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 ...

  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 ...

  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...

What's been going on here?  Well, I realized when I was short of one box, I could go online and order them for free from the USPS.  It's been shipped, but my books have not arrived. Dirtiest election year ever.  With so much uncertainty for our country, there could be the possibility of my husband losing his job (as well as many other Americans). There is voter fraud.  It's real.  Friends of my best friend (of many many years who I email every single day) went to vote.  The wife was told she could not vote, because she had already voted.  She said "no I didn't vote."  She had to verify that the ballot that was mailed in was not her signature.   Haven't started on the bathroom renovation.  My husband has had no time and also no motivation.  He's been working 10 hour days and more overtime is possible next week as well. No word on the car.  I think my husband has been too busy to even think about calling about it. Chainsaw p...

We started our Sunday on the hunt for dog fencing supplies.  The wooden posts are out of stock everywhere.  We located 3, but even with my insistence, my husband did not buy them (hmpf!).  I may talk him into going back today.  We'll see if I'm successful. I was also on the hunt for a metal watering unit for my chickens.  I literally bought the last one.  I was told by one store that there is a metal shortage, due to the shutdown, and they are all behind in production.  Makes sense. We were lucky to have breakfast with Youngest and the family of her passing boyfriend.  Gosh, we had such a good time.  I really miss them. After that we went to vote.  The process was pretty quick.  The line moved continuously.  We decided to vote early.  Overtime is in the books for next week for my husband, and my car is still in repair.  It was better to vote early, than have the chance to not get to vote at all. We stopped at Home Dep...

First, thank you all for all your help with knowledge to freeze eggs for winter.  In the process, I was able to locate a wonderful article (and thank you Debby Flowers for the emails too, very helpful) online that you all may be interested in. The article is online at Backyard Poultry, and is titled, "Water Glassing Eggs for Long-Term Storage."  It's an excellent read.  At the bottom of the article they also share other methods, such as pickling, freezing and dehydrating and how to use them best. Water glassing requires your eggs to be completely free of debris, which means maintaining the roosts to keep the eggs clean.  It's not always that simple in winter though.  I purchased a food grade container to do my water glassing, and a lid.  Later I was told if you call your big box store and speak to the deli, they can save you containers they get frosting in, but to be honest I don't know how big those are either.  The container I purchased is 22 qt. and...

I finally had time to bake bread.  I literally messed it up the first time, and had to start over.  Sigh.  I am re-writing this recipe and filing it.   I spent yesterday sorting all my recipes and sent an SOS to my 21 year old to bring home tab dividers.  Oh boy.  I can't lose another recipe again. Updates on the cars.  My car is still here, but will be towed tonight to get a new engine.  The other car was delivered yesterday to the same guy for guess what?  A new intake.  Our 21 year old is working long days.  She's working almost 25-30 minutes from home right now (and long hours, which puts doggie daycare on me). We went to pick her up after my husband got home. Speaking of her, she looked absolutely exhausted from wearing a mask on her all day shift.  Her checks were red, her eyes looked like different and she acted different.  I am so concerned with her wearing a mask that long.  It's horrible to see your kid...

The year has been crappy overall.   I feel like the government is keeping us from family and friends, so we may have a bonfire out here, but it depends on the heat.  It's been dry and hot.  That's not a good mix for burning. I'm seriously concerned for our state.  A few days ago, after midnight (in the big city two of my daughters live in), there was what they called purging.  I can't make this stuff up.  People with cars without plates went around shooting at people randomly.  I read a toddler and an elderly man were shot and killed.  Purging?  The world has really gone to h-e-double hockey sticks. Oh, and I have 2 more dead hens.  This time it was a weasel that came in the top of the fencing (which we recovered with harder wire fencing, and he said it would hold until we get the fencing up on the new coop). Well, he felt awful, so we moved the hens last night.  Temporary fencing goes up tonight.  Then we start remo...

I had access to a car for a quick blink of the eye.  I ran into Wal-mart to get some items, and this is the area where crochet hooks and needles are sold.  The yarn is so slim.  See that shelf at the bottom of the photo?  Hardly any #10 cotton thread.  Literally nothing but one "I" hook left.  I needed an H and some needles for a gift for a family member. I am putting together an Emergency Crochet kit for her.  I found tape measures, but not the retractable ones (that section was slim as well.  I found pencils, notebook and scissors.  Good gravy on the shopping trip.  I am told I have to drive further out to find a fully stocked store.  Geeze o' pete.  I'm told that Wal-Mart stopped stocking anything that wasn't "essential" and to me crochet while stuck home is mentally essential.  Crazy times for sure. I came home and spent a while scrubbing my outdoor cushions with upholstery cleaner.  At least I was ...

As much as I'd like to keep the pandemic issues off my blog and keep them upbeat homesteading posts, yesterday's briefing was a debbie downer. We remain under shut-in order, and no groups of 10 or more until June 1st.  They did no lift the shut in order. Daughter's grad party was for late June.  Now I have to wait and see what he says June 1st.  Those who liked him in the beginning do not like him now. There has been no talk at all about campgrounds opening and a lot more. Camping is social distancing.  The list of what remains closed is very long. I feel like we are the prisoners and at war with the government. Meanwhile GA opened hair salons, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors and more.  Too early for them?  I guess we'll all find out. Our 18 year old had to apply for pandemic relief pay of some kind - for unemployed that cannot work due to the orders set.  She applied for another assistance as well.  I think my husband and other daughter ...

Quarantine day 32 Nothing like waking up at 3:30am, and finding the internet not working and trying to figure it out for an hour. Now it's running slower than molasses. Things I noticed while out getting supplies - Kroger pharmacy took down all readers.  You cannot buy them.  One Kroger has a limit of 410 people.   Ace hardware is not shipping any UPS items.  No Lysol spray in any stores. Daughter (20 year-old) said that they only get a small amount of Lysol and they are forced to keep it and use on the store.  I'm guessing most shipments are like this. She also told us they make care packages for the truck drivers that deliver - Lysol, sanitizer, snacks etc. Calling my Mom to get her grocery list for a supply run feels like a scene from The Walking Dead. On a good note, my lettuce is sprouting!  We also cut wood, but only enough for a few days.  It was cold, so we will resume soon.

I have to ask myself what day it is almost every day anymore. My mind was in a hundred places yesterday, so no photos to share.  First, it was the day that we lost our older nephew 2 years ago, and a very hard day emotionally for my husband. He mowed until the blade on the mower broke.  I basically did minor house chores and froze more spinach. It was cooler and very windy, so no other outside work done. I have a sister who said, according to the Bible that the virus will end Easter Sunday.  There is a lot of talk on this.  I know one person who would have answers to this claim, and that is Dad.  I cannot even call Dad. He has bad hearing and will not answer his phone.  Oh, my oldest sister is taking care of Dad right now, during this virus stuff going on. I call my mother daily to check on her.  I often talk to my siblings via call or email.  One sister in MI has been sick, but her doctor said it was pneumonia.   We are doin...

The bedroom is 95% done with spring cleaning.  Woohoo to that.  I took advantage of a cold, darker day and got Hubby on board to clean up his stuff.  I'm hoping to get him to purge t-shirts next day we can't work outside. In celebration of our efforts I lit some candles and relaxed.  A much better day for both of us.   We were both up early this morning.  Nothing like hearing (at 5am), what sounded like a loud pick-up truck pull in near the property and shut off the engine, to get you out of bed.  It's still dark here, so we are trying to be quiet to not wake the dogs just yet.   Armed and ready, and they haven't started up their engine to leave either.  It'll be light soon and we will be able to see if they are along the south tree line (property line near the field).  We also discovered our south flood lights are not working, so upon daylight those will be replaced (I bought back up bulbs thank goodness). Now that ...

Current weather here. Yesterday, I tackled the clean down of the kitchen.  Today it's my bedroom.  I had loads of laundry, and I'm down to a few drying racks.  I ordered new ones online, and Amazon shipped them yesterday.  I used my anti-ill spray to spray down the box before bringing it inside. I had a hen die yesterday.  It looks like natural causes.  Sad time for this to happen. Hubby's work is now two weeks on and two weeks off to keep each other from catching anything or getting sick.  Paid leave too.  Sort of thankful for that, and now I can break out my "Honey to do list" and get stuff done around here too.