Over the past four months, I have moved twice: the first time out of my old rental house and into my partner’s home; the second time when we decided to sell that home and find a new place of our own. We were met with several challenges during that period: first, we had to manage the packing and the moving. It turned out that was the easy part, for we also had to figure out what we were going to do with all of the duplicate items both of us had acquired over our years as single people, from toasters to pianos (we ended up giving most of it away, to those kind friends who helped us move everything). There was the attendant cleaning and scrubbing from top to bottom of both homes. Then we had to maneuver through the complicated world of real estate to sell our home and to find a new one—for those who have been through it, you know the kinds of headaches that process can induce. And finally, we had to come to some agreements about how to furnish our new home—not an easy task for two pretty hard-headed folks who have different tastes. I’m happy to report that we made it through that difficult period, and we’re happily ensconced in our beautiful new home, furnished and decorated in a way that we both like.

Having been a single renter for all of my adult life, this business of selling a home and setting up cohabitation is a new experience for me. I’ve learned a lot about myself, a lot about the joys (and the headaches) of home ownership, and a lot about the business of real estate.

So with all this moving, selling, cleaning, moving again and redecorating, the time fits perfectly for another of our biannual “Your Home, Inside & Out” issues. Every April and October—traditionally the months when homeowners (and renters, too!—anyone who has a roof over her head) should start thinking about projects for the upcoming months.

This month, we’ve included three articles covering different aspects of your home. First is “Catching More than a Few Rays in Woodstock: Solar Power Comes to Sunflower Natural Foods” by Jonathan Ment. Sunflower Natural Foods in Woodstock is one of the first businesses in the region to take advantage of new tax credits and netmetering rules and install solar panels on the top of their market. The results are already impressive, and it will be interesting to see what the coming months have in store. Reading about Sunflower’s commitment to not only using renewable energy, but also reducing their energy usage, hopefully will inspire you to do the same in your home.

Next up is “A Feast for Your Wall Space,” by Zoe Randall. Zoe is the owner and curator of the Chace Randall Gallery in Andes. She provides some great tips on how to get started collecting art, and using it to decorate your home. For those who have tired of the Monet posters you’ve had hanging in your living space since college, this article is a must-read.

Finally, Jonathan Ment has contributed “To Cut or Not to Cut, or What to cut: Forestry Insights for the Larger Lot Owner”. In this article, representatives from the Agroforestry Center of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Acra give some tips for those landowners whose property is forested. Maintenance of those forests is key to their management, and landowners must be well informed in order to get the job done properly so that they—and their forests—are not exploited. The article is only a beginning of what landowners need to know—contact the Agroforestry Center, or the DEC, to learn more (their contact information is included in the article).

See you in the Mountains.

Yours sincerely,


Sarah Taft
Managing Editor
tafts@catskillmtn.org