Pioneer Woman at Heart

  It's been crazy busy around here.  I cooked a meal and delivered it to a family friend who had foot surgery, and we had to drive 3 hours to go pick up our truck keys.  Just strange all around, but we have the keys.  I just don't have the truck ha ha! It is still in the body shop getting fixed from the deer hitting it.  I however, have not run out things to do. Our hot peppers are doing exceptionally well this year.  The bell peppers however are still small and a small harvest. I canned some sweet chili sauce - new recipe.  I cannot wait to taste it. Canned hot pepper jelly.  Taco sauce got canned. I purchased Meyer lemon seeds from someone on Etsy.  I tried to sprout one all summer.  Every single seed was a dud.  Guess I'm spending a fortune next year on a plant. It's getting difficult to not only budget other food we need, but to even find what we need.  Daughter E cannot find her cat's cat food anywhere.  I could ...

  Although we had a good amount of sunshine, it was still cold yesterday.  I donned my full body winter wear and headed to the coop with treats to beg for eggs, fresh water and headed out to get the mail. Hubby was in the barn fetching firewood.  It didn't take long to get a "nasty" gram from the post office, with a visual drawing of the 30 foot area (yes, that is right, 15 feet clear to the mailbox and 15 past the mailbox) they demand be shoveled/cleared of snow. The post delivery person drives a jeep.  Sigh.  We have lost 2 of the 3 shovels.  Daughter K shoveled some of it, and my husband some of it.  I hope we can find the shovel, but darn it all.  I'm not going to cough up a lung, only for the plow to bury the mailbox again.  I am praying the snow is done for a while.  We are all not up to shoveling snow, and too far out to have some of the boys come plow it out for us. Our current morning weather is -1°F with a wind chill of -14°F....

My husband has not had the energy to return to work, so today I will be brewing up some medicinal teas, and making sure we get outside for fresh air (even if it's to get the mail and tend the hens).  We are wanting this crud to be gone, gone, gone.  My husband works outside, climbs towers, and has a one hour drive to work.  We are greatly saddened he cannot go get the antibody therapy, but will continue to do what we can from home to get over this. I, however, have not gotten over the cough.  I just got online and ordered a cool-mist humidifier.  I dug our ancient one out of the garage, and nope (dinosaur of a humidifier, we haven't used it in that many years).  I am sure, with the increase in cases, we would not find a humidifier in stores right now.  It is due to arrive tomorrow (not quick enough).  It was my last resort.  We don't have to energy for the 55 minute round trip, let alone the walking in and out and searching.  Thank you A...

  I dehydrated more sage and rosemary, and started a sage tincture. Daughter K did a door dash for her sister.  We sent a lawn chair (fresh air and sunshine), a box of tissues, immune boost vitamins, and a bottle of tea tree oil.  She still has a bad cough and congestion.  She did a steam inhalation with eucalyptus oil the other day. I did a check-in with Mom.  I took her a piece of breakfast frittata, some bandages and wound tape.  Her legs are so swollen from water retention (they even upped her meds) that her legs are leaking.  I'm very concerned about it, and may see if her insurance will cover an aide (to put her compression stockings on) and/or for her wound supplies. 

Monday was a busy day for sure.  I called Daughter E to ask if the homemade ginger-ale I delivered was helping with her nausea.  She has lost her smell, but not her taste.  She is moving around to keep her from getting worse, and getting sun and fresh air.  She's basically bored stuck there all by herself.  She has dug out her craft box and made some friendship bracelets. I called Mom to check in and see if her 14 free meals arrived.  Unfortunately, she is not seeing any improvements and said she'll call her doctor. Oh, and no meals.   Breakfast - sweet potato, onion, sausage, mad hatter and jalapeno peppers, collards and kale, and eggs. Dandelion greens were blanched and frozen.  I dug into the jungle of our potato patch.  Zero.  Well, not really zero, but a teensy one on each plant.  Lack for and too many super hot days was the problem this year. I submitted a vendor request form to a business that is similar to one in the "B...

  I spent Friday cleaning, washing laundry, tidying up, and sanitizing. It was a great day to dry laundry outside on the line.  Pretty windy too. I also spent my day making calls to check in on Mom and Daughter E.  Daughter E sounds like she is doing okay, and well supplied with anything to help her heal faster.   Saturday we had two weddings.  One was outside, and we took camping chairs and sat way away from everyone.  The other one was way under way by the time we arrived, and hardly anyone there.  We literally spent 15 minutes are less there and went home.  We were exhausted, because we did a door dash for Daughter E, and did a check in on Mom. We plan to do two door dashes today and then we plan on being back home to have a day of relaxation.   Other than checking in on Mom and Daughter E, we plan on staying in our hidey hole from now on and working on things at the house.  No kids birthday parties, gatherings etc.  Ou...

  Conversation with my husband.... "Hey, Mom gave me her set of red glass dishes to put in the glass door hutch.  In order to do that we have to jack up the floor first." Well, that was followed by an entire day of trying to access under the kitchen with two accesses we already have.  Didn't happen.  We created a 3rd.  Got in a few feet, and dug out some dirt to get to the beam.   Jacked up the floor only after an entire day of work, to find we have dry rot. Guess who is ripping out their kitchen floor?  Yep.  We can't do sister joists from the access.  No room for anyone to get in.  Seriously old house problems.  Guess I'm gonna get new kitchen flooring out of this now.  Just what we don't need.  I may live with a wood floor until next year, and put new flooring in the kitchen. On the same day, after all that bad news, we went to town to pick up a new recliner we bought for Mom.  We picked it up, delivered it, a...

I found a recipe I lost once, but lost it again before trying it.  Urgh.  All I can remember is that it contained tomatoes, was baked and had kelp powder in the recipe.  I swear I had it in a recipe book I had, but so far I have not found it (again).  Story of my life, ha ha!   I have gone through the pile of un-tried recipes, my scanned recipes, recipes in my document folder etc.  However, I believe I have figured out what cookbook the recipe was in.  Stay tuned.  Hope I am right. Brought in our first harvested bell pepper.  Golly, I love the smell of freshly sliced bell pepper.  I grew them from seed as well.  First one to go in the freezer. No rain here for a few days.  Hot and humid again. Mom is still in the hospital.  No changes since Wednesday.  She will be going home today if all goes okay. Daughter E left a lot of boxes, so I spent much time breaking them down for the garden and recycling.  Much of ...

  Our weather continues to swelter us.  The storms continue, so weeding is not happening yet again today. The world has gone mad (again).  Daughter K was forced to once again don a face mask at work.   Daughter K's job involved loading and unloading heavy furniture in our 102°F heat index heat.    Although she found this very nice, rechargeable neck fan, she continues to struggle to breathe in the heat and of course out breath from her work.  Within a week however, she is sick.  Congested, runny nose, cough, etc.  It breaks my heart that this is happening again.  She does have the possibility to get a new job, but she plans to move in about 4-5 months too. I have no new updates on the garden today.  I'll be out to check it today though.   My husband's best friend's father's funeral was yesterday, and when we got home it was late and we were pretty tired. He's having issues with one eye contac and one eye, so I'm ...

The bad: I heard that Hobby Lobby is closing all their stores for good, due to government mandate involving health insurance and their beliefs.  Has anyone else heard this?  Or is this just rumor? The good: My dehydrator replacement door was back in stock and has been ordered.  Woohoo to that. Something I learned:  I watched a show on Create TV (cooking), and found out it's healthy to add garlic powder to your chicken feed occasionally.  I caught the 1/4 cup part, but missed per what amount of feed.  I'm trying to find the show online to re-watch it.  I think I found the show, but the station is operating on reduced power, so I'll have to check back later. Something I learned: You can make jelly from the red buds on the red bud tree.  I most likely won't get to try it this spring (the freeze), but will try it next year. My Mom has a tree.  It's also medicinal.  Fun and good to know. I had a request for the recipe for homemade lip ba...

  I saw this at the store and thought, why not give it a try.  I mean it can't hurt to try.  Not sure if it will really elevate my mood and energy, but I could use it.   Sweet Tangerine Positive Energy Cookies ( found on Yogi online ). These are buttery and a hint of citrus flavor.  The tea itself smells amazing.  Great way to use up teabags if they are needing used up. I also ordered a copy of this book.  I just gave up on the library for now.  I can always pass on one book to make room for this one.  Also giving it a try to lift my spirits.  I'll let you know if it's any good. Bringing fresh cut flowers indoors helps boost my spirit. So glad I have an abundance to cut from. Having something "good" to look forward to lifts my spirits.  Tending my seedlings give me something to look forward to - growing the garden.  My thyme has sprouted. Taking affordable, spontaneous getaway trips has really helped boost our spirits....

About mid-morning yesterday, it snowed. Yes, that's right.  Snow.  Cold and snow.   I found out yesterday, that due to the restrictions still forced upon us in our state, Ohio Bike Week 2021 has been canceled.  Two years in a row now.  They instead are holding a spring rally at the Harley dealer.  We are all so tired of the restrictions in our state.  Just so tired of it all.  It's really wearing us all down mentally. Daughter K went to town to get a hair cut from her sister, so I joined along.  I pampered myself with a conditioning treatment - coconut and tea tree oil. Getting out of the house is fun, but sick of the mask mandate.  My hometown extended their own mandate until late June.   Speaking of mandates, our Gov. has said he doesn't plan to free us until end of April or in May.  It's getting ridiculous.  I also feel that the longer he locks us down, the more families are not getting together, and the lack ...

I sent an email to Ball canning supplies.  It was pretty much a generic answer.  It listed all the stores they sell them in, which I already checked, and no answer as to when they will have more. They did say they were having a "shortage" so there is that. I've checked 9 Target store within 50 miles - out of stock.  Same with Kroger, Walmart, and Meijer, Ace Hardware, Menard's, Lehman's Hardware, and other stores.  I'll keep trying.  I see they are selling some regular lids on Amazon, but a box of 12 for almost $14.00.  The mentioned sending supplies to Michael's crafts, but they only sell jars with lids not just lids. Talked with a friend and she tried to find some in TN while on vacation and an Amish store.  Nada.  Zero.  I also checked while in FL.  Nada. Extreme clean - magazines are gone. I sort of went down "memory" lane after coming across a notebook of mine.  My Dad used to ask me if it was "tea time in Tanganyika?" when I w...

The porch is fully loaded with split wood for the upcoming colder nights this week.   We also moved the splitter inside the barn, and more wood, so we can split wood despite any weather. We got more stuff taken off the porches and put in storage, all garden hoses put away (I use a lot to get out to the gardens). Got Youngest's car fixed.  Thankfully, she did not blow the transmission.  Got the larger air conditioner out and put in storage (been after Hubby for a few months on that job). I'll try and remember to post an update on handiwork.  I'll have time this week, as the snow and rain are keeping us inside for now. I'm finally back to cooking.  Since the passing of my Dad, I had zero motivation/mental capacity to cook or bake.  We had no meal after the service, nor any meals delivered from friends/family (we lived on take out).  First dinner we had was a ham, potatoes and corn.  The family is elated.  As for baking?  Well, that may hap...

  If you have been following along with my blog, you read about the coop massacre and the emergency purchase of a used coop.  Well, although it is keeping my ladies safe and sound, it is a pain in my royal rump.  Literally. I have no idea why someone in their right mind would build it that way, so I have printed out what I want built in the spring (above photo). The fenced side will be on the other side of the coop itself, but you get the idea.   So what's wrong with the one we have now?  Well.... The inside is not conducive to roosting nor cleaning.  It's not that big either.  The lower sides are where they are to roost and lay eggs.  They tops of those extended parts have no way to get the eggs (does not lift up).  I have to crawl inside to get the eggs.  The door?  If it swings back closed, I'm locked in.  The heat lamp is inside and wired so we could wire it to the garage for heat, but the chickens have flown around in...

  Picture of the moon this morning.  I was up at 3:45am, because I had no body heat to snuggle up with (and because Tiger was also meowing at my bedroom door).  My husband worked midnight shift, and will be working morning day shift today.  Sigh... I thawed some cucumbers I froze last August, so that's about 4 months in the freezer.  I did not peel them.  When thawed, they are not fresh crisp, but not as soft as a canned pickle.   I used them to go in our Tex Mex Macaroni (one dish meal - cold).  It tasted the same as using fresh cucumber. Oh, and when I opened the bag of frozen cucumbers, it smelled amazing, as if I had sliced a fresh one. A breakfast I made - sweet potatoes, zucchini, red onion (needed to use some up), garlic, oregano, swiss chard and farm fresh eggs. It was a day to clean up and tidy up.  I needed to do that badly in my bedroom (gulp).  I had crafting supplies all over the place.  No wonder I can't find thin...

  My book arrived.  I just hope it isn't one I already read from the library over the years ha ha!  I hope to get some reading done ASAP.  I need a mental break from life overall. We are getting some very nice weather this weekend.  Possible high 70's degrees on Sunday.  Crazy! We are still seeing beautiful colors around the homestead. When something goes out of the freezer, something goes back in.  Keeping things stocked, with a world of uncertainty. A head of organic cauliflower and a few yellow squash (organic) were blanched. Called my Mom.  Didn't talk long, as she was babysitting.  Got caught up with dishes, folded laundry, took scraps out to the chickens, and other mundane tasks. I put together my barter, now I need a date and time to get it to her.  I hope she likes everything.  She is the family member who had 4 boxes of canning lids shipped to me.  I decided to include a set of homemade cards and a jar opener. I ordere...