Happy Homemaker Monday

The weekend was a mix of good and bad weather.  Friday, if you didn't read about it already, we canceled our camping trip over the weekend.  The weather was fantastic Friday, but indeed the storms and rain moved in.  We had both agreed that being stuck in our small camper was a no-go, especially with my medical boot on my foot (already tired of lugging it around).  

These posts tend to be long, so grab your cup of java or tea, and hopefully it won't be too long for you today.  Sorry if my posts regarding old drafts are boring. I had over 80 drafts written up, and I'm down to under 30 now.  I have to admit, that some are making scratch my head.  Some have titles, and no content.  Did I have recipes to try?  I have no idea.

I had one draft (now deleted) on dehydrating red bell peppers to made homemade paprika.  One, it takes a lot of peppers for a small jar to be made, and two, you need other peppers, not red bell (from my research, and still researching).  Does anyone here grow a specific pepper in their garden to make homemade paprika?  I'm getting mixed information.

The cost of anything these days, has me looking into making more homemade spices/herbs for cooking and baking.

Cooking/Baking Tip:  Instead of frying potatoes or cooking them in a skillet on the stove top for a breakfast ingredient (or side), roast them in the oven to speed up total prep time.  It am loving this due to not wanting to stand on my foot too long at the stove.

Another tip:  instead of mixing dry ingredients in a small bowl, use your measuring cup with a spout on it. It pours out so much easier (many of you many already know this).  I use my 2 cup measuring up and a funnel to pour it into the storage container for the pantry/cupboard.

We took a weekend drive to a different greenhouse, and picked up some vegetable plants that I did not start from seed this spring.  We really like this place, and will be back for flowers and maybe other plants if we have room in the garden.  The only issue I had, was forgetting that I had a medical boot on one foot, and a shoe leveler on the other, and the place was all stone.  It was very easy to trip if I was not being careful.   Then, there were hoses all over the floors inside one greenhouse.  I survived anyway, and like I said, we love this place - more variety, lower prices.

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

The weather . . .

70's and nice, but more rain moves in later today.

Right now I am . . .

Packing up my husband's breakfast, lunch and coffee for work. Sipping my own coffee and posting this.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Looking for more resources for future crochet/knit donations.  I emailed our nearest Ronald McDonald House about baby blankets, but got no response.  I have found a second place to locally donate lap afghans.  My crochet time will dwindle down as the garden gets planted too.

How I am feeling . . .

Better than last week, in regards to my fractured foot.  I have had some down days, as to be expected sitting around so much.   It can really drag you down to the pits or make you stir crazy.  Anyway, everything is falling on my husband now, and I can tell it's getting to him.  Especially after he gets home from a full work day.

I am getting around a bit better, so more laundry is getting done, dishes washed/dried put away, some housecleaning getting done here and there, and making some meals again.

In the meantime, my gardening pants hang on a hook awaiting their day of glory.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure just yet.   Possibly Chili Egg and cheese casserole.  I forget the exact name, but it has cottage cheese and chilies, and it is very good.

On the menu . . .

-Meatballs with homemade spinach alferdo sauce, oven baked swiss chard with feta

-Turkey sausage sheet pan dinner with carrots and potatoes

-leftovers

-Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed Shells (if not made, will move this to next week), a side meat (maybe grilled)

Snack:  Easy layered tomato dip

On the reading pile. . .

Finished this book, that was on my bookshelf for a few years.  However, I went to pick a new book, and found two more to the series, and realized I read #2 in a crochet mystery series.

I own #1 - #3, so I'll be reading #1 next to get back to reading them in order.  

Crochet Mystery
1 Hooked On Murder (2008)
2 Dead Men Don't Crochet (2008)
3 By Hook Or By Crook (2009)
4 A Stitch in Crime (2009)
5 You Better Knot Die (2010)
6 Behind the Seams (2011)
7 If Hooks Could Kill (2012)
8 For Better or Worsted (2013)
9 Knot Guilty (2014)
10 Seams Like Murder (2016)
11 Hooking for Trouble (2016)
12 On the Hook (2018)
13 Hooks Can Be Deceiving (2018)
14 One for the Hooks (2021)
15 Killer Hooks (2023)

Here is the order of book titles, in case anyone is interested.  Our library only has a few ebooks and audio books, and very few at that.

The motto for books this year is "borrow, not buy" so I'm not looking into buying the rest of the series for this.  They are good so far, but once you read one, the next one gets monotonous.

On the TV . . .

Kitchen Nightmares (not my husband's favorite)

Dateline (always interesting, but after time, it can be boring)

Whatever movies we find interesting

(the first two are just "noise" makers for when I put my foot up)

Looking around the house . . .

The kitchen is a hot mess.  Literally.  I love that my husband is meal planning and cooking, but he is lacking in the cleaning department.  I am slowly back to the kitchen washing dishes, taking trash out (yep!), cleaning off the counter tops (cannot stand looking at clutter) and whatnot.

On the to-do list . . .

I still have my to-do list from over 2 weeks ago.  I check off what I can physically do, and the rest remains for other days.

-check laundry
-sweep a room or two
-dishes

-make homemade hair detangler

-make a breakfast

-dinner prep

-paperwork

From the camera . . .

My husband bought us a small bag of chili pistachios to try, and he took them all to work.  I was not a happy gal, as he ate them all.  Of course that put me in "let's try a new recipe" mode.

These are fantastic!  I adapted the recipe from The Almond Eater online.  My husband said they taste better than the ones we bought too, but these only last about 3 days in an air tight container, so I'm glad it's a small batch recipe (I doubled the recipe, so we could both share ha ha!).  Yum!

What I am crocheting. . . 

I finally crossed off every single older, unfinished project!!!  Yahoo!!!  I have items that I recently started such as a baby blanket and scrap yarn lap afghan (which I have not worked on this past week), but my old list is DONE!

I have a few items that I have now listed to make, to have on hand for gifting or for home use, but other than that I am not dragging around those unfinished projects!

I used my last cotton yarn scraps to make these:

Scrap cotton yarn cleaning cloths.  They could ideally be used as washcloths if needed too, but I put those scraps to use. Easy peasy and done!

However.....

Source:  Yarnspirations Free Patterns

Now, truth be told, I bought specific yarn for a new Christmas ornament to gift (this was over 2 years ago), but since my family is overwhelmed with my hundreds and hundreds of ornaments, that I have made over the years, I will be using the yarn for another use.

If you got this far in today's post, and you crochet, what is the best row counter to buy these days?  I've never purchased one, so I'm asking here first.

Devotional, Prayers, Bible Verses . . .

Prayers for quick healing of my foot fracture. 

Prayers for a hair dresser/stylist we know.  Her name is Taylor, and after finally getting their first "real house" as she put it, there was a fire (they lost everything, but they are okay) a few days ago.  Prayers for a new home, and all her and her young daughter's needs.  I was told her son, his girlfriend and their own child also lived in the same house, so all of them will be starting over.

Happy Homemaker Monday  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

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

from the handiwork journal . . .

What's on the hook? 

Well alot!!   To be honest, I am looking forward to trading in my hook for a rake, shovel, and garden trowel.  Crocheting non-stop over the last few weeks has made me realize how much I miss the garden work ha ha!  

I finished this baby blanket. I used up3 skeins of baby white, and partial skeins of baby blue and a lighter brown, that were leftover from another baby blanket order (from years ago).

I started this baby blanket.  I'm using up some leftover peach and blue baby yarn (F hook, so it's taking some time).

Progress on the current scrap yarn lap afghan.  I'm getting down to the last of the last scrap balls of yarn, so it's the last one for now.  By scraps, I mean hand size balls and smaller.

I have also been crocheting for a cause - our town's plant bingo and raffle.  It is the town's first one, to help raise money to plant flowers, landscape etc in the town.  They have already gotten over 50 tickets sold for this event.

First up, I finished this coaster set.  It was on my list of unfinished projects.  It's being donated to the cause.  Not only did I finish an unfinished project, but found a good home for it.  Funny how that worked out.  It's a Monstera leaf coaster set in a crochet plant pot.

I also used up some cotton yarn to crochet dishcloths, and created a "bouquet" in a new plant pot for the same cause.  It turned out so cute!

I also donated a set of crocheted baskets I had left in my craft show stash (been in there for over 10 years and never sold), and tucked in a smaller plant spray bottle, a few mini solar garden lights (with floral patterns on them), and a few pot holders.

And lastly, I had a set of crocheted cup coasters with roses in the center, that was also leftover from my craft shows.  

All donated for the town's goal to beautify it.  

The scraps of cotton yarn, leftover from the dishcloth bouquet project, are being crocheted into cleaning cloths.

from the handiwork journal . . . © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday

 We broke out the mower for the first time this spring.  It needed it, but we didn't quite finish it.  

After traveling to two post offices, I finally got a box shipped off to my sister.  The first Post Office, had their internet down, the second one is only open 2 hours a day.  Life is a bit challenging living in a small country town.

The herb garden needs some weeding done, but it's springing back to life, and the green onions are looking great. I will be snipping some for this weeks meals.  The sage is looking like it's coming back to life as well.

Today I will join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I will link up when she posts.

The weather . . .

High today is to be about 73°F, but it's cloudy and it rained (ugh) again last night.  Today is the eclipse.  There is hardly any traffic either.  I'm guessing that many places closed.  I am told that in our hometown, many businesses closed for the day, and schools closed as well.

Right now I am . . .

Sipping coffee, posting this a bit later than usual

Thinking and pondering . . .

It's very wet out yet, so my day may be a bit off the to-do list.

How I am feeling . . .

Honestly, a bit tired.  We ran around and got errands done, and we had to buy a new coffee pot (it broke down over the weekend).

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure yet.

On the lunch plate . . .

I have discovered that organic snack bell peppers make a wonderful bread replacement for chicken salad.  We love it on cucumber slices, but this is good too.

I also made granola bars for our weekly snack.  I used date syrup in place of honey and they turned out delicious.  According to what I read so far, it does not spike sugar levels, and has a lower glycemic index.  I used a combination of walnuts, unsweetened coconut and pumpkin seeds this time around.

I also made us some homemade hummus.  It's good on veggies, so I made myself one when I was slicing up bell peppers.

On the menu . . .

-grilled sirloin burgers, broccoli salad (minus the bacon this time around).

-crock pot pork loins, roasted mixed vegetables

-leftovers

On the reading pile . . .

Still reading this book.

On the TV . . .

Whatever looks good.  The most recent was Dateline and NCIS.

Looking around the house . . .

We picked up the last bit of materials to finish the steps in the hallway.  

On the to-do list . . .

-not sure quite yet, which is very odd for me

From the camera . . .

October of 2014 - homemade Lamancha goat's millk cream cheese.  The very best cream cheese too. A "blast" from the past photo.

What I am crocheting . . .

Progress on the current baby blanket.  I worked a bit on the baby washcloths as well.

Devotional, Bible Verse, Prayers . . .

A friend's niece is in an induced coma, with possible brain injuries from a car accident.  I do not have a name just yet.  When I do I will let you know.

Happy Homemaker Monday © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April

 I hope you all had a nice Easter weekend.  We had some excitement going on here so to speak.  First the power went out for several hours, along with an internet outage.  They could not locate the cause, or at the point of powering back on, did not disclose why they both went out of service.  It was a good spectrum of an area to lose both services.

Secondly, we had to cancel our weekend plans. My husband was on the forced overtime list at work.  He worked the entire Easter weekend.  Hence the unfinished home repairs.  

Thirdly, two very suspicious looking people landed on our front porch.  No vehicle, no cell phone (according to them), and their story was that they were "left by the side of the road"  and wanted to use my cell phone or call for a ride etc.  They also said they were from another state, and not from around here.  I was not about to do that, so I shut and locked the door, and called the Sheriff.   Mind you, we live in the country, so we have prepared for such situations.  

I in the meantime, had prepared a new breakfast, and it involved green beans.  

My husband told me that it's because I prepared a "weird" breakfast, that "weird" stuff happened.  I have promised not to put green beans in our breakfast, ha ha!

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

The weather . . .

It's pouring down rain, we are to have rain for a few more days.  Mostly 40-50 degree days.   Possible snow mid-week.  Possibly a sunny 70 degree Sunday.  Weather is all over the map again.

Right now I am . . .

Filling a diffuser with water and lemon essential oil.  The air in the house is super dry this winter.  I also got out our smaller humidifier.

Thinking and pondering . . .

To garden at all this year, or not to garden.  We are still on the fence with giving the soil a rest this year.

To blog or not to blog.  I love to write it, but lately I feel it's monotonous and time consuming. Most of my posts, after so many years of writing, have almost zero comments, so hence monotonous (and boring?).

Blogger continues to have issues, and the photo loader is once again not working.  

The flower beds definitely need some upkeep work done.

I have lost my mojo to do interior house painting.  I'm a bit burned out from that job.  It's getting a rest for now.

I wrote down 3 things to do in the gardens on good weather days.  One has been crossed off the list now.

How I am feeling . . .

Tired, but ready to tackle the week ahead.  Due to an extra trip to town, I got a head start on my "to-do" list for the week.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Well, it's not green beans (ha ha!).  I have no idea just yet.

Breakfast enchiladas went into the oven.  I used a spinach tortilla.  Kroger has the ones we like with lots of veggies and non-gmo, when I don't want to make them myself.

On the menu . . .

-leftovers
-soup beans, homemade cornbread, maybe a salad too
-not sure on the rest of the week just yet.

On the reading pile . . .

I am not sure when I purchased this book, but it's off the shelf and I am very much enjoying it.

The back of the book. . .

It starts by saying "Molly Pink has become a yarnaholic."  The book includes a free crochet pattern and a recipe.  

On the TV . . .

It's been difficult to find anything worth watching.

Looking around the house . . .

Windows look great!   I am a firm believer of a homemade window cleaner recipe I found online (link).  It did a fantastic job.  It's rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, arrowroot powder, and distilled water.

On the to-do list . . .

-take items to the local blessing box
-start sorting more yarn, scraps from donations
-sort more craft inventory for donation locations
-bake us a breakfast casserole

-catch up on laundry

-brew tea infusions with nettle/oat straw

-sweep floors

-write out a re-stock shopping list

I need to put together our newest (second) mole-chasing windmill.  It's the perfect time to get the grounding rod in the ground (while the rain has softened the soil).

For the week:

(still on the list)

-wash upstairs windows

From the camera . . .

What I am crocheting . . .

Finished!!!   I got this done on the last day of March.  It measures about 9 inches wide.  It's the second doily I started over a year ago, and it landed in a basket (while we tore up floors and painted walls and ceilings).  So happy it's finally done.  One more unfinished project off my list.  Technically, only one unfinished project remains on that list.  The rest are just items to use up yarn, and keep on hand for gifting.

Progress on the baby blanket.

I used the last bit of leftover gray yarn to start a scrap lap afghan.  By "scrap" I mean those small hand size and golf ball sized balls of leftover project yarn.

I'm still crocheting baby washcloths, but only when I have long drives here or there, or sometimes when we have nice porch sitting weather.  I am blocking the washcloths when I finish each one.  I'll package them up in sets for gifting.

Devotionals, Bible Verses, Prayers . . .

I do not have any prayer requests this week.

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ First Day of April  © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Snippets ~ March comes to an end

Bedding dried on the clothesline smells the absolute best!

Birds chirping make you smile.

Sunshine is medicine for the soul.   Enjoying it as much as I can.  Rain returns this weekend.

The chicken coop was spring cleaned.  Man it needed it.   I was hoping we'd have them moved by now, but nope.  Anyway, they are happy ladies.

Although a pine tree fell and slightly damaged the lilac bush, it has spring buds. 

There is a lot of debris that needs cleaned up before the first mowing.  The main trees were cleaned up, but limbs and twigs remain.

New recipe tried.  Einkorn banana muffins (recipe is from A modern Homestead online).  These muffins are basically a one bowl recipe if you sift your pre-measured flour (I used einkorn all-purpose flour) over the mashed bananas.  They use 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup.  They bake up very nicely and are very good.  I will be trying these with some added cinnamon/nutmeg maybe, and there is a possibility of making them with date syrup (to replace honey/maple syrup).  Either way, these are delicious.

 

I was winding leftover yarn into a ball, and about to cut up a rutabaga for dinner, when the doorbell rang.  Confused at who would come out for a visit, but happily surprised at the delivery.  My husband sent me these, along with a box of locally made chocolates (like about 3 hours away local), and I'm sure it cost him a pretty penny.  I tell you what.  It made my day.

Did you know that local chocolate makers are having a difficult time right now?  We found out the florist is having trouble obtaining the boxes of delight.  Why?  We are told that cocoa is up 129% in cost right now.  It's true.  I read a few articles about it.  Then again, what isn't up in cost right now?

Dinner turned out fantastic this time around. I decided to use my crockpot vs. the oven this time.  I wanted the oven to roast the rutabaga, so here is what I did....

The above photo was my husband's plate.  He mixed a bit of sauce into his rutabagas.  Roasted rutabagas are so good, if you haven't tried it yet.  Anyway.

I thawed 2 cups of frozen garden grown spaghetti squash, and layered it in the bottom of a crock pot. I then added half of my home canned herbed tomato sauce (I can Ball's recipe), and then layered in one cooked (cooked them frozen from the freezer) dinner serving (about 15) homemade meatballs (made with organic oats vs. bread crumbs), then topped it with the remaining sauce.  I put the crock pot on low all day, and the squash made the sauce so thick and delicious.  I will be doing it this way from now on.  Three ingredients and that was it.  I got some fresh parmesan out and we sprinkled a bit on top, but we really didn't need it.  

We both had high ambitions to put the "done" stamp on the hallway project by the end of March, but life happens.  However, we are giddy happy, that we are very close to being done.  We just have to make a trip for a few supplies to finish the floor trim and the second step.

I have put the official "done" stamp on this crocheted blanket.  I took the photo yesterday, but the ends are sewn in, and it is completely finished.  My goal was met for this project.  Done before the end/by the end of March.

The last bit of gray yarn from this blanket.  In fact, the last of all of the gray in my entire yarn stash.  It's enough scrap yarn to use in a scrap yarn ripple lap afghan.  

Have a fantastic Easter weekend!  Cheers to all of your end of March goals!  

Snippets ~ March comes to an end  © Mar 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart