Pioneer Woman at Heart

Whelp.  It rained and rained and rained here.  We are getting a slight break this morning, but we are saturated.  Rain returns in a very short bit, and then off and on all day (again).  If we are lucky, the rain will stop come Monday.  Maybe.  Many area festivals are canceling, or have already canceled.  On the bright side, it's watering the new trees we planted, and flower bushes, but I do have one red raspberry plant to plant too. The Bad:  Our weekend camping trip was canceled.     It's not camping if we cannot have a campfire, go hiking or biking and/or campfire cook, or even go fishing.  Stuck in the camper would be zero fun (in our current camper anyway).   Yes, we we have an awning, but the rain was just too much, and our camper is small.  It's not a comfortable place to be when it's raining out.  In fact, we had more seating room in our 7 person pop-up camper than we do in our current hard sided camp...

  We went from sub zero straight to a week of up to 64°F, and a sloppy, slushy, muddy mess.  I was very tempted, and almost twice, used the clothesline.     However, with the warmest weather days brought us rain and thunder storms (yes thunder storms in February).  Add that rain to the already mushy mess, and you have slosh yards. The house was refreshed with several days of open windows, and we are very thankful for that. Nothing better than fresh air circulating indoors.   Of course, as it is still our winter season, the weather cooled right back down to the 30's and brought a small but of snow.  We got outside anyway, and did our very first "snow" walking trail. It's been a mish-mash of a February.  Lots of re-organizing, purging, and home repairs.  It seems like the hardware store shopping list is maintaining it's weekly to-do list. We have not cleaned out clothing in more than two years, so it's been this month's focus, and boy...

  I had another long weekend, but productive.  My husband worked again (2 long 12 hour shifts), so I decided to tackle another big job while I could.  In reality, it was because we got more rain, and it's been raining every single day lately, so garden work was not happening anyway. I emptied the entire standing cupboard that holds my canning pot, freezer containers (as they empty), extra canning jars, and all things homesteading that don't have place anywhere else. A shelf had collapsed (it's the cheap wood type put-together-yourself type cabinet, but it works for now).   I purged the entire thing, cleaned it, then moved it from the wall and cleaned behind it and under it, moved it back, re-organized it and prayed it will hold together a few more years. I filled a box with items to take to the thrift store. We have had some cooler weather lately.  Woke up to 42°F this morning. Brrr!  Some evenings are below 50 degrees.  There is rain in the forec...

                  I've been spring cleaning so to speak.  Really, the entire house needs swept and mopped, so I'm tackling one room a day when I can.  I am moving furniture and washing any rugs.   I have also been washing bed covers/comforters.   The weather is up and down for using the clothesline. I pampered myself with a home hair treatment.  It saved me  $$ from going to the salon.  Well water is not my hair's best friend.  We all deserve to pamper ourselves. Another "finish" for April - set of cotton hot pads to donate.                               The deer have started to roam the homestead, and we are not happy.  We have not gotten the fencing up (deer jump fence if it's too short).  There has not been time to do it. Heck, we haven't even had time to buy the rest of the supplies to get the job done....

  It's a "this and that" sort of post today.  It seems to be that in-between season of slowly emerging from winter resting to spring activities.  The weather continues go all over the map. We purchased this popcorn seasoning last year sometime, and the bottle is about empty.  I just now realized it has fennel in it.  Anyway, we cannot locate it in any stores, and apparently it's made in Indiana.  I'm sure it's for sale on Amazon, but I'd like to find a recipe to make this myself.  We love popcorn as a snack, and often times after a hot day in the garden, alongside a cold iced tea. We love this seasoning, as it is not super salty, and offers the herbs for healthy flavorings (added health benefits).  I've sent an email off to inquire within a store.  I may be experimenting with my own homegrown herbs, if we cannot locate it again.   Current puzzle.  Nothing news-worthy going on, other than we are getting outside more often as the...

  March is what we call our "mud" season.  Everything is thawing, or there is rain and flooding, and sometimes a snow shower in the mix.  Mud.  We get lots and lots of of a muddy mess, which prevents any or all outdoor work or play (unless we find paved hiking/walking trails). Mud season can feel unending and arduous, but also inspiring as the warmer/sunny weather arrives. Monday - 13°F windchill in the morning (I attempted to sit in the sunshine for a hot minute, and the clouds moved in of course) Tuesday - 36°F windwill in the am.  High for the day was 60°F (insert smiling face), but we had am rain. Wednesday - 53°F (windchill of 48°F), rain Today?  - 37°F Snow!   Nothing new going on.  We are patiently waiting for spring to stay put.  If you remember, we were trying to get an online appointment for new tires last weekend? Well, my husband actually got an appointment made over the phone, and drove there after work to the said appointm...

  Happy New Year!   I'm excited about a new crochet project, and it is a sort of a motivation tool for something else.  I'll be posting later about it.  Overall, it will reduce my time wasting internet scrolling, pointless social media scrolling (looking for recipes, patterns, exercises are all good scrolling minutes, he he!), procrastination station, and endless him-hawing.  Not to change the subject, but I mean some scrolling is needed to avoid endless days of shopping in stores looking for something my husband suggested we buy. I found one close to what he feels we need at Harbor Freight, but it's wall mounted, and runs on batteries. Does it even exist?  I'll be searching for it, but we may have to buy battery charged or a rechargeable light.  He wants a solar chargeable, motion sensor, small table light (sort of the brightness of a nightlight) for the bathrooms.  We lack outlets by the toilet, and do not want to put in a floor strip light...

  Homemade detangler was restocked.  Pretty easy to make, starting with a tea made from marshmallow root.  I think I've been using it for about a year now. Current crochet blanket.  I wanted to use the granny square stripes to use up this yarn, but you can see that the color varies from skein to skein.  Oh well.  I have one more skein, so I hope it creates the right size.  It is a bit larger than my usual lap afghan.  It's been a slow project with other work around here. Our handy-man showed up.  Work has begun on the room.  Carpet is ripped out (wooden subfloor treated), storage area drywall replaced, and mudded, ceiling light removed and cleaned, and ceiling has a new coat of paint.  Much more to do, but making progress. In the meantime, I started to purge my books (many of these are non-fiction), and filled 2 1/2 boxes so far.  I found a file folder container that had about 25 plastic document envelopes (with business card s...

  Remember the scarf I started to crochet for my husband? Not the greatest picture but I was taking in a hot minute before my husband took off for work (early this morning).  I finished his scarf last night, and had enough yarn to add the end fringe.  I even have a small ball for a scrap blanket.  Anyway, it's a brisk 13°F windchill here this morning, and tomorrow will be even colder.  He is very happy to have the scarf on his drive to work today.   The yarn was "newpaper print" by Red Heart.  It matches his hat that I made him back at the end of October. On another note, I have my work cut out for me the next few days.  I'm cleaning out my old desk, and will be removing it from the last room with carpet in it.  Dogs and cats both have ruined the carpet (and the desk), so once the carpet is pulled, I will need to check the subfloor, treat it most likely and paint the room eventually.   I have not used the desk since we complete...

  I thought this was funny, because, with my husband's full-time job, and the very (way too early) winter darkness that sets in, we have felt like nothing is progressing.  Or should I say progressing fast enough for the both of us? My new washer and dryer has been delivered.  We were not at all happy with the delivery service they use.  First, the salesman at the store told us a completely different story.  The delivery service called 30 minutes before arrival (they never showed up until after 6pm), and told me we had to "disconnect everything" before they arrived.  Not what we were told.   Second, these were to go on our pedastal drawers.  One guy refused, saying it was against "their policy" and again the salesman said they would place them on them for us.  Third, their truck had no ramp, so we literally watched one guy lift the dryer out off the end of the truck and put it in the driveway hastily. Oh, and they had their grade school kid wi...

  It's been raining here for the last two days, which has delayed any outdoor work, and the AC units have yet to be removed.  It's a battle to get anything done after work hours, as the darkness sets in way too fast.   It's a very foggy morning this morning, and they are predicting a slight dusting of snow tomorrow (first snow of the season if it happens).  I don't lack indoor work at any rate.  I started purging/cleaning/re-organizing both the utility room and the "office" and have started yet another donation box.  I'm sort of ping-ponging around the house in hopes to complete areas of chaos, including Christmas totes.  I'm going through the totes to remove any old, worn decorations, lights that don't work, and extra items we can live without. I finally drained my homemade oregano oil for the winter.  I plan on using it on homemade pizza as well as for an medicinal purposes. I failed to re-stock the mouse traps, and our weather will be dras...