A Cool Spring In New York

Patches checking out the lilies!

I finally did get my seeds started. I only started about half of them. Without a greenhouse or proper place to put them, it makes our already crowded house, hard to get around in. Now I have to worry about them not making it, as our house gets pretty cold during the night. We bank our wood stove back for the night just before we go to bed, and about four or five in the morning, it is really cold. Where is our spring?

Day lilies are a sign that spring is really here!

The grass is turning green and the lilies along the road are popping out. But it is COLD! Not fair! The robins and other birds have been back for a month at least, and looking for some warm weather to build their nests in. Yesterday it seemed to warm up a bit, but today I am freezing. I think we may have to start our big wood stove. We still have wood stacked and ready to burn. Not that warm yet that we'd not be ready. This morning though, we even had a little bit of thunder.

Enjoying the sun!

Our horses though, seen to love spring the best. It is cool enough that the bugs have not arrived yet. They can be outside all day with no pests. As soon as it warms up and the bugs are back, they will hole up in the barn all day, and only come out to grab a bite of hay. At night  is when they spend their time outside. They really are house horses!

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2013  Kathleen G. Lupole

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

Copyright © 2013 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

Memories of My Life - Chapter Nine - Homes Of My Life

I lived in this house in Harpursville, New York on Route 7, from 1954 until 1962, when my parents moved my brother, Mickey, and me to Florida. I didn't want to go because my next door neighbor told me that Florida had lots of bugs. This house was a wonderful old house with 14 rooms in it. We did not use the upstairs at all and that was one of my favorite places to play. It wasn't heated so I didn't go up there much in the winter. Looking at the house from the picture, it doesn't look that big. It was though. All the rooms were really big. Our kitchen had an old fashioned pantry attached to it, that my parents made into a laundry room, with a brand new washing machine and dryer. I remember it had a Hoosier in it and my father took it out! Can you imagine? 

We moved to Crescent City, FL in 1962. This was my favorite place to live! We lived 8 miles from Crescent City on Fruitland Road, and had no real close neighbors. It was great. Loved the big oak trees in our yard with Spanish moss hanging off them. We were only a mile from the St. John's River and not that far from many lakes, such as Lake George and Lake Stella. We swam in Lake Stella all the time. It was so much fun living there. I have reconnected with many of my friends from there on Facebook.

My grandmother's house on Snow Road in Harpursville, NY, in this photo looks abandoned, and it was. My grandmother went to live her daughter, my aunt. Here it was sitting empty and nobody would bring her up to it because they were afraid they would not get her out of it. And that was probably true. She loved this house which she always referred to as "the farm." It was a farm when she bought it. Ninety-nine acres of land that included a barn, and two chicken houses. We loved to pick blueberries here and she had so many on her land. I wish I had pictures of the inside of her house as I picture it in my mind many times. When I can't sleep I just picture her in her house and all the rooms and how they were arranged. 

I moved to this house in 1975 with my own family. My son was five years old and this is where he started school. This house is on the outskirts of Union Center, NY on Cornell Hollow Road. . Two neighbors to the left of the house but not real close. Nobody across the road. So it was pretty private. This area had very friendly people and one lady came to the house when we moved it with food and brownies. After that, one day a week all the housewives would meet at someone's house for coffee and goodies, and the kids would play together. It was a nice area. 

We moved to this house on Third Avenue in Vestal, NY in April of 1977. Now we had lots of neighbors here! It was a development and all the houses were pretty close together. Here my son had a whole slew of friends and it was a good neighborhood for him. Note: This house is now gone since it was flooded in 2011 when Vestal was badly flooded.

I loved living in this house!

In 1981 we moved to this house on Parkwood Road in Vestal. I loved this house and would have never left it if my husband hadn't broken up with me. I know now, I should have stood my ground and stayed in it. He turned out not to be what he seemed. But I didn't find that out until he died this past July. Anyway, I moved from this house in 1989. After that my whole life changed. I have evolved to a whole new lifestyle, but it was not all at once. I am not sure what is in my future as I grow older. Maybe I will have to give up the "modern homesteading" life. Maybe not. Depends.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole 

Updated 2018

Hunting Season Again In New York

It's hunting season here in New York. I do not mind hunters usually, as I did grow up in a family of hunters. But these hunters drive round and round with their loud diesel trucks making so much noise they announce their presence way in advance. My three horses know they are coming at least five minutes before they appear. So I imagine the deer do too.

Animals have awesome hearing and smelling abilities! And speaking of smelling abilities, that is another thing they do, smoke cigars and what have you, plus their own human smells announcing to the wild life "here I am! I have come to kill you!" The thing to do is to not take a shower just before heading out in the woods. You should also wash your hunting clothes with lye unscented soap only and then let it hang out in your barn or outside for the week till you have to wear it. Don't use shampoos or deodorant or anything that will tip the animals off to you being out in the woods.

My brother hunts with blackpowder guns only and he will sit for hours in one spot and not talk or move around. He usually always gets his buck. It takes patience. He is a very experienced hunter though having hunted from the time he was very young with our father. He now has his own Wild West Show and puts on western re-enactments in Cooperstown among other places. He also sews leather garments, holsters, etc. all sorts of things working right from the hide. I guess it sounds like I'm kinda proud of my brother and maybe I am. But he does so many things that are not done that much these days. Like he build beautiful blackpowder muskets and rifles. That though is not what I planned to write about exactly. I don't mean to tell you how to hunt if you've been doing it for years. Everybody has their own methods.

I wanted to say that I think that more hunters are out this year due to the high cost of food this year. The grocery stores are charging us some hefty prices for a little package of meat. And then there's the question of it's safety. I have cut down on it and have stocked up lentils, beans, dried peas, etc. Found other sources of protein and have to say they make me feel better health wise. So maybe meat isn't that big of deal after all. Given my choice I'd much rather have fruits and vegetables than meat anyhow. It's just that my husband likes his meat in his meals.

Well if you are a hunter, stay safe and remember those deer have awesome noses!