Pioneer Woman at Heart

Now I'm taking the herbs to a different level.  There are so many uses for herbs (and oils) it's so much fun to research and try them. To make the insect oil, I used a 1/4 cup to measure my "parts."  You can see in this quart jar, how much it fills the jar.  We've have good luck with homemade basil mosquito spray , but so far nothing has worked for flies or gnats (or fleas on our dogs and cats).

We had thunderstorms last night.  My d aughter donned her pup with his thundershi rt .  A t fi rst he did shake, but calmed down and even went to sleep during the worst of the storm. It worked !  This is Jesse in the m orning .  When we bought it, they off ered to embroider his name for free.  H is th un dersh irt is personalized . By no means is th is meant to advertise this pro duct .  We are simply sharing our dog's e xp erience.   P rior to the thun dershirt, he would shake, pant heavily, his veins w ould s tick out from stress, and he'd hide in pla ces like the ba throom.   He wou ld experience this during any storm, loud noi ses, fireworks, guns firing, orwhen the stone company blasted stone down the roa d. Thank goo dness he doesn't have to ta ke pi l ls, and we found a healthy alternative.  

When you have ba d allergies, you get tired of being locked up in the house all the time.  I was itching to get out , an d so I did.  Although it was the shorte st hike in the woods, I still savored it. My 10 year-old was the only one to join me, and she gathered leaves , as well as myself. The campground we like to camp at, has many trails for hiking and biking.     We ea ch came home with some very colorful fall leaves.  I hope to feel up to collectin g more this weekend.  I like to use these for fall house decorations.  They are free, beaut if ul, and s mell wonderful.  When the season is over, we can simply put them back into the garden, or the kids can create pictures with the l eaves.     W hen we got back home, I took a few photos of the foil age that i s about one corn field away from the farm.   Here it is again, with the corn still up , in front of the trees. Despi te morning frost s, we ...

I got 3 1/2 quarts of Seasoned Tomato Sauce canned. Dug up the last of the carrots and froze two bags of them.  It's not much, but more than I froze last year.  I'll need to plant more next year.     Canned 7 more pints of beets and 5 half pints of Pear Jam.

Yesterday I pulled a tick off of one of my daughter's necks.  I first used the dawn soap and cotton ball method, but it didn't release the tick.  Later in the day we found another tick on the couch.  The dogs will be getting a good shampoo scrub, then will be rubbed with this oil we make.  Ticks are very bad this year already. I found this recipe in a copy of The Herb Quarterly several years ago. I lost it, then ordered a back issue of the magazine. Tick-Repelling Oil (for adults, dogs, and children older than 5 - otherwise they recommend using a gentle rose geranium hydrosol) 2 oz. jojoba oil 20 drops geranium essential oil 10 drops lavender essential oil Combine all ingredients, place in small bottle and label. To use: Before going outdoors, apply this oil to any exposed skin. For dogs, place a few drops on your hands and then gently smooth the oil over the coat. If you prefer spray, substitute 2 oz. of distilled water for the jojoba oil, and place a...