Pioneer Woman at Heart

We had a wonderful weekend.  We spent two days with our daughter's family and grand-kids.  Oh my gosh we had loads of fun, and saw her laugh, made the kids giggle and what not.  It did a world of good for them all.   We also gave her the necklace we put together, along with this bracelet. From left to right, "Just Breathe" a cross, "Guardian Angel" angel wing, his birthstone, and the first letter of his name.  She loved them both. Also, after two months of not riding, I finally got my biker boots on (right foot wasn't easy to get on, and very tight) and went on a ride.  We also visited Hubby's sister in the nursing home.  Felt great to ride too. Other sort of good news....Hubby is trying to get in touch with our 21 year-old, to see if she'll bring Jesse here for a visit with me.  Oh happy day if it happens.  I'll be sure to post too. Today I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom On the breakfast plate . . ....

There is so much on our plate lately, it's making our heads spin.  I don't know why, but they are taking forever to get things done for his sister in the hospital. Meanwhile, our daughter "T" who lost her son, is having a horrible time getting through each moment of every day.  We will be making a visit soon.  I'm thinking all take them some baked mac n' cheese.  I made a pan of it for our niece and her family (the ones with the new baby) and we got word back that they all loved it, and one little one who hates cheese ate three helpings of it.  It's definitely a crowd pleaser. I'm still tapping my fingers, waiting on the doctor's office to call me.  I can't wait to get my leg taken care of and get back to a regular visit to the garden.  I have to start yanking stuff before the snow flies.   I didn't get a lick of anything done Friday.  Youngest had no school, so we spent the first part of the day shopping for a homecoming dress and...

Cloudy sunrise, but pretty. Pure happiness, and first jalapenos to go in the freezer. Harvest of our green bell peppers is small and peppers are small, but I'm just happy to have some to freeze for winter meals. Started two jars of mullein tincture. Started one jar of sage tincture.

Here is a photo of the vintage tablecloth I bought while on the island last weekend.  I love it!  I need more of the longer ones too. Overnight breakfast casserole has been made and baked.  We love this one.  It's spicy but good!  I don't make it often, as it's loaded with sausage.  I'll be playing around with homemade sausage to see if I can whip up a better flavor and much healthier. I finally got a few bunches of swiss chard in the freezer.  I lso froze the stems for saute's with the leaves, or to mix in with celery and onion as well this winter.  I blanched the leaves for 2 minutes and the stems for 3 minutes (bagged separately). We finally got our Kelley's Island Christmas ornament in the mail.  She only made 200 and I ordered it during our July trip there.  It's our first island ornament to go on our Christmas tree this winter. Well, we are going through another rough patch with family and health.  Hubby's...

Yep.  You read the title of this post correctly.  I'm so glad we are getting "something" from this garden.  I picked these last Monday morning - 4.5# of hot goodness.   I have more on the plants too. We also enjoyed a homegrown bell pepper and some of those jalapenos for dinner - southwestern black bean burritos (and they were delicious!). I canned one batch of cowboy candy.  I have forgotten how long it takes to slice up the peppers.  I'm just happy I got some canned. So happy to get something from the garden this year.  Now I sort of feel on the normal side again.  I have green bell peppers out there yet too.  I'm waiting until after this week's rain, in hopes for some to get a bit bigger. 

Friday morning's sunrise.  Thank you to all of you who sent me a card.  It was much appreciated. We stole away to the island for our "off grid" retreat, and it was very restful and much needed. It's truly off grid.  You can't get text messages or cell service for internet either at our rental.  Only at one end of the island.  We all really had a peaceful time.    They have very few stores, which we like about it.  The have a re-sale store inside an old house that funds a local island church.  I bought a vintage table cloth.   Funny where you meet people.  Our waitress at breakfast is from my birth town, and she is a teacher at daughter's school.  Her parents are from the island, and she works there on the weekends.  The island is a little over an hour away drive, so that was just pretty funny. We saw so many deer on the island this trip too. One crossed the road in front of our golf car.  I s...

I'm trying to find a coral colored 100% cotton yarn (chemical free) for  a project, but cannot find any reasonably priced.  I like Lily yarn, but if you know of a company selling it, please leave a comment.  I found Sugar n' Cream 2.5 oz in Tangerine, but they want $2.99 per ball for it.  That will make my project cost go up.  I am already paying $1.77/ball at Wal-mart. Two men were supposed to come Tues. evening to buy the old truck as-is.  They did not show up.  Wed. came around and they didn't show up again.  If they don't show up tonight, we'll be fixing it up and putting it up for sale for a higher price.  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  We are going off grid until next week.  We are calling it our "wellness weekend" where we'll pamper our mind, body and souls.  We'll relax and rejuvenate, block out the bad, and soak up some "good."

I am finally back to the stove for making a good and healthy breakfast.  Swelling in my foot and leg has gone down enough to stand a bit longer. It's another scramble this week, but I haven't made a breakfast in over 2 weeks now - eggs, potatoes, onion, bacon, zucchini, dandelion greens, fire powder and garlic. I was almost full swing back into my routine - sorted mail, washed, dried and put away a mound of dirty dishes, ran the dishwasher, washed a load of towels and hung them on the line, watched the pup, spritzed my sprouts (which are already sprouting, emptied trash, washed more clothes and put them on drying racks, and crocheted.  I have an order for a set of pot holders and another order for dish scrubbies.  Nylon netting was cut, but not much.   I also got around to making crock pot beef burgundy, noodles and mashed potatoes and corn.  Thankful for a good meal and thankful I can pack a lunch for the Hubster (as well as breakfast).  A b...

Finished this bracelet - a special request.  I had trouble with the green beads, but overall turned out nice.  I won't buy beads from the company that made the green ones again.  They were not the exact size as specified and I had to use my tool to enlarge the holes on almost all of them (green).  Anyway, it turned out nice. Finished these bracelets as well, but they need ends sewn in and buttons yet.  The black one was finished and gifted.  I'll be making more. Finished these sets of pot holders.  That bottom one was the new yarn I bought.  It's not the colors I thought it would be, but it reminds me of a cabin in the woods sort of color. Finished this dishcloth (knitted) and a matching set of pot holders. The positive aspect of having to sit around with my leg up, is that all of this has gained me more to sell at the winter craft show (s).  I'm completely out of my black yarn, so my "f" bombs are not resto...

Hubby put the totaled car engine up for sale.  He literally got an interested buyer within a few hours or less.  The car has been sold. They even have a trailer to pick it up this week. The same people may be buying our old truck as is as well.  That would be awesome. My broccoli sprout seeds have arrived and are started.  Can't wait to taste them. The roosters finally went up for sale.  We are keeping one.  I'm offering them to a family friend first, so we'll see.  We have one person interested so far. We had donated a large amount of shredded chicken for the meal after the funeral, and there was half of it left, so we took it to a family birthday party on Saturday.  It worked out great.  Nothing left over.   Sunday we picked up a flower arrangement and an angel solar light and made a visit to our grandson at the cemetery, then made a visit with his Mom. I'm praying my surgeon calls and schedules my procedure....

Thank you all for your prayers, good thoughts and well wishes.   We have gotten through the funeral of our grandson, and are trying to push forward.  Little man would want us all to be happy.  I will admit, it was the hardest thing I've had to do as a grandmother, and as parents watching our daughter bury her infant.

I'm doing a little bit more every day, although I am watching myself on not over doing it.  I'm still getting of handiwork time.  Adding more vitamin C to my diet with organic lemons. I had partial day of help yesterday, and boy did it feel good to have a homemade dinner last night.  I dug through the freezer and pulled out meatballs, a jar of home canned pepper mustard sauce from the pantry, and I pulled a lonely last jar of home canned pickled beets (I do love my beets). This is why I also like canning and doing freezer food prep - you never know when you need something quick and easy and healthy. I did a few more small loads of laundry, made a nettle tea infusion, and unloaded the dishwasher and put other dishes away. My hands have been so dry from handiwork over time, that I'm putting lotion on the top of the list after the leg procedure is done.  Speaking of my helper, it was my 20 year-old, and she even drove all the way out to the homestead to dri...

I couldn't take it any longer.  I was left alone, so I washed dishes (twice), emptied and reloaded the dishwasher and did a few loads of laundry.  Hubby has been busy helping our daughter with funeral arrangements and our youngest is grieving.  I had to do something.  Every dish in the house was dirty. There is a lot of things I still can't do, but I at least put a dent in the mess here.  By the time Hubby gets home, he's mentally exhausted and doesn't want to do a thing, so I had to do it or it wasn't getting done. I'll admit, I'm not eating as healthy as I should because I can't do the cooking involved, which is also driving me mad. Also, my refrigerator is contaminated with leftover take out.  Gah!  It is about to explode from lack of attention too. My fresh spinach went bad.  Double Gah!  I need a trip to the store for fresh greens so I can make some fruit/green smoothies for my lunch and breakfast.  We are totally out of...