Pioneer Woman at Heart

I don't usually keep track of hours spent crocheting a blanket, but I did over the weekend.  I wanted to humor myself I guess, or find out the torture I'm enduring for this blanket. I timed myself at making one color row in this blanket, which consists of 4 rows single crochet, 2 rows of double, and this pattern requires counting, skipping chains etc.  I takes 1 hour and 37 minutes to make each color section. I measured the width, which is also something I haven't done on a blanket (never took any orders before). It measures 53 1/2 inches  wide, and I am using worsted weight yarn with an "H" crochet hook.  It's not thick yarn, so it takes longer to make a blanket. I counted the sections of color so far, and have 18 sections  - 29.1 hours of labor so far.  I have about 6-7 maybe 8 sections of rotating color to go. It was a bit of a challenge, but I got the post up on my S.C.R.A.P. blogspot, in regards to crocheting the mini hearts to glue on jumbo paper clip...

  I finally got a day to make a batch of homemade "neosporin" and some lemon balm lip balm.  The infused oil recipe for the "neosporin" is online .  The recipe for the lip balm is on Mountain Rose Herbs blog , but I make a lemon balm oil infusion vs. calendula. Did some laundry, dishes, and did some tidying in the kitchen. I finally finished making these ornaments.  The instructions are on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot . Extreme clean update:  I finally found a person to pick up the scrap stained glass.  First person never showed up.  All of the craft glitter is leaving the house.  Daughter T is taking it all. One pair of sweatpants left the house too. Took this photo the day before the snow arrived.  Dolly Carton was enjoying her dirt bath.  Just a happy photo to share with y'all.  

  Good news!  I am looking into selling my jar openers in a smaller town with a general store.  I have to raise the price due to the percentage they want to sell consignment, but happy they are considering. Whoops!  I did it again!  While waiting on my husband to open the wall access, I came up with another craft.  By the way a fitting came apart and yes, another water leak as we guessed.  Kitchen drain is thawed.  Two down one to go today - fix the wood splitter. You can find the easy instructions for the mini-sun catchers on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot . They are perfect as they are, or can be Christmas ornaments or given as sun catchers (random act of kindness during these uncertain worldly conditions). Our warmer weather is arriving starting today.  It's a brisk 7°F so I am thrilled we are moving to warmer weather.  I haven't been able to put anything on the clothesline this winter.  It feels so wrong ha ha!

. . .got more fridge magnets made and packaging them. There were more that didn't get in the photo. . . . more recipe card holders in the making.  They need embellished with buttons, and packages up for a craft show this year. (sorry no photo yet) . . . finishing up the back panel and started one sleeve on the cardigan. . . .more progress on the wine cork ornaments . . . got the black netting cut and rolled into balls for the order I received.  It took me almost 3 hours to cut and roll the entire 10 yards, but I got it done. . . . finished my latest craft project.  If I have enough scrap wood, I will make these to sell as well as gift.  I love it.  Instructions are on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot .  I may make some with coffee packets too.  Maybe even small packages of candy or mints?  Lots of ideas for this one.  Makes a nice random act of kindness too.  While cleaning my craft supplies, I had everything already packed up to give to our daugh...

  Craft supplies are being purged now.  Gulp.  Sorry for the boring posts lately. The kids are grown.  I do enjoy making homemade Christmas ornaments to sell and gift, but I am letting some things go to another home.  I just found out about a charity that takes anything but items that has cloth on it (like couches, clothes).  They will even pick it up  I've taken note of that.  It may come in handy. What I used them for - Handmade Christmas Ornaments (snowglobe)   And you can bet, I was going through craft supplies, and thinking up what else I could put inside those cute capsules as ornaments (before tossing in the box).  The capsules are only 1 1/4 inch tall, so you can imagine the work that went into that tiny snowman. Old film containers left too.  I can't believe I still had these.  I, yes again, went to pinterest to see if I could make anything before tossing in the box.  I think I had saved them for when my husband w...

  Medicine Cup Bird Feeder Ornament The other day I suddenly realized I got my "resourcefulness" from my Dad.  Years ago, he gave me a container of craft supplies from my Grandmother.  Somehow I was the new owner of a bag of medicine cups. I think I should have added some bird seed to that medicine cup.  Anyway,  I think this trait I inherited had something to do with my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot. I was literally searching through my crafting supplies for a container I kept old keys in.  I caught myself laughing, because I realized how much I don't throw away - container of bottle caps, old jewelry, wine corks etc.  Oh boy.  Stay tuned for some future posts on my S.C.R.A.P. blog.  I have a few up my sleeve right now. We were back to wood splitting yesterday, but we were delayed with repairs on the splitter.  We finally got some split about 1pm, after a full morning of running our for parts etc. We are back at it today.  Snow is in the for...

  Here are the scrap fabric cards I am making.  I made heart ones to gift my Mom.  I'm considering making other ones for a few other people, but gifts won't be exchanged with either side of the family this year.  I may work on them for next Christmas though.  A great way to use up scrap fabric, and I am so blessed for the people who send me their scraps too.  I don't sew a lot, so what I get is a blessing for crafting/gifting.  I have a how-to on my   S.C.R.A.P. blogspot   too.  Gosh, I just realized I haven't posted anything on there for a good long time.  I just may get something posted soon. Pinto beans were soaked for soup beans and fried cabbage today.  It was suitable for our current weather.  Brr. Red onions made their way to the dehydrator.  I sometimes get into a situation during winter when I need red onions and have no vehicle or the weather is too bad to travel to the store.  Who wants to go out for o...

Sam I Am (at farmgirlSam blogspot ) shared an ornament that reminded me of one I made for gift giving years ago.  The crocheted edging is different, but wanted to share. I found wooden rings at the thrift store and used canning lids (old ones) for the backs.  The directions can be found on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot if you are interested. I will be digging through my crafting supplies to see if I have more rings to make the ones she posted.  They are beautiful! Not much going on at our homestead right now.   I got a few organic celery cubes frozen for winter soups.  Speaking of soups, I will be bagging my corn off the cob into smaller bags more so than the 3 cup bags, so I can use it for soups (but in smaller amounts). I made crock pot leftover ham/veggie soup yesterday.  I left out the corn and added white beans and a small amount of lentils (shockingly high in carbs), leftover green beans etc.  I did some reading, and couldn't b...

I'm on a roll with posts this new 2018 year.  I'm also on a roll in getting things done and lists crossed off.  I literally have a list that I never finished from bike week, and one to do after the last craft show.   Well?  They are both getting crossed off. It was actually fun doing something different than crocheting or knitting. I have been wanting to make reusable "cotton balls" for years, and just haven't found the time into making them.  I decided to hand sew them, but I'll be getting the sewing machine out soon. I needed my hand sewing skills renewed anyway. I apply apple cider vinegar toner to my face daily, so we were going through a lot of cotton balls. If you are not aware, I also have a blog, where I post recycled, up-cycled or scrap type projects/crafts/handiwork.   The DIY "cotton balls" are eco-friendly, and help keep our homestead on the path to a deeper self-sufficiency.   How I made my reusable pads:...

My name is....and I am a wine cork hoarder. It's true.  I have had this tote of corks in my crafting supplies for years.  Many years.  Since before we moved here. I have made many Christmas tree ornaments over the years, gifted many, and maybe even sold some.  I can't remember. ..... so I'm him-hawing at letting go of these corks.  Or keeping a handful.  Or not.   Today, I decided to take you down "wine cork memory lane" (and myself) to decide if I shall pass these corks on.   They were not saved for storage over the years.   I have been a bit creative.

Note:  Blogger must be having some issues right now. I keep having trou ble just si gning in .  T hey are also post ing a no tice that may be show ing up a t the top of m y blog, regarding cookies .   The sun is shining and the squishy ground is drying up, so out to the barn I went for a good coop cleaning.  I had to laugh.  Both goats came running into the barn and decided to have long conversations with me while I worked.  I love those little boogers. This is a blurry photo, but since I had a lot of English walnuts, I toasted 2 cups (350°F for about 8 minutes).

Anyone else on a diet of cold fruit, light salads and yogurt?  Oh, and healthy popsicles?  And iced tea? The humidity has been so thick, and it really makes gardening uncomfortable.  I literally woke up without an appetite.  Yesterday's brunch was watermelon.   Today however, it is only going to be in the 60's - camping weather if you ask me.  Just gorgeous.  I told Hubby we should back up the camper and play hookie.  It was tempting for a short few seconds. Well, that's not happening.  Garden duty calls today, and I'll admit, I'd rather work in cool 60°F weather than 80°F and 86% humidity.       I spent a few more rainy days making

Today I reveal to you the junk drawer inspired Christmas tree ornament.  Are you ready?  I know, I know.  The suspense has to be driving you nuts.

Cooler weather means it's time to fill the jar of homemade hot chocolate .  Mmmm!   It also means I have to get laundry on the clothesline much earlier to completely dry. Dinners here have been,what I call "on the fly."  I take whatever is in the garden and cook what ever comes to my mind.  

I said I was not going to use my stove yesterday, but I did.  Hubby brought home some ginger root and club soda yesterday, so early in the morning I made a double batch. This is so refreshing on a muggy day too.  This is one of the recipes I most likely will have ready for when my older two are home.  They have been writing home about recipes they want me to make.

There were a few requests on how I made these fire starters.  I do write another blog regarding the use of scraps of just about anything, and creating something new, useful or even art. 

In the midst of a mad-woman cleaning day, I ran across a box of printed cardstock that was storing an unfinished project.

I unplugged for the weekend.  We've undergone some stress here at the farm, and well, I would just not be a pleasant person to be around. We are undecided about how to heat this place.  I will really miss my wood stove.  Although it was work, I will still miss it.  I also feel stripped of my self-sufficiency, which I do enjoy.  It's a freeing feeling to have less bills and debt.  Now, Hubby's  co-workers have convinced him that we need to install a furnace and not replace the wood stove.   I'll update as he figures it out.  My vote is for a new (or used) wood stove.

From the Homesteading Journal . . . . . . made my own bird deterrent for the strawberry beds - recycled pie pan, string, and a piece of recycled tent pole.  I used what I had, considering the budget is tight right now (from the tile project).  Later in the day I saw robins snacking away as soon as the wind stopped (and the pie pans stopped banging away).  I guess I better start saving up for bird netting and supplies.  However, I did spray paint some small stones red, and placed them under the plants for now too.  We'll see if they return after pecking at a stone.  . . . planted new curly parsley, and more tomatoes.   . . .in preparation for hot days, I started to save and fill empty plastic bottles with water.  They are being frozen to place in goat water buckets. . . . the bathroom tile project continues - humidity is a huge factor in it's completion. I cannot wait to use my shower again. . . .found a way to recycle t...

. . . pla yed around wi th a new "flower" dish scrubbie pattern.  I am making some to sell at the next Farmer's Market . . . . fini shed my 11 year-old's table t cover.  Finally. . . . started another p ot holder set, and dishcl oth.  These are my "to go" projects.  When I need to go somewhere, and I am not driving, these go with me. . . . got around to embellishi ng the crocheted cat bookmark . (Click here to see more from my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot) . . . spray painted chalkboard paint on a clip board to make a sign for Farmer's Market.   . . . crocheted 1 rag rug for the master bath (sheets and pillow cases). . . . crocheted another bookmark for the store/market. The weather is hot and humid here.  I collected 70 pints of water in my dehumidifier.  We have been running it in our master bath, to help the the tile project dry completely.  Rain is in the forecast today, but you never know anymore. ...