Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Giving this new tea a try.  It is similar to the Traditional Medicinal teas, and it is good.  I have also ordered something new to try. The carpet is all out upstairs.  It is almost completely out of the stairway as well.  It may be an all year long project, but at least the carpet is gone. I got my stand for my starter seeds moved.  I'm starting seeds two weeks earlier than last year.  I do need to check the grow lights today. There were a total of 9 deer out early evening last night.  I heard my husband talking and looking out the window saying, "you all better stay over there."  Ha ha!  They were all out eating the winter wheat.  The temperatures have dropped to the single digits, so it is back to cold here. Down memory lane:    I was looking for a specific photo and remembered I made flan for a fiesta/salsa party/tasting night.  That was the first and last time I made flan, but it was good!  You c...

  Beautiful sunrise. Good memories.  Our first Lamancha doeling.  We have had a few discussions about raising them again (along with other meat sources). My husband brought me home a surprise!  Man I love him so much.  It's been a rough couple of weeks for sure. The weather will be up in the 50's today, so I am heading outside for anything that needs done, aside from splitting wood.  I can't do that without my husband. Update on Mom:  she finally got her own room and will possibly be discharged today.  However, we are adding another doctor appt. to her schedule.  The doctor that did the surgery, is the only doctor to handle her wound on that leg.

We were to get rain all day the other day, and got  a 1 second sprinkle.  The garden really needs it too. In the meantime, I wrapped up my leg really good (I didn't want dirt in it) and went out to weed the jungle of my herb garden.  I needed to get in it to start dehydrating for winter. One hour later, my left eye started to itch and burn.  Sure enough when I came inside, it was red and swollen.  Allergies.  I am almost out of nettle, so I whipped up a cup of nettle, ginger and peppermint tea.

That sums it up - nothin' much goin' on here that's too exciting.  Other than we are crossing a few jobs off the list.  The irises are in full bloom right now, but I may have to thin them out next spring.

Using a gallon of our precious lamancha goat's milk, I made a new cheese. Thanks to Candy's instruction s on making this cheese, I acquired the culture and made a batch of Fromage Blanc cheese.

It was bound to happen.  Especially since the barn will be torn down (and hopefully soon).  We have a barn salvage company looking at it now. It was moving day for Orion.  He's too close to the big barn, and he's eaten all his grass in that area.  See all those tall weeds in the back?  That is where we moved his shed.  He was so happy to have more to eat, I had a terrible time getting him to allow me to re-stake him.  I was laughing, because he was in heaven with all that goodness to eat.  He's not a little goat either.  He was acting like a kid in a candy store.

The carrots and beets are now planted.  Each row is about 43 feet long.  We really need more, but I'm working on that.  I got the last two rain barrels in place for the next rainfall as well.  I need the water to plant everything else mid-May. Hubby and I are figuring out the best place to install my new  (concord) grape arbor.  That is next on the list too. Remember my new elderberry trees I planted last year?  Well, I found another use for them.  I read that you can stuff elderberry branches/leaves into mole tunnels to get rid of them.  My trees are not really big enough yet, but I do plan to try this if the moles continue to dig tunnels.  

Unfinished. Maybe it's two words - unfinished projects . I've gotten too many irons in the fire lately, and need to stop myself and regroup.  And I'm only talking about the fun stuff, not the daily to-do list.

I started washing all the afghans, and bed covers.   A few tablecloths too. The weather was good enough to get the two wooden chairs, and the backside of the cupboard piece, primed yesterday.  My plan is to put one coat of paint on everything.  I have the table post and legs to prime later too.

If you are wondering about the cut back on usage of electronic and social networks, I have a quick update. Day one:  one child just about had a meltdown, but later used her time to read a library book she has had for a few weeks.  Another got out the water color paints and painted these:

I have been trying to get clips of the kids (baby goats) romping around the kitchen, but I end up laughing so hard, the videos end up with headless goats or just feet.  Or, as you'll see in the video, the dogs get excited when they hear the pitter patter on the floor.

Everything is normal here today.   The sunrise is a beautiful pink.

Mama Peanut gave birth to twin boys.  One black and one brown, with markings like their dad.

The ladder project(s) are put off for a few days.  It's too cold anyway, but Hubby had to take the truck in for a look-see.  Let's just say he was sweating it out while waiting for the phone call.  The damage?

Jesse had his assessment with the vet.  It appears that we do not need to remove the fatty tumor (just yet).  It's in his groin area, so there is concern that it makes him feel like he has to go, but doesn't.  Just to be sure he doesn't have a urinary infection, we do need to get it tested to rule that out.  The last time we took him to get his rabies shot, he swelled up like a balloon.  This time (thankfully), he did not.  

The weekend did warm up, and it was enough to let the fire go out.  Although we woke up to sunshine and no rain Sunday morning, I was fighting a migraine. Around 5:00am Sunday morning, I took ibuprofen, and let a dog out.  The ibuprofen took the edge off, but laying there, I knew it was a migraine.  Then a bit after 8:00am, I asked Hubby to go search for my migraine medication.  It had expired.  It had been that long since I had one.

I didn't think it was possible, but I decluttered while walking my daily miles on the treadmill.  There is a nearby bookshelf (we have to move things around when we start burning wood for heat) and I simply pulled books off that I no longer need. I offered these to Youngest who loves to write like her Mom, and a few went into the "thrift" box I am slowly filling up.

I'll admit, the computer sometimes interferes with my ability to be prudent with time well spent.  I'm getting better at it. The weekend went by too fast.  Laundry was put out early, recycling was gathered and delivered,

I purchased the culture I needed for cream cheese making, and made homemade cream cheese again.  I am desperately taking advantage of the goat's milk this summer. How did it turn out (photo included this time)?  

While I was out getting a few groceries, my 17 year-old daughter made Zucchini-Banana Squares.  I had quite a bit of zucchini that I harvested yesterday morning, and had a few soft bananas.  Luckily, I had one bag of mini-chocolate chips too.  These bars are made with flaxseed or wheat germ, and are fairly healthy.  The recipe comes from Heart Healthy Living, and is linked below.  We do buy organic/non-gmo canola oil as well.  I have not made these with applesauce yet, but may try it before the summer is over.  I do plan to freeze some shredded zucchini this year. I also picked some green peppers for dinner, and made 3 batches of homemade mushroom soup (to make a chicken spaghetti favorite of ours), using our goat's milk.