Pioneer Woman at Heart

I had a date with Swiss Chard.  It's growing well, despite heat and drought.  The next day it was kale.   Bread is still getting baked, despite turning the hot oven on, on a hot day.  Yesterday I think it got up to 95 °.   Dinner is PB & J on homemade bread.  I have little time to cook, and there are typi cally no free burne rs or space at t he stove for a dinner.  I w as canning again at 6pm.

When I took this photo back in April of 2014,

Yesterday morning, I saw Jasper (one of the house cats) sitting on top of the wood stove.  I didn't dawn on me that something might be in it at the time.  I thought he was just chasing spiders (which he loves to do). Later, closer to noon, the dogs barked at a noise coming from the stove's chimney.  I heard it too.   I went and asked my son to check it.  He opened the damper and then closed the stove door again.  A little later, I heard scratching noises at the glass door on the stove. My son opened it and a bird flew out.  The crazy woman that I am....pulled a blanket over my head and ran around after it with a broom.  We opened the door, but it kept flying from window to window to get out.  Poor thing.  Funny part is, is that the house cats were all napping at that point.  They missed the "show." I didn't have to go far to do bird watching, ha ha ha!

This is Tiger's new "hang out."  We can typically find him sitting here almost every day. The recycled wood pellet bags come in handy for new baby chicks.  The sides of the cages are covered to keep curious cats out. 

Barn cats Sapphire and Aurora.  They join me at the porch every day.  If fact, if anyone is on the porch, they arrive in a few minutes to join. Gus.  His favorite place is the rug on the front porch.  Here he's been drooling.  We were grilling out and having dinner on the porch.  

Yesterday I pulled a tick off of one of my daughter's necks.  I first used the dawn soap and cotton ball method, but it didn't release the tick.  Later in the day we found another tick on the couch.  The dogs will be getting a good shampoo scrub, then will be rubbed with this oil we make.  Ticks are very bad this year already. I found this recipe in a copy of The Herb Quarterly several years ago. I lost it, then ordered a back issue of the magazine. Tick-Repelling Oil (for adults, dogs, and children older than 5 - otherwise they recommend using a gentle rose geranium hydrosol) 2 oz. jojoba oil 20 drops geranium essential oil 10 drops lavender essential oil Combine all ingredients, place in small bottle and label. To use: Before going outdoors, apply this oil to any exposed skin. For dogs, place a few drops on your hands and then gently smooth the oil over the coat. If you prefer spray, substitute 2 oz. of distilled water for the jojoba oil, and place a...

I am loving the warmer weather.  It sure dries my laundry faster. I love the smell of bed sheets after they have been out on the clothesline.  I actually think it helps me sleep better too. Speaking of sheets, I had to wash my bedding this morning.  Not because I am trying to de-germ the house, but because the two younger girls got Milo (our rabbit) out of his cage and let him play on my bed this morning.  They gave him a newspaper to rip up and play with, but while they were laughing at his excitement, he left me a little present.  The girls are now cleaning my mattress - ha ha ha!  No resting in there for me today. I've gotten many "do's" this week from my 10 year-old daughter.  She wants to be a hair stylist when she grows up and she has been learning and practicing how to french braid my hair.  She's told me that I can't get more than 2 inches cut off, so she can continue to use me for practice.  I kind of enjoy it anyway....

A very sad evening here today. Our oldest dog alerted my 15 year-old daughter that a cat was inside the tote.  We have two totes on their sides, filled with dry bedding for the barn cats to keep warm. When my daughter checked the tote, she found Joey.  He was already gone.   Most likely he was hit by a car.   He walked himself to the house and went into the tote.  He rested there until he went to Heaven. There is a blog that was written about him:  The Little Orange Cat the Could  Joey was loved and will be greatly missed.   We love you Joey!  

Where can you find someone willing to sell you a truck load of wood for $25.00? It's rare indeed.  Thankfully, my son can lift these heavy pieces and put them on the wood splitter for me to split.  He unloaded the truck too.  Most of the wood was in stump pieces about 3 feet wide, the kind that no person really wants to mess with.  We, on the other hand, were very thankful to God for this wood.  Regardless of size.  We spent the afternoon splitting about half of it, until we needed to go inside and thaw out our finger tips. Now, if we could just find wood pellets.  Clerks were giving my husband a weird look when he asked if they had any.  So far, we are not finding them.   One store even told us they are not ordering any more this season.   This morning, we are off on a venture, to locate a store that has some.  Thankfully, we can call ahead, but even that isn't always accurate.  One time we called, they said ye...

My girls inherited cake decorating supplies from my mother, and they are definitely putting them to use.  My 15 year-old daughter surprised her older sister (on her 18th birthday) with a "birthday" cupcake at school yesterday. I can't believe how well her flowers came out.  She used the tip that is used to make roses, and did an excellent job. While working out with hubby this morning, we saw on the news that we are to get 1-2 inches of snow starting today.  I'm tickled we are finally getting snow.  The goats and the chickens may not like it, but I know a few of the dogs will be acting like kids later today.  When it snows (our black lab especially) pretends to have the need to go do her business, but really she just wants to go play in the snow.   Just like a kid. Last night I was caught red-handed.  I was flipping through pattern books and attempting to crochet yet another "new" project, when I was caught.  My 10 year-old said to m...

This is Gus.  He's about 11 years old.  We went to the humane society to find a kitten or cat, to play with our long time cat Mattie (oldest daughter's cat).  When we got there, I was busy looking at the cats, and my husband disappeared.  I found him in the dog section.   We walked through, and every dog was barking except Gus.  That was his name at the humane society also.  He just sat in his cage and looked at us.   I kept thinking, what did someone do to you? I really thought his ability to bark was not there.  He was so quiet and so calm. Poor Gus, and another dog, had been left out and abandoned by someone.  They just moved out, left the dogs tied up outside, and left them there.  Horrible. I once wrote on a topic for a Web site on family pets.  You can read the original story about our pets here: http://www.helium.com/items/1754966-our-pets-and-how-they-live-in-harmony .  I do need to update it, but yo...

It's good to dream right?  Well, I was gifted another trailer from my son this year.  Last year he gifted me an ornament that hooks up to Christmas lights.  This year he gifted me this one: Isn't it darling?  I love it!  Now I own two.  They are not the kind I can go camping in, but dreams do come true. Yesterday, in the center of completing more projects, my daughter reminded me that we dried catnip for cat toys.  So I hopped on my sewing machine chair and made several for the cats. I wish all the photos came out.  However, they were rolling around and moving so fast.  Here is Jasper licking his pillow.  I took scrap material and made miniature pillows, and stuffed them with dried catnip (that grows wild on our property).  Tiger, another cat, was holding his pillowing between his front paws and rubbing it on both sides of his face.  We had so much fun watching them. .....well, it's another day of working on projects.....

I haven't done any "real" sewing for a while.  I found this fleece on sale for $3.99/yard and my daughter approved it.  Not bad for sewing my first dog coat.  Isn't he handsome?   Next sewing project . . . pot holders.

Do you remember Jasper, the cat who loves to play under my rag rug? Well, a few days after I deep cleaned one entire wall area in my bedroom, I noticed small items behind my book shelve again.  I asked who was in my room and why there were items knocked down behind it.  No one knew. A few days ago, I figured it out.   I saw Jasper, the sneaky cat, running through the house with my cow!  My oldest daughter brought this home for me after an FFA trip for school (after two daughters have made trips, I have a 3 cow collection of different types). Do you see the discolored face on the cow?  It's all dirty compared to the rest of the cow? That is how Jasper is carrying my cow around the house.  I put it back, and he got it out again yesterday morning.  I actually had to hide it in a dresser drawer so he would find another toy to play with.  For some reason, Jasper loves to carry around small stuffed animals.   I wish I had a photo so s...

The one reason we don't raise rabbits for meat is Milo.  He's our indoor pet bunny and he's as pampered as the rest of the gang. In the photo, Milo is having bunny yoga on one of my daughter's legs.  He's so relaxed in this position, he simply takes a nap.  He so funny.  As for me.....ugh.... I have been keeping our meals very healthy, I have increased my liquids, swept up the allergy causing dust and dander, and went to bed early. I woke up feeling worse than yesterday.   It has been raining here, during the day, and at night it's not too cool.  The moisture is so bad inside, that my bathroom rugs are still wet after 3 days.   I woke up very tired (even though I got more sleep), congested, watery eyes, a continued cough, and a runny nose.  Over the counter allergy medication just doesn't cut it.  I even mixed my raw honey/organic apple cider vinegar mix yesterday.     I love the country, but the count...

I have walked around the property (some of it) and found two different types of mushrooms growing.  One was growing on a fallen tree.

I'll have to make these again, I realized I should have double checked and tested my thermometer.  I am still using a candy thermometer I've had for over 12 years.  It's an acurite thermometer by Chaney Instruments.  I really need to invest in a better candy thermometer. I later tested my thermometer (sigh).  It read 195°F at boiling point.  That means I should have taken my fudge off the heat at  219°F instead of 236°F.  Quite a difference. I just had a brain lapse.  My word!  My mother gave me a nice stainless steel candy thermometer made by Taylor (Smacking myself in the head!)  Sheesh, I definitely have to make this fudge again. What a tasty treat to make.  I did not have an 8 x 8 inch pan so these came out a bit thin. Gus Jesse and Sadie

My hubby and I took our two younger kids to a state park fall campout this weekend.  It was a load of fun - absolutely the best camping trip yet with the kids! I had my doubts as it rained all day Friday.  I still packed up and away we went, and headed out about 6pm Friday night. That night we decided to skip a fire and watch the campground moonlight movie.  They have an outdoor amphitheater, and the movie was Harry and the Henderson's.  They served ice cream, rootbeer floats, and popcorn.  After that we simply went to bed. The next morning we had trouble getting our fire going - took forever to get breakfast made.  After that we drove down to the boat launch and they offered free canoe rentals for 2 hours.  Only 4 canoes went out that morning. My 9 year-old was a bit hesitant, so I stayed with her while hubby and my 12 year-old went out.  She later regrets not going out. When we returned, we participated in cookie decorating.  Th...

I have no idea what I was thinking.  I picked a small piece of wild growing catnip and put it in my flower press. Every day, my 9 year-old's cat (Tiger) would attack my flower press.  I finally opened the flower press yesterday and gave him that dried catnip.  He went nuts!  Then along came the other cats and wanted some.   My 9 year-old has been wanting to dry some to make a safe cat toy for her cat.  I had her look at my wild flower book, so that she could identify it correctly, before she picked it. We now have catnip drying in the garage, away from Tiger.  The catnip will not be making an appearance on my wild flower book, for the sake of keeping my book in tact. Dear Lord, Please bring me some of that delicious catnip tomorrow. Amen.

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