01 Monday Feb 2016
Tags
a not started, not finished, bedside read…
For quite some years now, I have had a goal of reading sixty books a year, which averages, you know to five books a month. As you would expect there are years that I read a bit more, a bit less, just right. However, this year, January will come and go without my having read nary a one. The flabbergasting thing is that I cannot put my finger on any particular reason why, other than perhaps a general sense of ennui, a word I absolutely love.
19 Wednesday Aug 2015
Posted in Gentleman Farming, Living, Seasons, time, Totem Hall
I’ve been spending time on the back of a tractor, contemplating all the mysteries…
23 Monday Mar 2015
Posted in Family, Living, Passages, Relationships, Seasons, time, Totem Hall, Vacation
Tags
beach, boarding school, children, classes, college, empty nesters, life, savannah college of art and design, spring break, tides, woodberry forest school
that last sunset…
Perhaps, I should say, spring sprunged. My youngest returns back to his boarding school later today, and in Savannah my oldest returns back to the college grind today, which all means that today at Totem Hall we return to life as empty nesters today, not a bad life mind you, but a life nevertheless…
18 Wednesday Mar 2015
Tags
beaches, children, friends, high schoolers, reunions, spring break, sunsets, tides, wants, wishes
that first sunset…
I could blame my youngest because this is what he wanted, but why bother…
11 Wednesday Mar 2015
Posted in Business, Gardening, Gentleman Farming, Living, Passages, Seasons, Totem Hall
Tags
apple blossoms, apple computer, macbook, motherboard, spring, technology, technophobe, troglodyte, video card
new boss meets the old boss…
In case you were wondering where I might have been all these days, well, did you know that on older MacBooks the video card attaches to the motherboard and that when the video card goes bad, the motherboard though still good is now worthless? Yep, I did not know that either, though I have since found out about this and much other arcane trivia regarding both my now old and now new computers.
meet the new boss…
same as the old boss…
To be honest, the Gentleman Farmer does few things well and computers are not one of them. Slowly, but surely, while my face basks in the glow of computer light, I am making friends with the newest addition and expense to Totem Hall.
Somewhere, someone promises improved productivity and instant enlightenment, right?
I just noticed the blurry image of my old and now very defunct computer, which is somewhat apropos, no?
just because it’s spring and I love apple blossoms…
12 Monday Jan 2015
Tags
camellia japonica, camellia sasanqua, christmas camellia, christmas day, christmas presents, fried egg flower, matilija poppy, romneya, weather channel, winter storm gorgon, yuletide camellia
Not long ago, I looked up from whatever little task I had at hand and realized there were no flowers blooming here at Totem Hall, anywhere, anyhow.
christmas camellia…
That is so unusual, since we have an abundant blessing of blooms year round, which of course I absolutely love, since it gives me a reason to go outside, and make my picks of the day. I blame November. There was a brutish cold snap followed immediately by a deluge of biblical proportions and then another bit of nasty cold weather.
fried egg flower…
Those absurdly sweet harbingers of winter flowers, the Romneya, Tree Poppies, or Matilija Poppy, and the Camellia Sasanqua, the Christmas Camellia, the Yuletide Camellia, said “see ya, outta here, done”.
or yuletide camellia..
or matilija poppy…
And so we were, that is until Christmas Day, when miracle of miracles the Camellia Japonicas, which had been promising, burst forth in all their single, semi-double, irregular semi-double, formal double, elegans, and informal double glory. Spectacular stuff, kid you not, simply one of the best Christmas presents ever.
camellia japonica…
more camellia japonica…
camellia japonica once again…
penultimate camellia japonica…
the final camellia japonica
Now as I type this out, Winter Storm Gorgon has come and is now slowly leaving the scene. Before I go any further, can I ask when we started naming winter weather patterns, honestly, what is up with that? Is this a Weather Channel conspiracy, a new way for marketers and t-shirt makers to sell “I survived Gorgon” kitsch?
Anyway, the damage to my precious winter blooms was extensive, all the flowers freezer burned, and, as for the buds, time will tell. Thankfully, the camellia is a hearty plant and our winters mild, so I fully expect to enjoy bringing flowers into the home sometime later this winter.
12 Friday Dec 2014
Posted in Family, Gentleman Farming, Seasons, Totem Hall
Tags
27-ton, chainsaw, chopping wood, family, farm boss, farm chores, farm equipment, farm tools, fireplace, firewood, front-end loader, hydraulic, kubota, laurel oak, log-splitter, nephew, Quercus hemisphaerica, Quercus virginiana, southern live oak, splitting wood, stihl, troy-bilt, winter fire
So, besides the feeling of power and glory, compensation issues really, the main reason that I chainsaw is for firewood.
laurel oak…
On the ground is a Laurel Oak (Quercus hemisphaerica) that we took down because it was growing too close to a Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana). Don’t you just love the Quercus rolls off the tongue? Go ahead say it really fast three times over.
rounds…
After the initial felling, the main trunk is broken down into smaller sections known as rounds, using the Stihl Farm Boss, which I referenced in an earlier post.
loaded…
I tractor up and use my front end loader to move the rounds from the tree site to the well house shed where I can split the wood.
setting up shop with my nephew…
Now, I used to split wood using wedges, hatchets, axes, and mallets, but that was before my enlightenment. At the shed, out comes one of my favorite boy toys, the Troy-Bilt 27-ton hydraulic log splitter, and a complete exercise in brute power,strength, and dominance.
my nephew experiencing the joy of pure hydraulic power…
From there it is just what you would expect. Stack the wood.
stacked and ready to go…
Burn the wood. Enjoy the life…
the end result…
01 Saturday Nov 2014
Posted in Living, Nature, Passages, Seasons, Totem Hall
Tags
crowns, daydreaming, doorways, entries, etruscans, fieldwork, greeks, harvest, old, olympics, owls, power, romans, tractor, wealth, wikipedia, wise, wreaths
harvest wreath…
I came back from the Woodberry Parents Weekend to find the front door of Totem Hall all decked out with a brand new wreath, courtesy of my mother in law, celebrating the best of fall.
one view up close…
Later on my tractor, working a field, I started thinking about wreaths, the whole who, what, when, and where.
another view up close…
So I turned to Wikipedia; I mean, after all, who doesn’t? Did you know that wreaths appeared during the Etruscan era, worn as crowns? After that, the Greeks and Romans appropriated the wreath concept, wearing them to celebrate, for instance, Olympic achievement, or to designate wealth and power.
wise old owl up close…
Of course, wreaths on the head are all good and wonderful, but how does one get from the dome to the door? Well, by way of Wikipedia, one again turns to the ancient Greeks. It turns out the Greeks enjoyed hanging a harvest wreath by their door, just like mine.
one more look…
before you come on in…
And there you go…
29 Wednesday Oct 2014
Posted in Gentleman Farming, Seasons, Totem Hall, Totems
Tags
art, chainsaw, farm boss, farm chores, firewood, local critters, nature, stihl, totem poles
farm boss…
I like my chainsaws.
I like the power.
I like the danger.
I like the dirt.
I like the sawdust.
I use them.
I use them a lot.
I chop trees down.
chop down…
I chop trees up.
chop up…
But
I cannot make art.
white-tailed deer totem helping to support totem hall…
gopher tortoise totem helping to support totem hall…
florida panther totem helping to support totem hall…
eastern diamondback rattlesnake totem helping to support totem hall…
At least not with my chainsaw…
29 Friday Aug 2014
Tags
bulldogs, college football, dawgs, dreams, georgia bullogs, hedges, heritage, sanford stadium, season opener, southern boys, tradition, uga 1
For me, the high holy season of college football begins this Saturday when my school, my team takes to the field.
me and uga one…
It is an acquired taste, not for everyone, though very important in my part of the world.
We start young, us southern boys, playing and dreaming as long and as far as our playing and dreaming will take us.
Throw in the generations of family men who played and dreamed before and will play and dream to come.
Mix in the atmosphere, the pageantry, the tastes, smells, drinks, sights and sounds.
Add the excitement, the energy, the contact, controlled violence.
Then you can see why it is in the blood. Then you can see why it is who we are.
The Gentleman Farmer 