Pioneer Woman at Heart

January 2025 comes to an end, and I am thrilled to have met my own goals of staying off social media (less scrolling time), being more consistent with reading, exercise, time better well spent overall.  Although there is more wiggle room to become better at avoiding morning procrastination (winter cold weather can do that to a person). Winter time gives us zero harvest from the outside world.   We lack a greenhouse.  However, I purchased a cilantro plant for indoor growing.  We are praying we have the funds to fence the other garden, and have been working on a garden plan.  I have toyed with the idea of not growing one, but that thought quickly dissipated.  Our health is important, and I'd miss all that garden goodness. There is nothing better than to take a red sharpie, and cross off to-do's that have lingered on the list for almost a year. Do you ever finish a job, and then go back and look at it over and over and smile?  Ha ha!  I finally ...

  Quick and short post today.  Betsy at The Simple Life of a Queen blogspot shared with me this pattern.  It is a good friend of hers, and the pattern can use up scrap thread.   It is still a free pattern via Ravelry, and comes up as a free printable PDF.  It is a Scandinavian Heart Ornament.  Perfect for upcoming Valentine's Day or for Christmas tree ornaments.  The pattern calls for #5 cotton thread (I'm sure other thread counts would look fine too). Pattern is by Teresa Kasner, Ravelry, and free. Crochet Hearts    © January 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  I made myself a binder (nothing special, just to organize) for Christmas preparations years ago.  I keep recipes (which I should also copy and keep in my regular recipe box), Christmas gift ideas, games and so forth. There is not too much in the binder, as years went by, and we continued to remove very old (and dog ruined) carpet, and do home repairs and updates.  We just didn't host any holiday here, and we continue to do that (much needed repairs, updates, purging, painting etc.), but in the mean time. . . The binder reminds me to try a new recipe, or write down a homemade edible food gift idea etc. Back in the day, January and February were my months to made handmade Christmas tree ornaments for the next Christmas.  I LOVED making Christmas ornaments, and my family was given a plenitude of them.  Trust me when I say in abundance, ha ha!   I then resorted to steering those same energies to making them and selling them.  I have now left the cra...

The recent cold snap caused some businesses to deal with burst water pipes.  Some busted water lines flooded streets, and some flooded University dorm basements. The puzzle has been an addiction.   It is 24 x 30 inches.  Huge! Meanwhile, I'm patiently waiting for the doctors hands on diagnosis (vs. a phone call diagnosis).  I am patiently waiting for a clear-all, so I can get back to doing regular work around here, and possibly volunteer where needed (and helping my husband's cousin, read below in prayer requests).  A community member is also in need of help, and I can't commit to anything until I am cleared of all/any restrictions.  If you know how active I am, you know it's taking a great amount of patience. **see prayer request at the bottom of the post Homemaking tip:  how to remove a sticky note stain from a kitchen counter.  Hair spray.  My husband got a sticky note wet, and it stained my kitchen counter.  Nothing was wiping a...

I made homemade hair detangler last year, and used it all year long. I even bought a small spray bottle for traveling with (and it worked great).  I have added lemon essential oil to it now. I discovered a hair brush, after my hair dresser used one on my hair one visit.   It's called a detangler brush, and they do exist in your big box stores.  I bought one, and wow!  I can brush out my hair much more easily with this tool (it's a small brush, but hard to tell in the photo).  Not sure how they make the brush, but I use a lot less homemade detangler now, and it takes a lot less time to brush my wet hair out with the detangler brush.   Remember the homemade face toner? As well as the homemade face serum?  I am still using both, and love them both.  In fact, the serum (I made my own rosehip oil for it first), is said to reduce scar damage, and help the skin grow new skin cells.  I used it all year on a very small scar on my chin and it's ...

                        (old photo of picked plantain, but I used both broad leaf and narrow-leafed plantain for the salve)   I completely forgot to share our newest addition to the medicine cabinet  - plantain salve.  It's a homemade drawing salve.  Plantain  (a weed that grows wild) is what saved me when I had a very nasty spider bite years ago.  I asked my husband to go outside and pick it, macerate it, and make a poultice.  I used it until I found a decent doctor (which was hard to do at the time). I used 1/2 cup infused oil (used grapeseed oil to infuse it), and 2 Tbsp. of beeswax.  Heat together until the beeswax is melted, pour into jars and cool completely.  You can add essential oils too, but add them after you take the melted oil/beeswax off the heat. By the way, before this was made, and I needed a drawing salve, I used a mix of homemade calendula oil, some store purchased...

  Mashed potato squash was a new garden treasure to grow last summer.  There is very little information about it online, and very little information if it freezes well.   We do not have a root cellar, so as of now, freezing our roasted squash is are best option at preserving it for the winter months. I roasted the last of our mashed potato squash, and allowed it to cool.  I scooped out the flesh and froze it.  I know it will thaw somewhat watery, as it is that way after roasting it.   The plan will be to mix it with pureed squash, add it to tomato sauce, or other dishes.  I am not sure if it will not be solid enough to enjoy on it's own, after thawing. I'll update as we thaw and use it in our meals.  I purposely waited to roast them, thinking it would help heat up this house. Mashed Potato Squash ~ Roasting and Freezing Trial #1   © January 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  The last time we had temperatures at -20F° was back in the first week of January of 2014.  Eleven years ago.  According to my blog anyway.  The weatherman on the news channel is saying we had these cold temperatures six years ago.   Tuesday it was -12°F with a windchill (feels like).  Monday we at least had sunshine the entire day.  Tuesday it was dark and cloudy with a bit of sun here and there. Today we didn't quite hit the -20 mark, but we did hit -5°F with a windchill of -19°F.  Thankfully, water is running, as we let the faucets drip overnight.  We restocked on bird seed, and this one has a lever that will shut the feed area if a squirrel tries to hop on for a meal. Garden prep: I had some time to go through my garden planting plan for this year, and I realized we did not plant any type of pea last year.  We never got the pea fence back up. What are you gardeners planting for sugar snap peas?  I am considering trying so...

January 1st, 2025 I decided to start creating a book blanket.  What is a book blanket? I use any scrap yarn (#4 weight), and a 5.5mm crochet hook, and crochet one granny square to match the cover of every book I read this year.  Purchased this book at an antique store. (with first granny square) The blanket is also a join-as-you-go blanket.  The final results will be my "book" blanket. I am using a much different pattern, than the regular join methods, and I love the look too. I am not picking my books out by how colorful the cover is either.  I am working on books that I have purchased, books that were passed down to me from my Mom, or from a daughter (or even friend), and matching the yarn colors to the best of what I have in my scrap yarn stash.   The idea is to use up what I have without buying any new (deep breath here, ha ha!).  It is also my motivation to read more books, and scroll on the internet (or my phone) a lot less. Another book read wit...

  Last week's egg salad sandwich on the homemade avocado bread was fantastic.  I can't wait to try chicken salad, southwest chicken salad or even tuna salad on this "bread" it is that good.  I may play around with other seasonings, other than homemade everything but the bagel seasoning. Update on the Chicken Breakfast "Sausage" Patties - I used the same seasonings, but made them with  ground turkey. They were delicious!  I used turkey patties and made breakfast sandwiches with egg, cheese, turkey "sausage" and a slice of the homemade avocado bread.  So good!       Next, I will experiment using the two different meats, with the same seasoning, and cooking it as I would for breakfast burritos, casseroles, frittata's, and quiches.                                                           ...