Reflections of katlupe: January 2013

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Minus Degrees Nine This Morning At Peaceful Forest

Yes, it has been VERY cold here the last few days. But that is nothing new here in upstate NY. Nope, cold temperatures go with the territory! This is my newest post I wrote about how tough it is:

Cold Weather Makes Chores Tougher!

My friend, Pam puts up the free downloads every day from the Kindle store on Amazon. Her old blog from blogger is gone, but now she has a better one. Every day she has a new list of the new eBooks listed. So be sure to check daily! This is the link to her blog:

PamsPrideRecommendations

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Wordless Wednesday On A Very Cold Morning

Creosote Builds Up In The Chimney Pipe

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Cold Weather Is A Good Reason To Prepare!

The cold was extreme during the night and today. It hasn't gone above 10 degrees all day. We have kept our wood stoves cranking all day and I still feel a cold. Too cold to even consider a shower or a bath. Feeding extra hay to our horses to keep them warm. Having a good supply of wood this year has really improved our situation here.

Please come read my new blog! This is the post I wrote today:

Prepare Now! Don't Let Fear Stop You!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Wild Plants Around Your Home

Dandelions

My newest blog post on my new blog is about wild plants. One of my favorite subjects! This is the link to it:

Edible Or Medicinal Foods Are Plentiful Around Our Forest Homestead

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Plan Ahead For Winter

Hobo is waiting for summer!

After a few days of snow and cold temperatures, we had some relief today. And SUN! Yes the sun is a welcome sight in the middle of winter in New York. There is a flu epidemic in our area and we are trying to stay home and away from everyone. We usually don't catch colds or anything if we don't go anywhere.

Our snowfall this year!

Shoveling and wood work. On going chores here. The snow is beautiful though! And if I didn't have to worry about my husband doing all that work, I would just sit back and enjoy the beauty.

My little spruce tree is doing okay!

The best plan would be to have as much of your winter work done in advance of the snow. Pantry stocked. Firewood cut and split and stacked. Hay supply in the barn. Shoveling is another story. If we had a plow for our truck we could do the driveway easier. Then shoveling might not seem so bad.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Homesteading Lifestyle As You Age

Staying toasty warm during this cold spell!

Come to my new Homesteading on the Internet blog that I self host!I will be changing this one over to that soon. This is the link to it:

Homesteading Life Can Be Hard As You Get Older

Thursday, January 17, 2013

New York State Forest Homestead

New York has much farmland and forest!

This is my newest blog post on my new blog at the following link:

Our Forest Homestead In New York State

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Fresh Snow Fall Today

This is the link to my new blog. Please read there. I am working on setting up the comments section. I am hoping to keep my blog going and am afraid Blogger might take down this blog as they have taken down some others recently.

The Beauty Of Fresh Snow!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Home Canned Foods In My Pantry

Canned Dried Beans

Come to my new blog at this link:

Fill The Pantry With Home Canned Foods You Like

Monday, January 14, 2013

My Horses

Come to my new Homesteading On The Internet blog at its new home!

Horses on the Homestead

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Happy Birthday To My Father-In-Law Today!

Happy 93rd Birthday, Dad Lupole!

Last year, my father-in-law had to say "Good-bye" to his daughter, Pat. She moved away to West Virginia because her daughter wanted to move there and wanted her parents to move too. So Pat and her husband left New York in May of 2012. This photo was taken at Wendy's just before they left. He was, and still is heartbroken, to say the least. He keeps saying to me, that she promised she'd never leave him. Well, I guess that is how life works. He is 93 years old today and every day is touch and go with him. He can barely see and can't hear very well at all. He can talk to you one on one. Too many people talking makes him lose the conversation pretty fast. He is a wonderful man and father-in-law!

Happy Birthday, Dad Lupole!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Beef Stew Recipe Post

Foggy morning today!

Today, I added a new blog post to my Word Press blog, Homesteading On The Internet. It is one I wrote here on December 4, 2012. I do not want to lose these posts so I will be including them in the new blog as I can. Since Blogger took down my friend, Pam's blog, I do not trust they will leave mine alone. I have written it here since 2005 and do not want to lose what I have written. This is the best way to do it.

Beef Stew Is Our Favorite Wintertime Meal!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Changing My Blog Over To Word Press

I see that Blogger is taking down many blogs and saying they are spam. So I am going to be in the process of moving my blog posts on this blog to my new blog. The dates will show up as being posted now, but I will be putting the actual date each post was written to make it easier for my readers.

Homesteading On The Internet

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Winter Time Blues

One of our daily visitors to our deck!

Winter is pretty bleak around here and it is easy to get depressed or sad. Maybe because the amount of sun we get is so limited right now. I know I kinda miss those long days. It is staying light longer. Here it is 5:10 PM and it is still light out. It kind of sneaks up on you, I guess.

Callie and Patches under the stove!

Even our animals are dragging themselves around. Our cats are not very energetic right now and have put on a bit of that winter weight. Hobo, who is one to stay outside for hours, now goes out in the morning to go potty, then is back in to sleep. Every now and then, she will go out but come back in. Not spending much time outside at all. Patches does not even waste the time getting her feet wet or cold. She uses the litter box during the winter. Callie, well, she went outside twice today! That is a record for her, even in the summer. She sharpened her claws on the deck and came right back in. I think the chickadees visiting the deck got her interest.

Looking forward to their return this spring!

I hate to wish my life away, but I am definitely looking forward to spring. How about you?

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Wordless Wednesday At Peaceful Forest 2013

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Making Plans For The 2013 Garden Season

Lemon Heirloom Cucumbers

I am working on my list of vegetables to plant for this gardening season. One thing I have discovered is that I really like the different varieties of cucumbers. This past year, my lemon cucumbers came up pretty good. So with the Blonde Boothby and the Lemon Cucumbers, we had some new types to add to our salads. Eating salads every day is not boring when you can mix and match various types of vegetables.

Blonde Bothby Heirloom Cucumbers

Today I discovered a few other varieties. One of them is the Sikkim Cucumber. It looks pretty interesting and I am going to add it to my order so I can try it. I will miss sharing them with my father. Last year I gave him some heirloom cucumber seeds but don't know if he planted them or what. I didn't find any of his seeds anywhere in his house when I cleaned it out. His garden had been trampled but I was able to get a few things out of it. I am thankful he taught me about the value of a garden because now, it is something we rely on. Especially since the food in the stores has gone up so much and most of it is not that safe to eat.

Salads all summer and fall from our garden!

I plan on planting enough cucumbers to make some serious amounts of pickles this year. My father always made them and a couple of years ago, I spent a day with him learning how he and my Mom did it. It is a day I will always treasure in my memory now! A couple weeks later he told me he had more pickles for me and when I went up to pick them up, he had canned 28 more quarts for me. What a surprise! He was ninety years old at the time. Nothing held him back until he had that darn stroke. Looking forward to getting my seeds started, spring is only 70 days away!!

Here my picks of cookbooks for pickling recipes. I wish I could buy them all! This year my goal is to increase my use of pickling and fermenting foods. They are really good for you and it is an easy process once you get the hang of it. Pickling is not just for pickles anymore!