Pioneer Woman at Heart

  We have had three days of rain (again).  I for once, was happy for it, as I had planted flowers, and had a new tree and bush to plant.  I have not gotten to the point of dragging out all of my garden hoses, so it was a relief for the sake of everything being "watered" (including the garlic and asparagus). The herb garden was ready for some rain too.  I have everything planted, other than buying a new parsley plant (cannot find my seeds).   I have a bit more weeding to do, but for the most part, all is doing nicely.   Oh, and it's been a terrible tick year here for us.  Although I make my own tick oil, and use it, I often forget.  I have come inside with a tick on me twice now.  Very unusual too.  I have a post it sticky note to remind me now (to apply the tick oil).  The wind can carry those buggers just about everywhere. The keeper of the herb garden.  He was sitting in the chives, and there are stray oregano plant...

I finished the lap afghan in the green yarns.  It will be the last blanket to be crocheted until fall/winter time.  I prefer small projects during hot weather here. Finished the current knitted dishcloth.  I had forgotten about it, as it got tucked in the midst of my projects.  There isn't much yarn left on the yarn cone, so I'm not sure what I'll use the remaining yarn for yet (this color was discontinued). I finished another book, hence another book blanket granny square.  I don't know how people can read 200 plus books a year.  I do not have the time to sit, and sit to read that much, but there has been progress this year (much more than last year).   A few of you have given me a few ideas for audio books too.  Like combining an outdoor walk/hike with such books, or while cleaning house.  It's a year of new things and "first times" this year, so it may happen.  This is the first year to read an ebook and could be the first year t...

First Feb 2025 blog post. We took a spontaneous few days away, and the funny part is, that it was to go to see a waterfall area, and do some hiking.  We were looking forward to some time with nature.  Mother Nature did not cooperate however.   The weather on the day before we visited the falls, was 55°F, but raining.  The day we drove to the falls, the weather dipped to 25°F and the water was frozen, so we never left the vehicle, never hiked, and I did not even take a photo, ha ha!  We plan to go back when the water is flowing, and actually do some hiking. The getaway was not a loss.  We had no idea we'd visit two different apothecaries, and we also found two health stores.  I was able to restock vitamin E oil, and castor oil. First apothecary we visited (newly opened last fall).  Loved this store, but because it is new, the selections were meh. Nothing sold in bulk (like herbs). The second apothecary we visited (maybe a 30 minute drive from ...

  The rain is slowly bringing the outdoors back to life, and we see more green again.  We have had snow flurries, which deterred me from harvesting any of those baby green onions coming up, but everything is brighter outside for spring. The Daffodils were blooming like crazy, and I would love to cut some to bring inside, but the snow just keeps on coming.  Not a lot, but enough to remind us that winter is still not over with. The rain is also giving us gifts from the Earth.  We have three wild growing mullein plants in the flower beds.  I need to dig them up to move them, so we can utilize them this year.  If I leave them in the flower beds, they will continue to replant in there, and the wild plants grow very tall.  We dehydrate this medicinal weed for tea. We took a drive to do some hiking.  I have to admit, that outdoor hiking uses more muscles than what you may use on a treadmill.  Good gravy we were happy sore, and have plans to get more...

We were out pricing a new AC, so we stopped at JoAnn's to check on a crochet hook price.  Wow!  Their prices were much higher than Wal-mart (who was sold out of what I was looking for).  I found that our area Meijer had them, and less expensive than Wal-mart.  No big news, but I was shocked at the high prices at JoAnn's (also much higher than on Amazon). I am always saying I wish they would put a store back in our hometown, but I'm not sure.  Hobby Lobby was built at one point, putting JoAnn's out of business, then later the Hobby Lobby closed. Cute bags at store!  I didn't check the price.  We had plans to actually eat breakfast out at a diner, but found them closed for the holiday.  Apparently, many places are closed this weekend to celebrate the holiday. We are getting lots of rain right now.  If it's dry enough this morning, I'll head out to tie up more tomato plants.  My husband is already asking about zucchini meals ha ha!  So...

My brain has gone plain insane.  I feel like I'm caught up in a whirlwind and I'm trying to reach out to stop and get a job done, and I'm sucked back in again heading another direction.  The barn.... Oh lets not talk about that job.  It's getting on my nerves, although I've wanted that job done for several years.  So. Much. Work. The barn siding was delivered.  Then rain arrived, so garden work halted, and I was back indoors.  Deep cleaning, cooking, putting up. . . The hens are molting.  Egg supply is at it's all time lowest.  I made a crock pot of pumpkin oats.  We are not tired of pumpkin just yet, ha ha!  I picked a handful of red raspberries for topping the oats too. I baked my first flourless pumpkin bread.  I have always baked it with flour, so this was a new recipe.  I only tired it out of curiosity, and the fact it saves me on ingredients.  Einkorn flour isn't cheap. It was so-so.  Not awesome, ye...

Hubby and I played hookie yesterday, and almost forgot to open a jar of our pickled asparagus.  At 9pm, we were tasting it.  Yum!  Crunchy and a delicious side dish or snack.  More of a snack for me, ha ha!  It rained, and it was cold yesterday.  Too cold to get the Harley out.  So....

I'm feeling much better, and back to my 60 minute walks.  I am picking up the pace some days, so I can get somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 miles in now.  That's not all, I still lift weights, do 1/2 push-ups (getting back on track), and of course my yoga stretches.  It takes time in my morning, but like Hubby said, it's worth it.    I just have to get up earlier, and in hopes to return to the 4:30am gym visits.  I finally put my new speed bag up, so it's time to start moving stuff out of the garage and purging in there too.  And this is all before I do my chores. And the weight loss number has not changed (frustrated, but I may be building muscle now). Rain was not arriving until evening on Friday, so I headed outside to work there. I picked up tree debris racking up over 16,000 steps on my fitbit (by 7pm).

Thursday was a normal inside chore day.  I am having a bit of difficulty coming up with an interesting post that doesn't have to do with sweating through 3 pairs of underwear, or chasing chickens. Or scrubbing a toilet or two. I did mak e a batch of homemade ricotta that will be used for a few dinners this coming weekend, but the highlight to share is our trip to the gym.

It rained, and two kiddos left for the day (and night), and when that happens..... I tend to be lazy.  I did get some dishes done, but I opted for porch time.  The rain cooled the weather so nicely, I could not resist.

Once again Eating Well magazine provided a recipe that begged me to try.  My rhubarb is not ready to harvest this year, and I finally found some to buy. I made pork tenderloin (organic), but decided to make it in a pulled pork version vs. baked (as the recipe instructed).  The sauce can be prepared ahead of time and frozen for future meals. 

I didn't have to worry about where I'd get my 10,000 steps yesterday (I have a fitbit). I gained just shy of 8,000 steps by noon.

Saturday it rained heavily the entire day.  It was a very gloomy, get-in-your-jammies-early day.  We still made a trip to the gym for a must needed workout.  According to my fitbit (tracks my steps etc) I am short about 3,000 steps per day this winter.  Yikes! Back to the weather. . . .

"Yikes! She caught me!" Jasper has been more skittish than before, ever since the propane "boom" we had.  He walks around looking startled by any little movement or noise.  I have such a hard time getting a photo of him. The other day, before the school bus arrived, I was able to snap this photograph.  He was actually playing until he saw me get down to his level and snap a few shots. Ha ha! As for today's weather here. . . . .

A little "support" can go a long way. If you have been following my progress in the sidebar of my blog, I am making healthy lifestyle changes this year, and my 11 year-old daughter has joined me.  We do not use the word "dieting."  We are making permanent changes to keep our bodies at a healthy "size" and in the best health we can be - spiritually and physically. We were all getting to the gym on a regular basis, but as life goes, life got in the way.  By life, I mean Hubby having to work overtime, kids going here and there, emergency repairs, and suddenly "boom" we are not going to the gym.  We slouch it off, walk away and say what my kids say - "whatever."

I've had a few people ask me what I am doing to lose weight and get in shape. My goal is to completely shed 50 pounds(or more).  I am down 14.  At our ages, it doesn't come off as fast, and if it took me 6 years to put it all on, I would rather it came slow to ensure it stays off (vs. fast).  I do not do weight watcher's or any program that requires buying frozen meals.  Here is what I am doing: ~Eating as many real foods (homegrown without chemicals or organic) vs. processed foods (even Subway is very high in sodium so don't let them fool you).  We cut out shortening, eat less bread, and now can jam with honey vs. sugar.  Last year we planted a boat load of green pepper plants, I am just now finishing up the last in the freezer.  It lasted all winter long. Peppers, along with apples, are high in pesticides in stores.  Even at some orchards.  We are trying to eliminate all foods that would have chemicals. *For example: eating fresh f...

from the homesteading journal . . .  I picked our first garden bounty - radishes and sugar snap peas.  Started to keep track of produce on the blog too.  I baked a red potato/kohlrabi/garlic scape dish I found on-line, and for the peas, we made a stove-top mix of sugar snap peas and asparagus .  Yum!  My husband paid a commercial fisherman to catch us some local perch.  It's not cheap either.  We may be renting a boat (or borrowing one) to take a trip up to catch our own.  Delicious fish. Cheddar and Tim are spending a lot of time with me outside.  I'm pretty sure they love their new home.  One day I picked berries and Cheddar was all around my legs, rubbing back and forth.  I bent over to pick some low berries and he jumped on my back - OW! We discovered bats in the goat barn.  Babies were falling from the ceiling and we didn't know what to do.  We contacted professionals and found out that we had wh...