Pioneer Woman at Heart

                              Here is what has been, and is still on the crochet hook . . .                             I was asked to crochet a hat with no ball/pom pom on top, and for it to "not" fold up at the bottom.  Mission accomplished.  It's made with yarn stash - Red Heart Super Saver, Newspaper Stripe yarn.  Woot!  Another skein left the stash.  It was for my husband.  He has never had a "winter" coat.  He finally bought one last year, so this matches his coat.   I have already started crocheting him a scarf, preparing for those very cold days. I do like the pattern, and have used it for craft shows, but I spent some time looking for charity hat patterns, that I could crank out much faster.  I located one online the other day, but after crocheting several rounds, there was clearly some...

  I am finally in a slowdown (or sort of), and decided to start today with joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I will attempt to link up when she posts.  Update:  The link worked!  Thanks for the comment to let me know! The sugar pie pumpkins have all been processed.  I am thankful for that, but wish I had gone to the produce stand and purchased a few more spaghetti squash.  I missed my window on apple seconds, but will be more mindful next year. The weather in my neck of the woods . . . We had a rainy, fall weekend, which is delaying any outdoor work.  I have started filling another box of items to donate (we just don't need or use anymore).  Our highs will be in the 50's all week. Things that make me happy . . . -waking up to a clean kitchen -finding new patterns to use my yarn stash for -no bills in the mail (ha ha!) -hot coffee and porch time -completing a home repair job (some can linger and linger) Book I'm reading . . . (p...

Update on my sick husband - he's feeling better, but tired.  His doctor (the nurse said she had the virus recently too) said he caught a virus, and it was very unusual for such a high fever.  Thankfully, the fever broke quicker than we thought it would.  I gave him ibuprofen, a hot cup of feverfew (I grow this) tea, and an ice pack for his neck.  He loved the chicken and wild rice soup for dinner and it set well for him.  He's on the mend, and it's going around in our area.  I have downed our 4 thieves vinegar as a preventative (trust me on this one, it works, but it is not tasty ha ha!). I am going back to making my own face cream. The most recent one I purchased is irritating one of my eyes, so homemade it is.  I am checking my supplies today. If you are a self sufficient DIY person, where do you buy organic apricot oil? The recipe calls for lanolin, but I'm leaving it out.   Which would be better - shea butter or cocoa butter?  I'm th...

  I enjoyed yet another spectacular sunrise, and this particular day the temperture got up to 80°F.  I don't remember November ever getting that warm before. I'm am enjoying the "down" time here lately too.  I spent more time searching the local library catalog, and have ordered a few books via their interloan borrowing system. I even have had some "me" time, and finished another lap afghan.  It is the right width at the bottom.  It looks weird due to the angle I was holding the camera.  Anyway, another one done. I cook from scratch, so most days here involve some sort of  kitchen duty, so I relish leftover days.  I tried a new recipe for pumpkin oat pancakes.  The chickens are still on hiatus, so I switch to oatmeal bakes, steel cut oats, pancakes, waffles, or anything using less eggs.  Bacon is very expensive now, so we have been swapping it with Canadian bacon. (one of the recipes - Tahini Date cookies, recipe from Thrive Market) I ha...

It wasn't really planned, but the first day of November was dedicated to resetting my home and health, and recharging for the fall/winter chores. The travel coffee maker (single, but cheap brand) was cleaned up and put away.  The cooler we traveled often with, was also put away.  Counters completely cleaned off and sanitized (I like my homemade 4 Thieves cleaner), extra purchased dry goods were canned and vacuumed sealed, travel totes with paper plates etc. were put back in storage, and the suitcase put back in storage. I have two absorbant coffee pot/grinder mats.  While one is being washed the other is put out.  It really helps keep the coffee pot area tidy.  We like coffee. I double checked canning supplies, expiration dates on pectin, and so forth.  Checked the winter tea supply, and even dehydrated more sage. I had a half bag of sugar sitting on the counter for a few weeks, and finally put it canning jars, and vacuum sealed them.  I did not can a ...

Grab a cup of java.  I apologize, this post ended up too long.   October was a busy month for us.  We had so many plans, our plans had plans.  Whew!   Three weddings - one in another state up on a hill (they drove us up with a tractor and wagon) over looking a river, the other on a hill at a castle, and the third we didn't make it to. There were car shows, trunk or treats for the littles, a long distance trip to re-stock baking/cooking supplies (it's hard to find organic non-gmo in our area), garden work,  yard work and more.   One thing that did not happen, was our last camping trip, and it's probably a good thing considering.  The state put a burn ban on the campground, and the nights were down to the 40's.  The whole point to go camping (for us anyway) is to go off grid, enjoy nature, campfire cook, and enjoy an evening campire.  No being allowed to have a campfire, was the ticker that crossed the last camping trip off the c...