Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Although it is super foggy this morning, the sun is trying to shine.  Yesterday was a very dreary, dark and misty day. I managed to accomplish a breakfast.  I'm still painting trim, so I get to multi-tasking and list writing.  I scrambled a dozen eggs, made sausage patties, and Einkorn waffles.  I used a random recipe online, but want to try the recipe Jovial has next time. I just didn't have yogurt on hand. I boiled a half dozen eggs for egg salad.  I guess that will be tonight's dinner (egg salad), while I work on the menu plan.  I also put another dozen eggs in the fridge for future boiled eggs. Daughter K's waffle iron, which I didn't like, and the recipe wasn't that great.  The recipe also said 1/3 cup of batter, and it was not enough.  I have to double the recipe.  I am reading reviews to look for a waffle maker for myself now.  Our state has a law, that says you must purchase a minimum of 6 chicks.  It was created to a...

  Tiger when he was a baby.  He is under emergency vet care until possibly Saturday, depending on his prognosis.   He had an emergency ultra sound, which found crystals in his bladder, causing a blockage.  He was in miserable pain.  He is not being treated, but there is the possibility for kidney damage.  We are in touch with daughter E for updates. The painting progress on the bedroom is slow going for now.  It takes two people to just do the ceiling edging.  Our ceiling is 8 foot, 9 inches tall, so a tall ladder is required, as well as someone to hold the paint tray, and yes we will be needing to cover the entire bedroom floor with plastic.  There are two ceiling fans in the bedroom that need spring cleaned before we cover them with plastic to paint the ceiling as well.  I feel like this room is the one that will make me lose my marbles. I just want my bed back, so I'm hoping for at least the paint work done this weekend, in ...

  Renovations gone wrong.....so many variables to deal with this time around. My husband thought it would be grand to just take a short vacation while the bedroom carpet was removed and new flooring installed.  We went, we returned, and we are so frustrated right now. First, we hired the same person who did our living room and kitchen bathroom.  Second, we hire him for chicken duty, and watering seedlings, so we do know him. Came home to find the flooring installed in the wrong direction, and he knocked a large hole in one wall (we are still waiting for him to explain, but he will be fixing it on his dollar not ours, which also delays painting, which should have been done before new flooring....see what I mean about stress?). He also did not water my seedlings.  It appears that he watered one time while we were done.  He literally was here every single day and asked me and I explained how to water them (he's watered them before).  98% of my seedlings most l...

Got out my journaling Bible. Youngest sent us all a porch message using sidewalk chalk. Breakfast prep the other day - burritos. After more than 3 weeks, my MRH order finally came.  However, it came minus my stinging nettle, so I'll be checking the barns for it. We made a trip to town, due to the mower blade needing replaced (which we forgot to bring with us).  We, at a safe distance, paid Mom a yard visit and dropped her off some groceries and necessities.  By necessities I mean wine.  She told us if she ran out she was "leaving her house."  We were not having any of that happening.  Nope.  We even scored toilet paper for her and us.  We looked like a gang with our masks on.  Mom was so happy to see real faces and talk to real people. I had gotten text messages prior to doing this and she sounded so depressed and crying.  I'm glad we made her day much better.  It was a drive for us, so we didn't get anythi...

Wednesday Hubby and I got the air conditioner in downstairs, so the electric bill will start soaring, but we'll be comfortable indoors - humidity will hit us like a ton of bricks early next week. As for the long work hours, it's felt like eternity.  There is no talk as to when it will end and Hubby is completely worn out.  We are just exhausted from it - lack of work done here, so much to do that can't be done, him being exhausted beyond belief, me trying to do late dinners so we can all eat together, and so much more.  Keeping up with the weeds has been so stressful on me, as I'm doing it myself, and there has been no tilling done either.   Good news:  Mower guy showed up about 10am Bad news:  Hubby messaged me - they are now forced to work 12 hour days, 7 days a week. Just not what we needed. Oh, farmers are out in the fields now.  Thankful to see that, as the deer are increasing in numbers, and they are looking for food (it'll help keep...

I'm posting a very short post today, since I bombarded you with a over lengthy one yesterday. I had pulled paper out of a box, and I found him pouncing in the paper.  He then darted in and out of the kitchen, flying into the mound of paper.  So funny!  Glad he had some fun before I cleaned it up, ha ha!

My big "to do" list was interrupted on Monday.  School called.  The nurse.  Sigh.  After an hour round trip ride, I had her home sipping medicinal teas. I managed to get some dishes washed, only to dirty more.  I am happy to say we are still enjoying sweet potatoes from the garden - sweet potato and beet green frittata.  I got that done too.  Along with some laundry.  I also managed to get the homemade sausage made too. I am so glad spring is around the corner.  My supply of thyme and sage are running low, and so are the greens in the freezer. Got the very last bag of frozen, garden snap peas, to make this side dish with organic asparagus from the store.   Today is another day I have an "interrupted" day.  Hubby announced he ordered propane.  I have to be home for that, and of course no set time.  However, it's another "big ticket" job that will be done and out of the way. Last night after a short ...

Tiger is feeling better now.  In fact, the day we took him to the vet he got a shot and when we got home, he was running around the house chasing nothing, ha ha!  Then later I found a ball of yarn that was dragged all down the hallway, ha ha! Every year we joke about what will get left out, after putting all the Christmas decor away.  I did it again this year!  Ha!  While pulling dried clothing off the drying rack, I noticed all the stocking holders sitting on the breakfast bar.  Hmpf!  Guess I'm digging out a tote to fit them in. I finally got around to locating a Tupperware dealer.  I have lots of items that are cracked and need replaced.  I just have to pick up the phone and call her now.  Then go around and collect all the cracked stuff. Has anyone used psyllium husk powder in a recipe?  I have a new recipe I want to try, and wonder if this stuff is available in most stores?  It's the "glue" in a recipe I want t...

Tiger is sick again, so that was on the list of to-do's.  We got him to the vet in the morning Saturday.  Thankfully, the family get together was cancelled.  That freed up our morning to cut more, much needed wood. I'll admit we laughed our way through it.  Layered in 5 layers of clothes, wind blowing and almost getting the truck stuck....we laughed and laughed.  What idiots we were for not cutting more wood over summer (again, he does this year after year).  Then again, he was a pretty depressed man after losing two nephews.  I gave him a pass.  Next summer we'll hit it hard.  By the way, I much rather prefer dry sawdust than sogging sawdust that sticks to everything.  It was everywhere. After we cut wood we pretty much hunkered in.  We parked the car at the front of the drive, and thankfully we did.  Hubby has to work this morning and the drifts behind the car are 3-5 feet high.  The snow plow has buried the end of th...

  View of the larger garden, and raised beds looking south.  Pretty scary, and downright a frustrating mess.  These photos were taken a few months back. I "bit the bullet" and went out day after day ripping it all out.  Yeah, rain prevented us from winterizing the garden this fall.  I'm pretty frustrated, but what can you do?  Nothing.  That's what we can do.  Spring will be a very, very busy spring for us though.  Snow is in the forecast for the weekend, and Hubby is working overtime all week, including the weekend. I'm so happy the political ads are done.  I got so much junk mail this year.   We are past the funeral now, and continue to pray for "A's" family.  We are so emotionally drained, I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now. We had high winds yesterday, so I can thank the weather Gods for clearing all of the leaves off one of my porches.  The wind has died down today...

I'm up at 5am this morning.  The corn is all done for the this season.  Well, sort of done.  It's been shucked, removed, and frozen finally. 70 cups so far this year, and I am saving a dozen for another reason this weekend. Tiger comes crying for an ear right when I starting slicing off the corn.  It shuts him up for just a while, until he begs for more.  Most of the cobs went to the chickens, but some went in the compost. I'm still putting up blueberries (20 lbs). Sliced a few cucumbers up for vinegar-cucumbers.  I typically use the recipe I posted years ago, but leave the oil out.  I was plum out of garlic (getting pulled soon), and had one dinky dill plant to use for it). New Recipe Tried - cucumber juice.  Delicious.  I just peeled and blended, strained the pulp, and added some organic lime juice and sugar to taste.  The juice would be pretty good to make cucumber margaritas with too.  The pulp was given...

(these are older pictures, but you can see who is who) The cats have both been to the vet this week. Somehow, with the "car shuffle" we managed it.  Jasper had to be seen because of his teeth.  He has gum disease.  He's going back for a teeth cleaning to prevent it from getting any worse.  There is no cure for gum disease in a cat sadly.  He's on antibiotics until then, and he's not liking getting it.   Tiger is sick.  He started to vomit all over the house, so we switched his food, and he'll only eat one wet type (and it has to be cold).  He was keeping it down, but now his back bones are sticking out too much, even though he was eating.  Now his hair is falling out in large clumps.  The vet looked him over, and blood work is getting processed.  We'll get results soon.

Things were much slower yesterday.  I was thankful for that. Jasper has found a new toy to play with, ha ha!  He loves boxes.  I caught him trying to dig into the Christmas tree box too.  Silly cat. It's been too wet to work in the garden.  We had a lot of rain dumped on us, and with it cold, it's not drying up.  The wind has died down too. I have however, removed nails from some of the barn wood.  We are at least reducing our piles out there (ever so slowly). The homemade hot chocolate jar was restocked and ready for winter.  The girls are happy.  They enjoy a cup after school, and after work.

Morning sunrise this morning. It will be in the 80's (almost 90's one day) for the next 7 days here.  The humidity for today is forecasted at 92%.  It's too wet to work in the garden today, so I'm inside again, working on all that garden goodness I brought in recently. Busy. Busy. Busy. Yesterday I preserved 6 lbs of those delicious beets. 8 pints restocked now.  I have about 2 more pounds to put up yet.  One daughter was not happy to hear that "the canner pot" was coming back to the kitchen.  It's only temporary, but needs done.  Either way I preserve the beets, they are boiled, peeled and put into an ice bath (canned or frozen) first.  Although the recipe I use calls for "baby beets" I used the smallest of my Cylindra beets recently picked.  They sliced up in nice small circles for canning. I tasted these, and oh my gosh, they taste better than the last beets I canned this way.  We may be planting ...

It's been pretty humid here.  As you can see I can't get great photos due to the lens fogging up.  My zinnias did not do well this year, and I planted almost all my seeds.  These should be double the height.  Only three more areas came up, and all have stunted growth due to lack of rain.  I'll have to see if I still have the person's name who gifted me her Michigan seeds.  I had been saving them year after year, but this year I won't have much to save.  I have zero zinnia color in the very front of the house.  Kind of depressing, but it's been too hot to sit out there anyway.   I do love the color in my garden. Maybe next year it'll be nice and bright. I went to check on the laundry status yesterday, and found Tiger sleeping peacefully in the hamper.  Ha ha!  I didn't have the heart to wake him up, so I did the laundry later.

We have nothing but thistle growing in one tomato patch.  We put down a heavy layer of straw this year to prevent weeds and grass, but the thistle is up everywhere.  I, like the dummy I am, walked through to check on my butternut squash mounds, and to weed them out.  My feet were in flip flops of all things.   Yes, the thistle gave me a rash, somewhat like the itchy burning rash you get from fire ants (only the blisters are filled with clear liquid).  Oh, did it itch.  To get rid of it I used what we typically use for poison ivy.  Our milkweed is not up or visible yet. 

Organic gum?  We gave this brand a taste test.  It's good at first, but doesn't last long. It gets hard to chew too quickly.  It's gmo free, made in the USA, all natura l f lavors etc.  It is a bit over $2.00 and I counted 29 pieces inside.  It's t asty, but expensive for how long it lasts. I've been working in my herb garden , w eeding and getting it ready for planting.  I uncovered my cilantro, and parsley, so no replanting needed for those.  It will take me a few more days (or more ) to get it spiffed up again.

In between running here and there, I have brought in more onions.  I am so glad we planted over 300, or we would have had zero.    Tiger, can smell certain foods a mile away.  I caught Tiger trying to get in a pot that I had used to bring in some onions.  Hilarious!   There was nothing in the pot a few scant onion tops.  He loves squash, watermelon, corn cob husks, and onion tops.   The pot was on the floor, because I made too many dirty dishes that day.  Don't worry, the pot was sanitized.

I'm using leftover scrap yarn from crocheting seat cushions, to make these cup coasters in my very few spare minutes of time (which is about a few nights a week now, ha ha).

Mattie (16 years old) has gone to Heaven. January 31, 2015 was our last day with her.