Pioneer Woman at Heart

So, I went and did it again.  I'll be taking a small hiatus (I typically post a blog post daily) from my blog, but hope to be back soon.  Meanwhile, I'll have my foot elevated.  About a week and a half ago, I was inside the garage, putting it up, to put camping chairs and tables away.  Daughter's friend put the table against the outside of the door and it slammed down on my foot.  Apparently, if you have varicose veins, an injury (not always, but I'm the lucky one...sigh) can cause pressure in the veins and more injury. Weeds will be growing and I just don't care.  I hope Hubby and Daughter will help pick from the garden, tend my ladies and gent, get the mail, etc. I have no idea how to manage a breakfast for the both of them, nor dinner, so we'll see what happens.  I'll manage something. My survival bag over the next six days.  Praying I don't need it much after that.  Possibly down the road for definite vein surgery. Meanwhile,...

We enjoyed the weekend weather.  Gosh it was so nice out.  Sweatpants and sweatshirt weather.  Oh my. The sunrise Monday morning had so much color to it.  Just beautiful! We got more checked off the to-do list - installed another dead blot and two more new door knobs, replaced all the broken drawer brackets, cleaned up two kitchen drawers and reorganized, cleaned one upper cabinet and reorganized, cleaned up a ton of recycling in the garage and delivered it to recycling, got laundry done a day early since rain is due, Hubby fixed our car, installed a new window switch in one daughter's car, got one hour of mowing done and cleaned down all the cobwebs in the chicken coop. Here is my new thermometer I was telling you about.  It's made by Thermoworks, and is called the ThermoPop.  It can check temps up to 572°F (not that I need that), but this will make grilling steaks so much easier than my non-instant read thermometer.  The Th...

Our jalapenos are starting to roll in.  I picked a few to make crock pot jalapeno creamed corn.  Here is how I make mine. In a crock pot, heat 6 cups of thawed frozen corn ( off the cob - see recipe here ).  This corn works great since it already has butter in it. Add 1/4 stick of organic butter, 8 oz. of organic cream cheese, about 1-1 1/2 cups of organic shredded cheddar cheese and jalapeno to taste.  I just depends on how hot you want it.  Let cook for at least 1 hour, but I have had it in the crock pot for up to 3 at times.  Just watch it and put it on warm if you need to. It is wonderful to take to cook outs or family gatherings. 

While picking up chicken feed, I couldn't help but spoil Romeo with a new dog bed.  It's supposed to be on the floor or in his kennel, but obviously it's on the couch, ha ha!  He loves it though. I got those green beans blanched and put into the freezer. Just my luck.  Just when we get daughter a car, and I get a vehicle to myself, the car breaks down.  Life. We canceled our weekend camping  trip to stay home and do the car repairs.   The weather is absolutely wonderful this weekend too.  Windows are open and air is off. 

Lately, it's been puttin' up, stocking up and just plain busyness in the kitchen vs. housework and garden work.  That time will come soon.  Cleaning that is.  We've been getting rain at night, so weeding has halted.  We got more storms last night again.   Although not all from my garden, I canned one batch of hot banana pepper relish.  It's Hubby's favorite and we did not grow cucumbers this year, so I won't be canning sweet pickle relish. It should last the 3 of us all winter too.  The jalapenos in it came from the garden and they are good! I got some organic asparagus blanched and in the freezer.  Three bunches and the ends were saved for soup this coming winter.  I had 1.6# of ends, and my soup requires 2#, so it was labeled accordingly, and I hope to put up more this week or next. Got more dandelion greens in the freezer, but I need more chard, collards and kale yet. I made a pan of homemade granola bars with oats...

It was so hot and humid yesterday.  I had a smoothie for my lunch.  There was spinach and kale in it too.  Yum. I put together another emergency crochet kit too.  Most items were only $1 each. Oh what a mess it is.  It's the last thing to try and save.  The potatoes. Day 1.  It doesn't look like I weeded much of it, but I un-buried about 8-10 potato plants.   Day 2.  Not gonna happen.  If anything grew I'll know when I go to dig it all up.  Just not worth the aggravation right now. It's back to the herb garden and flower beds.   All depends on the rain.  We got more last night.  A lot of it.  The herb garden is a total mess this year.  I don't have enough green onions to keep the grass down.  I'm about ready to dig the entire herb garden up and start over.  Hubby said no, but I'm tired of dealing with the grass. All of my thyme died too.  Maybe it is time to dig ...

Before more morning fog rolled in Tuesday morning.  Pretty too. I'm using a new method of natural remedy for my bite.  Still not sure what it was or where it happened, but the new method is working good.  I'll post what I did if it heals as fast as I as told. I armed Hubby with wasp spray last night, and made sure doors were open so he could run in if he had too (last time he ran in a wasp followed him in).  We are hoping this kills them all off and we can start working on the old truck. It's been difficult to locate hot banana peppers.  Even at local produce stands.   They are never sold in the stores either Tomatoes are slime pickin's too.  It's just limited almost everywhere due to the weather here. I didn't get my homemade laundry detergent made yesterday, so it's first on today's list.

We were so thankful to see the rain arrive.  The garden and flower beds were so dry, not to mention the herb garden (I now call the "weed" garden).  The beets and carrots are very small right now.  I hope we have a good fall season to fatten them up. We had a family breakfast Sunday morning. On our way there we had a major storm, taking out our power for 3 hours.  It was 86°F but a heat index of 97.   We came home and Hubby worked on one daughter's car (in the heat no less.  I was watching out the window and saw him running.  Wasps had made a nest in her side mirror and one stung him.  Funny thing is, is that I had just picked plantain, and had fresh to grind up and put a poultice on his bite.  Anyway, car is finally fixed and delivered.  One more "to-do" checked off the list. Hubby has been pretty good on his to-do list lately.  He even installed a new dead bolt on one door, and has more to go.  His priority ...

Sunrise from a few days ago.  We are finally getting rain this morning.  Even thunderstorms. Now that we have car shopping off the list, we can get back to other jobs this weekend.  Youngest daughter now has her own car and can drive to school.  No more long bus rides and she's very very happy. What was on the weekend work list?  Well, cutting more trees.  That's done.  We had to put a new part in our other daughter's car and pray it's the fix for it. I had to make homemade cinnamon rolls too, for a breakfast with the family.  Why I volunteered rolls is beyond me.  Sigh.  I know they'll appreciate them, but I'm cutting them all in half so I (he he) don't have to make two pans for the entire clan.  I also had to make 2 pans of over night baked french toast.   Schools are starting, so it's already an onslaught of fundraisers for youngin's in our family.  I'm only going to do a few this year.  They are g...

We are gearing up for another heat wave.  It'll be in the high 90's early next week.  No rain here. Another coyote.  This morning.  It crossed the road and over the country highway.  Urgh. As for moving, it all depends on location, new job and of course daughter's schooling.  Her school means the world to her and to us too.  Speaking of her, her internship is over with now.  She'll get a few weeks with her pup before school starts. I did a meet and greet at a rescue with the pup.  The dog was about 1 year old and it was not a good match.  There will be others.  

Located some organic pork, so a batch of meatballs went into the freezer, and provided dinner recently. Gotta do this before the freezer fills up.  Picked up 10# of blueberries, but almost didn't get them.  I lost track of the season.  Oops. Got a bit of yellow squash in the freezer (again, not from my garden) Got a bit of green beans in the freezer (again, not from my garden this year). Scored a free book from the post office.  It's a small post office, and only open 2 hours a day.   They now have free books inside if you are lucky to get there during their hours. We are talking about moving now.  Maybe within the next year or two.   We've been talking about it for a few days now.   We are sick of the weather issues here.   We are serious about it too.  We are also talking about some winter adventures to get out of the house this year, but if it's as bad as last winter, we'll be stuck...

It's a long shot, but if any of my crocheting followers have this yarn, and want to get rid of it (could barter too), I am looking for more of it. It has been discontinued.  Pisgah yarn and dye, #198 Black Cherry (cotton, a variation of pinks, gray, black and white).  I've had a request for a set of hot pads, but I don't have enough of it to make another set. ....working on this beaded crocheted bracelet now. . . . finished these two orders and got them shipped. . . . and this bracelet.   I'm working on bracelets to stock up for the fall holiday craft show.  One person had to back out of her order (left her husband and doesn't have the money), and the other hasn't responded). ....spray painting more clipboards .  If you are making these, now is a good time to buy the pens for them.  They are on sale for $1.00 with school starting.  They need a few more coats of paint, and then I start painting a few more. ....

Not from our garden, but organic.  I got 4 pint bags in the freezer so far.  Organic is pretty difficult to locate, so when I see it right now, I'm buyin' it. Our first picking.  It's a meal, but nothing yet to freeze. Poo!  You can tell how horrible of a year it's been for us.  It's still raining.  Yay!  The garden will love it.

Got back from our first camping trip last night.  Puppy spent the weekend with his buddies Zuri and King, and with the kids. We really needed a weekend of camping too.  I took along some home canned hot pepper relish too.  We had guests Friday night, so I made some foil packet dinners to cook over the campfire with sausage, potatoes and beans.  Breakfast was easy to pack, meats, eggs, potatoes and bread for french toast. What's your favorite "go-to" natural remedy to take in your "first aid" kit when traveling.  I take chickweed salve and homemade neosporin, and sometimes mullein tincture.  Would love to know what you suggest and why.  I'm considering digestive bitters next trip. Friday morning I also baked us some Einkorn peanut butter cookies to take with us.  Mmm! Before we left I made sure the bedding was already washed and back on the bed, Hubby's work clothes washed and dried, and so forth.  It really saves a he...