Friday, June 20, 2014

Facebook Fights Are Getting Old Real Fast

Raised Bed with Bush Beans


I must annoy a lot of people. I am here at home minding my own business. But it is Facebook that is the culprit. One person who was a Facebook friend got mad at me and deleted me, because my husband made a remark about wanting pot legalized. It wasn't me. I don't even smoke nor do I drink or smoke cigarettes either. I agree with legalizing it, but what's that to her? But she got mad at me. Fine, I didn't really have anything in common with her anyway.

When my father passed away in 2012, my husband and I had the burden of dealing with my niece who had stolen everything of value out of my father's home. Her family had lived off my 94 year old father and stripped his bank account and did all sorts of things while he was in the hospital. He worried the whole time about them being in his house alone, even though he knew he'd never go back there. She burned her bridges with her family, including my brother who is her father.

Not too long ago, I joined a prepping group which is located in our area. They seemed like a nice bunch of people. I am not a prepper by any means. I am a modern homesteader and that is a whole different thing. So one of the guys saw a picture my husband posted that was about using solar for energy. It said something like the sun has been providing energy for billions of years and this guy took offence to that. He thought the world was only about 6000 years old (where has he been living? Under a rock?)! He actually made a bunch of religious comments on my husband's page. Then he said he was being persecuted for being a Christian! He was the one who started this argument on my husband's Facebook page! Keep your mouth shut, or write on your page, buddy. And just for the record: I AM a Christian, but I am not a follower of organized religion. I do not believe that the earth is only 6000 years old though. They have been saying that for hundreds of years now, I guess it never gets any older.

Now this month, a girl who I knew quite well, in fact, she lived with my son in the early nineties. They fought like cats and dogs then, and they still fight like that now. Only now she says it is all my fault. She put her nose in my business while I am trying to keep my son in his own apartment. So she slanders me. Accuses me of all sorts of REALLY bad things. She implied I was saying bad things about her, give me a break, she has not been on my mind at all. All I did was to remind my son to stay away from her because she causes trouble, which she does, and did. Of course she now has a job that she thinks puts her in a power position. Shoot, she is just a Medicaid Service Coordinator at the Handicapped Children's Association. So she should know better than fighting back and forth with my son who is a handicapped adult. It is, and was a very stressful situation to say the least, because of my son's girlfriend who is friends with the old girlfriend. What a mess!

I am distancing myself from these types of people. One thing is that Facebook does make it easy for people you have nothing in common with to become friends with you. It seems to me that it is rude to not accept them as a friend. But if I can't write what I want on my timeline, because of them, then I can't be friends with them. If they want to argue, do it on your own page.

So I have thought about trying to make my page even more private than it is.I have it set pretty strictly, I think. But I am looking to see if there is more that I can do with it. I hate fighting with anyone, and that is why I live this type of life to begin with. I just wish I lived further out than this, and maybe I will think about doing just that in the near future. So if you'd like to be friends with me on Facebook, go to my Homesteading On The Internet page or my Solar Baby page. I am on both of those pages quite often.




Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Choosing Flooring for Homes with Cats and Dogs

Most rural homes include pets!

Remodeling an old house takes not only time and skill, but money too. Our house is an ongoing project and is nowhere near finished yet. One of the major parts will be new floors and walls. I have been trying to envision what it is I want to live with. At our ages, in our early sixties, I figure this will be what we will live with for the rest of our lives. I like to do most of my shopping online and now that I have discovered through  BuildDirect reviews  that I can buy the building supplies that way too. The world has come to my door in the middle of the forest! I like that.


Tired out after playing!

Most of the readers of this blog are pet owners. We have cats and dogs in our homes and probably always will. I can't be worried that the flooring I put down today will be ruined by my pets. Pets that go in and out get your floors dirty. There is no way to prevent that since they get into dirt, mud, snow and water. I don't want to worry about them constantly. Do you? Puppies and kittens inside the house too, run and chase and drag things across your floor. Finding flooring that can take that abuse is the answer. BuildDirect, sells a variety of flooring that can withstand the lives of your pets. The convenience of choosing the style and colors of the materials is right on your computer.





In this video you will learn about choosing the best flooring for your house and your pets. There are several varieties mentioned. The one that gets my interest is the Evora cork. I see that it is produced from a renewable resource, from the cork oak tree and from by-products of wine cork production. It seems like that would be a very good choice. There are others mentioned though. Choose the one you would feel comfortable with and that would be good for your pet environment. Which kind do you like? Why? Would you make your purchase based on your cat or dog?





I write this blog based on my experience living an off-the-grid life. Some of the links you may click or products I recommend may or may not compensate me for including them in my post. Be sure to read my blogging  disclosure page if you are concerned about that.




Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2018

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Monday, April 14, 2014

Planning Where I Will Plant Each Vegetable In My Garden


Before the beds were remodeled

This morning while I had my coffee in my garden, I made my plans for this year's garden. Last year my husband enlarged the beds in the backyard that are built of rocks. Since he took down a couple of trees that had small beds built around them, he combined those beds all into one big one. It is really nice. I can't wait to plant it. Making a plan for your new garden is the most important thing. To know where each plant is going to go when you plant, means that you are not just throwing a bunch of plants here and there. It will be a more productive garden this way.


Taking down a couple of the trees.

It was hard work for my husband to rebuild these beds. But he did a great job and I love the way it looks now. I was out there this morning, envisioning what it will look like full of plants. My beans will definitely be planted here. Bush beans come up real fast for me, so it won't be long after I plant the seeds before I will have plants. Have to wait for our weather to cooperate though before I can do any planting outside.

The raised beds today!

The closest bed in this photo, the round bed, will have Wax (yellow) beans planted in it this year. The next bed you see, I call that the L bed (since it is shaped as an L), will have Blue Lake Bush beans in it. The very last bed, where you see the two trees, the snake bed (not because it has a lot of snakes, but due to it's shape, it does have some snakes in it though.), will have the Contender Bush beans planted in it. We can many jars of beans and eat them all winter. Mostly because it is my best crop.

Bush Beans planted in the first four beds here, 2013

I have always planted our green beans in the wood beds on the other side of the house. They say you shouldn't plant them in the same area year after year. So I will see if they are right. A whole different area for them. I am looking forward to having different plants in these beds this year. Spice up things a bit around Peaceful Forest Homestead! Maybe it will confuse the garden pests.






Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole


Sunday, April 13, 2014

After the Winter at Peaceful Forest Homestead



After so many days of below zero temperatures, it felt like spring would never get here. Even the robins who usually are here by the fifteenth of March. Some years they are here as early as the 7th (last year). It was past spring before I saw even one. They were out in the forest because we could hear them. I guess staying within the shelter of the forest is easier then being out in the open of our yard when it is still cold. Now they are here all the time.


It finally feels like spring here! We are all enjoying it. Our horse love it before the hot weather gets here. They will lay down several times a day out in the paddock. As for me, I have been starting my seeds as I told you on my previous blog posts. This year I have more room since my son now has his own place. It gives me more room to spread out the seeds that I am starting in the house.The reason I start so many is that I want to be able to eat them during the summer too. There are some that just won't give us anything till later in August or September.



Yesterday was such a beautiful day that my cat, Hobo, and I went for a walk. I am trying to do that every day. After being cooped up all winter in the house, I need to get outside. It has been hard for me to walk in this last year, but I think I am doing better. I was able to walk all the way past the paddock. It was great to see all the signs of life coming up. We still have some patches of snow, but in a few days, that will be all gone too.

Hobo


Happy Spring to all my readers! 









Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2014 Kathleen G. Lupole