"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.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Changing Plans ~ Weather Crisis

Horrible thunderstorms woke us up Tuesday morning, and later I found out there were tornadoes that touched down within an hour of us.

Youngest started her internship, and with the rain constant along with Hubby's work schedule, it's been indoor work for the most part.  

I broke down, did some research, and ordered us some reusable potato grow bags.  I just need to get the dirt and give an update on that.  I could not find one person with experience or a resource for bags, so I went with what my out research did.  It can't hurt at this point, as we are as desperate and desperate can be.

I sort of have a plan for the 54 jalapeno plants, but not for the 54 plus green pepper plants.

Rats chewed another hole in the chicken coop.  We patched that and built a rat trap, but noticed a crack in the bottom of my 5 gallon bucket.  We'll buy a new one and reset it.

As for the ants in the herb garden, I sprinkled grits on the hill.  So far, no ants.  You just need a dry day to do it, so they eat it.  Not sure on my weed killer yet.  No good dry days to use it.

Of course we got more rain, and major storms were in the forecast.  Thankfully most went past us giving us less rain.

Wednesday morning it was calm with no rain, but still in the forecast.


I made a sausage and kale millet skillet (recipe is online, but with ham and cheese), considering I couldn't do a thing outside.  The humidity is bad here too.  So bad, I have sinus issues and have been downing tinctures and teas to relieve the pressure.  When that failed to do it's job, I remembered a trick my Dad taught me a long time ago - add one drop of oregano oil (talk to your health store professional) to a teabag and make hot tea.  Worked like a charm.

I'm also having to run our dehumidifier and empty it often.  So this means no painting of anything either.   When I first turned on the dehumidifier it read my bedroom was 85% humidity.  windows in the kitchen and front room have been closed for that reason.

Which leaves me to cleaning.   Cleaning, organizing, and it's driving us all mad.  The rain that is.  We are all literally in bad moods.  The rain has made our "can't do" list so long it's frustrating and downright maddening.  We are all grouches and argue a lot lately.  Hubby's work schedule is also draining him and the rest of us, also adding to the "can't do" list.

The old truck is still broke down, one daughter's car remains in the driveway broke down, the septic not dug, bathroom remodel halted, chimney not swept, garden not tilled nor planted......

On top of that, we kind hearted people let one nephew borrow our mower for his house lot, where we have 6 acres.  He borrowed it Monday morning, and we even had a cookout there the same day, and I don't remember seeing the mower there.   He wasn't answering his phone either.  We only have short windows of opportunities (mostly dry times when Hubby's at work) to mow our own grass.  I have a biker friend we can hire to help me, but we can't do it without our mower.  The mower was to be returned last night, but they never showed up, so mowing didn't happen.  We are pretty upset considering we actually got in touch with them too.

We also went out of our way to locate hay for the nephew's horse.  It's very difficult to find right now, and with the rainfall there is a huge shortage.  The friend was willing to sell a few bales and as of we know, he hasn't gone to pick it up.

If by luck, you may see a "gratitude" post soon, just to try and shift my thinking lately.  It's been pretty depressing.


We didn't get too much rain on Wed. but we will get buckets of it again today (if the weather man is right).  I really, really need to find my "happy" place again.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Rhubarb Vodka

Rhubarb is in season now.  Guess what concoction I made?  Well, the title of this blog sort of gave it away, ha ha!  I created rhubarb vodka.

You can find the recipe online just about anywhere.  I used the recipe from BBC recipes online, adapted with homegrown and organic ingredients.  


Rhubarb Vodka
·         1¾ pints (3 1/2 cups) organic vodka
·         2 stalks of homegrown rhubarb
          3 Tbsp sugar
·         Lemon zest from half of one organic lemon or homegrown
·         3 organic whole cloves
·         1 organic cinnamon stick
·         


(right after adding the sugar - shake it up when you sprinkle it on the rhubarb)

1. I used my food processor to chop up the rhubarb, then placed it in a canning jar with sugar, screwed on a lid left it sit overnight.  I also put it in the refrigerator.  Note:  smaller pieces will macerate faster than larger pieces.




2. I then added the cloves, cinnamon and zest and poured in the vodka.


3 Leave the jar in a cool dark place for 3 weeks, and shake daily.


Strain using a cheesecloth.
Bottle and wait 3 months before drinking.
Shake daily.


What can you make with it?  Well, you can make Rhubarb Mimosa.  

You can also make a rhubarb martini, rhubarb fizz cocktail, rhubarb cosmopolitan, rhubarb vodka sour, and many other mixed drinks with it.  I wanted to give this a try to see if it's gift worthy or not.  Or just plain good.

Note:  Ingredients will not fit in a quart jar.  I used a larger one, but could have tripled it in it too.  We will do a taste test first, and then decide if it's gift worthy.

Note:  Each time I bake/cook with lemons, I take off the zest and put it in the freezer for cooking/baking and now boozy recipes.