Turning Your Losses Around

A Neighboring Farm

Yesterday I drove my son to my father's house where he will spend a few days. He likes to take some time to spend with his grandfather, as he said that every time he leaves he is afraid he will never see him again. I know since my father is 91 years old there is a pretty good chance that is true. At this point in my life, 58 years old, I cannot imagine what my life would be like without my father. He is unique, unlike any other human being I have ever met. But what I want to say here, is that you never know no matter what age a person is if you will see them again. They will always stay in your heart though. If it it a parent, they are a part of you for as long as you live. You carry that with you and all the other generations that was a part of them also.

Losing a child is much different. From the time they are born, parents nurture and protect their children. Even animals do that. There are always those few that do not and don't seem to be worthy of the title parent. Even in the animal world that is true. There will always be the fathers or mothers who are too busy even though they take good care of them. And some that do not take any care of them. Neglect, abuse or even worse.  Some are too busy to pay attention to them when they are playing and want you to watch them do something. I know my son's favorite words while growing up were, "Mommy, Mommy, watch me! Watch me!" I always tried to, but granted there were many times when I could not. Being a stay at home mom though, probably more than most.

I know the feeling of  losing a child is different than losing a parent. You always know your parents will die and probably before you do. So when you lose your own child, the feeling is so much different. That was your child, the joy of your life. You think about the early years. You think about things you did together. The times that will never be. I cannot say I know all those feelings. My stepdaughter was not my child and I was not in her life when she was a child. I know what she was like as a child only because of what my husband has told me. I know she was very beautiful and sensitive to the natural world. She could not stand to see you kill a spider or a mouse. She was dearly loved by many people and most especially by her family.

Loss is something we will all have to deal with in some way some day:

• Loss of loved ones, including our beloved pets.
• Loss of material things that we become attached to. 
• Loss of a wonderful producing garden every year. 
• Loss of money we earned and worked hard for.
• Loss of respect for someone we love or know. 
• Loss of a business we started that failed.
• Loss of job we loved. 
• Loss of friends as we leave school or move to other areas. 
• Loss of our routines as our life changes in some way.
• Loss of our health which is many times little by little so we scarcely notice it. 
• Loss of our loved ones' health.
• Loss of a wonderful house that we lived in.
• Loss of a marriage that we didn't want to end. 

I am sure you can think of many more. The idea is to find ways to turn those losses around. You can't bring most of your losses back, but have to take a look in the mirror and say to yourself, "This is a new day. There is nothing more I can do about that. That is past. Now is the time I have and I will not dwell on my loss anymore." Then move on. As the song by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band says,

Stand a Little Rain 

 

  Dark cloud is coming

Headed straight for your heart

Might get just a little bit crazy, baby

Might try to tear us apart

When the storm blows over

Only the true love remains

If we’re ever gonna see a rainbow

We have to stand a little rain

Everybody wants love to be easy

But it’s never been that way

Each love starts out with blue skies

Sometimes those blue skies turn grey

When the storm blows over

Only the strong love remains

If we’re ever gonna see a rainbow

We have to stand a little rain

The thunder rolls

And the lightning strikes

Hold on, darling

It’s gonna be alright

’cause when the storm blows over

Only the true love remains

If we’re ever gonna see a rainbow

We have to stand a little rain

If we’re ever gonna see a rainbow

We have to stand a little rain 

Yes, it hurts, but God never promised us no hurts. That is part of the package. So build yourself back up. If you lose someone, you must move on or you will lose your life as well. Build your life up in their memory. Do things that would have made them proud. You will never forget those losses but they will make you stronger. They will make you able to do many things you thought you could not do. You must do this or else you will have no life at all and you will wither up inside. So if you are feeling a loss of some sort today, start your new day right now!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Song Lyrics from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Album Twenty Years Of  Dirt

Lyrics are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit blog visitors and is provided at no charge.

Social Media On The Homestead

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

Social Media has become very important to me for my business. I am networking with people in all walks of life. Not just friends and families. Being in business means networking with potential customers as well as other business owners. Where do you find them when you live out in the middle of thousands of acres of state forest? Not around the corner that is for sure! The towns around us are not big cities. They are your classic small towns. I love them, visit them often, and shop there too. But for business contacts and customers, my aim is the internet.

Myspace was the first one I was on. It was new and I learned a lot there. I can't say I haven't enjoyed being on there and networking with many people. Most of my connections there are Christian related. I have a page there for my business too, String Baby. Now those friends are mostly musicians or music industry related. Those are my potential customers. If you are in a different business, you can most certainly find your niche there if you search your keywords.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

When I finally went to  FaceBook, I loved it! The fact that I was able to reconnect with all my old friends, especially in Florida was awesome. I went to school in Crescent City, FL and Flagler Beach, FL. I never in a million years thought, I would be friends with those people again. It has been great talking with them, seeing their photos and their children's photos and hearing about their lives. I have also connected with my friends from Homesteading Today  and it gives you a more personal relationship than the Homesteading Today site does. I think that is because you control the conversations and can eliminate the friends who put you down, or boss you around or make people afraid to post anything. Those people are blocked from my page immediately. We talk about all our homesteading activities and ask each other questions and encourage each other.

I am also friends with people I have met through The Blog Frog. I love that site! You can start your own community there if you wish, that is connected with your blog. I haven't done that and don't plan on it. I do not have enough hours in the day as it is. I belong to several communities there, and there are two I think homesteaders would like. One being the Homestead Revival and the other is the Frugal Living community. There are many others and I am sure you could find one to suit your personal preferences or blog.

The one I spend the most of my time on is Redhead Riter Community. I have met many online friends in that community and sincerely enjoy them, their posts and blogs. We are a community for sure. The Redhead Riter is outstanding as business woman who knows her stuff. She knows how to network and promote within the blogging community. Her blog gets a lot of traffic and is an excellent blog to read and source of information. Everyone should check her blog out and you will see what I mean.

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

On LinkedIn you can network with lots of business people who are sharing their information. I have spent a good part of my morning reading articles written by a very impressive man. I plan on implementing some of his information into my business as soon as possible. Some of it is exactly what I have been working on presently and that showed me that I was on the right track.

I also sell on Bonanzle but have written about that on this post, Selling On Bonanzle. And through that site I have become a member of Treasure Sellers Unite Network. They are an awesome network for online sellers,  who sell on eBay, Etsy, Bonanzle and others. So if you network among other sellers and everyone purchases from their networking friends we should all make a good living online. What do you think about that?

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

How To Set Up Television In Restaurants

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

This isn't what I usually blog about, but this was brought to my attention lately. And since I am involved in my own business, I thought touching on some business subjects now and then is appropriate for me. Having my own business has made it possible for me to be a full time homesteader, as well as a full time online businesswoman.

I was recently in our bank and they have added one of those business tv set-ups in the lobby. Now while you are standing in line you can watch television and be entertained. Not having a television at home I find it quite interesting. I haven't seen much television at all in eleven years since I have lived here. Though when my Mother was alive, I did watch with her about once a week. So since 2002, I have not been watching it hardly at all, unless I went to someone's house which is rare. I always say, I don't miss it. Then why do I pay attention to it in the bank?

Photo Credit: Sam Mugraby

Anyway, this is what I have discovered. If you are in a brick and mortar business, not just a bank, but even offices, laundromats, car repair shops' waiting rooms, restaurants (Yes! People LIKE to watch while they eat!! Especially people alone.). The commercial television could help your business by bringing business in to your establishment. Instead of sitting in a waiting room anywhere bored out of their mind or getting angry because it is taking you so long to wait on them or fix their car or whatever..............they could be watching television. Then they would not mind so much.

As I think about the options for setting up television in a restaurant it becomes clear to me that this would be the way to go. The dish business is big now for all businesses. But if you owned a restaurant or cafe, like the well known cyber cafes where you can be on the internet while eating or having coffee, your customers would be able to watch television while they eat their meals. It would bring in plenty of customers and the best part is that it would keep them there! They would be watching something and order more desserts, coffee, drinks, etc.

So don't rule out the television as being old fashioned quite yet. I mean my sister-in-law has one in her vehicle in the back seat. She likes it for her grandkids. That just shows you that it is now an option when you purchase a vehicle. Another thing about setting up a television in restaurants is that it is something you can have to occupy children waiting for their meals. Instead of the kids getting cranky and loud, and annoying all the other customers, now they will have something to occupy them.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

Thoughts Of Autumn On The Homestead

Everyone looks forward to the cooler temperatures and fall leaves. I first notice fall coming by the lack of my favorite birds singing in the early morning hours. Through the summer, my husband and I both love the sound of them waking us up and in the evening before they go to sleep. The sounds and sights of this summer will stay with us through out the winter. We will be saying things like, "Remember those first robins who appeared in the cherry trees out back?" They were with us all summer. Following my husband as he cut the lawn. This last time he cut it, there wasn't even one. That is my first sign.

I have seen the other signs now. Getting dark earlier is one. I see it happening already. So time to get in the mode for fall. Autumn. The one thing I love about it is the pretty colors of the trees once it has started. Another thing is it is the time of the harvest. The time to pick and harvest the food that is growing in your gardens. To preserve it by canning, storing or dehydrating it. The beautiful pumpkins all over the fields waiting to be harvested. I have plans for canning much pumpkin and winter squash. I have more that is growing and isn't mature enough to be picked yet. Soon though.

I will be canning what I have in my garden and some that I already picked and is in the pantry. But I have plans of buying more at local farmers' markets to add to our food supply for winter. I will can more meats but also make stews, soups, chili and some other dishes that I will can so they can be our "fast foods". Sometimes what leads to running to buy a pizza or whatever is the fact that I do not have time to make a big meal from scratch. But if I have these quick meals canned in my jars in the pantry then there is no work involved other than pouring into a pan to heat. Love those fast foods!

Getting the house prepared for our winter job of firewood work. Firewood and kindling stacked and stored, ready to use. Cleaning of the wood stoves, so they are ready to be lit, and warm our house in the cold weather. I will take apart my wood cook stove as soon a I get a brief break from the harvesting and canning, and clean it thoroughly. It is a job I will be grateful I took the time to do when the really cold weather hits. Though we used this stove through  out the summer too, not to the extent we will be using it in the winter.

My Jewel Wood Cook Stove

I have plans to try to get into the forest and pick up the pine cones. They are a good fire starter and there are a lot of them. I don't know how well I will be able to gather them this year due to the worsening of my knees. They have gotten to the point that I sometimes need to use my walker. But if I keep active I think they will be tolerable. I have started back on my low carb food plan and already feeling a little better. It is so weird how eating white flour products and anything with sugar makes you feel so bad. Maybe they should outlaw that poison like they do some of the wild medicinal plants instead!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

My New Blog Button!

Store More Food By Canning Meat

Home Canned Angus Ground Beef

We don't store our meat in a freezer like most people do. In fact, we don't even own one at the moment. I buy our meat in bulk and bring it home and can it immediately. I try to have everything ready so that when I get home I can start working on it. That is why it is best to do it early in the morning. That is what I did yesterday morning. I drove to Mainesource Food & Party Warehouse in Binghamton, NY and did my shopping.

Mainesource Food & Party Warehouse

I purchased three of these Ground Fine Angus Beef logs. They are close to 10 lbs. each. I forgot to photograph them before I cut one open. So these are the other two. They were on sale for $1.89 a lb. That is a good price around here for any kind of ground beef. It is usually anywhere from $2.49 to $2.99 a lb. in most stores. Now Mainesource is a local restaurant supply store that sells to the public. It is huge and has such good prices and really good, healthy looking meats and produce. This beef tastes very fresh and you can tell by the smell as soon as you open it. Not like the regular ground beef or chuck you usually find. Less greasy too.

Oven Frying The Ground Beef

I cooked the meat in the oven this time and think I will do that from now on. Though when I fry it on top of the stove I fuss with it more. Cooking it this way seemed to be easier for me, but the burger comes out with bigger pieces. When it is on the stove you tend to break it up more often. Cook it just till it is not pink.

Rinsing The Grease Off

I rinsed the grease off the beef. Put another pan underneath to catch the grease so it does not go down your drain. Drains do not like grease! I never used to do this but think it is good to do so that there is not as much grease in your jars. That is where the culprit is in canning meats.......the grease will be the reason your jars may not seal. So be sure to wipe them off really good when putting your lids on. 

Simmering In Water Before Canning

This is the way I do it. I put all the beef in the stock pots and then cover it with water and heat it to the boiling point.

Boiling Point

Then I ladle it into clean canning jars that I washed in hot soapy water. Then I filled them with hot boiling water to keep them hot. Then I empty each jar just before I fill it. You may add 1/2 to 1 tsp. of salt if you wish, but do not have to do this. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. We aren't big on salt around here.

UPDATE: According to the USDA guidelines, you no longer have to heat the jars or simmer them in boiling water. I never did that anyway. I still put hot water heated to the boiling point in them so that they are hot when I put the hot food in them. I do not want to take the chance of one breaking from the hot food going into a cold jar. 

Filling The Jars

Have all your lids and rims right there and makes sure you have put them in hot water too. I always wipe them dry just before using it for the jar. Tighten the lid and you are ready to put it in your PRESSURE canner that should be on the stove. Not a pressure cooker........a pressure canner is different. And to be safe you MUST be using a pressure canner.

Jars Going Into The Canner

When you put it in the canner, the water should be simmering. You only need a few inches of water in the bottom of the canner, about 3 inches is good.

Two Canners Going At The Same Time!

Tighten your lid on your canner and exhaust it for 10 minutes. That means you will see steam coming out of the top. I use a regulator on mine, so when the 10 minutes is up I can put that on and when it starts to jiggle, I check the time.  One hour and a half from then. If it stops jiggling that means it has lost it's pressure.

A Regulator And A Gauge

I have both for my Presto Canners. A Presto Canner Regulator and an actual gauge. I bought two of the regulators for both of my canners that had gauges and I love them. It has made canning much easier for me since I don't have to stand over it watching the gauge. Every time I look at the gauge it is right on the 10 lb. pressure and never varies much. Here is where I explain better about the Presto Canner Regulators in a previous post.

The Finished Product!

When your time is up, turn your canner off and wait until your pressure has gone down. You should hear a click and then the pressure should be at zero. Take the weight or regulator off the top, wait a minute and then take the lid off. When taking the lid off, make sure to lift it away from you so it doesn't hit you in the face. It is HOT!

Then you are ready to transfer your jars with your jar lifter to the towel or pad on a table or counter. I try not to put it directly in front of a window with a cool breeze. Let them sit for 24 hours before wiping them down, and with meat there will be grease on the jars and tops so clean good. Put labels on with the date and what is in it. I take the rims off when I label them as the rims can become rusted to a jar over time. 

Now I have 14 quarts of ground beef. They have run me approximately $3.90 a jar. I think that is a bargain if you compare it with the other canned meats you find out there. Yoder meats are good but they cost about $6.50 a can or more. I can drain this ground beef and make it into sloppy joes or put it on a hamburger bun with ketchup and eat it ground. It is still good even though it is not in a patty form. Great for casseroles though.......and pizza. You see the grease on top of beef inside the jar, I try to scoop it out in a lump if I can. By rinsing it I believe I have less than I used to get. 

We both like the canned meats way better than frozen ones. Try it and tell me what you think. The meat seems to develop more flavor over time.

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated July 2016

Late Blight Destroys My Tomatoes Again

My Beautiful Tomato Plants!

I have been very busy this last week. It is the time of year when I am busy harvesting crops and canning food. My garden was really looking good as you can see my beautiful tomato plants here in this photo. My green beans produced very well and gave us 48 quarts of canned product. Nice to be refilling all those empty jars!

Seemed to be thriving here..........

My happiness was not to last though, as within a few days, this photo was taken on the August 18th and the plants looked good. Had nice formed tomatoes on all plants, The cherry tomatoes were covered with fruit. I think there were hundreds of them on just a couple plants. They looked so pretty and I was so proud of my tomatoes as last year I didn't get any because of being hit by the blight. This year I even sprayed with Serenade. Not to be though.............

Earlier This Week..........

According to Cornell University:

"Late Blight is a disease that mainly affects potatoes and tomatoes, though it can affect others as well. It was mainly responsible for the Irish potato famine in the 1850's. Entire fields of potatoes rotted as well as potatoes in storage. Thousands of people starved or emigrated.

I Wanted To Cry!!!!

Late Blight is caused by a pathogen, oomycete, that survives from season to another on infected potatoes. It is known for producing millions of spores from infected plants under wet conditions. It can be introduced into a garden through infected potatoes or volunteer plants that were infected, from culled potatoes that were not destroyed, compost piles or from infected plants that were bought and brought into the area. Spores can travel through the air, land on the plants and infect more. They can also be washed through the soil to infect more potatoes and cause rot in the ground or in storage." 

Have to bag them up and take to the landfill.

Because so many spores are produced by this oomycete pathogen, it is important that anyone whose plants get the Late Blight to properly identify it and control it so that the spores do not travel to other local gardens and infect them. This is what it says on Cornell's site. I am not sure of how to control it. I tried. I give up now. This is my last year of growing tomatoes until they come out with a plant that is resistant to it. So much for heirlooms.

One way of preventing it is to only grow certified seed potatoes. And not to buy tomato transplants from other areas. I grew my own that I started in my house. Our summer here in New York was not a real wet summer for a change. So I am in the dark about this Late Blight business. I just know that I am not going to go through all the work of starting tomatoes in the house and babying them and then losing them when it is almost time for them to start turning red. It is a waste of my time. We don't eat a lot of pasta or dishes that use tomato sauce anyway. So I will just not worry about them next year. If I want a fresh tomato in the salad or a tomato sandwich I will buy mine at the local farmer's markets and produce stands. They seem to be able to grow without being hit by the Late Blight.

All I can say is................it's not fair!

Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2010  Kathleen G. Lupole