Pioneer Woman at Heart

We were told we'd get beaucoup amounts of snow, but we didn't.  Roads were very bad yesterday, so it was more of a stay-in-pj's kind of day.   Woke up to 17°F (wind chill makes it feel like 5°F). I put 15 more rows on the baby blanket and got another order for cup coasters (thankfully those are already made).  I sold all the bookmarks, so I have zero in stock right now.  That'll be restocked once this baby blanket is done. I brewed nettle hair rinse.   Today I need to make homemade "lysol" wipes with tea tree oil.  I am down to the last one. School is delayed today, but for some reason neither one of us got the phone call.   What's the cheapest, yet most useful tool available on Amazon to make zucchini noodles?  There are so many options and I don't want to buy something so big I have to make a new place to store another appliance.  I would love to hear your recommendations.

It took forever, but some of the parsley seeds have sprouted.  Makes me feel like Spring is just about here. This morning however, it's snow covered and frozen slush everywhere.  School is closed.  It's 8°F out.  I'm thinking it's a crochet-PBS/Netlfix sort of day.  I got about 12 rows done on the baby blanket, maybe I can get 12 more on today. Last night we had grilled cheese sandwiches with cowboy candy and Ezekiel bread, and home canned tomato soup.  I didn't need the cheese, but it was nice on a cold night.  Our county is under a level 1 road emergency, and some a level 2 (which is the worst it's been this winter).  I'm ready for porch time, bare feet and sunshine. 

First, we got rain, then it turned cold and the snow returned.  I spent a few hours doing more cleaning, and purged a bit more.  The snow will fall all day today, and freeze, and then turn to rain.  Glory be.  Mother Nature is on a drinking binge.  Daughter had school, but some closed.  Speaking of school, it was "80's" spirit day.  I dug out my very antique 80's double wrap belts and she pulled out her mini-skirt.  We had her in a rockin' outfit in no time.  By the way, the only reason I had my belts, is that I had put them into the kids Halloween costume totes. In the process of cleaning, I found my lost fold-able (making them so portable for travel) readers for the Harley.  I also realized I am storing more yarn under the bed (yikes!).  More!  It's thread yarn.  I need more hours to crochet, ha ha! What do you all think about this corona virus?  I came across a list of suggested medicinal herbs, ...

I took some egg shells out to toss in the garden (where the tomatoes will be planted), and took a look-see at the garlic. I am thrilled to say, that some of it has green tops.  Not all, but I'm hoping it all comes up.  The only downside of grow bags - squirrels.  I had to plant a garlic clove that a rodent dug up.  Otherwise, I am a happy gal to see this. Tried three new recipes yesterday.  Due to lack of ingredients on hand, each one was adjusted. Cod in the crock pot with seasonings and onion.  Didn't have red onion, so I used white.  It cooked perfectly and tasted great. Veggie quinoa in the crock pot.  Didn't have carrots, so I just made it without.  Cookbook said cook 4-6 hours on low.  It cooked in 4. Low carb chocolate chip cookies (almond flour).  I didn't have maple syrup for these.  I didn't have any eggs, so this recipe was fitting to try.  These were so good! The first two recipes are...

Our Monday morning sunrise this morning. We warmed up over the weekend.  Perfect weather to cut wood, but Hubby had overtime.  Again.  It was warmer, but windy and not comfortable enough for porch time. Weather was great for putting laundry on the line, but we had one obstacle. Birds.  Hoards of them.   Sunday my husband went to work on the car.  I went out and cleaned up all the trash that drivers tossed into our yard (all beer cans and pop bottle), and cleaned up the front porch a bit.  There are more problems with the car, so it's still not running.   I typically don't like to do housework on the weekends, so I took advantage of being home alone and crocheted.   One of my simple pleasures is to watch Create (cooking shows) while crocheting.  However, they had the same chef (Kevin Belton) on Saturday and Sunday.  And.  It was a repeat show on Sunday.  Ugh.  I finished crocheting...

My 20 year-old made a visit to do laundry, but first took me out to lunch (getting me out of the house) and took me to the store.  That was so sweet of her. Hubby had overtime and more overtime today.  The car sits and waits. I'll be getting some crochet time today, so that is good.   We were invited to go to Daytona and they even have a trailer to trailer our Harley, but we have declined.  It's sort of on the expensive side and we need a back up car here for our daughter.  The bands were similar to our Bike week here anyway.  Besides, they want to drive straight down, and we are just not up to that long of a drive. Hubby returned my library loot, paid my late fine, and brought home 2 full bags of  books.  I just may have to spend a bit of time to look through them today as well. I'm collecting new grilling recipes for summer, so many of the books are cookbooks.  Some books are pattern books, some gardening (building) books and...

Tiger has the right idea.  I may just join him. Had it not been for Romeo and the chickens, I would have stayed in PJ's all day yesterday.  Woke up to 6° and today it'll be 46°F tomorrow. The Almond Butter Chocolate Chip cookies didn't last long.  We are fighting over the last of the last.  I had not made them for years.  Not sure what made me think of them, but surely enjoyed them. Nothing much to post - wacky weather, car still not repaired.

Yesterday went much smoother.  Thankful for that.  The sun shined, although pretty cold.  Before Hubby left for work, I loaded the back seat with 3 large bags of library returns.  I texted him late in the day to remind him to drop them off.  Of course, I had a load to pick up as well.  I've decided not to order anything from the library until the car is fixed. By the way.  Just my luck.  Hubby worked overtime last night, so the library books are still in the truck. 😟 I worked a bit in my office area, and even completely cleaned out a drawer. Much of it went into the trash, but some will be donated.   I am finally getting the tinctures strained and bottled.  I had to do this one day at a time, due to lack of strainers.  I had to wash and dry completely, so I didn't contaminate the tinctures with any water. The only other thing I needed to do in the kitchen (other than a big dinner), was make blueberry syrup for ...

On top of being a hot mess on Tuesday, so was the weather.  We got boat loads of rain, so everything is a muddy mess.  It's cold now again, and nights in the teens.  Stupid, crazy weather. By the way, when I post things that are just not going our way, it's simply reality.  I'm not complaining , just pushing through.  I don't post that life is all posh in the boonies if they are not.  Although winter is a time to rest, we may be cleaning up the garage this coming weekend.  Not willingly though.  I guess we'll see. I checked off my to-do list as best as I could yesterday, which started with washing the crock pots for another two crock pot dinner - turkey meatballs/marinara sauce in one, and veggie quinoa in another.  However, I realized I was completely out of quinoa, so glazed carrots went into the other crock pot. By the way, I had cauliflower to blanch and freeze, but decided to "rice" it with some onion and parsley.  We toppe...

Sunday, while Hubby worked on the car the entire day, I got 3 "F" bombs done for my current order.  Just 3 more to get done. Monday, I went with Hubby to work on the car again.  His exact words were, "it'll be 1/2 hour tops and we'll bring her home."  It didn't happen.  She's still not running after putting her all back together.  I was starving and we were thankful for leftover turkey and sweet potatoes when we arrived home late.    Sadly, we didn't have any time to cut wood.  Hubby is going work on the car every night until they figure it out.  We didn't have the boys help yesterday, and Hubby is stumped.  It starts, but won't stay running.  They will hook up a code test and see what comes of that next. Since we have been super busy with the car, I have a full "to-do" list today.  Over the top long.  The sink is filled with dirty dishes and the housework is so far behind.  Daughter had a full day of musical ...

First thing on the agenda was go through my library loot.  I didn't get any really good gift ideas from these garden gift books. I'm looking through this one for new recipes.  I've ordered another one for the slow cooker for "diabetic" recipes.  I will wait and see which is better to buy.  There are several recipes for this next recipe online, but I really like using crock pots for dinner (trying new recipes for easier days this summer). One recipe from the above slow cooker cookbook - Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes.  Yes, those are sweet potatoes (different organic variety).  Loaded with garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. A second crock pot was filled with a turkey breast, loaded with seasoning and a few homemade beef bouillon cubes. Both were delicious, and it was the first time I ever cooked a turkey breast in a crock pot.  I'll definitely make them again, and I'll be doing a turkey in the crock pot next Thanksgiving. Homemade B...

We literally sat around until almost 11am Saturday morning, tossing around what we'd do and when.  It was that cold out. Saturday we went shopping for more car parts, picked up chicken feed, made a quick stop at Mom's, and spent time on the phone seeing if any of the boys could help work on the car today. The stop at Mom's was quick due to her not feeling well.  Her friend wants to look at my crocheted bookmarks, so I did a pick up of cash for some already sold items, and handed her the bookmarks.  I hope she feels better soon.  This weather is hard on us. Check this out!  If you crochet, these are on sale at Mary Maxim for $3.99!  At least they were on sale. I haven't gone back to see if they are still at that price.  The heart charm comes in any color of birth month.  I know it's not "silver" but I've never seen this before.  I left it in my online shopping cart for a few days and him-hawed (shipping was awful).  I got an email...

We cut all but this much of one tree over the years, and this will come down for our winter wood.  We'll get a lot from it too. The snow was so beautiful.  It was a fluffy snow with no wind, and gorgeous.  The kind that makes you curl up by the fire, under a blanket and with a book. We slept in until 7:16am this morning, and with due diligent, but not without a cat alarm clock.  We woke up to a furry feline sliding his paws under our bedroom door and clankity-clankity-clankity.  He was ravenous and wanted fed so badly, he was yanking the door back and forth. It's a cold -3°F.  First order of business was to feed Tiger, then Romeo, who for the first time was lifting his paws on he first outing outside.  It's too cold for him too. Next order of business was coffee.  I knew to wait until we both had our coffee before bringing it up in conversation - Russell Crowe.  The rooster is so mean, it's leaving the roost today. ...