Pioneer Woman at Heart

  I'm cramming a lot into one post for the end of July.   Gardening work has been in full motion, for veggies, herbs and flowers.  Despite cutting the planting down by almost half this year, we have had a lot to up-keep.  On top of all my regular chores and happenings, sweet corn is in season.  Oh boy, the work load has doubled, but happy to get it done this year.  Corn frozen.  Job done. If you did not read about it, we did not plant any squash at all this year, to kill off the squash bug.  However, we have not been able to locate many produce stands with yellow squash.  Zucchini is everywhere, but a lack of yellow squash.  Our adventures continue.  We did our very first local 4 mile bicycle ride.   After many years of having this on my "bucket" list, I grew our very first lemon.  It was delicious too. We have taken more camping trips to off set the work days, relax, and enjoy life.  I have brought home two...

  Wow, the time has really flown by, and it would take a very long post to update every single thing.  Goodness. Thank you all for your advice on recent post question.  

Even though I know spring planting time is not here yet, it was depressing to know that there was a freeze warning out last night for us, and is still in effect until 10am today. We are hoping it won't damage the asparagus or rhubarb.  I'm sure it may damage some of my early spring herbs however.  My sage plants were just starting to produce again too. I found the pattern location for the crocheted rose cup coasters, using crochet thread #10.  Sharing for those who were interested in the pattern. The pattern is in this book, on page 55.  Check your library for the book. Book information:  Creative Crochet, A Leisure Arts Publication, ISBN:  0-942237-63-3 Not wanting to go fetch my recipe binder, I recently just used good ol' google to find a breakfast casserole with sweet potatoes and breakfast sausage (the hubs bought sausage that needed used).  I also thawed and used some kale, added garlic, onions and frozen bell peppers (from last year's garden), a...

  It's nearing the end of our garden season.  The rain is arriving here, so I will wait for the garden to dry up before pulling some more plants/stakes. The hot peppers are doing okay this year, but some did not make it.  Oddly, I got one lonely Anaheim pepper from 3 plants I grew from seed.   I brought in another 15 green bell peppers as well. It's getting down to the 40's at night this week, which is perfect weather for camping.  Speaking of that, we got our very first camping trip in this year.  It was so nice and relaxing, and the campfire meals were delicious. One breakfast we made - omelets with garden bell pepper, onion, spinach, bacon and cheese.  The other breakfast contained spinach, feta, bacon, and topped with homemade fresh salsa (made with garden goodies). We took a walk, played cards, I brought handiwork along, and a book.  On the drive home, I pulled out my knitting project, only to find out that we must have accidently l...

We've been "off line" for a while so these are posts will catch up all up to date.  Hubby took us camping!  Oh the fun! This is the fire ring that we cooked on.  We bring along a tri-pod as well.

I have been searching for a replacement bulb for this battery operated camping lantern for two years.

I have only tried my home canned pepper mustard sauce on chicken so far.  I know meatballs would be wonderful, but this time I tried it on organic pork tenderloin (in the crock pot). Delicious.  Another winning way to eat from our summer stock up.  We topped it over organic brown rice, and had a side of roasted brussel sprouts.   We are having another cold day. 

Finally!  We got to take our first camping trip this year.  Although short, we made the most of the time - games, hiking, biking, campfire meals and just hanging out.

My older brother shared several books with me, and these two came in recently.  As you can see, I have already started marking recipes to play around with.

My oldest brother sent me this.  Camping in winter?  He asked "Who's in?" I would try it.  As long as it wasn't -38°F wind chill.  We could have all kinds of fun - cook over the fire, sip hot chocolate, build a snowman, and hike.   We could ice fish!  Ha! Speaking of snow and winter,  we got more of it last night.  School is closed today.  It's a wet snow, and it rained during the snowfall.  I'm starting to feel better, and spent the entire day yesterday reading writer magazines that have piled up.  It was fun to just sit and read, and sip hot tea.  I actually did some writing too. Head's up on the eucalyptus oil - it can reduce the effects of many medications because it detoxifies.  Once I stopped steaming, my medications worked much better.  Duh moment, and a learning experience.  Once I am healed, I will steam for preventative reasons.  However, the 3 times I did steam, really did help my s...

Over the weekend, a thrift store was having a customer appreciation sale - 50% off store wide.  I got all of this (two bed sheets, 3 vintage tablecloths) for about $8.00 total.  The bedding will be saved for camping, and possibly a few of the tablecloths. 

 (Our first backyard "retreat" just before Glamping Weekend.  This is just the beginning.) Had to cancel our glamping weekend (away from home) due to a situation beyond my control.   I promised myself that a glamped up tent would be put up somewhere on our 6 acres. We haven't done it yet.  Maybe today. Started building the chicken tractor. Planted 9 sweet potatoes (first time for us and a bit late), 6 straight neck yellow squash plants, the last of the tomatoes (totaling 121 tomato plants now), 6 zucchini plants (our planted seeds did not all come up), and one last sweet banana pepper plant for the billy goat (his favorite). One daughter went to put the red hens away, and found the rat in the coop.  She said it's "huge" and scurried up the chicken wire and up through a hole in the ceiling (which we blocked with a block).  My son went out to re-set traps and saw it to.  I think he almost got it with a shovel.  It's eating our ch...

Typically I like to take one day "off" and do something fun.  However, my hubby called from work and was having problems with his eyes.  He was using his last pair of contacts and they were causing problems.  He called to say he was heading home and asked if I would join him - road trip. Here are the fun thrift store finds from yesterday. . .   I found 5 vintage jello molds ($.35), a top 30's Country Hits record album ($.25), and a pack of playing cards still in their original package ($.25).  My plan was to make pin cushions with the jello molds, however, they are so nice (and a good size) that I may even use them in the kitchen.   We plan to play the album, and it even has Johnny Cash on it.  The playing cards are for game night and camping. If we ever lose any, I can always re-purpose them too.  They have a fun flower pattern on them. I could not resist buying this bag of scrap ribbons ($1.00).  Underne...

  The tent area. The Campfire Cooking Area Six girls camped out and cooked some of the food (some fell off the grill (ha ha ha!) over the fire.  This morning, they made coffee over the fire, and waited patiently for it.  Here is the recipe they made.  It's from a 1969 cookbook that my mother gave me many years ago.  I forgot I had it on my bookshelf, but the kids found it. Cafe Au Lait Brew 4 cups of coffee in the way you prefer.  Heat 1 quart of milk in a saucepan until bubbles appear at the edges.  With both liquids hot, pour them simultaneously into cups.  Add sugar and cinnamon, if desired (they did add this and it was delicious.  According to them, it was "refreshing" for a hot drink.  Makes 8 cups. (Cookbook for Family Camping, by Elizabeth Williams, 1969)

From the Garden Journal. . . ….planted spinach just before the rain arrived.  We also put 3 redbud tree seeds to soak, and hope to get them outside during the rain tomorrow.  We purchased Aunt Harriet's redbud seed pods from Amishland Heirloom Seeds in Reamstown, PA.  I cut the first fresh chives from one of the herb gardens this year.  It complimented our mashed potatoes at dinner. From the Gratitude Journal. . . Today I am thankful for: 1.     Coffee 2.     My children 3.     Our farm animals 4.     Our pets 5.     Friends 6.     My Mom 7.     My siblings 8.     My extended families 9.     Mail delivery 10. My clotheslines Making Progress . . . Bottom door is complete.  Now for the top door. Articles you may enjoy also: 5 Reasons to Become Self Sufficient 5 Best Books for Campfire Cooking Recipes

The cool nights here are perfect for a few more fall camping trips.  I found this Web site