Pioneer Woman at Heart

Not much going on here lately, other than indoor work thanks to Mother Nature and the cold weather.  Egads, this is a picture-less post.  I've had to refill some homemade goods lately like our foamy soap and vanilla extract.  It's been so cold, I had to wear my carhartt out on Wed.  The wind was wicked. I took a day for me!  Got a real hair cut, joined one kiddo for a lunch, picked up seed potatoes, made a library return and other fun stuff.  By the way Youngest is being trained now to color hair.  She is allowed to take manicure appointments during school hours too.  Too bad I don't have long nails right now, or I'd go just for her to get the experience.  Garden work started, so my nails are cut short.  I may just have to go in a few weeks anyway.   I have been spending most of my mornings cooking and baking for the day and week, and find myself getting dishes out that I had just washed and dried and put away.  I...

The list is getting knocked off by just a teeny, tiny bit.  Hubby can only rest so many hours sitting or napping, so I put him in a chair......  ..gave him a brush and paint....goodbye black, hello red.  His stent was installed through his right wrist, and is healing nicely.  We finall y got his first doctor 's appointment made for ne xt week. While he painted the door, we had a good conversation, while I prepared tomatoes for the freezer.  Today we started the pear wine .  I'll have more on tha t tomorrow.

Happy New Year's Day!  It's hard to believe January 1, of 2016 has arrived so quickly.  Seize the day folks.  Seize every day.  Life it too short.  Grab a cup of java and seize the day by starting with reading my first blogpost of 2016. Hubby woke up seizing the day right off the bat.  He was mumbling something about me making tortillas and excited to scramble eggs and make some breakfast burritos.  Then he mentioned buying a pizza joint and something else.  I asked if he was smoking something.  He woke up fired up for some reason or another. I know Son will seize the day, as he is due to leave for base tomorrow.  He's planning a day at the movies or something with his siblings.

I really attempted to do a good house cleaning yesterday, but you know how you can get side tracked?  Well, I did.  I happened to end up in my room, where I had just picked up the box my tatting tools are in, and decided to give this tool a try.  It's a bullion hook.  It's used often for what is called cro-tat or crochet tatting. 

Saturday we got a good amount of work done - one trip to recycling (huge load because for some reason we had a ton of cardboard), one trip to Goodwill, several bags to the garbage, swept up the back area by garage, washed curtains and windows.  I found a cute tin for my tea, and for only $.50.  I just need to wash it up. We finished up more work on Sunday. 

Although I cannot share my homemade Christmas to-do list (and secretly it's not really finished yet), I can share some other lists I have started (my family reads my blog, so I don't want to spoil the gift ideas this early).  Here are shortened versions of a few lists. List for Winter Handiwork/Activities 1. Crochet myself (not sure what color yet) another "Ma Ingall's" shawl. 2. Finish crocheting hot pads and pot holder sets to go in hope chests for the older kids.

I froze more zucchini and squash for winter soups, sauces and casseroles.  Yesterday was a race against the clock.  Trying to put up the garden, and clean house both were a challenge.   See that straw?  That is my food saver bag method.  It's a bit hillbilly, but it works for now.  I simply seal the bag all the way to one corner, slip the end of the straw in, suck out the air, quickly seal as I pull the straw out.  Boom-ba-da-bing - sealed and most of the air removed.  

I watched a beautiful sunset Sunday evening.

The start of this morning's sunrise was beautiful.  After taking this photo it clouded over and was completely gray outside.  I was thankful to capture the moment to share.

Have you ever felt discombobulated when your routine is abruptly changed?  I do.  It throws off my thinking, activities or chores, for the entire day.  It forces me to be a different "me" for the day.  It forces me to be more creative.

We are all entitled to vent at some point, so grab a cup of coffee (or your favorite beverage) and come sit a spell with me.  To be honest, it's not really that bad of a vent.  It's just life as we know it here at the homestead.

The kids are out of school today and tomorrow.  We are all guilty of having the "sleepy head" syndrome.  All, but Hubby of course, who groggily went to work.  I, for the first time (other than when sick), slept in until almost 10am.  Yikes!  My 14 year-old actually thought something was wrong with me, ha ha!  Gracious, I am so far behind now.  But you know what?  It felt kind of nice to just take it easy.  Besides, we got a lot done over the weekend. 

. . . . Peanut went into heat, and is now bred for a March due date.  She's so funny when in heat too. I heard her crying and crying and asked my daughter what was wrong with her.  Dumb question.  My daughter said that Peanut will flirt with Orion and even lay her head on the top of the fence to woo him.  So funny.  Misty will be next. (don't forget to click on "read more" to read more)

Remember when I was telling you all about how I stopped to crochet, right in the middle of cleaning up my messes?  Well this is the result.  One completed "project" anyway.   I ended up not using a pattern (not all mugs are the same size as all the printed patterns are for), and made my own for these camping mugs.  I did not want to mess with sewing buttons on, so I simply single crocheted 12, double crocheted into the 3rd chain, counting that as the first chain in each row, and dc across.  I measured about 10 inches, before finishing off, then simply sewed ends together (just enough to secure a hole for the handle of the mug).  

I stitched up a few more cards and have them up for sale now.  I hope to get more stitched before the holidays arrive. So it was bound to happen.  Stove pipe repairs (or not).  The chimney sweep was finished, and handed me a paper with a quote for new piping.  Wanna know how much?

Hubby had the entire weekend off.  Yay!  However, the rain kept us from going camping.  Our 11 year-old was very energetic, and in between bouts of rain, had fun with backyard archery. She worked her dad hard with a game of basketball too.  Sunday we took the family bowling.  We were geared up for some old fashioned family fun.

(all the old roofing loaded up by my son and Hubby's brother-in-law) . . . it took two days, but the leftover roofing was removed, and half of the new roofing was put on. Hubby miscalculated on his measurements and we need to do an exchange for longer roofing.  . . .we were blessed with enough cucumbers for me to can 7 more pints of bread and butter pickles. I purchased another bushel of corn and stocked that up in the freezer.  I also purchased 5 lbs. of beets, and added 1 pound from our own garden, and canned one batch of spiced beets.  And I purchased local peaches and canned 15 - 1/2 pints of peach jam. And that's not all.  I purchased 36 hot banana peppers and canned 4 quarts of Hot Pepper Mustard Sauce. I also canned 5 - 1/2 pints of Ruby-Red Grapefruit Jelly (another new recipe I wanted to try).

Remember my girls writing letters?  My 11 year-old wrote 3 letters, and got 3 back.  She also got some bracelets from one of her Aunt's (a brother/sister celebration held in India, sorry for the bad photo).   I have mailed the last of my postcards for the postcard swap I participated in.  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We are currently doing an entire inside and outside homestead clean up.  It's long over due, but it's best to get it done this week.  I've been carpet cleaning (cannot wait until we have zero carpet here), dusting, wiping, weeding flower beds, and doing a lot of coughing.  We've washed up bedding for the camper, took a load to recycling, cleaned up the garage, but there is so much more to do.  Including those light fixtures that keep collecting more dust.   My bedroom needs a complete overhaul.  When they cut the tile in the bathroom, dust went everywhere, despite the air purifier.  It may take me two day...

 "Big boy" (Orion) has been getting loose a lot lately.  This concerns me with the big barn too.  He got caught up inside where the loft caved down, so we are in a much needed hurry to find a way to remove that barn.  Money is extremely tight now, with all the repairs and replacements, so I am praying we can still find someone to take the wood. It's not "Big Boy's" fault either. 

Although the weather forecast is showing thunderstorms for this coming weekend. I made some fun crafts.  I had a bag of pin backs, so I used scrap fabric and a button to create some fun brooches.  These will be so cute on tote bags or aprons (or anything else for that matter).