tomato sauce too (for a completely self-sufficient dinner, adding a garden veggie for a side, homemade rolls etc.).  The basil and sage came fresh from my herb garden.  I had just enough of each herb. We absolutely loved this dish, but to me it lacks a protein.  I think I'll have a side of meatballs or something with it next time, for us meat eaters.  Tuesday night I went to bed completely e-xh-aus-ted.  I spent the day baking and mashing sweet potatoes, amongst other chores. ...