Wow! October is here already

 

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.  

This and That

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), and seasoned the eggs.  

We canceled our camping trip for this weekend.  Am I upset?  I'm more mad, but also sad.  My hiking shoes will be waiting for me for the next trip.  We thought about going anyway, but then thunderstorms/and high winds sealed the decision.  Our camper is too small to spend an entire weekend inside it vs. sitting around a campfire and/or hiking.  Always have a back up plan.  Although today will be a beautiful sunny 70 degree day, the rain is still on the way.

I may have found another source to donate my lap afghans to.  It's local, which is what I wanted.  I am reaching out to verify.

Short blog post today.  Have a good weekend.

This and That  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Hot Pepper Haul ~ Camping

 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 left one knitting needle in the grass by the fire pit.  It must have rolled off my lawn chair and neither of us noticed it.  

As for the cooler weather, it will be much nicer to work on the "Chicken Castle" vs. when it was in the 90's.

Purge Motivation ~ Camping Tip I Learned

 A few of you have mentioned that purging/organizing/tossing seems a bit overwhelming.  Well, this is how I do it.

I put the boxes of "stuff" in the smack dab middle of the living room.  It's in plain sight, and that will bother me, so it's tackled and taken care of and more out of the house faster.  More put in their new homes, or re-organized.  I am cleaning as if I was moving, so I handle each item asking myself, "would I take you to a new home," which helps make decisions on keeping or donating much easier.

I do have a ton of paperwork, that got taken out of a file cabinet 1 year ago (and 2 months to be precise).  The boxes were shoved into the office when the kitchen was boxed up to repair the flooring.

I found my hand crank coffee grinder, and my apple peeler/corer.  I honestly never had a chance to use the peeler.  How many of you have a peeler/corer combo and use it? 

Decisions are to be made here.  That fan was left upstairs by one of the kids, and it's on it's last leg, but I think we used it for one of the rooms we repaired and renovated.  It may be getting scrapped.

I hope that helps motivate you, if you need motivation.  We were just so overdue to purge/extreme clean/re-organize. 

Camping Tip (with a camper with water/grey water tank):  Wash your dishes with dawn powerwash (any environmentally safe dish soap) only, then over a dish tub run water over dishes to rinse, then dump the rinse water outside (or some campgrounds have a grey water dump near by).  This helps you keep your grey water tank from filling too fast while camping.  It is easier to get fresh water, than to dump your grey water tank.

When we had our pop up camper, it had a water tank, but for some reason we never used it.  We would heat water on the campfire, and fill two dish tubs to wash and rinse our dishes.

We are on day 21 of no rain, but that may change later today.  Crossing fingers, saying a prayer, and sending out that good mojo.

Sweet Chili Sauce update and camping

 I forgot to mention, I baked a sheet pan chicken dinner with brussel sprouts and carrots when Daughter E visited.  We cracked open a jar of the sweet chili sauce I canned this year, and it was very good.  In fact, we enjoyed it on the veggies as well. 

We took our first, and possibly the last, camping trip this year.  We met up with friends and had the best time ever.

It's back to reality and garden/house work.

Happy Homemaker Monday

We went on yet another camping adventure, and a well deserved retreat.  Just the outdoors, nature, card playing, music, campfires, campfire meals and time for us.

We drove to another city and picked up some of Mom's favorite popcorn (a different kind), got locally made ice cream and other treats.  We both laughed when we looked down and we both had on our slippers in the store (ha ha!).

I took my latest unfinished project I found in the closet and enjoyed the great outdoors.  Meals were cooked over the campfire.  Our camper has a radio that plays inside and outside, so we took advantage of that too.  We can't wait for the next adventure.

 

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I'll link up when she posts (and I remember to, ha ha!)

Weather . . . 

Hot!  We had beautiful weather over the weekend.  Perfect for camping, but we are now back to hot weather.  90's.  Possibly rain Tuesday late and into Wednesday morning.   

How I am feeling this morning . . .

Revived and ready to get order in this homestead.  I'm also happy to have received a "paycheck" from the museum, where I sell handiwork.  I am not happy to see Daughter K left dirty dishes sit, but we came home to find out she had been sick over the weekend.

She went to Urgent care on Sunday evening and was told she is dehydrated.  Wearing a mask 8 hours a day, she is not drinking water.  We told her it's best to carry a water bottle or thermos at work from now on.

We visited Mom Sunday as well, when we returned home.  She's not really feeling any better.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

I have no idea, ha ha!  

Looking around the house . . .

Kitchen needs a major clean up.  Same with the living room, but then we have yet to set a date to rip up the kitchen floor.

On my reading pile . . .

I took a book to the campground,  but spent most of my relaxing time doing crochet work.  I'll post it a picture of it tomorrow.  I hope to start reading it, now that the garden is slowing down.

On my TV . . .

Click Bait, Netflix

On the menu this week . . . 

-Roasted Turkey, Sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts
-Pork chops/BBQ sauce, quinoa and a veggie

-Tacos

From the camera . . .

*see camping photos at the top of this post

I am thankful for . . .

...whatever we are getting from the garden, for our recent camping trip, for coffee, good friends, family

I am hoping to . . .

I haven't really had time to think on this, since returning from our camping trip.  Definitely hoping to get more camping in before the end of the season.

Something fun to share . . .

The "Big City" has these robots that roam the sidewalks.  They pick up and deliver food.  How they can safely cross roads is crazy.  They just crack me up when I see them.

Prayer list . . .

Mom (her health), our country (our rights, what a mess),  Daughter K (overwhelmed, dehydrated)

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend, although we got our 2nd camping trip squeezed in.  I'll have the full report on that tomorrow ha ha.  Oh boy it's too much to fit into today's post.  It's not just about camping, but the entire weekend, returning home and stuff I just can't make up.

However I have photos down below for you all.

By the way, blogger is still not working correctly for me.  My reading list is zero.  It keeps telling me no posts to read at all, and it's frustrating.  I have found a way to search for your blogs one at a time, but it's easier for me if you comment. Then I can click on your blog (if you have one) and read updates.  Hopefully they will fix it soon.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I'll link up when she posts.

The weather . . . 

Absolutely gorgeous!!  What I call perfect camping weather.  In the 70's and so nice out.  

How I am feeling this morning . . .

Well, rested yet exhausted and feeling grimy.  Read tomorrow's post to find out why ha ha!

On the breakfast plate . . .

Coffee so far, ha ha!  Most likely a few eggs and toast. 

Looking around the house. . . 

What a mess!  Daughter K worked long shifts so nothing was done, and she put all her dirty dishes in the sink vs. the dishwasher.  It'll be a long day cleaning up everything.

On my reading pile . . .

A campground magazine that contains all of the campground in our state.

On my TV . . .

Nothing in particular.  However, today after I clean, I plan to have some down time watching cooking shows and doing some handiwork.

On the menu . . .

-fried cabbage, buttermilk cornbread
-grilled philly's

-possibly chickpea stuffed shells

-hummus (a meal on it's own and perfect for very hot days)

-leftovers

From the camera . . .

Herb garden at the campground for anyone to use for cooking.  I thought this was pretty neat, considering I love foil pack campfire beets with fresh rosemary.  

Just a few photos of our camping trip.   We had to go to Wal-mart and buy a grill cover for the campfire ring.  All campfire rings did not have a grill grate on them to do any campfire cooking.

I am thankful for . . .

Music.  I love to have the radio playing while cleaning the house.

I am hoping to . . .

Get some more camping trips planned.

Prayer list . . .

Niece A, who is pregnant and nearly passed out for some reason yesterday and niece L who was in a single car accident near our house (while we were gone), totaled her car, but is okay.

Happy Homemaker Monday

We got our first camping trip in this year.  We haven't camped since 2019.

Although we decided (and a good decision) to pack up early before the rain hit, we had a wonderful time.

I'm definitely going to be working on new campfire recipes for future trips.  We needed a dose of nature.

Yesterday, my husband and I took Mom lunch and had a nice time catching up.  

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

Rain.  Lots of rain. Not sure why the photo is so blurry, but you can see the rain in the forecast anyway.

How I am feeling . . .

Sad to not be on our weekend vacation, but ready to tackle the housework I guess.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Blueberry pancakes, sausage and coffee.

Looking around the house . . .

It's a mess.  I have camping stuff to put away, tidy the kitchen, sweep and mop it, do some dishes, empty dishwasher, do laundry, purge a small lock box, purge a filing cabinet, get Daughter K to clean her stuff off one table, purge one box of binders, 

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing this week.  I loved being able to get my dose with nature and play cards.  My husband said it's the most time he's spent outside (aside from garden/yard work).

On my TV . . .

Heartland

 On the menu . . .

-pumpkin/sage macaroni, veggie
-grilled philly's

-baked walleye, steamed broccoli

-grilled BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, asparagus and baked beans

-leftovers

From the camera . . .

English muffin pizzas (camping trip), using home canned pizza sauce.  Yum!

I am thankful for . . .

Getting the chance to go camping, for a day with visiting Mom, for the rain (giving the garden a good soak and me getting the time to get caught up inside), my front porch and so much more.

I am hoping to . . .

Well, for starters, we hope to have time to go check out a few more campgrounds in the next few weeks.  I'm hoping for a few dry days to pop up the camper, and give it a good cleaning.

On my prayer list . . .

No special requests, but we are still having concerns with Daughter E (she is moving out next month).

Camping Trip!

Got back from our first camping trip last night.  Puppy spent the weekend with his buddies Zuri and King, and with the kids.

We really needed a weekend of camping too.  I took along some home canned hot pepper relish too.  We had guests Friday night, so I made some foil packet dinners to cook over the campfire with sausage, potatoes and beans.  Breakfast was easy to pack, meats, eggs, potatoes and bread for french toast.

What's your favorite "go-to" natural remedy to take in your "first aid" kit when traveling.  I take chickweed salve and homemade neosporin, and sometimes mullein tincture.  Would love to know what you suggest and why.  I'm considering digestive bitters next trip.

Friday morning I also baked us some Einkorn peanut butter cookies to take with us.  Mmm!

Before we left I made sure the bedding was already washed and back on the bed, Hubby's work clothes washed and dried, and so forth.  It really saves a headache of rushing around when we get back home.

Speaking of heading home, just before we got on the highway, someone rolled down their window at a light and told us a piece of metal was dragging.  Sure enough it was a jack on the camper that somehow came apart (can be easily fixed).  Thank goodness I took a yarn project.  We tied it up with some pretty cotton yarn (ha ha!).



Caption this . . .

Hubby not only left my garden hose in daughter's car, but left his coffee mug.  Although we have many half finished projects like this, we are getting some done too.

I dug out some home canned caramelized onions and home canned pizza sauce.  Guess what we had before going camping?  

Einkorn crust BBQ pulled pork pizzas with home grown green onions (which are limited in harvest this year).  Crust recipe is online with Einkorn Flour's website, caramelized onions recipe is from the Blue Ball canning book, and I hope to post the pizza sauce recipe during our tomato harvest.  San Marzano tomatoes make the best sauces.

Tip:  I was gifted a set of thin, flimsy cutting boards a few years ago.

They are great to slide under the pizza crust to move it to the pizza pan.  Works like a charm.

Update:  We let the rhubarb vodka sit longer and boy the next tasting was very good.  Hubby loved it.
As for the garden, we are lacking rain terribly here.  We go weeks without it, and I'm watering with well water right now.  The tomato plants are growing, but at snail's pace.


We are however, getting rain early.  I can't put the laundry on the line as planned (rain wasn't due until 4pm), but I'm thrilled we are getting rain.

I have much to do today.  I better get off the "Procrastination Station" and get to work.

Walnut Shell Campfire Starters

Winter is a good time for me to sit and make homemade campfire fire starters, but I recently made another dozen. You can get directions here.

These come in handy to take camping or for starting a backyard fire.

Recent Events

The rain took a day off, so that meant the spectacular event called laundry.  The lines were loaded.  Followed by lots of dish washing, vacuuming and other various house cleaning.

Bedding washed, rugs washed, floors swept and mopped.  Sinks cleaned, toilets scrubbed....all so I could return home Sunday to a clean house.  Which by the way, didn't completely happen.

Those beautiful jars I recently canned were all labeled and put away too.  Most of them anyway.

Medicinal teas were brewed, essential oil steams were done, salt water "snorted".....all three of us caught the "creepy crud" and we were really wanting to feel 100% by Friday.

The best event?

Camping.  I wrote out a grocery list, with a meal plan, checked and rechecked the camping supplies, and we hit the road.  It happened to be the motivation Hubby had to get the new hitch put on the truck too.  It was a wedding reception/camp out.

(during our set up, we had a bit of a rough time, as we have not used the camper for almost 2 years).

Although we had a fun time, we were so tired arriving home.  Once we unpacked we literally did nothing.  The wedding reception was at the campground in an event center, and I am not used to being up that late.  While Hubby drove Youngest to the showers (she danced the entire night), I crawled into the air conditioned and passed out.  Those two stayed up much later, and it was very nice to get some sleep.

I am so afraid to go the garden this morning.  I may find myself a lot of work.  I'll admit it was nice to forget I had a garden for a few days (sort of a garden).  On Saturday we came home to feed the animals etc.

Camping is intended to be relaxing, but due to it being a combined family event, I'll admit it wore me out. I did some dancing myself.  I sure hope our next camping trip is actually relaxing.  I'm so tired this morning, as well as Hubby and Youngest.  

I didn't get many photos, but the campground had a pond with a beach, and our youngest daughter loved swimming in the heat.  It was very, very hot.  Too hot to really enjoy camping either.  In fact, we chose not to campfire cook Saturday for lunch. 

This was a new place to camp, and sort of strange.  Out of 140 sites, 120 were pipeliners in huge RV's.  Also, the bathrooms (shower combo) were in a trailer.  You had to pay $.25 each time you used them.  Never in my life have I seen that.  We also had a creepy kid that kept walking up into our campsites (son of a pipeliner), who just sat down where ever and started talking like he knew one of us.  He was starting to act strange, odd, and saying things about our daughter, and Hubby made him to leave.  He never came back to any of our sites after that.

I mentioned setting up was a rough time?  Well, the guy who owned the campground said he was bringing us a fire ring and a picnic table.  It never happened.  We literally had to take the truck and drive around the campground to find an empty lot and bring both back.  

And check this out.

They had other campers using our power supply pole and water.  We literally had no water hookup.  They had to supply us with an adapter, just so we could have air conditioning.  Let me say, I don't know I'll stay there again.  The water hookup (or one of their hoses) leaked and we had put a rug over it.  It was saturated, and covered in mud by the day we left.  Thankfully we had brought old rugs.  It was leaking right in front of our camper stove.  What a mess.  It was trip fest.  If you didn't have a flashlight at night, you were doomed.  One cord, from another camper, literally went under our doorway.

Sunday morning, before we put down the camper, family cooked breakfast for everyone that camped out for the wedding reception. 

I have no plan for today, other than check on the garden and tidy up the house.  Oh, and wash all of our camping bedding and repack it. Oh, and because we had no water, I'll be washing our camping skillets, etc.  Thankfully we had paper plates in the camper.  

Our 21 year old daughter showed up with her boyfriend Sunday about dinner time.  Raided the fridge (not much to raid), and did a ton of laundry.  

She brought Jesse to visit us, and he was very happy to see us.

Tomato Sauce Leather ~ Tidbits

I just realized, if I run out of pantry and freezer space, I can always utilize my dehydrator.

I can make tomato sauce leather.   You simply spread out he tomato sauce on parchment paper and dehydrate.  This  would come in handy for backpacking trips or camping meals (uses less space to pack food).  You just combine it with equal parts of hot water, and you have tomato sauce again.  Then you can add spices to create pizza sauce, or make other meals using dehydrated ingredients.

The thing with tomatoes, is that you always have something to make with them.

Camping Trip Malfunction

Although we picked the hottest, most humid weekend to camp, we went.  Even though the air conditioning wasn't working in the truck, and it was to be 90°F.

It was our first time to go camping at this beautiful, scenic campground.  Waterfalls, long hikes, horse riding - the works.


Meals were super simple this time, and hiking shoes were donned.  Two took off work, one taking the entire weekend off, and two were taken out of school for a day.

We packed up coolers, bicycles, chairs, and tables.

Two hours or so into our 3 hour drive, and we stopped at a gas station.  A guy starts waving at us.  Hubby says, "now what?"

Hubby gets out and then shakes his head.

Camping Trip ~ Campfire Mac n' Cheese

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.

Camping Lantern Dilema

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

Camping Prep ~ Crochet Projects

Remember all those English Walnuts we bartered for?  I was still cracking them this month.  Apparently, the kids have lost their mojo with helping me.

The shells are always saved from these walnuts.  My older brother and his wife gift me their cardboard egg cartons.  

Four dozen campfire starters are in the making today, and I have more shells.

Random Tidbits ~ Camper Everything ~ More Cleaning

Yesterday's chores were still getting worked on when the kids got home from school.  I had to get everything washed and on the line as rain (storms) are expected today.  

I got all the rugs washed and dried too.  Speaking of rugs, our 18 year-old daughter took the peach colored (crocheted in cotton yarn) rug for her dorm.  I just read somewhere that they cannot have rubber backed rugs, so that worked out nicely.  So, if you kiddo is heading to college, a handmade crocheted rug would come in handy for her/him.  The ones you see on my clothesline are from old sheets, old jeans, and scrap cotton yarn.  They all wash up nicely too.

 

I forgot to dump my ice trays and bag it, so I could freeze all the organic collards I had yesterday.  I managed to get half of them froze.  I have more to freeze today.