Reflections of katlupe

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Wordless Wednesday At Peaceful Forest

Peaceful Forest Projects Progressing Nicely!

Is it too early to find a broken robin's egg?

We have finally been getting much work done on our projects around Peaceful Forest! The weather seems to be cooperating with us. Though, last week everyone said rain was in the forecast for this week. Haven't seen a raindrop since!

The bottom of the wind turbine tower is cemented in.

My husband was able to put the cement in the box that holds our wind turbine tower. It was full of water for so long we thought he'd never make any progress on that project. But it is in and he can move along to the next step. This is a very big project for him. The pipes are welded and connected to the box and it pivots so it can be brought down to the ground if he needs to fix something on it in the future.

Snow filled battery room during winter!

The other project my husband has been working on is the room for our batteries. It means they will be out of my living room.....finally! He is doing a lot right there in that little room, such as:

First, he is laying a cement floor, putting in windows on the front, then capping it off, (so it will be the room under our front porch floor).
Second, it will hold our battery system in a wooden insulated box. They will be hooked up to our system which is in the barn.
Third, he is building a platform for our generator (we use a special built generator that is for off-the-grid systems only. Not like the camping type generators. DC only.). The platform will have a jack that will raise the generator out of the room, which is a cellar room, and up onto the ground while it is being run.
Fourth, he is will be bringing the water from the well in connected to a water pump and going into a pressurized water tank.
Fifth, then he will be putting in the water heater. So when the wind turbine brings in more power than our batteries need, instead of turning off, the charge controller will divert it to our water heater. Then I will have hot running water at times!

I still have my plants all over my house waiting to go into the ground. May 15th is our last frost date. I don't know how they came up with that date. I have personally seen frost here in June. So I will just wait a bit longer and hopefully can get my garden planted by Memorial Day. How about you? If you live in a warmer area do you have your garden all planted? How is it doing? Getting enough rain?

Have a wonderful day!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

First Plants Of 2011 In The Ground!

Today even though it was raining most of the day, my husband prepared two of our wood raised beds. He had to weed them first as they had really filled up with grass and weeds something awful. Then he used the wheel hoe/cultivator to plow it up. Then added fresh new compost from our compost pile. This is compost that has been sitting for a couple of years. It is very rich, dark and full of good things. Then he plowed it again.

After he did all that hard work. I had the job of bringing some of the plants from in the house and planted them in the first raised bed. I put the Green Hubbard Winter squash there. Six of them. I had eight, but broke two of them when trying to transplant them. That is because they had gotten quite big and I usually transplant them before they get that size. Next year, I will not start them so soon.

I did not get the second bed planted yet. Hopefully, I will get that one planted tomorrow. These beds are in the side yard, sort of out of the way. That way when they spread out they are not such a pest to my husband when he mows the lawn. He is very particular about the lawn!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Busy Time Here At Peaceful Forest!

One spring morning recently with Hobo

I have been very busy the last couple of weeks as we are building a new website. This one is not specialized like Larry Gene Music and String Baby. Our new one is Lupe Shop and will be completely different. It will have a variety of products for the home and garden. For sports minded people also. I love working on it! I have been working on it daily and I am pleased with the way it looks.

The same morning with Patches

In between working on that and writing my blogs, I have been trying to get some gardening chores done in between. This morning I pulled some weeds even though it was raining. When I pull up some weeds that I know my horses like, like dandelions and clover, I put them in a separate pile. Then when I have bigger pile I carry that to the girls. Dirt and all! I am not kidding, they will eat it all very eagerly and then wipe the dirt off on the ground.

Lettuce and salad greens, herbs are planted in this bed.

My lettuce beds though, do have some plants coming up. So this week I am hoping to get at least some of my new plants out in the ground. My husband will bring compost and fill one of the beds and I will put the plants in. We will do it like that as we can. With it raining it is easier to weed them, then add the compost. Then plant.

Good luck with your garden in this rainy weather! I hope your garden is coming along, especially with the price of food in the stores. Yikes!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Updated Version Of My Homesteading Journey!

From Living Here...........

In 2007, I wrote my eBook, My Homesteading Journey and sold it on our website, Larry Gene Music. I am still selling it on there. But I have updated it, took out all the pictures because they took too long for people to download and view on their computers. So it is now completed and ready to be bought by you.

To living on an off-the-grid homestead..............

In this book I tell how I started living the homesteading lifestyle. And a little bit about what brought us to this point. I also cover some other topics, such as:

How to find your country property
Wild medicinal plants that grow around us
Buying and cooking with a wood cook stove
Heating and cooling your home
My small, but affordable solar system
The water system
Refrigeration
The Pantry and Root Cellar
Some of my favorite recipes
How to cut your electric costs
Fencing
Building the barn

I can't tell you how to do it...........just how I did it. It is different for everyone. But I can encourage you be self-sufficient and provide for yourself and your family. This book is the first in a series of books I am working on. I didn't put the gardening part in this one. That will be a whole other book on its own.

This book comes to you in a zip file and will need to be unzipped. You can read it on your computer using Adobe as it is in PDF form. It is not available in print form. You are welcome to print it out from your computer. It contains 43 pages. And no photos except the cover one. I have set it up with a special price for the new updated version.

My Homesteading Journey

Friday, May 13, 2011

Birthday Wishes For A Special Father!

Michael Dran 1986

Today is my father's 92nd birthday! He has lived a long life in his book. Being a very active man, even at 92, he is always outside working on something. If it is not rebuilding a motor of some sort, rototiller, snowblower, lawnmower, whatever, then he is working in his garden. Always doing something, and usually outside.


My parents

My parents were a good couple. They loved to do lots of outdoor things together. One of their favorite things was to go fishing. We lived in Florida, and fishing or swimming was something we did as a family many times. They showed a lot of affection and care for each other. No doubt that they loved each other very much.


My son helping his grandfather.

I wish I could be following in my father's footsteps, but seeing as he can walk better than I can, I guess that is not to be. In many ways I am more like him than my mother. Not in this way though. He is an avid gardener and I like to think that is where I get my love of gardening and making things grow.

Daddy showing a mower he had made.

He was the type of father that would take you places with him. Or build things for you. Made you feel safe. He took care of us and whatever we needed, he did. If we heard a prowler around at night, he'd take his big 44 out of from its place next to his bed and go outside to check. I always was reassured with my father sleeping the next room!

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