"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.

Monday, December 7, 2015

One Big Job Complete ~ Whiskey Sticks

In July of 2014, we came home to this.  Free wood.  Delivered for free.  Pieces were bigger and taller than myself, and wide.  Very wide.
Guess what?

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Homemade Herbal Lip Balm ~ 2nd Making ~ Uses for a Salad Spinner


Like most of you, my hands, face, and lips are feeling dried up and awful already (cold and wind).  My younger two girls love the homemade lip balm, and we are almost out of homemade hand lotion.  That is now on my to-do list now also.

The last time I made the lip balm I used small plastic, round containers. 

 This time I used lip balm tubes.  I used 10 of them.

Friday, December 4, 2015

. . . from the handiwork journal

Now, first of all, I have no business in starting any of these new fun projects, but I did.  I still have a baby blanket that is not finished.  Remember the granny square one?  I put it away and plum forgot again.  I have to use different white yarn so we'll see if it even turns out right when I do finish it.  

So.... 


Cup of coffee anyone?  This one was a bit of a challenge for me, and my coffee is sitting up a bit too high in the cup, but I'm glad I'm venturing into toys for kids.  This would even make a nice pin cushion for someone who sews and loves coffee.  Heck, it could be hot chocolate.  I could crochet mini marshmallows on top.  I mean it's a play toy, so we can play all sorts of make believe.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

What's in the Jar? ~ Random Tidbits

Guess what I am making next? 

Hint:  It will need to infuse for 3-4 weeks and will be ready in the nick of time for Christmas day.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Bread Baking ~ Library visit

Rainy days are good for bread baking.  I made my first Jalapeno Cheddar Artisan bread the other day.  Yum!  If you'd like to try the recipe it's from Candy at Lazy J Bar C Blogspot  Delicious!  I baked it to go along with ham bone soup for dinner. 

The weather continues to be wet and cold here.  I made a trip to the library and brought home these:

Monday, November 30, 2015

Recycled Barn Wood ~ Recycled Pillows

Hubby and I had another prosperous morning in the chicken/goat barn.  We used odd pieces of barn siding (recycled from the big barn) to repair and fix up the barn doors.  You can see in the photo there are a few holes yet to cover, but the bottoms of the doors are looking much better (sharing photos soon I hope). 

. . . time and patience.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Barn Cleaning and Other Random Tidbits


Late Thursday, all day Friday and all day Saturday, the rain fell here.  We had one more moment of porch time.  Saturday, although cold, I stole a few moments out there too.