Pioneer Woman at Heart

  March is what we call our "mud" season.  Everything is thawing, or there is rain and flooding, and sometimes a snow shower in the mix.  Mud.  We get lots and lots of of a muddy mess, which prevents any or all outdoor work or play (unless we find paved hiking/walking trails). Mud season can feel unending and arduous, but also inspiring as the warmer/sunny weather arrives. Monday - 13°F windchill in the morning (I attempted to sit in the sunshine for a hot minute, and the clouds moved in of course) Tuesday - 36°F windwill in the am.  High for the day was 60°F (insert smiling face), but we had am rain. Wednesday - 53°F (windchill of 48°F), rain Today?  - 37°F Snow!   Nothing new going on.  We are patiently waiting for spring to stay put.  If you remember, we were trying to get an online appointment for new tires last weekend? Well, my husband actually got an appointment made over the phone, and drove there after work to the said appointm...

The holiday decorating has not even been happening around here as it should, and for two reasons - 1. How I am feeling and 2. The room repairs / renovations. I have not felt up to doing any holiday shopping, nor even shopping for baking and cooking supplies for the Christmas Day meal.  I have nothing ready.  Nothing.   Also, the handy-man we hired has been a no-show the last few days, due to his car breaking down.  Just lovely.   By the way, in the meantime, I have put about 5 sticky notes up on the walls for places that need "fixed" and have paint issues.  Splatters, scratches, you name it. I have not been ill like this for a long long time and it stinks.  It's like the virus that keeps on giving and refuses to go away.  Once I have a good day, the next day something new arrives.  One day it was congested ears.  The next a dry cough with chest pressure.  The next itchy/watery eyes.  The exhaustion comes and goes as i...

It appears that some of the bigger projects on our to-do list will be taking a longer break than we want.  Atleast anything related to climbing a ladder around here. Oh boy.  I did it again.  I'm mostly mad at myself, because I just started to clean up flower beds, and was about to start raking out weeds from the already tilled vegetable garden (s). It's an eye roller moment. I've been MIA a bit in blogger-land this past week.  First, I was instructed to stay off my feet, other than to use the bathroom.  Second, I was instructed to use crutches when I was up.  They were (yes were) the most pain in the rump to use.  I can say, that I can stand to lose more weight than I thought ha ha!  Lifting myself on those was a complete work out in itself. The urgent care I went to did not have any boots.  I thought this was very odd for an urgent care facility.  They gave me paperwork to take to a medical supply in the same town.  Again, no boot...

  We had a very bad storm come thru last Friday.  The wind was so bad, that it broke some of my tomato stakes at ground level.  Thankfully, the plants were not up-rooted, but those all had to be re-staked and tied again.  The tomatoes are starting to turn red here. Several tree limbs came down, so those need taken care of soon.  Thankfully, no other damage here. Surprisingly, the ground was, what I call "walkable" Saturday, so I have been able to pick vegetables daily.  It rained quite a bit, but with this heat, the ground really soaked it up. We are eating green beans almost daily here.  I whipped up a one pan dinner with ground beef, green beans, seasoning, and some cheeses.   I canned a new dill (sliced) pickle recipe from my BHG canning cookbook.  I'm done with pickles for the season. I tried a new Greek cucumber salsa recipe, and we love it!  I had to buy the grape tomatoes, but yesterday I got one ripe tomato from the garden l...

We were out pricing a new AC, so we stopped at JoAnn's to check on a crochet hook price.  Wow!  Their prices were much higher than Wal-mart (who was sold out of what I was looking for).  I found that our area Meijer had them, and less expensive than Wal-mart.  No big news, but I was shocked at the high prices at JoAnn's (also much higher than on Amazon). I am always saying I wish they would put a store back in our hometown, but I'm not sure.  Hobby Lobby was built at one point, putting JoAnn's out of business, then later the Hobby Lobby closed. Cute bags at store!  I didn't check the price.  We had plans to actually eat breakfast out at a diner, but found them closed for the holiday.  Apparently, many places are closed this weekend to celebrate the holiday. We are getting lots of rain right now.  If it's dry enough this morning, I'll head out to tie up more tomato plants.  My husband is already asking about zucchini meals ha ha!  So...

  I've been terrible at meal planning, but we brought home some tomatoes from our recent trip, and sliced them up. We made BLT's.  I have no idea for the rest of the week yet.  Other than I boiled eggs for egg salad. I managed to get that air mattress into the bag it came with.  It's not shutting all the way, but it's in the bag ha ha! I think my husband and I decided we need a complete day off.  It may happen this weekend.  We'll see, but that would be nice.  I feel like we've been working on the house for the last two years now.  There are so many people jealous of our updates, but it all started because it needed to be done, not by random choice. I'll admit, I am exhausted daily lately.  I don't even have energy to read a book, let alone crochet our blanket.  I was excited about garden season, but lately?  Not.  We do deserve a break now and then.

  It's a no picture post today.  Saturday we took off on the motorcycle for a ride.  We first went out for breakfast, followed by scheduled hair cuts with Daughter E.  I also got a treatment and french braids. Shortly after that however, rain arrived (when it wasn't supposed to until evening). It changed our plans, so we hopped in the truck, took another load of donations and dropped them off, picked up a big bag of meal worms for the ladies (chickens), and I picked up some very cute wine glasses to go into a silent auction basket I am donating.  I'll get a photo hopefully to share.   I can't say the entire day was "fun" but we were not working in the garden or the house either.  It was nice to have a day off, so it's back to work in the house today. The rain is still falling, but a slow and steady kind.   The garden will love it, but the weeds will double. First thing this morning - clean my kitchen.  It's a bit out of control agai...

  I've been running myself hard ever since my husband's crazy long hours/days started.  I should have known, that if I didn't be more careful, I would get sick.  I did.  I woke up sick today, hence the late post.  Thankfully, rain is on the way, but tilling will not be done today. When I went to the porch to get some fresh air, I found my husband had all of this delivered!  The best husband, and the best timing ever! Make sure to take care of yourself!

Got another batch of Cowboy canned. Canned a batch of taco sauce.  Makes my heart sing.  Haven't been able to do this for the last two years.  I you can with anything (tomato) sauce related, you know they are long days.  The end result is so delicious.  I can it in 4 oz. jars because that is enough for one meal for all of us and nothing is wasted or needs used up.  I can only fit 11 of them in the canner, so I put the remaining 1/2 pint in the fridge.  We'll be eating tacos or taco salad this week. Taco sauce from the store has corn syrup, corn starch (all gmo), and other preservatives.  So worth the time to can.  I'm hoping the other tomatoes ripen together so I can do tomato sauce next. I didn't have time to bake a breakfast for a grab-n-go for all of us either.  I was so exhausted I overslept this morning.  I wasn't even up to kiss my husband before he left for work this morning.  I'm taking the day off to...