Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Whoops.  I guess donating two books, instead of one, is a good thing too, ha ha!  I have been able to harvest chive blossoms, and it is rather early for that to happen.  You can read about how I did it HERE from last year.  We are only early on doing this by a few weeks, and all due to the rain this  year. While the chives are dehydrating, I picked more asparagus.  I will have to now replace my asparagus patch fence, and I will need to dig out a few wild raspberry plants the birds planted. What's new?  Well, I found a new houseplant to add to our home, and love it.  We have also planted a new apple tree, a new plum tree to replace the one that died, a new lilac bush, and one new hydrangea (also died over winter).  New landscaping edging was upgraded on one flower bed, and another is being worked on during dry days.   One volunteer cilantro plant, in the herb garden, survived the last frost.  One died.  One sage plan...

  I keep reading how freshly popped popcorn, is better after it's been in the freezer, so we tried it.  Honestly, it was not for taste, but for us, it was about traveling with home popped popcorn. We do not like microwave popcorn, and while it's portable, we prefer home popped popcorn, with real butter and real seasonings. First, a metal bowl is not the way to mix in your butter and seasonings.  The popcorn just slides around.  A large Tupperware bowl worked a lot better.  I added butter and seasoning, and put the popcorn in a freezer bag.  It tasted great after taking it out at another time to enjoy and "test" the freshness.  Next test will be to see if it travels well (camping, hiking, weekend getaway etc) after taking it out of the freezer.  Sharing a few more crocheted book blanket granny squares. . . .not in any particular order, as I'm working on "catching up" with this project. The Leslie Meier book was easy to match, but the other book was...

  We had some delightful, and much needed, beautiful sunshine over the weekend.  We however, had a sick raccoon climb the old chicken coop fence one afternoon.  There was another coyote (daytime) sighting not too far away. I am joining Sandra at Diary of  Stay at Home Mom. The Weather . . . Not out of the negatives just yet.  A brisk -8°F, and snow on the way. Right now I am . . . Writing a list, writing this blog post, and sipping hot coffee. Thinking and pondering . . . Well, letter writing back-fired on me.  I wrote to an extended family member on my husband's side, thinking it would be a fun snail mail exchange (I really miss the letter writing I did with an Aunt who has passed).  Instead of writing me back, she texted ( a  long text ) back to my husband.  Sigh.  I even bought special writing paper.  Pondering a list of where, and when, to donate lap afghans, baby blankets etc. to this year.  I have a list with new location...

Finished this Christmas book and matching book blanket granny square.  It's about the 6th of 16-18 books of a box I bought at an antique store very early in the year.  I'll attach it to the blanket soon. Two of the kiddos who received the 24 day advent gift bags, have been in touch, and so far have really enjoyed them (and found it fun and love the "useable" theme I tried to adhere to).  One kiddo I have not heard one iota from.  Not even a thank you.  One loved the hand crocheted dust cloth (as it is reusable and saves them money), while one was ecstatic about the tiny sample jam jars we included.   The Christmas Spice Extract I "brewed" up was ready to strain and bottle.  Just a few lucky ones will be receiving it to try this Christmas season.  I was able to bottle this up early December, but have not tried it yet. The had-it-on-the-plan, but did not happen.  Yet. Homemade Seasoned Salt for another quick and easy gift idea. My Mom loved th...

  Weather has been in the 20's here, with lots of snow, some rain, icy roads, and just your typical winter weather. The latest crocheted granny square for my book blanket.  Book was about a 3/4 out of 10, if you ask me.  Just too much family drama for me. In the midst of the Thanksgiving holiday, we made up a batch of homemade meatballs and got them into the freezer for winter meals. Update on the crock pot macaroni and cheese...  It reheated great!  Just do it slowly, and it reheats very creamy as it was when it's cooked.  My husband took some to work and heated his in the work room microwave, but heated it too long and the oil separated.  So, just heat it slowly, and not high microwave heat, and it's great the next day. Here is how I made it. In a crock pot pour in dry noodles.  I used a 14.5 oz. box, and that was non-gmo (can't remember the brand), but it was enough noodles. My Mom never made stove top mac'n cheese with whole milk, but she did...

  We finally got rain, after 20 plus days of 90 degree plus weather.  Despite watering the garden, it was looking fried by the heat, humidity and sun.  The zucchini plants are starting to die off with little harvest already.

  Remember the empty jars piling up? I checked butterfly pea flower facial toner off the to-do list.  One flower per every 1/2 cup of witch hazel (let sit overnight). Once infused, strained, and only a small bit of glycerin added, it's bottled up to use.  The most easiest thing you can make for yourself.  I have been using it for more than a year, and I have a travel bottle to take it on any sort of overnight trip as well.   I still need to make more handmade items to re-stock, however, I was also able to get my homemade hair detangler made.  My hair is loving it. The cucumbers are rolling in now, and I dug out my vegetable chopper, but it's now in the trash sadly. The top part that is pushed down to send the vegetable into the metal slicer, and then into the catch tray, broke off some plastic pieces (and I can no longer use it).  In hindsight, I should have thought of that before buying it, but it last a few years.  The top parts are not re...

  An updated photo of my crocheted "book blanket" for this year. We are 6 months into the year, and obviously (he he!) I am not even to a halfway point on this blanket.  Sigh.  I'm squeezing in reading time when I can.  The blanket is about 67 inches long, if that helps give you an idea on the size it will be. In the beginning of 2025, I dedicated a hand crocheted granny square for every book I read this year.  The granny squares are crocheted with scrap balls of yarn, matched the best I can, to match the colors of the book cover of the finished book.  The granny squares are then attached, one at a time (join as you go) with a unique stitching.  We are absolutely loving how it's turning out.   You can read about the first post about this blanket HERE . Book Blanket {post #2}   ©  June 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  Thankful for the rain that arrived right after I finished planting the garden last week.  I have new garden goodies to try this year, and I have ordered a new item to start in pots (more on that later). Our AC units are not installed yet.  We have not had anyone to help do that, and one person we reached out to, has not responded. It's been nice to get back on track again.  It's been nice to "catch my breath" so to speak.   The house needed a tidy up, I returned my library books, ran errands, and most of all cleaned up clutter.  The refrigerator got a good cleaning (needs a bit more cleaned).   The chicken coop mucked. I updated the garden journal, made notes, and have made notes for next year as well.  We bought some of our garden plants this year, so I'm saving all the containers and trays.  I plan to use them for seed starting for next year (unless plans change by then). Harvested: -chickweed  -fresh chive blossoms   ...

In no particular order, here are a few more book blanket granny squares I made recently. You can read about how I am making the blanket in my post HERE .  Enjoy!  Happy Reading! (Free book from a free little library, that I picked up while on a vacation.  A young reader book, but pretty good). Book Blanket Granny Squares   ©  April 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  The latest granny square for my "book" blanket.  I try to match the colors the best I can, and with what yarn I already have.  I just have at join it to the blanket.  The book is being passed on to one of the kids, so another book out the door and off the shelf. On the Hook   ©  March 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

  I inquired about rental space in a store that sells locally make crafts (about a 35 minute drive or more).  There is a wait list, the rental space charge is a whopping $6 per square foot, and a 20% payment to the owners on any of your sales.  Sigh.  I have given up on that route.  Unless I be-friend an owner and strike a deal, it is impossible to continue to make and sell in rented store spaces anymore.  At least in our area anyway. Does anyone else get tired of businesses having only online bookings?  We have been trying to get new tires on one of our vehicles, and one place won't take appointments, another is online only (very frustrating system according to my husband). Not to mention, that once you book anything online, they message you a ton of reminder messages (very annoying). We had a very busy weekend, so it's back to home updates, and regular work around here.  Oh, and we visited the other nearest JoAnn Fabrics store.  They had mu...