Pioneer Woman at Heart

  Once again, weather is all over the map these past few days.  First the rain moved back in, and now they say we may see snow flurries.  Winter is still hanging around. A few scant tulips the moles did not eat. Lots of different daffodils and hyacinths. Chives in the herb garden. More daffodils. Green onions in the herb garden. Bunching onions. Yarrow. Fall planted garlic.  It's under wire to protect it from rodents that might find it tasty.  Once it's up, we'll remove the screen. I did not get a photo of my peppermint and spearmint (in pots), but I'm hoping they will spring back to life.  I'm almost out dehydrated spearmint for tea making. What's Growing in Early March    © March 2024 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The sun finally made an appearance!  Boy it was nice.  I got out of the house and got a few smallish errands done.  The library was first, but I also made a visit to the local orchard.  The only thing we needed was local honey, but I picked up some locally made apple cider and some red delicious apples that were on sale.  I'm thinking apple oatmeal breakfast bake, pork chops and apples, and more. I also made a trip to a Dollar General, but for specific things, and to price check (to see if digital coupons were worth it).  I did notice that they have kitchen sponge/scrubbers and cleaning brushes in two different locations in the store. One had them at $1.00 each, and the other area had them more expensive.   I stocked up on kitchen sponges, cleaning brushes (they come in handy for cleaning chicken watering units, the bathtub, and other things), and some very inexpensive toothbrushes for cleaning purposes.  I keep a few toothbrushes...

The recent days here have been cloudy, cold and dreary.  By cold, I mean cold enough for a winter coat again (and too cold to paint doors).  Brr!  The chickens and I are not exactly happy about it.  I guess I will be taking my vitamin D for a little while longer. It was confirmed that a tornado touched down in a town within an hour of us, when we had those last thunderstorms. I was actually finishing a book out on the porch when the thunder and lightning arrived.  I finished the book, but high tailed it back inside. The tornado did damage to the community area there.  It is said, that there was no warning, nor a watch issued, so the people there had no time to prepare.  Very scary.  It happened between two cities where both my Mom and my Dad grew up, and are now buried. I'll be visiting that area soon, as I gather flowers together to take to the cemeteries this spring.  Spring is a difficult time to go there too, as the weather is so iff...

  Tuesday was our "Monday" this week.  We both took Monday "off" and spent the day enjoying it.  Tuesday was the day for thunderstorms to roll in late afternoon, so laundry went out on the line early. I am working my way through my garden freezer goodies, and made us some flourless pumpkin bread with frozen garden pumpkin puree.  It is a very dense, thicker bread, and with less sweetness and flavor, but by adding some extra cinnamon and nutmeg it's pretty good. The bread is also about half the height of other baked pumpkin breads.  I test the bread about 30 minutes into the cooking time, and let it cool almost completely in the pan.  I finish the cooling on a wire rack before slicing. Flourless Pumpkin Bread In a blender mix all of the ingredients: 2 cups organic old-fashioned oats 15 oz. of frozen, thawed garden pumpkin puree (I measure it, as it will weigh differently depending on the thickness of your pumpkin puree).  You can use 1 can of pure pumpk...

  March rolled in quicker than I expected.  I had some goals for the end of February, and here we are at March. There seems to be a blogger participation plummet for whatever reasons.  So many blogs I used to follow, with such interesting and useful homesteading content (sometimes humorous), have left the blogging scene.  I get it for the most part.   It can be time consuming, and in winter the writing content can be very limited.  Things change for some as well. I mean, we used to raise dairy goats (Lamancha), and we stopped doing that years ago, so I do understand change.  Life changes constantly. I'm experiencing the humdrum of blogging.  I know spring is around the corner, but maybe like all the other blogs I used to read (and now don't post anymore),  I'm sort of falling off the blogging "thing" lately as well.   Maybe I am the one who needs a new change.  Although we are still undergoing home repairs, and staying bus...

March rolled in quicker than expected.  It brought rain, cloudy skies, followed by some warmer weather.  The tree buds are already over winter. Our green onions are starting to produce new growth with all the recent rain, and the sight is welcoming. The weather was nice enough to grill out for dinner.   Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. The weather . . . Well, they say it will be a high of 74°F and sunny today, then we cool back down the rest of the week. Right now I am . . . Brewing coffee late, and posting this blog post. Thinking and pondering . . . Wondering if we are getting thunderstorms today.   How I am feeling . . . Good! On the breakfast plate . . . I'm thinking I'll make a ham and cheese crust-less quiche, to use ham we froze, and some garden zucchini we froze as well. I'll toss in some of those frozen garden green peppers too. On the lunch menu . . . Not sure yet. On the dinner menu . . . Not sure yet. On the menu . . ....

Today is the last day of February for 2024.   Hopefully it's the last day of our winter as well.  Although, every day has been up and down weather, and yes, more snow yesterday.