Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The notorious wren is back.  She's not making a nest in the flower pot pictured above, but she picked the same location of a hanging flower basket for her nest again. The hummingbirds are back too.  I did not have a camera on hand, but they are enjoying the early blooms already. We just may get to dry out for a day, but after this morning's rain.  At least for a day or maybe even two, before it returns (again). There is always something good in everything.  Including frustrating times, or moments, like days and days of rainfall. I finished another book, tried another new treat recipe (more to try), and actually relaxed for once.  My husband grilled us the most delicious burgers too.  We had chopped up mushrooms and such, for camping, and they made the best swiss mushroom burgers I have ever had.  Speaking of which, it reminded me I still have homemade garlic scape butter in the freezer to use up too. I harvested more cleavers in between downpour...

  (6-7-25) (6-11-25) I appears she is moving the eggs around after a few days.  Notice the blue egg in front a few days later?  The baby birds are born.  Not sure how many will make it yet, but they are being fed, so I have to be careful on watering my flower pot (or not, ha ha!). Mrs. Bird   ©  June 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  Mrs. Bird has been doing a lot of singing.  I almost (almost) got a picture of her.  Thankfully, she's singing and not squawking.  As long as she's already in the nest, she doesn't bother me at all.  Once I water the flower pot however, bam!  She really gives me a good talking to. Check this out!  Could another bird be laying eggs in there too?  I took this photo on June 7th. Mrs. Bird has inspired me to add a book to my bookshelf.  More on that later, but it's in the line up to read this year. Meanwhile, the rain has been a blessing for the garden(s). Mrs. Bird   ©  June 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  After a long, but productive day in the garden, I retreated to the front porch for some "rest" time and to enjoy a few minutes of reading a book.  I was being harassed by a very small bird.  I am not sure what it is, but maybe a wren.  It was squawking and carrying on at me like I was in her territory.  I kept looking at her and, of course, talking to her.  She flew off, and I had peace on the porch again.   The next morning, I went to watering all of the hanging flower plants around the front porch.  Guess who has a nest (again) in one of our hanging pots?  Ha!  It's built interestingly safe from my watering too.  The top is covered and the entrance is low and on the side.  I used my phone to capture a photo of what's inside.   Hopefully, Mrs. Bird will be copasetic and share the porch with me, without squawking on and on in the evenings.  The strangest part, it's the flower basket that is closest to the ...

  Success this past week. I installed shelf liners on 3 shelves in one of the bathroom cabinets.  I also completely cleaned out two large corner kitchen cupboards, purged any expired seasonings, vinegars, oils etc. Cleaned them, washed every lazy susan/turntable, lined the shelves, and re-organized. I made a trip to town to buy liner to finish the remaining shelves.  I also invested in two more turntables to make life more organized. However, between putting the roll of shelf liner on the check out, and then paying for it, apparently it never made it home.  The drive back is not short.  The remaining shelves will be waiting until we retrieve the roll.  We are stumped at how we never got that long roll back into the cart.   Anyway, I have also done inventory to see what I need for this year's canning season.  I, apparently, have enough celery seed to can items for the next two years (ha ha! Whoops!).  The kids moved in and out, but left b...

  Yesterday's sunrise.  It was snowing all day, but it was one of those big, soft, slow falling snowflake days.  Beautiful, despite the freezing temperatures and lack of full sunshine. Check out these photos.  I had to take them thru the window, because of the snow outside, but loved what I photographed (cannot wait to upgrade my camera soon).  There was a woodpecker enjoying the bird feeder later in the day, but the bugger was playing with me, and kept flying off before I could snap one photo, ha ha! Look at the top of the photo. A blog follower asked for the hamstring stretches that I was given by one of my daughters.  Here they are, but check out anything on Youtube too.  There are exercises on there that were also helpful. I also did floor stretches in addition, and ate a well balanced diet etc.  Good advice I was given one day, is 80% of maintaining your health (good weight, or weight loss) happens in the kitchen. ~  ~  ~  ~...

We warmed up from 0°F to 2°F today.  It's all a sheet of ice outside.  No sign of thawing just yet.  We also got more snow last night. We are getting news from family and friends of sickness.  One is one of the kids too.  She has confirmed having the flu.   The water softener is still on the "off" mode.  My husband has acquired the supplies to repair the leak in the line, but has lacked the time to do the actual repair.  I'm tapping my foot in anticipation, so I can turn the water softener back on (laundry awaits).  He works outside in this cold some days, so when he comes home, he is physically spent so to speak. With that said, I have only moved a few puzzle pieces on our current puzzle. Update on the last new pancake recipe.  I froze about 15 of them, and we are thawing them this week for breakfast with a side of homemade chicken "sausage" patties.  I may add scrambled eggs later, but I wanted to let you know they thawed and...

  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...

  I hope the joys in your winter days are pouring in.  I got a teeny tiny sample from Eden Garden Essential oils, and it's in the diffuser today.  It's called "It Smells Amazing."  Photo to show you how tiny and cute the sample bottle is. One day it was very dreary, but the huge slow falling snowflakes were so pretty. Another day we started out with snow fog.  Crazy, but it was beautiful with the sunshine.  Love that sunshine. A few bird photos I took recently.  The sun was shining just a bit too. The snow is rolling in again, and more until Saturday.  Last I heard they predicted about another 2-3 inches for our area.  I won't complain.  It's poor man's fertilizer.  Good for the garden, because it brings nitrogen to the ground. The weather however, is delaying our beloved Fluffy Butt Hutt (aka new chicken mansion) from progressing. Even so, the ladies are back to laying us at least one egg a day.  I have been taking scraps and ...

  There is no method to figure out this winter weather madness. One day it's rain, cold and windy, the next snow and very cold, and the next? We were in the delightful 60's for about 3-4 days.  We actually hit the lower 70's one day. Thunderstorms rolled in next.   I took advantage of the better weather, and put the laundry on the clothesline.  It gets me outside, I get some extra physical movement, and a lower electricity bill.  A win all around. I saw my first Robin.  I actually saw several.  The mornings now start much darker, but as the sun rises, the birds are busy singing good morning to the world.  I took that photo through my window, and I do need to wash some more windows ha ha! I'm enjoying my nettle/oat straw tea infusions.  I serve them iced for us, and yes it tastes earthy, but very healthy at the same time.  The list for benefits of nettle alone is very long, and I am already seeing one benefit - healthier fingernails ...