Chit Chat

 

Beautiful sunrise we had here a few days ago.

Have you heard?  There is a mysterious dog illness nationwide right now.  We still plan to install a dog fence, but it's a scary time to adopt a dog. 

Have you been heard about all of the cantaloupe recalls lately?  There are many.

The weather continues to cause delays on the coop build.  The joy of homesteading.  It's raining here again today.  It rained all day yesterday.

Are you an evening tea drinker?  What is your go-to tea to wind down at the end of the day?  Is it something you grow perhaps? 

My husband asked why the Christmas tree didn't have ornaments yet.  I laughed.  I have told him over and over, that we never organized the garage, so he has his "things" blocking my access to the Christmas totes.  He has promised to clean that up soon. 

Do you give yourself rewards for good behavior?  Ha!  You know, like rewards for goals met?  Or breaking a bad habit, starting a new good habit, and rewards along the way?  Or for finishing a project you have dreaded to finish?

Do you pamper yourself to perk yourself up on days you are just dragging through it?

Just the Bits

 

We are into cold weather now, and it's been snowing off and on here lately.  Woke up to a wind chill of 8 degrees.  Yep, that cold (and more snow).

Still not in the mood to decorate for Christmas.  I have yet to turn on the porch Christmas lights.

A morning moon.  

I got frustrated with the chicken watering units sold in our stores.  They are either too big, or I can't hang them, or they don't let the water out as they should.  I ordered a new one online.  I am hoping it does the job.

We have hit another hiccup with the coop build.

All I can say, is I am thankful that Thanksgiving is over with. 

I've been experimenting with different ingredients for beef and bean breakfast burritos.  Eggs are far and few this time of year, so it's been sort of fun to take it slower in the kitchen.

Sugar alert!  There is cane sugar in your Randall's cooked and ready to eat pinto beans.  I keep these on hand for when I cook for a large group of people, and I never realized there was cane sugar in them.  

Best way to avoid that is to just cook your pinto beans from dry beans.  I do that in my crockpot (soaking the night before), and adding onion and garlic to them.  I call them the unfried refried beans.  I cook them all day in the crockpot with a bit of water and watch them so they maintain enough moisture.  I do not add any salt until the end.  The beans cook much better.  The beans end up versatile for many dishes.  I have  also frozen them after cooking them.

My pricing "station" is under way.  The more I price my crochet items, the more I am dreading the craft show.  Here I wanted to do this, and now we are talking about how we can't wait for it to be over with ha ha!

My husband has offered to pay me to stay home vs. set up at the craft and vendor show.  I'll be honest, I may take him up on that offer.

While I priced items the other day, one of our nephews came over to help us mow, but ended up repairing our dishwasher.  We ended up taking the inside of the dishwasher apart, and giving it a deep clean, so that job is done.  Did you know your dishwasher has a filter, that needs cleaned about once a month?  I guess I forgot, but it's super-ity, duper-ity clean now.

Just the Bits

 We are on the hunt for a wider ridge cap for the chicken coop.  We will need to be creative and resourceful, if we cannot locate one.

We have another leak in the kitchen, but it's under the floor, so yay us.  We may have to cut out the bottom of the cupboard and check under it.  Not what we need right now at the holidays.  It could be another issue.  

The  weather turned much colder and brought rain.  Lots of rain.  

Has anyone who crochets, noticed that the "I" hooks are getting made now with new handles, but the measurements are not the same as the original hooks?  Top one says 5.50mm and the newer one says 5.25mm.  Both say they are an "I" hook.

Yay!  The photo upload function works again on blogger!

The kids were over for Thanksgiving, and two mentioned that medical workers would buy "boot" cuffs for their 40oz. Quencher Stanley cups.  It keeps the tumbler from scratching surfaces, but I do not own one to measure.  Does anyone have one to measure the width of the bottom, and the height up to where it goes wider?  I may just take this one to Wal-mart and try it, ha ha!

Homemade seasoned salt was restocked.  I don't use this very often, but I do make it homemade.

I am thankful the library gave out 2024 calendars for free this year.

I found a project to use up scraps of cotton yarn.  Particularly solid colors, but we'll see.  It will be gifted, so I can't share it if I am successful (just been too busy to crochet much).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

 The weather . . .

We went from 60-70's to 50's and rain, and this week we'll barely see 50°F with lows in the 30's.  I was successful at crossing off "wash rugs" and they dried outside before the weather turned.

Right now I am . . .

Posting this blog post and sipping coffee.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Well for starters, I'm searching to see if they sell metal ridge caps that are wider than 10 x 10 inches, and possibly covering the coop with a tarp until we figure things out.

We have another set back with the chicken coop roofing.  He hand built the rafters, and the roofing he cut is too short for the ridge cap by about 2 inches.   Not what we needed with the holidays and such.  Otherwise the ridge cap would have been up last night.  

How I am feeling . . .

Tired.  However, I taught my granddaughter how to crochet.  In the amount of time she was here, she learned to chain stitch and by the end of the night, I taught her how to go back the second row using single crochet.  She left with a bag of yarn and a crochet hook, and a happy kiddo.  I  fear though, she will drive her Mom mad with questions now (ha ha!).

On the breakfast plate . . .

Egg, bacon, and cheese breakfast sandwich.

On the lunch plate . . .

Have no idea yet.

On the dinner plate . . .

Leftovers thankfully.

On the menu . . .

-have no idea yet
-

What I am wearing . . .

PJ's - still sipping coffee and getting this posted.

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV this week . . .

Christmas on Mistletoe Farm (Netflix).  I picked this randomly, when I my husband worked overtime, and found it quite fun to watch.  Very quirky, and at one point you'd think of it as a musical.  A father with 5 kids inherits a farm and the animals with it.  The town is very small, and the funny part is there is a woman in the town who crochets/knits for everyone and everything, including kid goats.  Everything in this movie is surrounded by something crocheted in the scene.  Family friendly.

Looking around the house . . .

Update on the home renovations/repairs/improvements:

When we moved in this house, the entire kitchen, and master bath had zero hardware on the cabinets.  I bought plain wood knobs, and hand painted them with acrylic paints to appear like weather paint.  They have lasted 14 years, and still look the same as the day I painted them.  

I've been installing new hardware in the master bath.  I've had it in a box since last year, and we got so far behind, painting in there did not happen (yet).  I decided to install all the new hardware, and will beautify as the weather sees fit.  Now I'm not shuffling the box around to sweep and mop.  

To-do list . . .

-laundry
-make a breakfast dish

-finish cleaning out the fridge (started it, but didn't finish)
-put trash out, including a lawn chair I keep forgetting about
-work on menu/grocery list for the week

-dust

-work on pricing craft show items

From the camera . . .

Marinated cheese.  A first time trying, and why I wanted a basil plant indoors.  You can't buy fresh basil this time of year (atleast here anyway).  Delicious.

Something to share . . .

Nothing to share today, but asking if anyone has a tried and true crock pot, good, macaroni and cheese recipe to share?  Or an oven baked recipe that re-heats nicely.  One that travels well, re-heats well or stays heated in a crock pot.

Devotional, Quote, Prayers . . .

Our friend Jill - her Dad is in a nursing home due to a fall, but now they discovered cancer, and there are health issues with her daughter's pregnancy.

Hillbilly Hen House

 The recent days have been in the high 60's and low 70's, up until Friday.  We dipped just a hair, and the rain moved in.  The rain did not stop me from working on the new coop.  I've dubbed it the "Hillbilly" hen house, ha ha!  We've had to do some crazy work in order to make things work with what we have.  Nothing seems to come together straight, nor level, but it's getting done.

I decided to do things a big backwards, but it's a race against the clock with painting trim.  Instead of waiting for a day to measure and cut the trim, then paint it, I just painted what we had.  I can touch up later, but it's painted now, before the weather gets too cold.  The weather is quickly changing here.

I bought my husband that wrist wrap that is on his wrist. It is magnetic and holds the screws for him.  Now he needs a carpenters apron and/or a tool belt.

Measure Twice

 We know that what you read for measurements at the hardware stores are not actually the real measurement when buying lumber.  We were so consumed in just getting what we needed and getting back home, neither of us realized what he was basing the coop door on.

He bought 10 inch wide boards, and the actual width is smaller.  Always shop with a measuring tape.  We knew this, and like I said, I think the stress of just getting it done was upon our brains.

When they built the door, it came short of what we intended it to be.  Another eye roller moment, and another set back to get it all just right.

Measure and measure twice when buying materials while building something.  

Any who, the door was taken back down to paint, and I spent almost 4 hours painting the coop.  I ran out of paint, but the only areas left to paint are the very top front and back, where I need a partner present to climb our tallest ladder.

I took advantage of our 60°F day, and will continue to this week, as the weather returns to the 40's next week.  

In hindsight, we should have painted the upper pieces before attaching them.  Live and learn.

As you can see we still need to "button" this coop up with a roof.  The run will mostly get built (all depends on the weather) next spring, but we can finagle a fence for the winter.

We are making progress, but there still is a lot to finish (indoor sliding door, outside trim on the entire coop and such).  Once the roof is on, we can work on the inside, get the run door cut, ramp built etc.  

We will recycle perch posts from the old coop, as well as the roosts we installed in there.  We may recycle a roost from the barn, but recycling what we have in any way helps.  I'm just hoping and praying for some good weather days to paint the trim before it's too cold (and get it installed).

Measure Twice © Nov 2023 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Happy Homemaker Monday

All of my plant cuttings from the herb garden did not produce roots.  I had sage, basil, two cuttings of parsley, and one of spearmint, and they all died off.  I'm wondering if it was too late in the season.  I really want an indoor sage plant, so I may be looking for seeds or a plant soon.

Our weekend went way too fast.  Saturday was a wash for a work day, due to an event that pretty much took over the entire day.  We worked on the chicken coop Sunday, but we both agreed that we do need help with the roofing.  

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

The weather . . .

We will be running about in the lower 60's for the high this week.

Right now I am . . .

Sipping coffee, posting this.

Thinking and pondering . . .

 I have a bottle of coconut syrup I need to use up.  Any suggestions other than topping pancakes/waffles?

Oh!  I might be good on yogurt and granola.  Mmm.

How I am feeling . . .

I am really not feeling the holiday motivation at all. I would much rather prefer to stay in, watch movies, crochet or whatever.  I have no motivation to host any meal this season. 

On the breakfast plate . . .

Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage scramble with bell peppers and onions.  Coffee.

On the menu . . .

-Crockpot steak/potatoes, side of asparagus or brussel sprouts
-Crock pot pork chops, sheet pan root vegetables
-Sheet pan chicken and sweet potatoes, creamed corn

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV this week . . .

Movies on Amazon Prime.

Looking around the  house . . .

Well, I still need to preserve some squash, so those are still in the kitchen.  I need to measure and cut my under the sink mat, and put everything back where it belongs.  We are still putting things back to their homes from all the projects.  My husband finally went through a few boxes and sorted and purged.

To-Do List . . .

More like a week long to-do list, as I am working on deep cleaning projects that I abandoned during all these projects.  Hence a lot of crock pot or sheet pan meals this week.

-Laundry

-dishes

-take trash out
-Dust
-Wash rugs
-Clean out fridge
-Work on front porch clean up

-start baking and freezing the last of the spaghetti squash

-work on upstairs flooring

-paint chicken coop door, partial trim

From the camera . . .

We pieced the upper back with scraps, to avoid having to purchase another sheet, and to use what we have.  

Something to share . . .

Come back my blog in a few days.  If you crochet that is.  I will be sharing a post about the yarn stash and how the baby washcloths are going.

Thanksgiving Tips/DIY Ideas and Recipes . . .

I have no holiday mojo this season (literally zero), but I have made a new pea dish.  I am waiting on a review from a taste tester (other than us).  Post to follow this week.

Devotional, Bible Verses, Prayers . . .

No current prayer requests.

Happy Homemaker Monday © Nov 2023 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Chit Chat ~ Lost Mojo ~ Christmas Eve Tradition ~ Non Traditional Thanksgiving Meal Dish

 I've been spending a lot of time tidying up, putting stuff away, preserving and stocking up, and just regular ol' housework. I've had to deliver some homemade ginger-ale to one of my daughters.  By the way, her cyst is draining thankfully.  However, her antibiotics are making her sick.  Thank you for all of your prayers.

More greens are being blanched and frozen for the winter months.  Spinach and dandelion greens.  I have to remind myself to focus on one at a time, and not bring home different ones.  It's time consuming to switch water out and ice bath water.  I'm still looking for swiss chard in stores.  I have not found any yet.

I've been searching for my holiday mojo.  It's been lost.  Poof!  Disappeared.  Not one iota of it lingering this year.

I used to be the one that insisted on a tree in every room of the house, including the master bathroom.  I had lights everywhere, in rooms, on the trees, in the hallways.  I used to have a binder dedicated to all things Christmas - gifts, food, etc.  I used to work on a new handmade Christmas ornament every Jan/Feb, so it would be all done for the upcoming Christmas.  Everyone in the family was gifted one.

When the kids were little, I would practically run to the sign up sheet for their Christmas class party.  I handmade an ornament for every single kids in the class (did this every year), and hand wrapped the gifts.  I came up with games, and prizes and took treats.  I was pretty creative with some of them.  

Check out this one (on my S.C.R.A.P. blogspot as well).  It was a treat container and the head was an ornament.  I was pretty proud to make them for 25 students.  The bottom "treat container" was a cardboard tube from toilet paper.  I typically also bought small trinkets like something to put on their pencil tops.  Can you imagine how many parties I volunteered for?  

I'm still looking for my mojo.  I've had one kiddo volunteer to come decorate here, but we are not.  It's a simple tree, with just lights, and that's it so far.

I have been asked to bring back our pajama tradition.  My Mom always looked forward to our family photo of each Christmas Eve.  I'd buy new pajamas for all of the family, and wrap them up.  Christmas Eve we'd all open them, put them on, and wear them all day Christmas Day. 

Here I am talking about Christmas, and we haven't even gotten to Thanksgiving.  

What is something a family member would make for the Thanksgiving meal that was not a "traditional" dish?   My grandmother on my Mom's side of the family would make fried chicken. If I remember right, it was coated chicken, then baked in the oven.  So technically not "fried" but it tasted that way.  My grandfather would make the dessert, which was usually a boxed cake of some sort, and frosted.  We never had turkey when we had a Thanksgiving meal at their house, which was different.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We were able to get some work done on the new chicken coop over the weekend.   We actually had help on Sunday.  We were so thankful for the help.  The door is built now, but the roof still needs put on it.  

We have had some rather warmer fall days, which were great for outdoor work, other than the mutant ladybugs were out in full force (and they bite). 

I finally got my kitchen sink leak fixed!  The gasket had broken off and fallen down into the drain pipe.  I'm drying out the cupboard (again) and will be using this situation to purge, clean and sort what goes back in the cupboard.  I just have to get it it good and dry, put the mat in, and get everything back into the cupboard.  Until then, I'm sort of tripping over stuff in the kitchen.

Although I am thankful for the work on the coop, it always puts my indoor work behind.  I have a long week ahead of me.  I also realized I don't have a planner nor calendar for 2024, and appointments are already filling in for next year.  

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

The Weather . . .

High of 67°F today, and in the higher 50's the rest of the week.

Right Now I am . . .

Getting ready to post this.

Thinking and Pondering . . .

The time change has us all off schedule.

How I am feeling . . .

Exhausted.  Long weekend.

On the breakfast plate . . .

My husband made us his famous omelets over the weekend.  Home canned peach jam on toast.  I have no idea yet what I will be making yet today.  

On the menu . . .

-perch, homemade fries
-egg roll in a bowl

-?

What I am wearing . . .

Still in jammies.

On the reading pile . . .

Crochet and cookbooks from the library

On my TV . . .

Christmas movies.

Looking around the house . . .

Well, I managed to clear the kitchen table.  I have also started to clean out the last of the boxes that were in the master bath (when the carpet was removed out of the bedroom).  We had tossed stuff into the tub for the duration, and I'm just now working on that mess.   Ha!  

We also had a stack of stuff still sitting on the kitchen floor, when I started to purge the utility room, while unpacking stuff from the living room.  It's been sorted, and containers emptied and put away. The paint cans remain however.  We are not done painting.

To-do list . . .

-dishes (I have a ton of them)

-bathrooms
-make a breakfast

-boil eggs
-laundry, good day to use the clothesline

-sweep and mop floors

-dust

-pay some bills

-library returns/pick ups (any time this week)

-start cleaning off front porch

From the camera . . .

The meal I cooked for the help we had Sunday.  While the men built the coop door, I prepared the flourless brownies for sundaes, and made the homemade whiskey butterscotch sauce.  They men came in and help prepare the chicken fajitas for dinner.  Lots and lots of dishes.  We were all too tired to wash them.  The link no longer works for the brownie recipe, so I will try and fix that soon.

Something to share . . .

Nothing today.  

Devotional, Prayers . . .

No requests at this time.  One daughter has been told she has a cyst.  Prayers for quick healing.

Happy Homemaker Monday © Nov 2023 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Catching up.....

Is anyone else having trouble with the photo icon button uploading photos from your computer?  It's different now, and when I click on it, browse button shows up and will go to my photos on the computer, but will not upload.  Any suggestions on this?  I will try emptying cookies etc.  

I've been using the library more often lately.  However, I catch myself loaning handiwork books or cookbooks, and that gets me into trouble with new projects.  The crochet project book has 3 different crochet patterns for baby washcloths.  I may have found a way to use up some discontinued yarn I have.  I'll update you on that later.  I will use them for gifting.  There are a lot of babies being born around us lately.

The cook book underneath has a great recipes to try.  I found their breakfast baked oatmeal recipes very good.  I have two more to try.  One with pears and another  I think with mixed berries.

Had to laugh the other day.  I was puttering around the house one evening, talking to my husband.  I looked out a window and saw a pretty good size gopher.  We continued to talk and I looked out a second time, and this time (I kid you not, ha ha!), there was a stray cat doing the low and slow attack crawl, stalking to attack the gopher.  Good kitty!  I have no idea if it caught it, but it was funny to watch.  I think the cat was smaller than the gopher was.

In light of my email being hacked,  I have a question.  Is there a way to get my entire blog put into pdf maybe by a service?  I can't afford to do the blog to book, as I have been writing it for the last 15 years.  I mean, I would like to have a copy in case I have to delete my account. Then again, do I really want a copy of it?  That is a lot of material posted over the years.

Question for those with a blog - do you use the "contact form" in gadgets?  If so, where does the message end up?  In your listed email?  Not sure I want to use their gadget.  Maybe find a widget for a contact form?  I don't want it in back in my profile where it was when it was hacked.  Thanks!

Catching up..... © Nov 2023 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Pie Pumpkins Done~ Pumpkin Waffles

 I have roasted and preserved all of our garden pie pumpkins now.  I saved some puree for baking/cooking.  I typically freeze the puree in containers, but I ran out of them, so I froze the rest in ziploc bags, and froze them flat on a baking sheet to save space, and store more easily.

New recipe tried - White Bean Turkey Pumpkin Chili (SkinnyTaste online).  There are no tomatoes in this chili.  We found this to lack flavor, so I added more chili pepper and some diced jalapenos.  

I have also saved some fresh puree for making pumpkin waffles.  There may be some cookies, muffins or other baked this coming week.

Tip:  Did you know you can use pumpkin in place of eggs, butter and oil, depending on what you are making?  There is a good article about it HERE.  I am thinking of trying the Pumpkin Alfredo recipe shared on that article.

Another Warm Day ~ Trampled Chicken Run Fence ~ Have Dehydrated Mushrooms?

 

Although fall is here, we had another odd warm day.  I took advantage of it again, and washed all the towels and put them on the clothesline.  There were lots of bugs again, but a good shake before tossing them in the basket did the job.  The weather is all over the charts, making coop building the most difficult job (more like the job not getting done).

Woke up to find that a deer had trampled my chicken run fence.  Looks like it got in by jumping the fence, and could not get out, so it took down the other side. By the size of the hoof prints left behind, it was a small one. I finagled the fence back up, but it won't last long.  Deer season has been very bad this year. 

I took advantage of one rainy day.  I caught up with shredding bills, and started unpacking more boxes from the renovations over the last year and a half.  We will probably be unpacking, sorting and purging for another year around here, ha ha!

I had enough potting soil to dig up, and bring in one of my rosemary plants.  I'll attempt the other one after I buy more potting soil.

Need ideas for your dehydrated mushrooms?  Well, there are so many ideas you can use them for, and I love to be able to just toss them in and let the crock pot do it's magic.  The last time I made this recipe was in 2020.  I was shocked that I had not made it again.  Well, I made it again, and the funny thing is, I roasted asparagus, just like I did back in 2020 (see blogpost).  Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole.

Rosemary Roasted Asparagus - I simply drizzle my asparagus with olive oil, add salt and pepper, then grind the dried rosemary a bit and toss over the asparagus.  I roast at 400°F, and bake for 15-20 minutes (depending on how thick it is).

Note:  Next time I will add more garlic powder to the chicken dinner.  I may also just mince fresh garlic and add it to the shallot and celery prior to adding the rest.  It lacks flavor.

I've been baking us this breakfast a lot lately.  It's just so easy to mix together and bakes while I'm zipping around doing laundry or house work.  Cheddar and Chile Egg Casserole.