Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Floor is cut out and was covered for the night, but it begins again today.  More cutting.  I lose the use of my stove today, but hopefully, the work is finished tonight or by Sunday.   Notice the paint?  That is where the counter top was for use of a desk.  Daughter S painted primer over the ugly peachy color, and only painted the yellow over the rest of the kitchen.  Now is the time to paint the entire wall.  I just have to wait for the floor to be done. The kitchen in that area is almost 14 feet wide.  It looks small in the photo.  Oh my you should see what the did when they either built this part of the house or the last homeowner (shame on the bank when the sold us this house). They used a random stack of rocks in the center of the kitchen.  The floor appears to be the existing original floor with no cut lines, so we believe it was when they built the house.  Hence, we have much more work to do today. On top of all t...

  Before I make a purchase, does anyone have a used / good condition copy of this book they don't want anymore (or for sale)? It's a Backwoods Home Cookbook.  Or if you do have one, any reviews before I buy it?  Brand new it's $19.95 plus shipping.   I checked Thrift books and they do not have it. The weather is back to cooler temperatures.  I think we here are all tired of the nasty wind we got. Guess what?  The floor project starts today.  Wish me luck, say a prayer, that I figure out how to move the computer and get all the cords in the right place for moving, ha ha!  If not, I have Daughter K here tomorrow to help me. Let's hope I don't have to move the stove, so I can cook the beef, onions and bacon for chili, and whip up some buttermilk cornbread to go with it.

I had a busy day Tuesday.  Once I had the chickens tended, I headed to town to do some paperwork with my younger brother.  I then ran some stuff to Daughter E, and went to a couple of stores, and completely forgot to pick up chicken feed. Once I was back home, I had dishes to wash, dry and put away, only to start baking a breakfast and dinner for the day, and finish up more laundry. It felt weird, but I made a small batch of blueberry pancakes and cooked some locally made blueberry maple sausages for breakfast for a few days.  I typically make a giant batch of pancakes, that's why I said "weird."   I tried another new recipe.  Thanks to my dear friend for asking me to help her with freezer meal ideas, I came across this one - Taco Stew.  I've made taco soup before, but this was amazing.  I told my husband, that it was almost better than chili.  I changed a few things, like using home canned tomato (herbed) sauce, and added homemade taco seaso...

I intended to take a photo of the casserole with cheese (fresh out of the oven), but it smelled so good we scooped and ate right away. The only thing I did differently, was mix the pepper in with the onion (vs. sprinkle on top the cheese).  Well, that's not the only thing I did differently, I also used sage sausage vs. ground beef, and used home canned pizza sauce vs. tomato sauce.   It was delicious.  I think it smelled divine, because it was home canned pizza sauce.   I froze the other half of it, so we had an easy meal for another night. Just google the name of the recipe, and Taste of Home.  Recipe is online. Great way to use your zucchini this season (and for us avoiding pasta), and using up some home canned pizza sauce.

We didn't have to make breakfast Sunday.  Our niece and her husband invited us over.   To top that off, she baked my husband's favorite cheesecake.  I'm sure we'll be sharing as he shouldn't be eating it, ha ha!  So good though. We picked up another load of stuff at Mom's house.  There is much more to do there.  I just put all the gardening stuff in the barn and will go thru it all after we finish the kitchen floor project. Sorry for my lateness this morning.  I am easily distracted with my multitasking today. Joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  It is Monday right?! Ha ha!  Oh boy.... The weather . . . 34°F/21°F As I look outside my window . . . Nothing but gray skies right now. Right now I am . . . Doing too much multitasking and not enough of one job, ha ha! Thinking and pondering . . . Trying to figure out a plan for today.  I have to start moving Daughter K's stuff to an area not in my way, and out of my kitchen....

The funeral home is the last place I wanted to be last night, but we went to visitation, regarding the young 22 year old that went missing.  The mother works where my husband works.  I'm still a little rough around the edges, and emotions were a bit sparked by being there, but glad we went.  She was so happy to see us.  She came to my surprise birthday party years ago. It's tough to see this happen, as we have a 22 year old as well.  It's not said how she passed, other than she went missing, they went out searching and found her too late.  It's just so heart breaking for the family. Woke up to snow.  Not much, but UGH!  We went from several dreary, windy days to this.  I hope it's gone by tomorrow. Sheesh.  My daffodils are already coming up.

  Check out my new round cake carrier!  I just love it.  I have had a Tupperware one for maybe 30 years and this replaced it.   It can be used for all sorts of make and take foods as well.   I wiped down the wooden towel stand that was in the smaller bathroom, and it will go to the road for free this weekend weather permitting.  The bathroom has no linen closet, so I have a wall unit that now holds the towels and washcloths.  Daughter K is coming for a weekend in April, and after that we'll be ripping stuff out of there soon. I'm still debating on replacing the sink, mirror and wall light.  I could paint it, but then there is the garden too.  It's a small bathroom, so the sink is pretty small compared to a normal bathroom.  Not sure if we would even be able to find one that size.  Time will tell, so will the pocket book. We have not gotten the estimate on the kitchen floor main work, but have been making plans ourselv...