Pioneer Woman at Heart

Last night, we hit an all time record low.  When Hubby called me from work about 7pm, it was already -17°F (actual temperature), with a wind chill of lower than -35°F.  The dogs are not taking the cold well at all.  My son said their legs start shaking after a few minutes outside to do their business.  Some times they won't even go, and he'll have to go out again.   It's too early to tell how the barn animals handled it.  As soon as the sun is up, we plan to do a quick check on them all.

  I enjoy reflecting on the previous year, as we bring in a new year.  So grab of cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage, and join me.   Made my first hay net.  Click on "read more" for more reflections in no particular order, and definitely not all of them. . .

On Wednesday, we had the worst storm we have had since we've lived here.  The winds were absolutely terrible.  Our electrical service district, along with one other, were the worst hit in the area. I texted my mother and she was also about to head under her house for this storm. It was was that bad.  

Hubby and I located a son/father business, who basically raise animals for 4-H and so forth.  However, we were given their business card, because they sell a natural feed for both chickens and goats.  He picks up the feed about a little over an hour from here, and sells it to folks from his house.

....planted a Colorado Blue Spruce seedling, purchased cumin seeds to grow again, and planted two new apple trees. ...planted more lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, Swiss chard, and spinach.  Rain is coming so we will till and plant more after that. ...planted several zinnia seeds.

from the homesteading journal . . . We started tilling up the garden.  Martha is getting a new look this year.  She's getting a new hat, shirt, apron, and even gloves this year.   (First Day Home) I picked up our new chicks.  We now have five baby araucanas.  They are so cute!  I planted about 27 pounds of potatoes, and about 130 yellow onions.   Planted the peas and two types of heirloom lettuce also.   from the family journal . . .   After buying my 10 year-old a new pair of dish gloves, she went bonkers and cleaned just about everything, including my master bathroom.   She rolled up towels and washcloths and tied them with pretty purple yarn.  She made me a "room" key and left me a note on the bathroom sink.    I may have to keep extra pairs on hand (ha ha ha!).  Another stray cat has found our home.  After keeping him in a dog cage for a few hours, he decided we were not...

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.  

It's not an April Fool's joke either.  Around 3:00am Peanut gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Peanut delivered without any problems.  She's such a good mother too.  My sleepy-eyed 10 year-old and I went out to greet her.   She's black and white and her face has a tiny white dot on each cheek.  My 15 year-old is taking suggestions for a name.  Visit her blog to give her any names for this cutie:  Life as a Teen Farmgirl .  

from the Homesteading Journal. . . We stocked up another truck load of hay for the goats. Speaking of goats, my 15 year-old said she could feel Peanut's baby kick.  She is due to kid in about May.  (sorry for the bad photo - bad lighting) I am trying my first batch of "budget" baking mix and we made Monster cookies.  They were pretty good too. I've found another way to add kale to our meals - mix it in with garlic mashed potatoes. Note to self - plant more Kale in the garden this year. I've also been looking for ways to utilize our stocked up blueberries and ricotta cheese.  Both are future goals for us - produce enough home grown, chemical free blueberries to stock up, and make homemade ricotta cheese from our own raw milk.  I've been adding both ingredients to pancakes and topping with a homemade honey syrup.  Every time I bought a bottle of pancake syrup (when real Maple syrup was too expensive), I would cringe.  To my surprise, the hom...

Jasper and Tiger were playing and fell asleep right afterwards.  Jasper is sleeping with his head directly on top of Tiger's head.  Both are sound asleep.  Awwww!   My 15 year-old and her Billy goat.  It takes a lot of love to love a Billy goat..... Good barn kitty!  This doesn't show the love that this cat has, but she is a wonderful mouser.  We have 3 barn cats and they are so loving to us.  They can kill a mouse one minute and curl up underneath our chins the next.  Aurora (pictured above) can purr very, very loud.  She's truly one of a kind. If you've been following my blog, you know I've finished the egg beater rack , the strainer plant pot , the garden mushrooms , and the drapery ring ornaments . You also know I still working away on the sherbet colored afghan, and a knitted block blanket.......well, guess what?  I've added more "projects" to my list.  I have a wonderful idea for using ...