"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Showing posts with label Trying New Things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trying New Things. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2026

Happy Homemaker Monday

 Do you ever notice how it's hard to be around people who are negative about "Monday" and the start of the week?  

Monday gets a bad name all around.  I used to tackle so much around the house, but I have since then created a cleaning/housework schedule, and it's been working out fantastically.  Monday's are not bombarded with overwhelming to-do lists any longer.

My husband had a recent conversation about how his co-workers complain on and on about "Monday" and how terrible it is.  Is it?  

Every year I look forward to learn something new.  A new trail to walk, new herbal remedy to make, new handiwork to learn, or just about anything.  It's not only rewarding in most cases, but fun.

My "firsts" this month:

-dehydrating wild violets, and leaves

-dehydrating dandelion flowers 

-read a new author, picked up another at the library (yet to read - gulp!)

-reading a new devotional

-learned the words to a song, and inadvertently learned words (memorized) to two other songs.

-went to our first Bingo "purse" raffle (had fishing poles for the men) and fundraiser benefit.

-saw Moe Bandy in concert (now 82 years old).

-walked one out of 15 new walking trails (new to us).


(possible new salves using the above dehydrated items later).



Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom (will link up when she posts).

Hard to believe I was picking dandelions, wild violets and even chickweed a few days ago.  

We've been seeing a lot of lily of the valley, wild geraniums, and mayapples on our trail walks.

Planted rosemary and spearmint.  Weeded another smaller rose bed, and asparagus patch.  Planted 9 more Mary Washington asparagus starts, and dug a tree out of the berry bush area.  Trimmed two rose bushes, and weeded half the herb garden.


The Weather . . .

Last week started with hard freeze warnings.  31°F with a windchill of 27°F.    We will get thunderstorms again tonight and possible 50 mph winds.


Right now I am . . .

Sipping coffee and writing this post fairly quickly.


How I am feeling . . .

Tired of the weather fluctuation, but otherwise revived over the weekend.  We found another trail walk and loved it. (In our new personal challenge) One walking trail visited, and 14 more to go on our list.  Despite a sprained toe, walking was fine (more on that in another post).


On the breakfast plate . . .

Eggs, and real Canadian bacon.


On the menu . . .

-crock pot Four Beans and Sausage

-leftovers, Kidney bean salad (new recipe

- not sure on the rest just yet


On my reading pile . . .

I'll have to get back my current/finished books.  Forgot to take photos.  However......

Finished this one.  First time to read this author.  I laughed to my husband, as I only had this book, and realized it is part of a series.  Sigh.  I had no intentions of buying more books.  I liked this book.


On my TV . . .

Elvis movies - King Creole, Blue Hawaii

Doc - Netflix

Sarah's Oil, Netflix


Looking around the house . . .

-Good!  Took a trunk full of clothing to donate.  Clothes that were too big, not worn, etc.   Decluttered more areas and re-organized.


To-do list . . .

-make breakfast
-laundry
-make tick repellant oil
-dehydrate all of the volunteer herbs I yanked (anything growing in areas where it spread)
-Weed the rest of the herb garden, and flower beds (maybe)

-I'll be honest, I have yet to figure out the to-do's for the week.  The weather may change my list.  


What I am creating . . .

I finished the purple/white shell stitch blanket.  Delivered four crocheted baby blankets to an area pregnancy center.


Sharing . . .

Salve with wild violets, comfrey and plantain.


Watching videos like these to possibly start learning to quilt (small things right now ha ha!)


From my camera . . .




Devotional, prayer, Bible verses . . .

No prayer requests asked of me currently.

My newest devotional to share.

Happy Homemaker Monday ©  April 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart

Thursday, August 11, 2022

Loofah Seeds ~ Life of a Loofah Plant

 



The to-do list(s) are staying continuous, and in doing so, I found a small flower pot with loofah seeds that some how ended up at my house (from Mom's house).  They are from my Aunt J, from Florida.  I know many (many) years ago, Mom gave me some, and I could not get them to grow here.

I decided to humor myself, and put some seeds in a bag with a wet paper towel, to see if any were even good.  I put them in the bag June 27th (although late in our growing season), and on July 12th, I noticed one sprouted.  I planted it out where it would get a good amount of heat and sunshine, and marked it with glady posts (and to give it something to climb). 

July 19, 2022 (very late to plant in our zone, but I did)


July 21, 2022

July 22, 2022 (new leaf)

 
July 24, 2022


July 26, 2022


August 4, 2022 (very hot and humid, just got rain)



August 10th, 2022.  It's now about 2 feet tall.   Just ignore those weeds.  It's not getting pulled until the garden dries out.
 These plants can grow up to 30 feet.  Anyway, our humidity and hot weather just changed to being nice, so I don't know that I'll get a loofah on it.  I guess we shall see what happens over the next 6-8 weeks.  I'm going to put a much larger trellis behind it.  These plants need something to climb, and it's outgrowing the smaller trellis.  I can also run lines from the trellis to the fence behind it.  Time will tell if I get any loofah's, but what a fun experience so far.