A Beautiful Spring Morning

Spring Is Here!

Today is one of those days when it is cool out but nice. The promise of spring temperatures in the air. I loved spring time in my garden! Working out there getting the dirt ready to put my seeds or plants I had started in the house into the ground. Such promise and hopes went into my garden besides a lot of work. Since I canned all the vegetables I grew I did not waste a single plant. It is one of things I miss most about living on my homestead in the country. There were just things I needed at that time that I could not get. I may miss it at times but I know I made the right decision. 

Windows and Sill Blocked For Winter

Maybe it sounds funny but a beautiful day like this makes me want to just work on spring cleaning my apartment. I had blocked the cold air from coming in from the windowsill and around the windows. Using black out curtains that I closed at night. It made it dark and gloomy in here. Not my favorite setting here! I like bright colors and lots of sunshine coming in my windows. Especially in the morning! Morning is my favorite time of the day. If I could skip night I would. Must be that is why I fall asleep as soon as I turn my television off at night. Never have had trouble sleeping. 

"Rabbit"

There is something about waking up in the morning and knowing you can do whatever you want. Nobody is telling me what I have to do today. That is why I do not like appointments or meetings. This morning I walked out to the dumpster and stopped to talk to a couple of the guys who live here. Then I picked some grass and dandelion leaves for my bunny boy, Rabbit. He was busy this morning chewing on cardboard and would not stop. When I brought the grass and dandelions for him, that did the trick. He ate it all eagerly and promptly went to sleep. Of course he is now listening to Linda Ronstadt's greatest hits on the stereo. He is a music lover! 

Coffee At My Computer

Every morning after I finish my morning devotions I make my coffee and then check my computer. Facebook and a forum I belong to. Then I am trying to stick to a schedule of writing a blog post. Since I am not a "modern homesteader" any longer it has been hard to focus on any one topic. Yet when I examine my life, it has never been about only one topic. My life has been a journey with many starts and stops along the way. The homesteading one was just one chapter. I like to read biographies of various people in history. Most of them did many different things throughout their lives. I think it is what God does to teach us about life. We learn many different lessons along the way.

 

Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

Keeping It Easy and Simple

Cooking In My Kitchen

 After years of cooking large meals for my family, I have given that up. In my mind I still love cooking. Probably is the reason I like to watch cooking or recipe videos. I will copy a recipe and then later look at it and say, "I am not doing that." Usually too many ingredients or too many steps to it. One thing that stops me from making something is how much clean up is it going to make for me. I like things to be easy and simple these days. Not that I cannot do the more complicated ones. I still could.......just don't want to. My favorite food to cook is a burger or a steak put in the NuWave oven. Easy and something I love to eat. Breakfast is usually eggs and some kind of meat. Just recently I have added a cup of Fage Greek yogurt to my daily menu. I needed to add more protein. That is why I often have the Keto Chow replacement shake made into ice cream. The protein and fat is something I have to keep track of or I will not get enough. 

Going to keep the counter clutter free!

Recently I took my small cooking appliances off the counter. I organized my cupboards so that now I can have those appliances in the cupboards out of sight. Easy to get to when I need them. The only ones I left on the counter are the ones too tall to go in a cupboard. I love having that much room on the counters! It looks much better than being cluttered. In the near future I will work on some of the other cupboards. The ones I cannot reach easily. No sense keeping stuff I do not use in them. I have two large stockpots that I don't use for anything other than making my supply of Essiac tea. I brew it from the dried ingredients and it needs to be done in those stockpots. So I will be keeping them. 

My Cleaning Supplies

Keeping with the easy theme in my home I keep my vacuum cleaner close by and easy to get to. No big deal to get it out and do a quick vacuum. Since my apartment is so small it takes less than five minutes. If cleaning or dusting is on my list for the day, I put the cleaning supplies out in the kitchen. As long as I see them I will not forget what I was supposed to do today. Not leaving things out or letting them pile up somewhere has been key for me living here. I do have that problem with papers piling up but make sure to go through them at least once a week. Throwing away or filing every single one. 

Every Day Water Supply in Canning Jars

You may have items you just cannot part with. I did. So I came up with ways I can use those items. This was the case with my canning jars. I have many but I don't think I took them all from my house when I moved. I might ask my husband if he would let me have them now. Not that I need them. I am just attached to them. When I moved from there I left a large amount of foods I had canned in the cupboards. The jars I am missing are the smaller ones. The pints. It was hard moving from a house to a studio apartment. So I was not able to take everything. Maybe it was a good thing........

Bunny Trail

The thing is as you get older many tasks are harder to do. Like standing on a chair or a stool to put something away. Or to fix a curtain rod or blinds. To quickly grab something you forgot to get out and now you need it instantly. That happens way too much. I am a list maker so I make a list of everything I need to do or to get out. That does help me a lot. When making a recipe I always put the recipe on the refrigerator. Then look at it often throughout the process. Label all the jars you store ingredients in so you do not make a mistake......yup, I did that! Doing routine tasks will be easy after you get used to doing them daily. That is why I do not like to change the way or time I do things. Not so much that I am set in my ways. 

Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

My Things Matter To Me

Cleared off the counters!

As I look through my kitchen finding items I might want to get rid of because I haven't used them in a long time, I spend time thinking. Thinking of the day I got the item. Or the reason I bought it in the first place. Or who gave it to me. Or what job I use it for, or did use it for. Or, or, or. So many things that have special meanings for me. Not of interest to anyone else. Only to me. When I am gone, what will come of it all? Thrown out to end up in the landfill? Donated to charity or thrift stores? To end up in smoking home? I know they are just things..........but they are my things and I love them all. 

My mother-in-law gave this to me as a gift

Nothing I have is of much value to anyone but me. Many are valued due to their memory. That is why when I was looking at decorating videos on how to create a new look for my apartment I could not follow through on it. I did not want to part with my old furniture or other keepsakes. I suppose if they were destroyed, out of my control, as in a fire or a flood it would be easier. I watched the people of CA searching for something left in their burned out homes. Anything! A little knick-knack or a tool. A memory they didn't want to lose. Even if they had pictures of their things most of them were lost too. Unless they stored them online. My whole life I have taken care of all my things. When I lost anything it was usually due to whatever man was in my life. I found out they didn't care about my things. Only their things!

My treasured cat that my husband bought for me in Florida

Why are things so important to someone? I wondered about that for myself. Thinking maybe it is not normal. Well for most of my life I lived with a spouse (three in fact!) and had no place for my own things. The only time I had that freedom was when I was able to live alone. Which I am doing now. As soon as I moved into this apartment almost seven years ago, I started putting out my treasured items. I could use them instead of packing them away in boxes in the attic. What a great feeling that was! Things that represent my past..........my life. They have meaning for me. Not like some home decor item you buy just because you need it at the time. 

I am working on the windows & windowsill now.

It is true though, that the more you get rid of the better you feel. In time the item is forgotten. Clear open spaces is what my goal is now. No clutter. No excess stuff to clean around. Finding places or new homes for the treasured items. Making my apartment easy to clean and care for. Even if I get help to assist me it will be easier for them too. I am not getting rid of everything! I like to rotate the items I put out. Put the ones I am not displaying in the curio cabinet. Then a few months later change them. It is a good method I discovered for keeping them useful and appreciating them. 

Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

kat's Studio Apartment - Apartment Life

I am not sure how I manage but almost everything I plan to do I eventually do. After many years of starting and stopping......Atkins, low carbs, keto & finally, ketovore. Ketovore is a cross between the carnivore food plan and keto. Mainly meats but some other keto friendly foods as well. Now I am definitely on it and stick to it at least 90%. I figure that is good enough for me. I do feel better on it and that is the main reason I eat this way. The other reason is that it is so good! Easy to shop for, easy to cook and easy to clean up after. What more could you want? After years of cooking for others this is a relief for me. Especially since I cannot stand in one place (at the sink or the stove) for very long. My doctor said don't stand longer than five minutes in one place. I try not to.

Cat Collection in curio cabinet

Another thing I have been doing over a bit of time is getting rid of all my excess things that I do not need. There is free table downstairs in my apartment building and I try to set something on it every week. If I see someone picked that item up I put another one down. Kind of interesting to do. Because I figure if I don't use it I may as well give it to someone who will. I don't know if I will ever get brave enough to start putting my ceramic cat collection on the table. Maybe not. Maybe I will wait till I am in my nineties to do that. The same with my dolls that I have had since I was a child. I don't know if "uncluttering" or downsizing as it is sometimes called is an aging thing or not. I see a lot of videos with young people doing it too. Maybe it is trending that we bought too much stuff and now need to get rid of it. I tell myself if I ever have to live in an RV or a van I could never do it with all the stuff I own. 

The best I could do for now.

Since I am following the "ketovore" food plan I have found a lot of gadgets I own for food preparation I no longer need. Basically everything I have out on my counter I use often. I have too many other items that are just taking up room. I am thinking of getting rid of those items. It is funny how someone said on one of the "decluttering" videos that the more you get rid of the more you want to get rid of. Yes, that is definitely true for me. I am seeing that in myself every time I see something I put on the free table is gone. Makes it so much easier to clean or find what you are looking for. I removed as much as I could from my counter so it would not look so cluttered. It also gives me plenty of room to prepare my meals. 

Oma Lisa, my childhood doll

As I get older I find I don't really need so much stuff. If I can use it for other purposes than what it was meant for then I do that. I would always rather use that than purchasing anything new. When I write down my lists of what I need to do or what I want to eliminate from my life I can analyze it further. The key is to get started. Experts are always telling us to find our why. My why is to make life easier now. Not work around it until the day I die. If it is not serving any purpose now is the time to rid myself of it. As I said before there are some items I will never part with. One being my childhood dolls. They still bring me pleasure and I just cannot part with them. At least not yet. 

Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

Bathmophobia Fear of Stairs Is Real

3 Story Apartment Building for Seniors & Disabled

 The past couple of weeks I have been living in my apartment on the second floor with a faulty elevator. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I knew this would happen eventually.  I really do understand why this happens. Elevators are a man made machine and they break down. Like a car or a computer. Nothing lasts forever. Even knowing and understanding that it is difficult for me to be without it. I have gotten used to it. Comfortable. Time to examine my options and get out of my comfort zone. Moving from here is not an option I want. For one thing a year ago I moved my son upstairs in my building so I could help him. The other thing is that I really love my apartment. I do not want to give it up. Nor do I want to move to first floor apartment. It is noisy down there. Too much activity for me. This is my home. So what to do?

Again???

The only option I really have is to increase my mobility. Maybe I have made it worst by never using the stairs since I moved here in 2018. They are steep and I admit I have a fear of them. So maybe the reason I cannot go down them is not my mobility issues but my fear of stairs in general. There is actually a name for this fear. Bathmophobia. Fear of stairs! Even as a child I was afraid of them but I would still use them. Just very carefully. I have been researching how to rid myself of this fear and how to use stairs when you have bad knees. I have two that are bad but normally one is worse then the other. In other countries elevators are not commonly installed in apartment buildings. Those people are able to live without ever having an elevator (or lifts as they call them). 

Walking laps around my hall

Little steps is essential for me to change anything. My first step has been to start walking laps around my hall. This is an easy step as I have done this in the past. I am walking two laps presently with my walker. I still need to use that for any walking I do. There are times when I need it constantly in my apartment  then other days not at all or not as much. The second step is using my Vibration Plate. I am still in the testing mode with this piece of equipment. It is supposed to work for many different health issues and one being for people with Lymphedema. So that is why I bought one. 

Overcoming my fear of steep stairs

The third step of my plan is something I going to try today for the first time. Walk up 3 steps and down 3 steps on the stairs at the end of my hall. I believe there are only 8 steps down to the landing. Trouble is I cannot carry my walker with me. So using a cane even though I have not come up with a solution for sitting down at the bottom of the stairs. Going up with the good leg and down with the bad one. Maybe increase it after it becomes easier. The biggest problem for me is that these stairs are very steep. At least it seems so to me. Going to try to keep focused on the stair in front of me and not the whole thing at once. Doing it daily is also part of my plan. Not giving up.

Eggs are a good protein source

I have been increasing my protein while following a low carb/keto food plan that is heavy on the protein sources. Twenty carbs or less along with an eating window from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM (Intermittent Fasting). I feel this is the most healthful food plan to follow. I can stick to it with no problems. In fact eating this way makes you calm and more peaceful. It helps people sleep at night though I have never had that problem. Processed foods, grains, starches and sugar affect me in negative ways. Eliminating them is one little step that is essential for me! 

 

Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2025 Kathleen G. Lupole