tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33876645189641048312011-11-08T20:42:02.173-05:00Avant Gardening, Chicken Wrangling, Cat Herding, and Occasionally Something UsefulThurmannoreply@blogger.comBlogger1131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-71331369953476952242011-11-07T20:51:00.003-05:002011-11-07T20:59:02.278-05:00

The benefits of using honey as a substitute for cane sugar and artificial sweeteners is pretty well known among most back-to-the-land types. Natural honey contains antioxidants, amino acids, carbohydrates, sugars, minerals, and vitamins, but perhaps the most beneficial ingredient in honey is bee pollen. Some sources suggest that most adults can benefit from consuming 30 - 40 mg of bee pollen per

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-62183880730557158862011-11-04T09:48:00.001-04:002011-11-07T20:52:34.581-05:00

Weeds! Anyone who digs in the earth fights them. Around my part of the world the two biggest problem weeds are Kudzu and Bermuda grass. For years I battled them the way most of us did; with chemicals like Monsanto's flagship product Round-Up. At first things went well. I sprayed, weeds died, but over time, the weeds developed immunity to glyphosate, the main ingredient in Round-Up. At some point

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-75339373359021732512011-04-03T15:27:00.002-04:002011-11-07T20:54:05.300-05:00

We got through the cold snap with only one known casualty - the lone pepper seedling in a flat I started much too early. When I raked through the soil in the two pepper flats I found nothing but ungerminated seed, some with fur coats on, so I trashed the entire thing and started over. This time I seeded one flat of mixed hot peppers, about 50% cayenne, and another mixed 50/50 Orange Sun and

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-40330152538449023912011-03-24T19:49:00.000-04:002011-03-24T19:49:17.257-04:00

I've never been known for my patience, always in a hurry and wishing I was where I'm going instead of where I am. I tried to overcome this character flaw for many years, but some personality traits are just hardwired in the human animal, and impatience seems to be part of my permanent genetic programming. Spring comes a bit earlier each year in my part of the world. It might have a bit of

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-12559916305994376912011-03-21T18:40:00.003-04:002011-04-03T15:30:38.223-04:00

This is our rabbit colony. We have four houses, but only three are visible from this angle. Currently we have four males and three females, starting from the two original "females" we acquired last fall. Yeah, right. All the houses are made from recycled materials, with the exception of some wire we bought new. The cage at right came from my father-in-law, who also supplied our initial pair of

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-7648208854660799332010-07-31T12:56:00.001-04:002010-07-31T12:58:33.722-04:00

"When they turn the pages of history, when these days have passed long ago, will they read of us with sadness for the seeds that we let grow?" A Farewell To Kings, Neil Peart, RUSH, 1977 The peace and quiet of our little patch of land in the woods has been violated. The owner of the woods next door has sold the timber and now loggers are clear-cutting the tiny forest. It looks like a war zone

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-67778020421016223952010-07-01T23:04:00.000-04:002010-07-01T23:04:12.422-04:00

Wow, I just realized it's been almost four months since my last post here. Where does the time go? Away, of course. Spring has become Summer and the tomatoes are rolling in, almost two dozen every day, so canning season has begun. This year's garden is almost entirely tomatoes, not much else made it, except the prolific strawberry crop we got from last year's new bed. We let most of the main

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-19841261249497185262010-04-04T10:20:00.002-04:002010-04-04T18:30:53.577-04:00

Spring arrived late this year, and so did we. Most years we start our own seeds but with the longer, harder winter than usual this season, we ended up scrambling just to stay warm. It's nearly impossible to buy dry, seasoned firewood anywhere around here in January, so we had to fight with soggy, green wood the last two months of burning season just to keep from freezing to death. Needless to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-47487274294182777942010-03-20T20:24:00.001-04:002010-03-20T20:36:04.088-04:00

Took the family to town today and among other things we brought back ten new chickens. After a long cold winter of store bought eggs, our remaining nine hens have begun laying again, to much celebration. Trust me, a few months paying for those pale, tasteless things passed off as chicken eggs in the grocery stores is more than enough to make us appreciate the hard work our girls do out there in

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-59345576680085860962010-03-13T13:01:00.000-05:002010-03-13T13:01:18.723-05:00

I finished stacking the last of next winter's firewood into the woodshed this morning. There's something a bit Zen like in the act of stacking wood. Maybe it's the monotony of the task or the constant repetition of movements, but whatever it is, after a few minutes doing something mindless like this, it's pretty easy for me to get lost in the action and go on auto-pilot. For me, that being in

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-21273089605473643042010-01-30T23:29:00.002-05:002010-01-30T23:33:17.870-05:00

I've been pretty busy with the stuff of life lately. Last night we had a heavy winter storm come through and, for the first time in both of their lives, my 17 and nearly 9 year old children experienced real snow - better than ankle deep. Here's a few pictures I took earlier today.

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-78238603650895228262010-01-16T09:38:00.005-05:002010-01-16T16:35:18.234-05:00

It's been colder than a well digger's butt for the past few weeks. With daily high temperatures barely above twenty degrees Fahrenheit, it's been too cold to venture out for more than the barest necessities. Two days ago the arctic lost its grip and things began warming up nicely - daily high temps in the upper fifties to sixties. We've been putting off doing a lot of outdoor work for several

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16606981624070497322010-01-02T10:53:00.003-05:002010-01-02T12:54:22.395-05:00

Another year is done, a new calendar pinned to the wall. The days are again slowly lengthening as our tiny planet makes it's way along a never ending journey around the sun. This morning I'm waiting for a load of firewood to be delivered. We aren't close to running out of last year's supply, but there's plenty of room in the shed now to begin filling the space for next winter's needs. Cutting

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-8994518242635320662009-12-20T17:58:00.004-05:002010-01-02T11:11:05.853-05:00

We've got a yard full of cats. I like cats, though I'm extremely allergic to the little varmints. They keep the mouse population under control, and the squirrels don't stand much of a chance either. The only real trouble with the cats is that they have no natural predators around these parts, so they breed, well, like rabbits. Eventually they'll become so inbred that the population will control

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-74840780796831404152009-12-15T19:49:00.000-05:002009-12-15T19:49:27.148-05:00

My wife's uncle is a deer hunter, and a pretty good one at that. One Friday morning in November he shot a deer, skinned it, gutted it, and gave it to us. We made jerky from some of it, froze several nice roasts, and made sausage from the rest. For Thanksgiving Day dinner my father-in-law had requested the neck roast, which he grilled, along with a turkey and half a hog on his new grill. This is

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-60999046330294525342009-11-05T15:35:00.002-05:002009-11-16T19:56:31.156-05:00

In the summer of 2008 our electric bill went through the roof. It was double what we normally expect to pay during that time of year for several months. Our house, by most standards a tiny 1000 square feet, is cooled by three window air conditioners: a small unit in each bedroom and a large one in the living room / kitchen. This year we were determined to cut our usage as much as possible so

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-33850141684514692502009-10-31T23:12:00.001-04:002009-11-01T17:32:35.193-05:00

I finally got off my butt and out from behind the desk this afternoon. Spent some time mowing the leaves and weeds - most of the grass long ago stopped growing for the season. I'd love to be able to compost my leaves and grass clippings, but with so much of that God forsaken Bermuda grass in the yard, there's no way I'm gonna risk getting any more of that crap in my garden. I've already got one

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-64366754078080630192009-10-30T15:09:00.002-04:002009-10-30T22:33:43.120-04:00

We heat our home exclusively with wood. It's a small house with a fairly open floor plan, so the wood stove does a pretty good job keeping us toasty on even the coldest nights. The bedrooms, at the opposite end of the house stay at least ten degrees cooler than the living room. The first year we were here I literally destroyed a perfectly good Stihl chainsaw cutting firewood to get us through

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-18071120086585521232009-10-24T16:52:00.001-04:002009-10-24T20:47:41.812-04:00

I'd planned to buy a load of mulch Friday, to cover the muddy path that develops each winter between our front door and the wood shed, and another that forms between the back door and the collection of sheds behind the house. I found a good source of cheap mulch at a local lumber processing plant (I can't bring myself to call it a sawmill, it's too big), $30 per scoop. One scoop would easily

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-64173572803793454102009-10-21T20:04:00.001-04:002009-10-26T18:55:49.869-04:00

Goats are odd critters. Dangerous too. Our visiting goat has begun trying to establish dominance over us, not something we take lightly, being humans and all. Yesterday, Freddie started butting Diane and our son while they were in the pen. A bit of research confirmed our suspicions. This was indeed a dominance thing we needed to nip in the bud. According to several experts, the way to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-60942142292209994602009-10-17T18:47:00.002-04:002009-10-17T22:11:57.775-04:00

The weather around these parts cooled off faster than normal this year. Usually, after the major hot weather ends we have several weeks to leave the windows open after we've taken the air conditioners out. That helps to freshen the inside environment, blows out a bit of the dust, and makes for some great sleeping. This year that's not been the case. We got about a week, maybe two, before the

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-48783713230471011762009-10-10T18:55:00.008-04:002009-10-17T22:23:17.593-04:00

We ended up with about two pounds of mixed hot peppers from our garden. Despite our religious adherence to the "Green Bag" faith the peppers were about to go bad and we needed to use them now. We've already put up 6 or 8 pints of hot sauce, and we've still got several bags of dried pods from last season. Salsa is out of the question as our tomato season is effectively over, though we still get

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-74278670836661326272009-10-03T10:13:00.020-04:002009-10-10T18:57:19.428-04:00

Good morning, Human! I woke up late this morning....about 7am. The dogs had been having a fit for about 30 minutes so I decided to drag my sorry carcass out of bed to feed the varmints as usual. First come the cats: all twenty-some of them. I've lost count. New ones come and stay for a while, old ones leave and don't come back, some just hang around forever. One who has been here from the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14260008641264459294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-43669895386703613132009-10-02T07:25:00.000-04:002009-10-02T07:25:07.306-04:00

The mornings are getting cooler. We've stopped running the air conditioners now and the windows are up. It's downright cold in the house this morning. I enjoy this time of year, and its springtime equivalent, when we can hear the owls and other wildlife in the woods at night. There are a few negatives though; allergy season being the main drawback for me. It's never fun to be awakened an hour

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-30584945018244392292009-09-28T19:45:00.005-04:002009-10-02T07:26:08.463-04:00

I went through a period a few months ago where I made bread almost every day. My family loved me for it. There is nothing quite like the smell of bread baking. People wax nostalgic about a warm kitchen and their mom or grandma puttering around clanking spoons and banging bowls. It's a common scene, and a comforting one. I'm trying to create some of these memories for my family. Making bread

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14260008641264459294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-40413087041030642702009-09-23T20:25:00.003-04:002009-09-25T12:04:14.393-04:00

I've been shirking my duties here for a while now, much to the chagrin of my one or two faithful visitors. I've been working on getting my other blog up and running, and since I hope to eventually develop a more tangible piece of work from my writings and ravings my attention has naturally been focused there.Fear not faithful readers! Random Abstractions isn't a dead horse yet. I finally

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-59216782159747774312009-09-09T19:02:00.001-04:002009-09-09T19:04:39.522-04:00

From The Independent It has long been agreed that Africa was the sole cradle of human evolution. Then these bones were found in Georgia... By Steve Connor, Science Editor Wednesday, 9 September 2009 One of the skulls discovered in Georgia, which are believed to date back 1.8 million years The conventional view of human evolution and how early man colonised the world has been thrown into

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-75436814178115230202009-08-23T09:11:00.007-04:002009-08-23T19:59:02.460-04:00

Worked pretty hard at the old keyboard yesterday. I revised two previous essays, about 3000 words combined, for eventual re-publication on the new site, and hammered out roughly 4000 words that may evolve into three or four new essays.When I write, I get something akin to what what athletes call "a runner's high" and once I get hit my stride I've been known to go on composing free form prose

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-85755218945211209032009-08-22T18:30:00.002-04:002009-08-22T18:36:47.880-04:00

"Swamped in the manufactured spectacle, fear and distractions we call American culture, few among us notice what our nation has become -- a slickly packaged totalistic and authoritarian state of type new to history. That there has been any loss of self agency among the people is incomprehensible."Another gem from one of my favorite social commentors, Joe Bageant. As always, click on the quote to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-25929254327181778942009-08-17T19:50:00.002-04:002009-08-17T19:53:05.638-04:00

Got this in an email this afternoon.Stylish and trendy.It's what all the activists are wearing this summer.Get yours today!Click here to buy your Death Panel T-shirt today.

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-43498740195946815002009-08-15T13:58:00.002-04:002009-08-15T14:02:54.600-04:00

Found on the Internet (where else?) Unitarian JihadGreetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-71920821193141545282009-08-11T17:59:00.003-04:002009-08-11T19:09:57.798-04:00

I kept hearing a news report while I was at work today, stating that US worker productivity surged during the first quarter of the year and touting that statistic as a sign that things might be getting better. Better for whom, I wondered.Here's a little snippet I found at FXstreet.com after I got home:Non-farm productivity surged at a 6.4 percent annual rate, which marks the strongest quarterly

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-75630836786525050122009-07-30T19:36:00.002-04:002009-07-30T19:38:49.595-04:00

A new variety we tried this year.Hughes Yellow - Heirloom

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-18920490096836125762009-07-28T18:43:00.005-04:002009-07-28T18:52:53.402-04:00

Great post from Lloyd Kahn, author and publisher of such books as Shelter and Home Work, regarding grown bridges in India. I like this idea better than a built world. If you haven't seen Mr. Kahn's books, your ought to check them out. I own the two listed above and every time I pick one up I find something new.

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-6610626420577652872009-07-28T18:37:00.003-04:002009-07-28T18:53:20.707-04:00

It is utterly ridiculous that any adult cannot figure out the obvious inequity of this nation and American capitalism, where an elite one percent of the people grab 45% of the national pie. Such a conditioned stupidity and powerlessness makes you want to cry for your country.......(b)ut what if the profits were distributed more equally among full time American workers? What if that one percent of

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-33036892058238655002009-07-26T18:42:00.002-04:002009-07-26T18:46:10.106-04:00

A few pictures of what we've put up so far from the garden.

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-14634178162230147572009-07-25T23:14:00.002-04:002009-07-25T23:19:26.473-04:00

We got our DSL line connected this week and it came with a wireless modem.Earlier tonight my wife and I went out to dinner to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary next week.Then we came home and sat on the couch for several hours surfing the Internet on our laptops and occasionally sending each other instant messages.Ain't love and technology grand?This is absurd - I'm going to bed now.Bye

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-68011721317140974742009-07-24T22:18:00.003-04:002009-07-24T22:30:28.694-04:00

Wow! We just watched the International Space Station (ISS) fly over our house. My son is a big fan of the NASA space shuttle and the space station missions so we watch a lot of NASA TV at our house. Beats watching American Idol or some other brain rotting crap the networks shovel at us these days.There is a website we found, spaceweather.com where you can punch in your zip code and they'll tell

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-65884728640246181452009-07-18T09:28:00.001-04:002009-07-18T09:32:03.319-04:00

More wisdom this morning from the pen of Joe Bageant."Middle class also has implications of people's occupations, usually white collar occupations, though it also includes some of the ever thinning ranks of blue-collar workers. But this comes down to describing human beings solely in terms of their jobs in the capitalist labor marketplace, and assumptions about income and whether one takes their

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-9168114945290848272009-07-16T20:11:00.006-04:002009-07-17T17:32:19.002-04:00

Forty years ago today was just less than two weeks before my third birthday. I don't remember anything at all about those two weeks, but history was made during that time, and I'm told I watched it all take place.On the morning of July 16, 1969, three brave American astronauts set forth on the final leg of a journey over ten years in the making and made possible by the diligent work of thousands

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-33720848354374989892009-06-16T19:11:00.008-04:002009-06-16T19:21:02.593-04:00

So saith Jim Kunstler, and I fully agree."...It might have been nice if, say, in the late 20th century, some far-seeing governor had noticed what was going on in France, Germany, and Spain but, alas.... It would have been nice, too, if the doltish George W. Bush, when addressing extreme airport congestion in 2003, had considered serious upgrades in normal train service between the many US cities

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-81854620593879846262009-06-05T21:54:00.013-04:002009-06-16T19:21:49.884-04:00

I've been trying for almost a week to find the right words to express the rage I feel in response to the murder of Dr. George Tiller last Sunday morning in his church. Rage is no where near a strong enough word, but it's the best my feeble mind can come up with.How any person, or group of people can call themselves "Pro-Life" and in the same breath advocate, even celebrate the murder of another

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16126215637290919992009-05-29T23:10:00.005-04:002009-05-31T11:18:30.114-04:00

Been away from the old blog desk for a while now, working on a lot of different projects for the last few months, so this seems like a good time to post a general update.First, life on the farm, such as it is.The garden is going strong. Lots of beans, squash, okra and such planted and coming along well. I put in a few hills of sweet potatoes last weekend, and a few Irish potatoes in the plot

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-2894335277926940732009-05-25T07:53:00.003-04:002009-06-16T19:23:18.123-04:00

Here's another gem from one of my favorite writers, back-linked to his site of course.... This column originally appeared on the web site of the Australian Broadcasting Company.By Joe BageantWhen it comes to expressing plain truths, few are as gifted as American rednecks. During recent travels in the Appalachian communities of West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky I've collected scores

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-72376594694431481432009-05-16T22:15:00.004-04:002009-05-16T22:19:30.340-04:00

Here's a great article I found via my neighbor, Traci, in Knoxville. Follow the linked text to read the full story. It's well worth your time.Thanks Traci! Here's the modern environmentalist argument in sixty seconds: Since 1960, the world population has doubled, which means three billion more mouths for the planet to feed. To cater to all these needs, we're plundering the ocean, the soil, the

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16641596633767513942009-05-11T19:27:00.003-04:002009-05-11T19:35:14.437-04:00

The following is mirrored from Dissident Voice.---Ecosocialism: For a Society of Good Ancestors (Part Two) by Ian Angus / May 9th, 2009 Green ecocapitalists One of the greatest weaknesses of the mainstream environmental movement has been its failure or refusal to identify capitalism as the root problem. Indeed, many of the world’s Green Parties, including the one in Canada

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-8546754109346855702009-05-07T19:21:00.009-04:002009-05-07T19:37:31.253-04:00

One of my favorite subjects is anthropology and human origins and I recently found this fascinating article on the science blog at Wired.com. Another interesting article on this subject is linked to the image below.---Hobbits May Belong on New Branch of Our Family Tree By Brandon Keim, May 6, 2009Evidence continues to mount that Homo floresiensis, the controversial hominids better known as

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-23781291841789110742009-04-19T00:09:00.011-04:002009-04-19T09:57:59.654-04:00

This weekend the family and I paid a visit to one of my favorite places on the planet. Cullowhee, USA is the home of Western Carolina University, where I spent a few years a bit over two decades ago.My brother and his wife live about ten miles away from the campus now, so we had a nice visit with them, but the primary purpose of my little jaunt down memory lane was a campus open house my daughter

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-78144844166473657962009-04-16T21:01:00.007-04:002009-04-16T21:50:48.949-04:00

I've been trying for days to write a review for two books by W. Michael Gear that I just finished reading and I have never felt so totally inadequate to a writing task - I simply cannot do justice to this story.The Morning River and Coyote Summer must be read together and in sequence as they are one story which simply had to be published as two books. There is very little retelling of the first

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-60238700412118847262009-04-05T08:48:00.009-04:002009-04-19T09:47:33.352-04:00

My friend L.W. over in Knoxville posted a short article on her blog this week titled, Got Hope? regarding all the greed and poor behavior running rampant in the world today. She definitely hit a nerve with me as I regularly experience a lot of the same emotions she described.My wife and I have tried to raise our children to be conscious, compassionate, honest, and fair people, and I think that so

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-86360729177252737112009-04-05T08:18:00.005-04:002009-04-05T08:48:22.815-04:00

It's been a busy week here in my little corner of the world. I finally got my two truckloads of mulch delivered and over the past several days (mostly yesterday) I got about half of it spread on and around the garden.So far this year we've planted three grape vines and several apple, pecan, and paw paw trees around the property. I built a cold frame from salvaged materials last weekend and loaded

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-39818915665914984942009-03-21T09:35:00.005-04:002009-03-21T09:52:15.431-04:00

I can't believe it's over.The ending was perfect.I didn't see it coming.A new standard has been setfor cinematic storytelling.I can't stop thinking about it.Thank you, Ron Moore,Cast, and Crew.So Say We All!

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16883287012479004802009-03-19T19:18:00.006-04:002009-03-20T06:08:14.094-04:00

Spring is a very busy time for me, and this year is especially so - gardens to prepare and plant, firewood to put up for next year, lots of odds and ends put off during the cold winter months, and then there's adjusting to the new job too. All that leaves very little time for writing.I ran across a thought provoking article, penned by Jan Lundburg of Culture Change. Since I am unable to support

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-70936924544911855092009-03-17T20:25:00.005-04:002009-03-17T21:00:14.955-04:00

When I was a little boy, Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are was my favorite book. My mother probably got as sick of reading it to me as I am of watching Spongebob Squarepants now.I'm certain that back then we both had the entire book memorized. I loved that story so much that one of the first things I did after my first child was born, was go out and buy her a copy. I still have

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-60071457660589215712009-03-14T16:10:00.005-04:002009-03-14T17:28:52.061-04:00

*sigh*That pretty much sums it up for me today, another dreary, rainy Saturday. It's too cold and wet to get anything done outside.It would be a good day to write, but I've just not felt the inspiration this week.Rainy days are also good for reading, but I keep falling asleep today no matter what I pick up. I've only got three books, four magazines, and the entire Internet that I'm currently

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-66164692548191912222009-03-12T19:00:00.010-04:002009-03-13T06:10:19.057-04:00

Came home a bit early from work today, my last full day at Consolidated.I checked with the office manager earlier and they owe me almost ten hours of paid time off, so I decided to cut out a couple hours early and use the remainder tomorrow since all I plan to do Friday is turn in the company vehicle and equipment. The office manager informs me that I cannot use PTO/vacation time on my last day,

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-47045628202708341422009-03-09T19:46:00.005-04:002009-03-10T06:09:08.706-04:00

For those of you who have been following the ordeal of my life working for Consolidated Utility Services (there, I said their name, it's so freeing) over the last many weeks, here's a quick update.And if you don't care - humor me or move on.I submitted my resignation this morning, expecting to be immediately released - the usual reaction employers in my industry have to employees who might get "

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-78846222674699737012009-03-09T19:35:00.005-04:002009-03-09T20:24:39.461-04:00

Author Jim Kunstler posted his weekly column this morning and it's really must read material regarding the banking fiasco playing out currently on our national stage. Here's a brief excerpt, linked to the full article, and if you haven't yet read his most recent novel, World Made By Hand, what are you waiting for?Last week, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hauled Bank of America chief

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-91976436324500194212009-03-07T20:21:00.005-05:002009-03-11T06:21:02.424-04:00

The weather was beautiful today and I had every intention of getting much accomplished, but alas, it was not to be.Yesterday I accepted a job offer from a new company starting up here in my industry. I was supposed to take my drug test this morning, but after driving forty-five minutes to the facility, the place was closed for "staff development".Oh well, there's always Monday, right?I came back

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-45419471651845481002009-03-02T19:30:00.005-05:002009-03-03T06:26:26.614-05:00

I've been interested in installing a grey water system in my house for several years now, but I keep reading things that make it appear that what I want to do is illegal. My wife absolutely forbids me to move forward with this project until I have a definitive answer to that question. So far my research points toward a big gray area within my state's legal system.We have a wet weather pond at the

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-29753083387478834592009-03-02T17:04:00.005-05:002009-03-02T17:26:45.062-05:00

Bill McKibben is an American environmentalist and prolific writer who has authored several books about global warming, alternative energy, and the risks associated with human genetic engineering, among other subjects.Today, along with others including James Hansen, Wendell Berry and Gus Speth, Bill McKibben is participating in an act of civil disobedience to protest continued the burning of coal

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-2198288805916002812009-03-01T00:28:00.006-05:002009-03-01T12:57:29.128-05:00

Last weekend I joined an online community of people in my state studying and working toward transitioning our communities away from the unsustainable ways of our petroleum dependent society and toward a slower, more human centered way of life. What follows are some thoughts I posted to that group earlier this evening....I'm just getting started in studying the transition movement, or as I like to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-79247653865369554672009-02-16T18:45:00.004-05:002009-02-16T19:28:52.750-05:00

If I were a religious man, I'd consider myself truly blessed. Since I'm not, let's just say I'm extremely fortunate to have a wife of so many talents. She's a very crafty girl, and yesterday she added yet another item to her list of crafty accomplishments.The object pictured above is a home made cheese that Diane made yesterday. She tells me that we can't eat it for a few months yet because our

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-71538615338440390582009-02-15T16:09:00.008-05:002009-02-15T18:28:44.566-05:00

Last night I read the transcript of a talk given last Friday in San Francisco by Dmitry Orlov. The title of Mr. Orlov's speech was Social Collapse Best Practices. There were a lot of thought provoking ideas tossed out to the audience at this talk, but what struck me most was the contrast between the differences in how well prepared to handle economic turmoil the old Soviet Union was in comparison

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-52747216668932794832009-02-14T11:36:00.009-05:002009-02-14T17:17:06.657-05:00

Spring is on the way and soon it will be planting time again here in my little corner of the planet. We sent out our seed and plant orders earlier this week and I can't believe the amount of money we spent this year, but we've got big plans for the garden, plus expansion of the fruit trees and berry vines too. We ended up ordering from three different plant & seed suppliers. I read recently that

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-59836065835308166492009-02-08T08:58:00.004-05:002009-02-08T18:45:39.381-05:00

I've been reading Jan Lundberg's Culture Change posts for at least two years now, and hopefully coerced a few others to subscribe as well. All of the articles published on the Culture Change site are well written and thought provoking. While some readers may find the views and opinions espoused by Culture Change contributors to be a bit extreme, to paraphrase something I once heard the musician

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-55212727483904841242009-02-04T05:49:00.004-05:002009-02-04T06:10:32.037-05:00

It snowed last night, very lightly, for the second night in a row. During a snow event in my little corner of the world it becomes very quiet outside. It's an eerily beautiful silence that I can never absorb enough of before it ends, but last night something was different.There is a small, wet weather pond down at the road in front of our house and for the past several days and nights, the frogs

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-8577695787924391732009-01-28T09:00:00.001-05:002009-01-28T18:58:14.616-05:00

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James Howard KunstlerIn The Long Emergency, James Kunstler systematically and in great detail explains what the peak oil phenomenon is and why you and I and every other citizen of the United States, if not the world, should be very, very concerned about it.Briefly stated,

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-84968951138212917592009-01-25T09:00:00.003-05:002009-01-25T10:47:09.363-05:00

World Made By Hand, by James Howard KunstlerWorld Made By Hand is the first person narrative of Robert Earle, a former corporate executive turned carpenter, living in a small town in upstate New York a few years into the future and his telling of the events he has lived through from now until then. James Howard Kunstler weaves an interesting and believable tale of the world we may find ourselves

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-67421585420756042912009-01-24T13:41:00.005-05:002009-01-26T19:16:15.991-05:00

Reduce, Reuse, RecycleThat mantra gets repeated around my house often enough that you'd think it was our religion, and in a way that's not really too far from the truth. I absolutely hate to send anything that might be re-purposed into something useful here at the homestead to the landfill.For example, earlier this week we did away with the boxed springs under our mattress. My wife and I both

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-73760244973284261902009-01-20T17:05:00.013-05:002009-01-21T17:22:03.202-05:00

It snowed where I live today and a late start to the work day turned into a day off. I'm glad it worked out that way because I got to watch the historic inauguration of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America - a truly inspiring scene. If you missed President Obama's address you should take the time to catch it on a C-SPAN rebroadcast or look it up online and read it. Our

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16946727724597681892009-01-18T18:28:00.006-05:002009-01-19T17:25:27.539-05:00

This week, our nation will mark the eightieth anniversary of the birth of civil rights martyr, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.Dr. King was one of the greatest advocates of change through non-violent civil disobedience of the last century. A national holiday honoring King is celebrated the third Monday of each January, although his actual birthday falls on the 15th.Dr. King was a man, subject to the

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-84586673350565162962009-01-04T14:54:00.010-05:002009-01-06T06:17:00.233-05:00

The world is full of great music, but it's up to each individual to get out there and find it.Lately I've been taking in a lot of the world music programming on LinkTV and really enjoying it. I watched a documentary this morning about an Algerian born violinist, Gilles Apap who has been kicking open the doors of the over compartmentalized music world combining many different styles from genres as

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-32732434824370751682009-01-04T14:33:00.008-05:002009-10-31T22:21:50.064-04:00

Recently I've had a bit of trouble with my posts showing up as gibberish to some readers; I think I've discovered the problem. Blogger.com - the host of this space - only offers eight font choices to it's users. I know that sounds like plenty to most people, but I don't really care for any of them, especially when posting poetry or inspirational quotations. Maybe it's the unfulfilled artist

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-26205941042207069672008-12-27T13:58:00.012-05:002009-10-31T22:18:51.003-04:00

Madonna - Edvard Munch Wild and fearful in his cavern Hid the naked troglodyte, And the homeless nomad wandered Laying waste the fertile plain. Menacing with spear and arrow In the woods the hunter strayed ... Woe to all poor wreteches stranded On those cruel and hostile shores! From the peak of high Olympus Came the mother Ceres down, Seeeking in those savage regions Her lost daughter

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-72652464528145865302008-12-20T16:22:00.005-05:002008-12-21T16:21:23.487-05:00

Recently I ran across an article written by James Howard Kunstler, well known for both his fiction and non-fiction writing, and in this piece he pretty much nails what I'd like to say about our current economic situation here in the US (and the world in general).Rather than attempt to paraphrase Mr. Kunstler's ideas I've decided to reprint most of the article here. Unrestricted and incautious

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-34366713637341067272008-12-14T16:55:00.010-05:002009-03-02T09:14:46.360-05:00

I've not really been up to doing much writing lately. Call it writer's block, post-election burn out, or just plain laziness, but whatever the reason I just haven't been feeling the urge to stand on my soap box and bare my soul recently.I have been doing a good deal of reading though, and tonight I thought I'd take a minute to review one of the books I've been buried in. The Post-Petroleum

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-48200900123745611532008-12-08T20:54:00.001-05:002008-12-20T22:44:25.229-05:00

On December 8, 1980, a sick individual stalked and killed John Lennon outside his home in New York City. I was fourteen years old then and had only recently discovered The Beatles' music. Lennon was on the verge of restarting his music career after a long absence from the limelight.For many in my parents' generation, they will always remember where they were when the Kennedy brothers or Dr. King

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-52809120127371373002008-12-06T13:32:00.008-05:002008-12-08T18:40:04.893-05:00

I've had the house to myself for most of today and taken advantage of a rare bit of solitude to listen to some music - something I don't get to do nearly enough anymore.Those who know me well know that Led Zeppelin are and always will be my favorite recording artists. I'm very fond of their Presence album. While it was a commercial success at the time it was released, critics hated it: I think

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-79066151683521465822008-11-22T18:58:00.006-05:002008-11-22T20:08:27.658-05:00

Another week draws to a close here at Half Bubble Farm (everything we build here is at least half a bubble out of level or plumb) and as usual, we've been busy.First order of business: I finally produced a new painting (see image at top of this post), nothing fancy or too complicated, just playing around with color and gravity. I haven't given this piece a name yet, so call it what you like. 16"

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-18783183228637395532008-11-09T09:22:00.000-05:002008-11-09T09:25:46.714-05:00

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-27640476228218075292008-11-08T22:47:00.004-05:002008-11-08T23:18:03.480-05:00

I heard about a new innovation in solar energy technology earlier this week, and I'm really excited about it. A group led by MIT student's has developed a small, very powerful solar collector dish that can be built from readily available materials and is super efficient. It's a 12-foot-square mirrored dish capable of concentrating sunlight by a factor of 1,000 and built from simple, inexpensive

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-79287851914811161642008-11-07T21:43:00.008-05:002008-11-08T15:39:05.557-05:00

When I began writing this blog just over a year ago, it was my intention to develop this space into a collection of my thoughts and opinions on a wide variety of topics. The earliest posts were about my artwork. Later, I published a few pieces about things going on here at the homestead. Eventually I got caught up in the movement to elect Barack Obama to the White House. Now that we've succeeded

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-55287628488746153512008-11-05T05:48:00.004-05:002008-12-20T21:37:08.331-05:00

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-90980925771716687372008-11-03T18:21:00.009-05:002008-11-04T13:53:47.721-05:00

Monday, November 3, 2008: In just under 24 hours the polls will close here in North Carolina and I can't say I'll miss the campaigning we've all seen and, for some, participated in for the past two years. To be brutally honest, I am really burned out - and I haven't been nearly as active as a lot of people I know. I can only imagine the massive fatigue the candidates must be feeling about

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-8102319860366335712008-10-26T13:48:00.007-04:002008-11-01T09:38:59.128-04:00

Once again, today I find myself unable to stick to a single subject so instead, I offer you a small collection of links to what others have written and/or spoken in the past few weeks.First, there was an article published a couple of weeks back in the New York Times Magazine, titled Farmer In Chief. The author, Michael Pollan, makes a very good case for including sustainable agriculture as an

Thurmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-26963709071695477992008-10-18T10:10:00.003-04:002008-10-18T10:42:39.990-04:00

It's been a while since I posted an update from the homestead so here it is.The garden did fairly well this year, more tomatoes than last but fewer beans. I've still got a major weed problem since it requires almost daily vigilance during the busiest time of the year at my job. Our sweet potato crop was excellent this year. I planted less than twelve slips last spring and harvested well over a

Thurmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-28901230801112187392008-10-14T18:49:00.004-04:002008-10-15T06:11:10.803-04:00

It appears the seeds of hate that the Republican Party and it's media allies have been planting for many years are beginning to bear their rotten fruit.For as long as I can remember, the GOP has been painting progressive candidates and office holders in a less than honorable light: as traitors, terrorist sympathizers, or worse. The advent of conservative talk radio a few decades ago, and the more

Thurmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-11061514280172322402008-10-10T21:04:00.011-04:002008-10-11T16:38:45.992-04:00

These people at McCain/Palin rallies who keep threatening Barack Obama, calling him a terrorist and screaming calls to kill him belong in a prison cell. Tonight I finally saw John McCain begin to wake up and challenge the extremists. He even went so far as to tell them that they have nothing to fear from a President Obama. What the Hell took you so long Senator? Were you waiting for a shot to be

Thurmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-23223885498430715702008-09-27T18:58:00.008-04:002008-10-01T18:33:18.075-04:00

There has been a lot of interest in alternative energy in the United States recently, especially since petroleum prices began escalating a few years ago. The recent refinery interruptions along the Gulf Coast have only made us more aware that we definitely have a problem.Yesterday I received the October/November issue of Mother Earth News and found an interesting tidbit in one of the letters to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-16150166788984233932008-09-23T20:53:00.008-04:002008-09-28T13:30:09.339-04:00

I had decided a few days ago to try and steer this space away from political matters for awhile, if for no other reason than to give my head a rest. While I am passionate about some issues and hold dear my progressive values, I do not particularly enjoy politics. Unfortunately, the proverbial chickens are coming home to roost and we are all in for a terribly rude awakening some day very soon if

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-59232715658699259792008-09-21T21:40:00.008-04:002009-03-02T09:18:29.591-05:00

The following content is an email I received earlier tonight, reprinted here in it's entirety. My rebuttal follows.==============================This is historical fact, NOT someone's opinion ! Check it out, if you don't believe me. I was an adult when each one of these "incidents" happened. It bothers me that some people cannot see these "incidents" for what they are. Please pay attention to

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-1697654078087017122008-09-20T19:59:00.010-04:002008-11-17T18:22:50.883-05:00

The other day I had some spare time to kill and decided to indulge myself in a movie. I had recently recorded Mr. Deeds Goes To Town starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. I'm not usually a fan of the old films from my grandparents' era, but I've seen this title pop up from time to time for many years so I recorded it. I'm really glad I did.'Deeds' was released in 1936, while the US and most of

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-9223489495688357792008-09-14T11:06:00.004-04:002008-10-18T14:21:29.833-04:00

Perhaps the best known community organizer of all was Jesus of Nazareth. There is much debate about just who or what Jesus was, but it is generally accepted that he lived roughly 2000 years ago in Roman occupied Palestine and at the age of about thirty he began a short lived ministry that impacted the lives of millions in the world to this day. In researching the life and work of Jesus for this

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-88667302158401803932008-09-13T19:21:00.003-04:002008-10-19T16:35:21.142-04:00

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was perhaps the most influential community organizer of the twentieth century. The following text is paraphrased from an article at wikipedia and I strongly urge you to go there and read the full article about this great human being.Gandhi was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-11210286824574569422008-09-12T21:56:00.010-04:002008-10-19T16:37:22.382-04:00

Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a crucial role in the nineteenth century women's suffrage movement in the United States. She traveled widely in the United States and Europe, and gave 75 to 100 speeches per year on women's rights for forty-five years. Susan B. Anthony died 14 years, 5 months and five days before

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-20446116716805098522008-09-11T19:25:00.009-04:002008-09-13T20:11:23.641-04:00

César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993), born in Yuma, Arizona, was a Mexican-American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who helped establish the organization known today as the United Farm Workers. His work led to numerous improvements for union laborers and he is hailed as one of the greatest American civil rights leaders.Chávez was hired and trained by Fred

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-17611488940941408742008-09-07T19:02:00.004-04:002008-09-13T20:22:25.293-04:00

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American minister, activist, and prominent leader in the American civil rights movement of the 1960's. Dr. King's main legacy was to achieve civil rights progress in the United States.A Baptist preacher, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) and helped found the

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-51777237009079121062008-06-08T15:48:00.005-04:002008-10-18T14:37:10.671-04:00

It started with a slightly sunken area in one corner of the bedroom floor. A minor sub-floor repair that should take less than a day at most. As fate would have it, one day turned into a weekend and the job still isn't through.It seems the deeper we delved into the space under the house, the more rot we found, the more extensive the damage. We are now faced with replacing the sill and the joists

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387664518964104831.post-36300511124375902292008-05-24T14:02:00.004-04:002008-09-13T21:13:00.895-04:00

I support Senator Barack H. Obama for President of the United States of America.I have spent my entire adult life voting, and hoping, and waiting for someone to come along and get elected who will actually try to make the world a better place for my children and every time I've been sadly disappointed. Maybe this time will be the same, but my gut tells me that this man, only a few years older

Thurmannoreply@blogger.com0