Pioneer Woman at Heart

Hubby and I played hookie yesterday, and almost forgot to open a jar of our pickled asparagus.  At 9pm, we were tasting it.  Yum!  Crunchy and a delicious side dish or snack.  More of a snack for me, ha ha!  It rained, and it was cold yesterday.  Too cold to get the Harley out.  So....

I'm feeling much better, and back to my 60 minute walks.  I am picking up the pace some days, so I can get somewhere between 3 and 3 1/2 miles in now.  That's not all, I still lift weights, do 1/2 push-ups (getting back on track), and of course my yoga stretches.  It takes time in my morning, but like Hubby said, it's worth it.    I just have to get up earlier, and in hopes to return to the 4:30am gym visits.  I finally put my new speed bag up, so it's time to start moving stuff out of the garage and purging in there too.  And this is all before I do my chores. And the weight loss number has not changed (frustrated, but I may be building muscle now). Rain was not arriving until evening on Friday, so I headed outside to work there. I picked up tree debris racking up over 16,000 steps on my fitbit (by 7pm).

I harvested another huge pot of stinging nettle yesterday.  Before the rain arrived.  It's been a very good year for me to actually get things done in a more timely fashion.  I hope to harvest more. I got out there early, before the bees woke up.  We have bees everywhere right now.   I picked more than would fit in the dehydrator, so I blanched the rest for the next breakfast or pasta dish.  Nettle can be used in any dish you would use spinach or other greens.  Did you know 1 cup of cooked nettle contains 428mg of calcium?  Dandelion, 1 cup boiled contains 147mg of calcium.  According to the internet, those are the figures I found.  Hm.  A huge difference. No wonder my teas helped my hair and nails.  What's on the breakfast plate?

I woke up yesterday to find out it would get up to 83°F.  I had no idea until I read an email from Mom.  Golly.  I high tailed outside to water everything, then right back to the chicken coop for a good cleaning.  The ladies will be in their coop for the next few rainy days.  Hubby and I have to put the run back in.  Yikes. One lady was refusing to leave.  I was okay with that.  She looks like she was giving me the "stink eye" while I worked, ha ha!

I started the day by skipping my work out one more time.  I just thought another day of resting up was in order. After working outdoors, which seemed rather short, I gravitated to the kitchen. The night before must have started something, or it's these meds that are making me feel wonky.  I had to rip out an entire, almost completely done, knitted dishcloth.  I have no idea where I messed up, nor how.  I have made quite a few, and this was not such a happy moment. Back to yesterday. . .

I put on my big girl panties and just pushed through the sinus headache and sore throat I had.  I planted carrots, beets, french breakfast radishes, and cherry belle radishes.  Watered everything with rain barrel water, and the rain is once again in the forecast for the weekend. I am making a new "rainy day" list for this weekend.  I plan on getting more deep cleaning done.  I have also left my "office" area a mess.  It's "messy house" time of year if you grow a garden (for me anyway).  I ha ve pap ers to file, library books to at least look through and return , a table to clear off, and the walnuts are l urking....   My tomatoes look great.  Hubby had his doubts.  The last time we grew plants from seeds ( we used a front room  window) the plants didn't grow tall nor prod uce well.  Also, my cats kept eating them.

Joining up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom - Happy Homemaker Monday!  Even though I don't feel so happy today.  Or should I say positively energetic?   Maybe after I post, I'll start to feel better.  I haven't had time to do any baking lately, and have absolutely no idea what dinner will be yet.  I may be PB & J on the porch.  That is the reality of homesteading.  And raising kids.  What's on the breakfast plate. . . Leftover pumpkin pancakes with dandelion syrup.  I didn't make these wi th e in korn flour.  One of the girls ma d e them for us.  Next time I w ill .