Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, May 24, 2021

Happy Homemaker Monday

We had a very hot weekend, so tilling didn't happen.  It was so dry out.  We had to water the flower beds daily. I am very frustrated getting the vegetable garden in this year.  It's either the weather or my husband is not available to till.  He won't let me till when I am home alone.  We asked someone if they were interested in tilling for me for some cash.  Didn't happen.

The weather was perfect for starting some jars of comfrey oil.  I'll be trying a new salve recipe and giving it a try before I put a review on here about it.

We are somewhat feeling like normal in our state again.  We noticed however, when eating out they still give those annoying packets of ketchup vs. a bottle.  I'm putting one in the fridge just for when we are on the road from now on.  

We had a busy weekend.  There was a baby shower we attended, and delivered gifts for two grand niece birthdays we missed.  I forgot to take a picture, but we gifted a crocheted baby blanket and matching baby booties, along with diapers and other items (man the price of diapers - wow!!).

Our Bike Week will be different this year, but it's coming up the same weekend they do an MS charity bike poker run.  Rain is in the forecast for next Friday, so I'm not sure what activities we'll be doing. We are in a race to get the entire garden planted too, so who knows what we'll actually be able to participate in.  Personally, I'd like to work my bum off this week in the garden and try and get at least one day on the bike.

Our mower guy (only charges us $40 for what we mow on our 6 acres), showed up so that is one job taken off our hands.


 


Today, I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather  . . .
83°F/68°F, it finally rained last night.

On my reading pile . . .



On my TV . . .
Heartland

On the menu . . .
-new recipe to try, roasted rosemary asparagus
-crock pot pork chops, crock pot sweet potatoes
-sheesh....have no idea, it's hard to work up the menu without potatoes, rice, bread, pasta etc to keep tabs on my husband's sugar intake.  Last night we had chicken chili, but I hate making a hot dinner like that when it's in the 90's.  I have a pasta recipe with black beans that is basically a cold meal for a hot day, but yeah - pasta.  Salads sound good.  I love to make them with chicken, dried cranberries, sweetened pecans, but yeah sugar.  

On my to-do list . . .
-make a breakfast scramble
-boil eggs
-laundry
-empty dishwasher
-sweep/mop kitchen
-vacuum
-clean master bath
-plant flowers (one flat of snapdragons, 3 lavender plants I bought from a niece - school fundraiser)
-weed a portion of  a flower bed, drop dirt and seeds, add one more bag of mulch to another
-plant in vegetable garden
-check asparagus
-harvest some rhubarb
-muck chicken coop
....oh boy, this is a "Monday" for sure for us


What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating . . .
Today's project is crocheted water balloons for the grandkids. To see a complete (or sort of) list of what's on the hooks click here.



Looking around the house . . .
The kitchen stayed looking good thankfully.  The girls worked all weekend, so less chance for a mess here or there.  The living room is another story, and the hallway is not done (we are either out and about, or working outside now).

From the camera . . .
Nothing exciting ha ha!  I got my cherry bomb seeds from an Etsy seller and got them planted.  I know it's late, but I'm hoping the hot weather will encourage fast growth.  One of my habanero plants is up due to the heat we were having.



Something fun to share . . .
If you are interested in how to crochet the water balloons, you need Bernat Blanket yarn and an 9.00mm hook.  The instructions are found on YouTube.  I bought this "bright" solid a year ago, so I can't remember where I bought it. 

I had intentions of making them last year (or maybe the year before, can't remember but found the yarn in the closet.  I went to Wal-mart for more color options, and they did not have solid colors, or the brights in the cake form either.  I picked up some blue variegated, and ordered some other solid color options online.  I haven't had time to check in-store at Meijer yet.  I attempted to order from Michael's online, but depending on the color, it was a forced store pick up or I had to order two of one color so that didn't happen.  I've got too much to plant to drive that far for yarn right now.


Something else fun to share.  A foldable, chargeable fan for the camper.  I bought it a year ago, and never got the camper out, but it's going in it this year.  I've heard from so many people how hard it is to get campground reservations this year, so it may be our only one this summer.  Who knows.  The fan pulls up, so the height is adjustable as well.


On my prayer list . . .
No personal requests at this time, other than the Mother of Daughter E's boyfriend that passed.  Both his family and our daughter still have a rough time.  






15 comments:

Martha said...

Sounds like a busy time for you, hope you get everything done that you want to do. :)

Chasity said...

I like the idea for the mess free water balloons! Do you remember where you found your foldable and chargeable fan? A friend of mine just got a camper and she's looking for things for it.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Thanks Martha

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Chasity, I believe I bought the fan on Amazon last year.

Faith said...

We went from winter to summer very quickly here in NE Ohio. Too hot for me, but the few tomatoes I planted thrived and grew, as did my sunflowers, which are about 5" tall now, the seedling I threw about are coming up. Overcas and comfortable today. Have a good week, I'm going to move my hook as soon as I get some clothes folded.

Lisa K Thomasson Jung said...

Love the water bottle cover. I just bought garden plants Sunday and will get them in late this afternoon. Have a great week.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Faith, we had the same weather here too. From snow to summer in a snap. We are just now tilling the garden too. It was so dry making it too difficult to till. Have fun with your hook.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Lisa, the water balloons are simply made from yarn that absorbs water easily. Kids just toss in a bucket of water and toss. Wash in washer and reuse.

Chasity said...

Thank you!

Luludou said...

Campgrounds around here are full for the whole summer. Since people cannot travel they are trying to get out of the house a bit.
Hope you can work on your gardent this week.

Have a great week

Jean said...

Glad you got a little rain. We have a surplus of rain around here, you can have some of ours. It rained 9 days straight, stopped 2 days, and is supposed to rain again today. Never heard of a crochet water balloon, what a neat idea. Hope you have a great week!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Luludou, we are able to travel in our state, but the campgrounds filled up super fast this year. I think people got tired of being stuck inside.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Jean, I am sorry to hear you are getting so much rain. Hope you get a break from it. I found out about the water balloons from a family member. The pattern is on Youtube, but I wrote it down to keep too.

Monique G. said...

Our state is just now opening up. We've been looking at a vacation this year, but don't want to go someplace where there are too many restrictions. I just want to relax and enjoy the summer.
Hope you can get the garden in soon. We keep getting rain too. We did beans into the garden, but nothing else so far.
Have a great week!

I have to say, I love the photo of your chicken. What kind is she?

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Monique, when we were in FL, we never had to wear a mask. Same in parts of TN when we had stopped there. Amish area in OH was pretty much the same too. The chicken in my header photo is a silver laced wyandotte.