"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Showing posts with label Homemaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homemaking. Show all posts

Monday, January 13, 2025

Happy Homemaker Monday {Jan 13, 2025}

There a many possibilities for January yet. It keeps me focused, and joyful.  I'm a bit behind on home repairs/projects, but moving forward.

Winter gives me more time to browse our local library, and read up on new teas, recipes, tinctures, garden plants and more. Has anyone had experience with bay leaf tea?  I'm just now learning about it, but have not made the tea.  I'm wondering if all bay leaves are the same or different?  I buy mine bulk, so I'll have to check the package label.

Another question.  Ha.  Sigh.  When we emptied our moveable cupboard that holds extra canned garden goods, we discovered cowboy candy from 2020.  Toss?  I mean it's now 2025.  My husband is insisting anything canned is good (not the same for tomato based goods), but I'm against him on this one.  Garden season is around the corner, so I can toss and be safe.  What would my fellow canning blog friends do?

Gardening folks - do you plan on planting anything new this coming garden season?


Photo courtesy of my cousin in the LA area.  This was their sunset a few nights ago.  Prayers continued.



Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, although I am currently now a "stay at home housewife."

I know these posts can be a bit long, so I'll try and keep things short and to the point.

The weather in my neck of the woods . . .

We had another snow storm that blew in last Friday.  We got another 2-3 inches of snow or so.  It's about 12°F windchill this morning.  Today will be 11 degrees colder than yesterday.


Things that make me happy . . .

-waking up to a clean and tidy kitchen

-battery operated thin twinkle lights in a few areas of the house during winter.  They add a bit of sparkle during dark, cold winter days.


-our few mantle photos, that I turn on in winter.  They have little lights that come on with a built in timer.  I plan to add a few more.  We keep these until winter is over with.


Book I am reading . . .

-See last Happy Homemaker for the three daily readings (Here)

I unburied this book, which I started back in May of 2024.  Totally forgot about, as it was underneath something else.  It is somewhat boring, so it's dragging along.

I started this one too, but it's my downstairs book. Yes, I am reading two books at once, ha ha!  The top book is light weight, so I can read it on the treadmill (or will continue on the treadmill if doctor clears me).

What's on my TV . . .

Recent movies:  Crazy, Stupid, Love,  Morning Glory, recent football game, 80 for Brady


On my breakfast plate . . .

Apple/Cinnamon/Walnut Steel Cut oats, Canadian Bacon or Chicken breakfast "sausage" patties

Fun fact:  I learned the steel cut oats at as a prebiotic in our body.  Interesting for sure.


On my lunch plate . . .

Egg Salad on avocado bread, fresh fruit


On my dinner plate . . .

Leftovers.


On the menu . . .

-Sheet Pan Parmesan Chicken and Vegetables

-crockpot herbed flounder, roasted veggies or green beans

-Mexican chicken or tacos

-Leftovers


On the to-do list . . .

In recent lists, I have overloaded my list with dedicated ambition, but to no avail, left almost all to-do's half done.  In light of that...the list will be me picking 3 off my notebook.  I went around the house and wrote what needs done.

Not sure what I'll pick yet, but the goal is only 3 now. In addition....

-make cream of celery soup


New recipe I tried or want to try . . .

Crockpot herbed flounder.  It's on the menu.
Recipe we tried - Homemade Avocado bread.  Delicious.  I baked it the exact time the recipe called for, but the photos looked crispier on the edges (or more done) than ours turned out.  It is very good however.  We can just cook it a bit more in the air fryer before using.  We plan to make more of this "bread" and put it in the freezer to use as needed.

To try:  Crockpot herbed flounder.

What I am creating . . . 
Crochet lap afghan, baby blanket, and jar openers.  Updates on it all soon in another blog post. It will take up too much space to post it all here.  Working on our Christmas binder (recipes, gift ideas, games etc). Oh, and a crochet combined new project I hope to be sharing soon (pretty fun so far).


No words needed (favorite photo or picture) . . .

Sunday Joy - met up with a couple for breakfast at a local restaurant that has a "country" store inside.  All of the Christmas items were on sale 50% off and ended the same day.  Love this store, and the food.  The food is the closest to homemade you can find.  Good company made the morning wonderful.


Devotional, Prayers or Bible Verses . . .

Good thoughts, good vibes, good life!  Not a Bible verse, but a good reminder.

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Modge Podge of Events (or lack of events) and This and That

I apologize in advance for the length of this post.  I honestly, didn't think I'd be back so quickly with a post at all.


The home project list continues.  The master bath is not checked off the list just quite yet.  We have made progress, but the shower tile floor is dragging on.

My husband hired a brother of a friend to replace the tile floor to the shower.  First, good luck getting the guy to come on the day he says.  He canceled three times.  I was about to google YouTube and install the floor myself. 

He showed up (after canceling again, after coming out for a quote), and literally asked me if I had a trowel for the grout.  Literally!

Sigh.  He came and gave us a quote, and said he had the "tools" for the job, and he had experience.  My husband even told him that we know nothing about installing tile.  He also mentioned he didn't bring his tool to cut the tile.  Huh?  He knew full well what the job was - install a tile shower floor.

I am not one for someone to waste my time, so it's been aggravating on my end.  We have also discussed the events of this guy several times already, and won't be hiring him again.  Brother of a friend or not. 

Less than two hours after removing all the old tile, he asked of my husband left him any money.  Really?  He hadn't even finished the job, and barely started the job.  He said he was out of gas, and needed "gas" money.  Not our problem, as we hired him to do a job, and the job pays when it's done, not before.  

The guy is a "talker" too, so I busied myself in the kitchen, so he'd get the job done.  It literally should have been done the same day, but was not.  

I went out to the garden to pick green beans, and he literally followed me out there.  He followed me to the garden hose, where he had already turned it on and never turned it back off.  He wanted to ask me about which way we wanted the tile.  Seriously???  We hired him, because he had experience with tile.  While I was rinsing the mud off  my muck boots, he was getting his cell phone out to show me is rose bushes.  Do you see my aggravation in all of this?

So there I was, trying to message my husband while he was at work, and asking questions, so the job would be finished.  Tick, tick, tick, there went the clock.

Hiring a decent person who is going to get the assigned job done is almost impossible these days.  Anyway, he is to come back to finish the job another day (he told me one day, and told my husband a different day), but with his history of not showing up, we may be hiring someone else.  The tile has been broken in the flooring for years, and was put off for other expenses.  We just want this job done, and finished the right way.  

We shall see if the tile floor gets finished, and finished correctly, or if I will be googling Youtube/hiring someone else.  If he's really that "broke" he'd get the job done to get paid. Stay tuned. 


My husband had a family member bring heavy equipment one day, to move the new coop and finally move the ladies into it.  It never happened.  Poor planning.  The weather was very hot and humid too that day, but poor planning.  There are things that need done prior to moving it (moving it was not in the early plans either), and were not completed, so another full day of no progress.

My husband has had some crazy, long work hours this summer too, so that hasn't helped with any progress overall.



(one small potato that got washed up from a bad storm)

August 6th was the first time we got to enjoy eating our home grown green beans.  We should have been freezing boat loads by now, but with the rabbits eating them down twice, and replanting, it was a late start for us, and a lot less. We had a tornado warning one day, and the high winds leveled the plants.  We are happy to get what we do get at this point.

As of today, we have not even gotten a dozen zucchini.  Between the weather and the squash bugs, it's been a battle.  We've only enjoyed two cucumbers.  The pickling cucumber plants are not looking good.  Humidity = mildew.  There are tomatoes on some of the plants, but some plants are small, and so far the tomatoes are very small (about 1 1/2 inches small).

Have I canned anything?  Nope. It's kind of strange not to be canning anything right now.

I have frozen some hot peppers, and dehydrated a handful of hot peppers.


I did get some of the elephant garlic dehydrated and ground into garlic powder (bought at a Farmer's Market).  My husband asked me to save some to trial plant in the ground this fall.


I finally bought a chargeable scrub brush with adjustable handle.  It has changed my cleaning tasks in a big way.  I can't believe I waited so long.  Cleaning the shower and tub, and all the sinks, not to mention the tile bathroom floor is so much easier (not to mention faster).

I'm thinking of making my job of wiping down kichen cupboards, table and chairs, from once a week to two times a month.  



Thank you to whoever mentioned to take the frozen pumpkin puree out of the freezer bag before thawing, to get all of that goodness from the bag.  I can't even believe my brain never thought to do it that way.  A "duh" moment, so thank you do whoever mentioned that last summer.

Have we gone camping?  Nope.  Not once this year.  Yet.  We still hope to, but time will tell.  It's just been so humid and hot, and we missed the spring window with my broken foot.

Have I picked up a crochet hook?  Well, not until the last few days.  I took a long break.

Have I finished another book?  Nope. I haven't finished the one I started back in May.  Honestly, I think I picked it up for free at the library leftover book sale, and it's not that interesting.

New recipes tried?  Maybe one or two, but I have one on the try-it list.

Modge Podge of Events (or lack of events) and This and That © August 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Monday, June 24, 2024

Happy Homemaker Monday



The weekend went too fast, but we had a fantastic time with family.  I took an orzo pasta salad, and a cold mostly sugar free carmel apple dessert.  It was very nice to visit with everyone, and with help we figured out what the strange plant is growing in my asparagus patch (more on that later).


Two lap afghans were delivered to my husband's cousin and her husband, who live in an assisted living home.  

I have been successful at purging books I have read. Over the last two weekends I placed books, reader glasses I can't use, and two sets of nautical crocheted cup coaster sets in a little library on the island we visit.  A bag of books went home with my sister.  I also found homes for three more sets of crochet cup coasters leftover from craft shows.

Trust me, I have more craft supplies to purge, but I am very behind on reading books.  If I am not using something, or haven't used it in years, it is making it's way to another home.

We had to cancel our plans to go to a festival over the weekend, because it rained.  We are thankful for the rain, as the gardens needed it.


Today I am joining once again with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  The link up is back, so it's easy for me to link up today.

Update:  I could not link up.  Again.  Sorry folks.

The weather . . .
86°F/67°F today.  We are finally getting a break in weather, but that could change. 

Right now I am . . .

Writing out my to-do's for the day, and waking up with coffee.


Thinking and pondering . . .

To purge all of my writing books or not.  I used to freelance write when the kids were younger, and all lived at home, but I have not had the time, nor the desire lately.  Getting the house in order (trust me the fractured foot set me back 2 months) has been on top of the list.

It's been on my brain, but I'm considering putting and end to this blog.  Various reasons.


How I am feeling . . .

Depends on the weather, ha ha!  If it's hot out, and I've been working out there, I'm too tired to do much when I come back inside.

I am however, back to a pretty good exercise plan, other than the treadmil.  I'm still waiting on the final x-ray of my foot.


On the breakfast plate . . .

Have no idea yet.


On the lunch plate . . .

Chicken salad on cucumber slices, leftover orzo salad.


On the dinner plate . . .

If my husband doesn't call or text with a change in my plan, it's a sheet pan chicken sausage/sweet potato and green been dinner.


On the menu . . .

Anyone else have a husband that has a knack for meddling in the menu plan for the week?  I'll have it all planned out, and he'll come home with burgers to grill or some other option.  

I'm going to try my best to use up some food this week, that was intended for another day, including the green beans in our freezer from last year's garden.


On my reading pile . . .

Still reading this.  I haven't had the energy or time to read over the last month.  I really need to read at least a few pages a day.

A quick once a day read, and sometimes very appropriate for the day's work/events.

Dug out a box of letters to get finished reading. I need to pass this on to another family member (part of my purge).  I've had it since my Dad passed away.


On my TV this week . . .

Fried Green Tomatoes


Looking around the house . . .

I have a habit of starting the to-do list for the next day, and not finishing the current day list.  In the end, I am still looking at piles of yarn, and other things like tablecloths I no longer use, that need to either be put in storage or passed on.  I use them for tables when we have people over, so I may be saving them.  Anyway, I am working on more areas of the house, so come fall, we can get back to bigger indoor repairs/painting, and what not.


To-do list . . .

(for the next two weeks, and in no particular order)

-harvest yarrow
-harvest thyme
-dust
-wash master bath rugs, sweep and mop
-make homemade insect repellant
-work on all the craft supplies I wish to purge
-work on list for getting the house back in order
-water pots and greens
-work on sorting yarn, and re-organizing them to reduce storage totes
-weed flower beds
-continue cleaning porch
-get back to working on master bath, removing items we no longer use and remove everything from the walls to start washing down walls.


From the camera . . .

I have nothing today.  I had a pretty busy weekend, and the same last weekend, filled in with other projects and work around here.


Devotional, prayers, Bible Verses . . .

No current prayer requests.



Happy Homemaker Monday © June 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Saturday, June 22, 2024

What was I thinking?

It was 100°F yesterday, and yes I did garden work.  Watering everything has come first due to the lack of rain (we didn't get enough).  


It's going to be up in the 100's again today.  Yesterday, I put my chargeable fan on the chickens.  They love the frozen water in tins to cool off better than anything right now.


 I thought I would get so much more done by June, and I have not.  What was I thinking??

I thought I would get the baby blanket done.  Ha!   It was only something to use up yarn and store for gifting.  It's still not done.

I thought I would get a few lapghans done for extended family, and have them delivered by now.  They have yet to be delivered to the assisted living home they are in. Sigh.

I can't even get to the library to return a book, and pick up a book.  Eye roller.

I forget to check my email on a daily basis.

I contemplated starting a crochet group once a week in our home town.  Big eye roller.  I had big ideas, but have so little free time.  I honestly thought it would bring people together, and get to know each other, and help small businesses in the process.  

Heck, I had plans to purge more craft supplies this week, and that never happened at all, ha ha!


From the book "A Year of Positive Thinking" by Cyndie Spiegel.

What was I thinking?© June 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Chit Chat

Nothing really exciting on the news front.


 I dehydrated more oregano to make sure the new dehydrator worked.  There are things about it I like, and other things I do not like.  It is much quieter than my last one.   

I can say that I am glad I saved my trays from my older one.  The new ones are thinner, and the way the metal is twisted on the trays, the oregano stuck to the trays.  I had to layer the counter top with sheets of waxed paper, so I didn't make a mess, and didn't lose any of the dried oregano in the process of removing it.   I dried some oregano for the kids, and I was thankful to find a drawer full of saved lids to top the canning jars with.

How I found the lids?  Well, funny story.  I have one daughter who just started to learn to crochet, and asked for some yarn and supplies.  I went rooting around in my craft drawers, and low and behold, I had used one drawer for empty baby food jars and lids that fit canning jars (peanut butter, tahini, and other jar lids).  

I used to use the baby food jars for gifting extra dried herbs, and making homemade salves and hand creams.  I no longer use the jars, so those will find a new home soon.  Oh, one year I filled baby food jars with homemade taco seasoning, and gifted that one year.

Essentially, I found an entire drawer of items to get rid of, other than the lids I can use for when I open canned items, such as pickle relish, jam, taco sauce, ketchup, etc.


I not only found the lids, I found a pattern template that, for some reason was in a plastic bag, and tucked in a drawer with other half finished craft projects (yes, more unfinished, ha ha!)

The pattern is for a handmade Chicken Christmas ornament.  More than 4 years ago, I made one for our tree, and never did make the intended amount of them.  As you can see I found the painted clothespins with eye screws already in them.  I have no idea what I'll do with it all yet.  Most likely see if one thrift store will take it.  I have no plans to finish them, as my family has a ton of homemade ornaments from me already.

I have yet to locate my extra set of crochet hooks for the one daughter, but I now have more rainy day purging to do.  I found more craft supplies that need a new home, ha ha!  I thought I purged all of my supplies, but nope.


On another subject, I finally got the potatoes planted in the garden, but we have some more hot peppers to plant. I plan to get that done by the weekend.  My foot hurt yesterday, and actually swelled a bit, so I'm taking it easy for a day.  I will be getting another x-ray later this month.  At least the garden will be completely in by the weekend.  We didn't even know if we'd have one this year.  I did not plant popcorn or sweet corn this year.  We'll be buying it this year.

My husband bought some dragons breath flowers, so I got those planted, and more mulch dropped.  We had to buy a new broom for the porch, so porch cleaning can now resume.

Chit Chat  © June 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Sticky-note-itis and The Case of Lollygagging (not by choice)

May flew by way too fast for us.  June rolled in quick, so I hope it sticks around longer.  In fact, we are almost halfway into June already.  We woke up to a crazy 49°F this morning.  

Grab a cup of coffee, it's a rather long post.

Fracturing my foot caused everything to simply get so far behind, that the sticky notes piled up everywhere like a heaping mountain of dirty laundry.  Six weeks is a long time to hobble around injured, and then be told another 6 weeks before hikg, long walks, or weight bearing exercise.

My medical boot, shoe leveler for the other foot, and medical boot covers, are officially stored away finally.

I had so many sticky notes(and some for my husband), and more were being written daily, and in various locations of the house.  I just decided it was easier to write things down, per room, in a ten cent notebook.  Crossing those buggers off never felt better too.

The case of the lollygagging (all done by force) was put to an end, and all things had to be caught up, things put away, things donated, things returned, things cleaned, things put in order and so on.

Logically, all of my library borrowing was put on hold.  Blogging took a back seat.  Sorry if they are lacking and/or boring lately.

Of course I went head on with all of this orderly homemaking, and housework, while we were planting the vegetable/fruit gardens (a battle between rain storms).  Everything of course everything remains "iffy" until we see what the weather brings us.  I have added some Thai basil to the herb garden this year.  Oh, and we found tomato plants, but not the same amount of them, and replanted.  I had to replant two serrano hot pepper plants too.

We installed a new fence around one of the vegetable gardens.  We plan to do the same with the other garden later this year or early next spring.



We purchased two blueberry plants.  We cannot grow them in the ground due to too much lime stone.  It's an experiment, to see how well they produce in pots for us.  

We didn't realize how much more soil we needed for the flower bed.  They are not completely finished.  We need some stones for the walkway and a few more for edging (we were given most of the landscaping stones over 2 years ago).

The regular chores still needed done amidst my dedication to rid the chaos.

Needless to say, there was a grand amount of coffee consumed.  Not to mention numerous ounces of water to day hydrated, especially during the garden work days in 90 degree weather.

                                                 

One corner of a counter was the "drop" spot, and these jars were hidden for the duration I was hobbling around.  Just for the record, our indoor repairs, renovations, upgrades, painting etc. are still not complete, so hence a terrible pile up.  I have moved the tote with painting supplies to the next room.  Hey, it's a start, ha ha!

Note to self:  Label stuff!  I have no idea what I put in the container on the left.  I searched my blog for ideas, and found nothing.  I think it's self-rising flour I mixed myself, but cannot, for the life of me, remember what it is.  Good grief!  Apparantly six weeks unseen is not good, ha ha!

There is much more to do around here overall.   

Sticky-note-itis and The Case of Lollygagging (not by choice) © June 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Monday, June 10, 2024

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

I had a few extra minutes in the kitchen, as my husband was called into work on Sunday, and our outdoor work took a back seat.  I made them in between flash freezing the last of the strawberries.

I made these healthier version of a peanut butter "cup" from a recipe online (no bake peanut butter oat cups by Hungry Happens).  You keep them in the freezer, but they do not freeze solid.  They are good, but I'm not sure I'd make them again.  I used a non-gmo dark chocolate for the top.



Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

This will be my last link up/join with this.  The new link asks me to sign into facebook or something to link my own post.  Enjoy it as the last post in this manner.



The weather . . .
Strangely cool, and no sun this morning.  Temperatures range from 67° to 93°F this week.  The low tonight could be as low as 49°F and that is very cold for June (and not good for the garden).

Right now I am . . .

Sipping coffee and writing this blog post.


Thinking and pondering . . . 

I'm thinking, that having a phone book again would be useful.  Our internet has had way too many outages, and one day I could not get a phone number pulled up on my cell phone.  Not even with 5G (cell service outage?).  Way too many outages in our area lately.  We used to get a free phone book delivered, but have not gotten one in years.  We don't have a land line, so that may be the reason.

We are trying to connect with local farmer's market gardener's to see about buying their garlic for this year. I know it won't come in until later, but we are working on it.

I did however, ask one produce stand if they grew their own garlic, as I have purchased it from there years ago (which rotted very quickly).  I never asked, as I assumed (never do that) they grew everything.  They do not.  Always ask at the produce stands.  Many ship items in from other states, and the items are not fresh.


How I am feeling . . .

On days I am working outside for hours on the garden, I have zero energy to do intentional exercise. Does that happen to anyone else?  Or is that just me?  Is it even necessary, after all that labor?

My foot is still healing.  Some days it bothers me and other days it's fine.


On the breakfast plate . . .

Sweet potato/sausage and egg scramble.


On the lunch plate . . .

Chicken salad with boiled egg over swedish bread crisp. Blueberries.


On the dinner plate . . .

Not sure just yet, but it could be Southwest Quesadillas.


On the menu . . .

-sheet pan cod with vegetables

-grilled jalapeno popper smash burgers, grilled brussel sprouts

-leftovers


On the reading pile . . .

I have not had a lot of free time to read lately.  I finally finished book #3 in this series.  I have found that our library interloan system has the remainder of the books to the series, so when I get more books read off my own shelf, I can go back and finish the series via the library.



. . .picked this up for free at the library, so I'm currently reading this book.  I feel like one of my bloggers has met this author. It's not my typical fiction book, but so far, I am enjoying it.

I'm also reading online reviews for food processors and madolins.  I need both replaced soon.  Especially my very old mandolin.


On my TV this week . . .
Whatever looks good on netflix.

Looking around the house . . .
It's a hot mess.  It's garden season, along with strawberries and peaches to put up.  It'll take some work to get things in order for sure.


To-do list . . .
-sweep and mop floors
-dust
-water porch pots and house plants
-go through yarn for a daughter
-get the house back in order


From the camera . . .

I finished this lap afghan.   I'm suprised I did too.  Some days I am so tired after garden work, that I don't want to do anything.


Devotional, Prayers, Bible Verse. . .


Happy Homemaker Monday  © June 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Monday, May 20, 2024

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We finally got one full day to work on the flower beds. Sorry I don't have photos of them.  I will try later once we are completely done.   Between his horribly long work ours (and on weekends), add to that my foot fracture, we are very behind on outside work.  I can't hire help for this work.  Side note:  I may be hiring someone for interior painting that still needs done.

Our initual plan was to get plants into the vegetable garden.  We took one look and had to re-till everything (which required hiring a friend, due to the tiller not running here).  That job never happened until the high heat time of the day.

Instead  we finally pulled up the tarps in the front flower beds and put down dirt.  We slightly expanded an area, to make mowing a lot easier.

 The plan is to find creeping phlox for that small addition next.  It only took us two years to get this done, ha ha!  We were so busy with home repairs, flower beds were on the bottom of the list.

It was very difficult to find flats of marigolds this year.  We never planted one iota last year in the flower beds, so we added some perennials this year again.

We finally found what we wanted, so much of the planting was delayed until this week.  It's limited to cooler hours of the day too.

It's officially everything-in-the-house-is-a-mess season.  It happens.  It's garden season.  If you grow any sort of vegetable garden, or have large flower beds, you know what I mean.

Today, I realized, while watering the herb garden (and new herb plants), that I bought peppermint instead of spearmint.  Sigh.  I have to go back again, but I think we want to get more flowers anyway.  The more perennials we plant, the less annuals we have to buy each year.




Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .
We are in an unusal May heat wave - 80-90 degrees and sunny.  Possible rain Wed.


Right now I am . . .
Finally getting some coffee, and then clean up from planting flowers for two hours this morning.  I have a bit more to plant, but then my full attention will be in the vegetable garden.  If we have enough t-posts, we plan to change they way we tie up the tomatoes this year.


Thinking and pondering . . .
Do you start your days with a plan?  A to-do list written out the day before?  Or do you start your day willy-nilly, and just go with the flow?  I would say 99.9% of the time I have to have a plan for the up coming day/days/week etc.  

To invest in a new sauce maker or not.  Sigh.  It's expensive, and my old one, almost 14 years old maybe, has plastic parts that keep breaking (expensive, always out of stock parts) on me.


How I am feeling . . .
Well, I'm happy to be getting back on track.  Sort of.  It was not fun to get up to days with no plans, due to my fracture.  I've been to the ortho doctor, and other than an x-ray, he said "see you in 6 weeks."  Sort of an eye rolling moment.  Other than to make sure it's healing correctly, sort of a waste of my time and money.

I was given the green light for some specfic exercise, but told me "you are your own doctor" and said that even if the x-ray shows a partial healing I can walk on it without the boot if it doesn't hurt.  My own doctor?  Good gravy.  It is exactly what my husband recently told me.  Also, I now see the importance of having a second person to have another pair of ears, to hear what the doctor is saying.  A lot of mumbo jumbo this last visit.


On the breakfast plate . . .

Have no idea.  It's now about brunch time I think ha ha!


On the lunch plate . . .
With the heat wave, and working in the heat, it could be a fruit yogurt smoothie, or peanut butter on a swedish bread crisp and a boiled egg.

On the dinner plate . . .
Have no idea.


On the menu . . .
Have no stinkin' clue.  We grilled dinner a few nights ago, but man it is really hot outside.


What I am wearing . . .
Dirty garden work clothes.  




On the reading pile. . .
Currently reading this book from my own bookshelf.  The librarian suggested a few places to find the rest of the series for free, but I do not want to read on my small cell phone.  Most are all free, but online such as ebooks.  I'll most likely skip the rest of the series and move on to another book off my shelf, sticking to the "borrow and not buy" motto this year.


Current library loot!  I'm so far behind with these right now.

On my TV this week . . .
Netflix movies I think.  Not sure.  I was so tired last night I fell asleep watching TV.

To-do list . . .
-plant flowers before it gets too hot
-boil eggs, and make chicken salad
-wash yesterday's dishes
-mix up my face oil recipe
-sweep and mop floors
-clean toilets
-check on laundry
-write out a meal plan, and healthy snacks
(this may be the list for the entire week with planting the gardens)


From the camera . . .
Catnip infused oil brewing.  I use this to make homemade bug spray.  Oils can be infused on the stove, but with the recent sunshine, I chose to do it this way.


What I am crocheting . . .
Nothing!  I'm way too tired at the end of the day right now.
It's even too hot to read a book on the porch or patio.  All works in progress are on halted for now.  I do have plans to check my stash however, for colors to put together for making two more lap afghans (for extended family living in an assisted living home).  I want peach yarn for one.  Actually two different shades, but I am pretty sure I have zero of that color.


Devotions, prayers, Bible verses . . .
Prayers for a family friend named Bobbi.  She broke her back, some ribs, and other ailments recently.  I don't know they how of this, but she is depressed from it all. She helped cater food for a family funeral for us once.