Odd Sight © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
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.
"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~
We broke out the mower for the first time this spring. It needed it, but we didn't quite finish it.
After traveling to two post offices, I finally got a box shipped off to my sister. The first Post Office, had their internet down, the second one is only open 2 hours a day. Life is a bit challenging living in a small country town.
The herb garden needs some weeding done, but it's springing back to life, and the green onions are looking great. I will be snipping some for this weeks meals. The sage is looking like it's coming back to life as well.
Today I will join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.
I will link up when she posts.
The weather . . .
High today is to be about 73°F, but it's cloudy and it rained (ugh) again last night. Today is the eclipse. There is hardly any traffic either. I'm guessing that many places closed. I am told that in our hometown, many businesses closed for the day, and schools closed as well.
Right now I am . . .
Sipping coffee, posting this a bit later than usual
Thinking and pondering . . .
It's very wet out yet, so my day may be a bit off the to-do list.
How I am feeling . . .
Honestly, a bit tired. We ran around and got errands done, and we had to buy a new coffee pot (it broke down over the weekend).
On the breakfast plate . . .
Not sure yet.
On the lunch plate . . .
I have discovered that organic snack bell peppers make a wonderful bread replacement for chicken salad. We love it on cucumber slices, but this is good too.
On the menu . . .
-grilled sirloin burgers, broccoli salad (minus the bacon this time around).
-crock pot pork loins, roasted mixed vegetables
-leftovers
On the reading pile . . .
On the TV . . .
Whatever looks good. The most recent was Dateline and NCIS.
Looking around the house . . .
We picked up the last bit of materials to finish the steps in the hallway.
On the to-do list . . .
-not sure quite yet, which is very odd for me
From the camera . . .
October of 2014 - homemade Lamancha goat's millk cream cheese. The very best cream cheese too. A "blast" from the past photo.
I've narrowed down my draft blogposts. I went from 80-some down to 38. I have resurrected another draft. The odd part, is that I made this salve years ago, and never posted this draft. I have no idea why I didn't. It was drafted up, but the date is not showing up. All I know is that this was the 2nd version of comfrey salve and I like it much better.
You can make comfrey salve a few different ways. You can check recipes in library books or on the worldwide web too. Many vary, but I have been making salves for a while, so I know how thick I want it.
The first recipe I attempted created a very hard salve. It was too hard to even use. I was a beginner salve maker at that point.
You can also use an oil of your preference for making the infused comfrey oil prior to your salve making. I, for the most part, use olive oil, but I have used grapeseed and jojoba oils, depending on what I am making them for.
If you are new to salve making (or infusing oils with plants), I do suggest doing your research first.
How I made my comfrey salve:
I infused my oil with comfrey first (I used the sunny window method).
I then strained that oil and made the salve.
I bought my amber jars online for this salve.
Heat 2 cups of comfrey infused oil and 1 /4 c beeswax until they melt (I use a double boiler just for this purpose, and only used for salve or lip balm making). I use a recycled can from cooking beans or what not, that has been washed and dried. I place that can in the top pan with a bit of water. It really helps with clean up.
Once the beeswax is melted, remove from heat and add 1 Tbsp. of vitamin E oil and about 15 drops of lavender essential oil (I have also used other essential oils).
Notes: It came in handy when I sprained my ankle a few years back, but one thing I learned to do, other than apply poultices and salves (for a sprain), is to do a foot soak with comfrey itself. I did soaks with Epson salts, but never even thought to do a comfrey water foot soak. It is difficult to apply a poultice to a sprain, and I did do that, but every year I learn something new. Do you have any tips with comfrey?
(I have a disclaimer on the bottom of my blog. I am not a doctor, and this is personal experience.)
Comfrey Salve (2nd Trial) © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
The rain has not left us yet. It's been on and off for days here lately. The chicken run has been flooded more than once, and is now a muddy swamp mess. I tossed some straw down, to keep from bringing in a muddy mess, but it's still a squishy, sludgy, chicken run.
The weather-man keeps promising sunny dry days ahead, but who knows when they'll arrive again. I just keep telling myself, that the spring herbs and garlic are loving the rain.
However, it has been cold here as well. The wind chill this morning was 29°F. We had a freeze warning. The sky has been showing some strange coloring as well.
The sun was not out when I snapped this photo, but....
The ornamental apple trees are producing blossoms already. The trees are very pretty, but the birds plant way too many of them.
Are there any Yerba Mate tea drinkers here? I tried loose leaf for the first time. It is so fine, it was coming out of the sides of my larger tea-ball, so I switched to my smaller one and it still came out of the tea-ball. I also forgot to "wet" it as per the instructions before brewing the first time.
My question is, do you really need to check the temperature before you brew a cup? I'm thinking this is where my accidental purchase of disposable tea bags will come in handy. I had to strain it again, after it brewed in the tea-ball with the smaller holes.
I did not find this bitter, as it said I would. I read up on the benefits, and have added it to our regimen.
Are you in the path of the upcoming eclipse? We are so tired of hearing the word "totality" in our part of the woods. I get it, but come on, every single minute on TV and the radio? Literally. All they are talking about, and how they expect 260,000,000 people to show up in my hometown to view it. They are already getting ready to give tickets to anyone who parks on the side of the road, where parking is prohibited, but will they have enough staff? Probably not, or the number they expect is way off.
We are being warned of power outages, cell service outage, internet outage, stores being sold out of items, traffic jams, etc etc. If you are in the path of it, you are much like us. Eye rolling at the redundant daily news. Most of the area has to go to work. People have jobs, so the expected number is crazy to believe.
Update: Now they are predicting cloud cover during the eclipse, and a comet of some sort?
Like I said earlier, the approaching eclipse, has been giving the night sky (and sometimes morning) strange coloring. Weird things (yes more of those) have been happening. A bank in my hometown was robbed this week, and they have not caught the person on the run. There is someone going around at night cutting brake lines in our small town. As for the brake lines, it could be the same unsupervised youth that smashed eggs for the local egg hunt over Easter.
Another update on the homemade window cleaner . . .
I've been cleaning the windows in the last few weeks, and my husband and I were not happy with using windex (which is what I had on hand). I have also used a mixture of vinegar and water before too.
I then came across a recipe for homemade window cleaner. I mixed it up and gave it a try to compare with the windex cleaner from the store. I'll admit, I was intrigued, as it uses arrowroot powder in it (or cornstarch).
I shared the recipe for this window cleaner, in a recent blogpost (under "Looking around the house"). I'm just happy as a peach with the clean windows. The crisp views are lasting a lot longer, and we are enjoying it.
Rain Rain Go Away ~ Chit Chat © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
I have come to realize, that trying new recipes has become a hobby without me even thinking. I joked that I need to stay away from the computer, stop ordering cookbooks from the library and such. Golly, I tend to try them every week. Recipes that is.
The newest recipe to try, is a healthier version of a Rueben dip for crackers or even veggies. My husband loves Rueben's, and I am always on the hunt for a side dish to take to any gathering of any sort. I linked the recipe above, but you never know how long the links will last. It's just much easier to share the recipe in case you are interested. I am not even sure how I came across the recipe.
As for the sauerkraut, you can make your own, or buy it. When I do buy it, we prefer Eden Organic sold in a glass jar.
Well, I made it, but I had to use google conversions to the best of my searching ability. The recipe is in "grams" so you do need to do the conversion to cups/Tbsp etc.
I made my homemade Thousand Island dressing for this recipe (I made a half batch of it). I also can my own ketchup, which an ingredient in the recipe for this dressing.
I used Almond flour (non-gmo) crackers for the dipping choice. It's what I had on hand. Did we like it? Yes! My husband took some to work and one of his co-workers tasted it. He loved it too.
I didn't get a photo of the completely mixed up dip, but it is delicious cold or hot. While the recipe states it's good warmed up, my husband and his co-worker liked it cold much better.
Rueben Dip ~ Healthy Version ~ New Recipe Tried © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
In December of 2014, I made homemade hand lotion. I have made it a few more times since then, and then I sort of dropped out of the homemade version and started buying it. I made the lotion for gifting for Christmas that year. To be honest, I don't remember if anyone ever let me know if they liked it or not either. I used orange essential oil it it at the time.
By the way, the link still works on that post (linked above). She shares a recipe with or without a preservative. If you want to gift it, I do suggest the preservative. If I remember correctly, I actually made two different recipes.
Anyway, the one linked in my older blogpost is super easy to make. Be sure to read the instructions on her website, and to let it sit overnight.
I made a batch the other day, and just used a recycled jar and canning jar, but with solid closing lids. I just haven't bought lotion pump for it yet. I chose to use lemon essential oil this time around.
Do you have a favorite homemade hand lotion recipe? Or do you prefer to just buy an organic brand at the store?
Homemade Hand Lotion © April 2024 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart