Reflections of katlupe: homesteading

Showing posts with label homesteading. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Frugal Life I Lived

Peaceful Forest Homestead

I have been researching for quite awhile now on living the "simple life" and I know many people who follow my blog, think that means the modern homesteading life. All I can tell you is that is not a simple life by any means. No, it is a hard life, even if you are on the grid (electric coming from the utility company). I used to call it the simple life, until I lived it for close to twenty-one years. I am talking about the simple living lifestyle, or minimalist lifestyle, or frugal life. Whatever you choose to call it. I just call it life.

Garden in 2000

Ever since I moved here I have lived very frugally, but it was not by choice, as much as no choice. I have learned to make do with a lot of things I took for granted. I sold a lot of my stuff just so I could buy food, gas and the necessities of life. I bought things I needed from the local thrift stores. I made things out of broken things or nothing. I learned to garden and can my food, so I would have plenty to get through the winter.

Nikita eating carrion

I bought what I couldn't grow in bulk and canned that. I accepted the parts of the deer the hunters did not want and cut them up, which I hated to do, but did it anyway. Canned that also. Made venison stew and chili and canned that. Our dog's favorite food was raw meat and specifically venison. The hunters in the state forest around us would gut a deer and leave the rest behind. We would find the carcass and bring it home for Nikita. It fed her for weeks sometimes. The cold weather preserved it, but she liked carrion and it fed her well.

After the tornado

For years we did not have to buy fuel for heating. In 2000, we had an in-line tornado that took down over 300 trees on our small piece of property. We were able to heat and cook with that wood for a very long time. Cooking and heating water on the wood stoves all winter, fall and early spring. I even cooked breakfast in the summer on my wood cook stove. I liked it better and it was faster for me. It didn't really heat my house up at all. A very frugal choice back then. Firewood work is not without some sort of payment. The cost is in the manual labor and the chainsaw costs.

Kerosene Lamp

For lighting we used kerosene lights for a number of years. At night our house was lit up like an Amish home. It looked cozy and welcoming. Kerosene though, was not cheap and it went up in price. As soon as we had our solar array up and able to generate more power, out went those lamps. Electric efficient lighting was now free. Talk about frugal! As we enlarged our system, we were able to add appliances, such as our SunDanzer refrigerator, that uses less power than my laptop. Free to run now!

Wild grape or known as "Fox Grapes"

Living out in the forest has made it possible to collect many different wild plants, especially in the spring time. I use many all year round, for eating and for medicinal purposes. No chemicals sprayed on any of them. If you do this, make sure you have good guide book for your area to consult before using any. Or ask someone who might know. I have so many right in my own yard. I don't have to go far from my house to gather weeds for food or medicine.

The road to my house

To live frugally it just takes effort and research to see what you can do to cut your expenses down. I am sure it is much cheaper to live in the country than the city. I know though that my grandmother did it in both places but she was raised on a farm in the early 1900's and that knowledge was common back then. You can do it though, I did.

Monday, March 26, 2018

Taking a Big Step

For many years now, I have been involved with the modern homesteading movement or as some people refer to it as self-sufficiency, self-reliance or "preppering." If you are young and in very good physical health it seems to be a good alternative to life outside of the normal life. It is a way to live without having much money or even a job. You can live off your land and sell things you grow or raise. Add in the "off-the-grid" homestead (I am talking about the electric grid, not anything more than that. Some readers will tell me off-the-grid means no computer, no propane, no car, no phone...........well if that is what you want, you are welcome to it. Not me, no thank you!"), and you are talking about a hard physical road before you. Believe me, I know this after having lived this life for more than 20 years. It definitely is not for sissies. I have always said that what a woman needs to live this way is a good hardworking man!

I never foresaw my legs, my knees in particular, would become so bad that I could not walk very well. I actually enjoyed doing a lot of the physical work on my homestead. During that time period too, I worked a couple of hard physical jobs such as taking care of horses at a local thoroughbred horse farm and also worked at a nursing home and then later as a home health aide. Those jobs were a bit physically demanding and I did them with no real problems. In my past I was really into exercise, race walking many miles, belonging to a local health club and having my own really nice home gym in my house. But somewhere along the way, I ended up having too much calcium in my body and had to have one of my parathyroid glands removed. I do not know if that is what caused my bones in my knees and legs to go bad.

After the operation, and I mean right immediately after it, my husband changed jobs and lost our medical insurance. I was never able to go back to the doctor for a follow up. That was back in 2002 and all the years, I just got worse and worse. Now I plan on going to a doctor as soon as the snow is melted and I can get out of here to find out. I am excited about it. It is not easy to suffer not knowing the reason or if it could possibly have been fixed. The parathyroid thing must run in my family because my Daddy had the same problem, except I think he had to have two removed. I think you have four. Soon I was walking with a cane and still am. I can't go up and down the stairs in my house any longer. It has made it difficult for me. I am not one to ask for help if I can do for myself. I feel like a burden.

Before that I helped with the firewood, carried water in the house, cleaned the horses's stall, fed the horses every day, worked in my garden, did the laundry outside for both of us and gardening, which involved transporting compost to the raised beds. I even built a raised bed from rocks I hauled from our horses' paddock. Regardless of what reason or why you may suddenly, or not so suddenly, become disenchanted with this lifestyle, you shouldn't have to continue it if you choose not to. I choose not to. I am looking forward to embracing many changes in the months ahead and it will not include a homesteading life any longer. This blog will evolve to follow me in whatever I do. Much of it will have to do with my health and how I plan to improve it. At almost 66 years of age, I am ready to live my life the way I want to. It is about time and I am so ready for this change.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Peaceful Forest Homestead Video

This is a video my husband made a few years back about our little homestead here. I hope you will enjoy it and please "LIKE" it on YouTube.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Life Beyond The Comfort Zone

Peaceful Forest 2012

I started writing this blog in 2005, after having so many people asking me questions about this off the grid lifestyle. Most of them were on Homesteading Today which at that time was the number one homesteading forum to belong to. I have written on my other two blogs about it for a number of years also. Now I am making changes in my life as well on the blogs. I am not sure I will keep my off the grid blog going, Solar Baby. When I was new to it, back in 1999, not many people were living this way. Things were harder and we were learning right along with the professionals trying to develop the equipment for it. Now many people can put up an off the grid house with hardly any need to do it themselves. Buy any house in an off the grid area and have someone install your system and then live like anyone else. So that is the way they do it now. Unless they become grid-tied and you can do that in the city also.

The road to my house

I have lived this way and now am ready to move on and make changes in my life. My blogs will reflect that change gradually. I am not saying what will be happening for me yet, because I don't even know myself. But I am not ready to slow down and live my day to day life secluded from the rest of the world anymore. As a human being, changes are good for your growth and abundant life. How can you do something over and over and never go anywhere, mentally or in challenging yourself? Most importantly is that if you are not happy, why keep doing it?

In my garden 2017

At one time I always wrote that homesteading was important to me and in my heart. Not anymore. As I neared my sixties, I found more and more that I was terribly disenchanted with this life and wanted to make changes. I was not sure how I could do so. With determination I have pushed myself to go beyond my comfort zone and find new challenges. It is good for your well being and soul to do so. You will know when the time is right. Good luck!

Thursday, December 01, 2016

A Woman's Perspective

1999

A woman's perspective on living-off-the-grid? Sure, I can tell my perspective, but it may not be the same as other women's experiences. I had a reader ask me for "a woman's perspective on living-off-the-grid" and to write it as a blog post here. When I say "off-the-grid" here, I mean off the utility power grid such as electric companies. Of course, as of now, 2016, I have lived this lifestyle for over 17 years. I was in my forties when we started and it was like an exciting adventure. At that time, with no alternative energy system in place, we weren't using computers or anything electrical. Our days were spent getting firewood, bringing in water, preparing food and in general just enjoying this new way of life. A propane refrigerator and stove came with the house and we used those. A bit later, my husband hooked up the wood cook stove we had purchased previously before moving here. Our lighting was all done by kerosene lamps and we had a lot of them. Fourteen to be exact and that included two lanterns for outside.

Cinders in our first garden on the front yard!

At that time the woods came right up to the house and surrounded us. We usually began our day by drinking coffee at the kitchen table looking at our huge collection of homesteading magazines. Nobody came here except for my husband's daughter, Hollie and her baby, Angel and my son, Jeff, who has lived with us off and on over the years. Our parents did not care for our dirt road, though my husband's parents did travel out here every now and then on Sunday after church. Now with them gone, we only have an occasional visitor, usually my husband's brother, Ken, my stepson, Jeffrey (yes, both of our sons have the same name), my son or my brother, Mickey. Very rare though! Before my father-in-law died in 2014, he liked to come out every now and then.

Peaceful Forest Homestead November 2016

I find as I have gotten older, it is not as easy as it was back then. Now I don't have a vehicle that I can drive, so I am really isolated. I have bad knees and need a cane to walk if I go anywhere. I seem to get along okay here without one, though when I am outside I carry a small shovel for balance. We were never able to make the important improvements to our house due to money. Those would have made a big difference now, I think. We put money into our energy system, such as in solar panels and a small wind turbine. Over the years, parts had to be replaced and the good thing is that those things are coming down in price now. We really needed to have done other things to make this house more senior friendly than it is right now. Hopeful about that in the future, but don't know if it will happen in my lifetime.

Wind Max 400

Life happens, so things change over the years. We lost beloved family members, people and pets. Working on various projects that couldn't be completed for some reason or other. Accidents happen. We have more power than we started out with, since back then we had none. I believe the internet has sidetracked us a lot. Spending too much time on it, when I could be doing more important projects. This coming year, I am cutting back on my time online and only spending time on sites that are more important to me, like doing my genealogy research. Other than that, I need to be working on our food and house.

Our Road

For the most part, this is a good way to live. In the country away from areas that could have terrorists nearby or some type of unrest. Growing as much of our food as we can, harvesting and preserving it. Generating our own power, the more we can produce, the less of the other fuels we need. Right now we are limited due to our batteries getting old and needing to be replaced. Once they are replaced, I can't see us running our generator more than once a week or so. Providing our own needs is the way it used to be. Not running to the store constantly to buy something. I am probably one of the most frugal women you could meet, trying to make everything last as long as possible. What else can you do?

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Homesteading Income From Home

Our solar and wind systems

Living the homesteading life does not mean you have to isolate yourself or family from the modern world. People tend to think that. My husband and I have blended our off the grid, homestead lifestyle with the modern world for many years now. We both embrace technology since that is what allows us to live this way. To tell you the truth, it isn't all that hard once you have organized your life and everything is working. I am speaking of the solar panels, the wind turbine and all their components that makes up our alternative energy system.

Some of our raised beds

It affords you the option of working from home. You can be growing your own food, generating your own electric, supplying your own heating and cooking fuel by cutting wood and you can make your income right from your computer in your home. What could be better than that?

Satellite Dish at Peaceful Forest

Many people like the option of working for a company from home. Being a virtual assistant, telemarketing representative or working for an answering service, etc. is all available to people who like to work from home. That has never been something I wanted to do. I really like working for myself. In the beginning I was just writing. Writing blogs and eBooks because I have always loved writing my thoughts down. On and off during the years though, I have sold on my own websites, String Baby and Larry Lupole, which is now my husband's personal page. Both of those sites are in the process of being redesigned and my husband will be working those.

Making a living from a secluded location

My favorite selling avenue has always been eBay. I used to sell there and would get mad that I wasn't making any money and I'd quit. Now I have learned to go with the flow and when sales are slow, just list more. The sales will always come again. I have been working on my store, katlupe's Shop day and night. I am really into it and it does take up most of my time. This year was not a good gardening year so I didn't get a lot of food to can. Usually that would send me to my local produce market to purchase more. Not this year. I just worked on my store all summer and fall. Now it is paying off!

Part of our home canned food supply

I had so much food canned from previous gardens that I really felt no need to buy more. I am planning on some big canning jobs after the end of the year. That will be meat, soups, stews, chilies and stocks. By then my store will be able to survive a few days of nonstop canning in my kitchen. For me, all of this ties together as being self-sufficient in these times we live in. I do not think of it as living "old fashioned," as many people believe. It is a matter of taking care of yourself and family.

Updated 2018

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Finishing Homestead Projects

Do you ever become anxious about things or projects you want to complete? Seems like it takes forever to get the money to buy the materials or have the time to do what needs to be done. You or your spouse or other family members keep whining about what needs to be done, but can't be worked on for whatever reason. Usually for us, it has been the money. Time passes. Then one day, you notice those projects are done or almost done. How did that happen? It seemed like you were just wondering if it'd EVER be finished. Now you are on to another project. It has been that way on our little homestead the whole time we have lived here.

Then I look back through my pictures and say, "Wow, I remember I thought we'd never get this finished or that started." Some of those projects we were working on were:

1. Adding a wind turbine to our alternative energy system.

2. Increasing our solar panels from 5 to 15.

3. Taking out some trees in the backyard and re-building the raised beds.

4. Rebuilding the foundation on our house.

5. Re-designing and building the gray water system.

6. Building a new battery box for the batteries in our energy system.

I am happy to say all of these projects are finished or almost finished. We now have other projects to do, that we are already beginning to work on. I think it will be a constant ongoing process on this homestead. We both keep getting new ideas. It is a good thing that we agree on almost everything and have a vision that we share for our homestead. How are your projects coming along?

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Summer At Peaceful Forest

Peaceful Forest Road

Summer at Peaceful Forest is never easy for some reason. At least not for us here. The projects we hope to work on always take money and that is always hard to come by. It seems that summer should not be more expensive than winter, but it is always a difficult time. Here it is the middle of July and we have just started getting some vegetables from the garden. Our first vegetables, which we ate for supper the last two nights, was yellow summer squash. It was good to finally have super fresh, organic vegetables. Yes, I said organic, even though we are not certified by the so called "government."

Organic Homegrown Yellow Squash

We have bush bean plants that are loaded with blossoms. Our cucumber plants have tiny cucumbers coming soon. My mouth is watering thinking about them all! Our garden is organic in all ways. We never use any type of chemicals on it. Our fertilizer is our own compost made from our horses' manure, which is all organic, as they do not consume any type of chemicals. Even their hay comes from fields that has nothing added to it.

No fumes EVER is deposited on our garden!

Since it has been a cooler summer this year, with plenty of rain, our raised beds have not needed watering. They get hot in the sun, but not like normal for this time of year. We have been removing trees that shade parts of our garden, and that has made a big difference. I count about seven more trees that need to be taken out. That adds to our firewood pile for winter. Always thinking of winter!

Bush Beans

Hope your summer is going well and your garden is producing a lot of food for your winter stores. I will be getting my canner out soon. I can everything I grow for winter meals. Even the summer squash, which I know everyone will say you can't. I do. It is good and fresh when I take the lid off!

I hope you have a happy homesteading day!

Thursday, April 03, 2014

Live Your Life To Be Self-Sufficient,

Religion and politics. Now everyone knows that you should not discuss either with other people, whether they are friends, family or online friends. Dangerous territory. I have been watching for few months now, how "preppers" (people who are doing what they call "prepping," which is making preparations for an emergency.) use both, to build a following and justify whatever they say or do. Most of them are just about guns and storing bulk foods. I belonged to two such groups on Facebook, and found they are not anywhere close to a homesteader.

Homesteading is what I do. It is living your life by being self-sufficient as much as possible in this crazy, rush-rush world. Prepping is mainly buying stuff to store, learning as much as you can about what you would do if something in fact, really did happen, and storing ammo and guns. They are much more political and religious (legal type religion) than homesteaders are. They promote the fact that they don't want all these laws and yet, they are the very ones who push their beliefs and rules on everyone else. That is just like the government they say they are fighting against.

Instead of stocking up on bags of beans, rice and wheat, since we do not eat any of that, we grow a lot of vegetables and buy local meat which I can. I make soups, stews, chili and can it all up. I make a variety of main dish entrees that are canned for future meals. I do not dwell on the scare tactics of the government to get you doing what they want, because they have scared you into doing it. Instead just take one day at a time. Do what you can for your family.

If you are living your life to be self-sufficient, preparing is already part of it. It is not something you just start doing and will only use it in an emergency. You will use it every day. It will be your daily routine.Then if there is an emergency of some sort, you will have food stored, you will have a wood stove with a load of firewood, you will have food growing in your garden, you will be prepared. Nothing to get alarmed over. Just your day to day life. Not going to break out the bag of beans and rice you were saving for this occasion and discover that you hate it. Or wondering if you have enough water stored. Or trying to figure out how to start your generator that is still in the box it was bought in. Learn to homestead instead. And do it NOW!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

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!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Spring Plans For Our Homestead

A few days ago at Peaceful Forest

Things are looking up for us, in this past week. A very good week, I must say! Last week I FINALLY got a buyer for my parents' home. Not only that, but the buyer is a local business man and will not turn their home into a dumpy looking place. That was one thing I was dreading since I do have sentimental feelings for their property. Hopefully, that closing will take place in the next couple of weeks or so. Depends on how fast the lawyers get their work done.

Last summer

The other thing that I am very happy about is that our guitar strings are finally selling! And selling good! We opened a ProStore on Amazon and it has made the difference. Every day we have sales now. I love listing the products and have them sell while I am still working on adding more. It has made my husband a very happy man!

Last Saturday

I am also selling on eBay. Just auctions. Every month they give you that deal of 50 free auctions. You only pay fees if they sell. I like that. So every month I try to list at least 50. Only now I am out of things to sell. If I list something that doesn't sell the first time, I will relist it. If it doesn't sell the next time, in the box to the thrift store it goes! I have an idea of what to sell. So when the weather gets warmer, we will be making a trip to our local thrift stores and yard sales for more products. The kind that sell, of course!

Winter 2013

My eBooks are still selling pretty good on Amazon in their Kindle Shop. I am pretty happy with that. I have been working on re-editing those books though. Maybe have them professionally edited and formatted after I finish. I will add about 40 more pages to them. Some pictures too. I am also working on another one that is not nearly done yet.

Summer 2012

For the most part, I am looking forward to the spring and being able to start my seeds for my garden. I am hoping all goes through with my parents' home being sold with no problems. My son will be moving near his friends into his own place. Then we can get back to our life. Still missing my Nikita, but am able to go on and focus on other things for now. No more dogs for me. Hurts too much when their short life is over. I am planning on spending some time with my horses this year. Making some changes in the barn to give them more room, and get that stall for Tawny. Lots of plans for our house, but I will write about that later.

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