"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.

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Strawberry season is here!

 

Strawberry season snuck up on me.  Canning season officially started yesterday.  I'll be even busier the next few days.  I was so no ready for this either.  I used my jam maker yesterday and got a small batch of reduced sugar jam made.

I had a horrible time finding the pectin I use for the jam maker.  I also had to go to 3 stores to locate liquid pectin.  Last year we couldn't find jars, or lids, and this year it's other supplies.




My new item for the island store.  I'm working on the packaging.  I'm thinking about getting some white sand from the Dollar Tree and glue a bit in the bottom corner with a tiny seashell.  What are your thoughts?  Leave it as is, or add the sand and seashell?  It will go into a plastic bag with our farm store label on the backside.


Tuesday, June 7, 2022

This and That

 I spent the better part of the day in the vegetable garden.  I'm am very tired, sore and feel sort of beat up.  Laundry was done, a breakfast scramble baked, brought 3 bags of trash down from the upstairs, planted 2 trees (the birds gifted us in the flower bed) before the rain arrived, and did not get any painting done.  A true, full blown Monday for me.

I forgot to take photos, but after I tied up the tomato plants, I noticed two banana peppers are already on, and the cherry tomatoes are on.

I've never, ever gone into June with flower beds in such disarray.  The rain is continuing, so there is no chance of that today.  Unless it stops early, and then I can weed from the edges, but I'm pretty sure it will be soaking wet in those beds.

The price of gas here has soared above $5/gallon, so the list making continues.  I've been trying to make all my stops in one day, to avoid trips into the "big city" and so forth.  I do have to make a trip soon though.

I ordered shelf brackets for my living room, and the company sent the wrong ones.  Even though there is the description and a picture of my order on the receipt, they sent something totally different.  It, of all things, has to be dropped at a Federal Express office.  Why do things have to be so difficult when it is not from Amazon?  Urgh.

Did I mention my jar openers will not be sold at the general store as planned?  They are not taking any more outside sales. 

A friend told me that she went out to eat, and the place looked empty, same with with another town (also a local restaurant).  People can't afford to eat out at the high prices, nor spend the high priced gas to get there.  Anyone else a bit concerned on how this world is going to function for us?

Meanwhile, I plan to carve out a few minutes of the week to work on another possible order for the same island store.