Pioneer Woman at Heart

  We have one pie pumpkin on all 4 plants.  Sheesh.  Bad garden year for everything this year, but tomatoes and hot peppers. Something funny to share.  When we went on our motorcycle ride we pulled into the front of our nearest Kroger. My husband hopped off and left the radio blaring and ran in for a few items.  I was standing there trying to figure out how to turn down the tunes, and an elderly lady walked out with a cart just sort of looking at me. I'm thinking, she is mad it's so loud. I didn't want to touch any buttons and later my husband walked out and realized he left it so loud.  He turned it down and the elderly lady in her vehicle now, drove up to us.  She said we reminded her of her husband and their times riding around on their bike.  She literally said, "we need more of that" pointing to the bike with the radio on, ha ha ha!   I love watching America's Test Kitchen in my crochet down time, but lately many of the recipes...

(I had this ready to post yesterday, so I added some wording to make it more understandable).  Enjoy! I picked "Odd Mom Out," written by Jane Porter.  I picked this up free, and have never read her work, so this should be interesting. Wednesday we woke up to frost and a chilly 38°F out.  Today it's..... The Good. My husband and 20 year-old made us laugh so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants (Monday night).  I needed that.  They were trying to move a queen sized box springs up the stairs.  Yeah, I knew it wouldn't fit.  It's an older house, smaller steps, shorter ceiling and the stairs turn half way up.   Me (talking to youngest who is laughing at them): Next thing you know they'll throw it on the roof and try pushing it through the window up there. Hubby (from the upstairs bedroom):  Get me the measuring tape! Me:  Are you serious?  This is gonna be fun to watch.  Let's get lawn chairs and watch fr...

I walked right into an orb weaver and it's web, while walking from the garden to the house (shiver).  The good news, is when I looked back, the spider was still in the web.  The web was hanging under one of my clotheslines. Bought another peck of hot banana peppers and canned more hot pepper relish.  We love this stuff.  So glad I tried a new recipe this year.  I've had more requests to sell these again, but wonder what price you'd pay. It requires 20 yards of netting.  I think I used to sell them for $3/each but wondered if I'm shorting myself. It's pretty thick too.  I just haven't made any for about 2 years. On a funny note, Hubby and I bought a plastic black rat.  The first time we tried to scare our youngest it failed.  She brought it downstairs so I put it in a wall cabinet in her bathroom, where she keeps her toothbrush etc.  We got her good!! Once again they warned us severe storms were rolling in, and even t...

Hubby and I were up at 5am this morning.  Had coffee on the porch before he left for work and I made him a sweet potato (more like an egg hash) burrito.  Both of us were up since about 3am. I had to laugh this morning.  He asked me to open the door so he could carry his lunch, mug of coffee and half eaten burrito out to the car (truck is still down).  I looked down and he had socks and slippers on, ha ha ha ha!  I had to tell him, "um, hun? You don't have your shoes on."  We laughed and laughed. It's operation homestead clean up again today.  I was abandoned by all kiddos, so I didn't have any help, but today I will.  More spider traps are going in place again too. I don't see that it even rained last night, so we'll dig out more porch furniture.  I put a few pieces out yesterday, but golly, there is more to tidy up than I thought.

I've been experimenting with different deodorant recipes.  The last one I made was in liquid form, and the recipe was from Mountain Rose Herbs.  You can see my post here .  I like the liquid roll on, just don't ever put lemongrass in it. It will burn (it's just very strong). I wanted to try another recipe for using deodorant containers.  No messy application, and I am hoping for a consistency that won't melt in summer. I'm trying to convert my girls to using homemade vs. store bought organic/aluminum free (expensive) deodorants.  It has been a tough road in converting them too. In the very beginning of these trials we first started out with a recipe that used coconut oil - hard in winter, soft in summer, and it was applied by fingertip.  It was shunned quickly by the girls, and Hubby didn't want to mess with it when we had to keep it in the fridge in summer. You can simply use baking soda for a deodorant too. I have not tried this (yet).  Exp...

I find myself hanging around at the computer a little longer in the mornings, as winter rolls along.  That's okay too.  Winter is my time to relax a bit more, but I have neglected some housework too. I delivered the last scarf order to the big city, but need to go back to collect the cash.  Now, I am working on another order that my youngest daughter got me. Photos to follow soon. Hubby, as he walked in the house: "Hun!  The library wants to know if you are sick?" Me: "Huh?" Hubby: "Yeah, there is only one book in for you and it's normal." Ha ha ha ha ha!  True! Not sure if I'll get to read it before it's due back.  Like all the other books I've borrowed, ha ha!  Photo to follow soon. I finished up a few more Christmas goodies, including a new recipe: Macadamia Peanut Brittle.  It tastes like caramel corn, but very good.  This recipe is a stove top recipe, and the mixture is then poured onto the pan to cool.

I had a bit of a delayed start in my day at home yesterday.  I had another follow up at the new doctor.   Grad daughter drove me, so my leg wouldn't be stressed.  I took along a book I'm trying to finish (that I found tucked away in my night stand).  I'm still reading my fiction book too. The news? Spider bite is healing, leg swelling is going down - doctor is very happy.  I don't have to go back for 2 more weeks, but I will be taking up stock with the company who manufacturers gauze and roll gauze (ha ha ha!).  I can exercise too, but have to start slow.  Woo hoo!  On the road to recovery!! I ended up home after lunch time, and well, it left me with the question what to tackle next.  Oh, I have a funny to share (not so funny to me, but to a kid of mine) I have more tomatoes, but I cannot can sauce related items late in the day, or I'll be up all night long. I decided to roast all 6 pie pumpkins I recentl...

. . . harvested more kale and froze some.

My garden has been high jacked by a cleaning frenzy going on in my garage.  Obviously the kids have compromised the flower bed with one very pink, plastic, flamingo.  They think they are so funny.  The story behind having this flamingo (we had two, but I have no idea where the other one went), is that we had a plan for them. My younger brother had a birthday coming up, and he despises "yard trash."  Basically, anything that is not growing naturally, and is put out for yard decorations. Our plan?

No one claimed the Nigerian buck. He does have some handsome colors. He was to small to jump a fence, and too little to tie-out.  He was most likely in a fenced area.  He was not starving to death, so he didn't travel far by foot.  His hooves have been taken care of.  He was in good shape too.

We brought son home.....for 10 days anyway.  We drove through seven states round trip, driving through three mountains, and covered about 1600 miles.   We brought home not just a son, but a new Marine.  We are very proud.  And yes, I did cry. 

On Wednesday I noticed a few ripe wild black raspberries.  I picked those, and later checked another location.  It took a while to cut down brush to get to them, but I found many more ripe ones.  It was hot, humid and I was picking them in jeans and muck boots.  I wasn't taking a chance this time on getting poison ivy.

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.

Last Friday, I did not don my grubby garden jeans, nor pull my hair up into a bun and don my garden hat.  No siree. I donned a nice top, let my hair down, wore make up, put on some jewelry, and even painted my fingernails.  Yep.  I even changed purses, taking my hot pink and black "out on the town, date-night" purse. 

Our homemade lemon extract is ready to use.   We melted white chocolate, added our lemon extract, and made Lemon White Chocolate.  I used 2 tsp. to 1 pound of white chocolate.  Later, we tasted it and I will add 3 tsp. next time. ....this is another long post.  Grab a cup of steaming coffee or herbal tea and sit for a while.  You are graced with my gabbiness, because I woke up at 5:30am.  I found that Hubby was not home, and most likely called in during the night (to work).  He's been working 12 hour days all week, and was looking forward to having today off.  

This is the story of how my 14 year-old daughter just got the nickname of "Cupcake." After homecoming last weekend, she opted to go home with a friend and stay the night (so she could shower too).  We, at the time had no hot water.  The dance ended at midnight. The next day, Hubby was to pick her up around 4pm.  He was not home by then, and called me.

The sunrise was beautiful for the kid's first day back to school.  Gorgeous pinks and blues everywhere.   Yesterday was an easy dinner.  I simply cooked up pinto beans with onions, then mashed them.  We enjoyed bean burritos with all the toppings.  Some ate it in a bowl, taco salad style.  I do try to serve some sort of bean once a week, and now I am on the hunt for salmon recipes that my kids will eat.  We need more fish in our diet. 

I let Jesse out to do his "business" early this morning, and there was one single star visible in the sky.  Kind of a cool sight, so I took a picture.  A benefit if living in the country - I can stand outside in my pajamas, robe and slippers, and my neighbors cannot look out their window and gawk at me in shock and horror.  They'd most likely think I was a creeper with my camera at that hour too, ha ha!

. . . my brothers surprised us.  One gave us a truckload of wood, and the other picked up some writing books at a recent book sale for me.  Woot! . . . our 16 year-old daughter was featured in a school newspaper that is mailed out in our area.  She was featured for her artwork (a hand drawn piece).  She is also being inducted into the National Honor Society this month.

I'm excited to say, that we got another fall camping trip in this year.  Hubby and I decided to camp the first night by ourselves.  Woot!  Oh, we needed the time alone.  It was a relaxing, romantic, camping date night.  And surprisingly, I did not take my camera this time. The second night we picked up a few stragglers - 2 kiddos.  Although it had rained a bit, we relaxed in the camper, reading, knitting, drawing, one kiddo doing school homework, and chatting.  After the rain stopped we started up the fire, and had more fun with s'mores and such.