Thursday, July 31, 2014

totem in progress

My Newest Project
the boss Babe overseeing operations 

       Always kinda excited about starting a new carving when I finally have it figured out in my head how it is all going to go. Well I would like to think I have it all worked out but sometimes it doesn’t always go according to plan. Knots in unexpected places proportions out of bounds, bad spots in the wood, and mechanical failure are all factors as well as my physical condition affect my input into what I think the project should look like. Yesterday I started a totem in a log I have been saving for a client that was salvaged from downed wood  from the Mineral City tornado. A piece of white pine approximately 12 feet in length and 2 feet in diameter will be used for the totem.
the log after just starting 


      My plan is to carve it in the Alaskan tradition. Totems were used as guideposts and marked territory’s, as well as provided information to fellow native tribesman as to what conditions one could expect as they travel through the territory. They would use eagles, fish, and bears, which will make up the first three heads displayed on the totem I am creating. The eagle will have traditional wings carved in the Alaskan tradition at the top of the totem. At the bottom of the totem I plan on including a human face, of course all of this in my style as I am neither Alaskan or a clever hoax and instead wish to honor their style and try my hand at a totem.

 the eagle head after first tank of gas 

starting the eagle 

      This is being done for a friend of mine with a good forgiving heart and has waited for years patiently for a payment in gratitude for what I owed in a moment of my weakness, and desperation. He came through and helped me and I never repaid him till now. He deserves this and a whole lot more, but this is all he ever asked for and even offered to pay me for it. Money is out of the question as I need to pay my debts to him and all I have wronged by my actions. I just hope this in some way makes amends for what I have failed to do when people have helped me.

eagle with fish in talons with no wings 

      I will not go cheap and give him less than I am capable of as I don’t work that way. All my carvings deserve and receive the best attention I am able to give them or I never get rid of them. Anyhow I plan on taking you on this ride with me and the carving. Over the next couple of weeks will cover from start to finish my version of an Alaskan totem. More on the process and what I am thinking will be explained to you as I am going along on the carving. Due to the height of the project, most of it will be carved on its side as it is over 12 feet in height.

bear 

     At this stage it i hard to distinguish to much and for your information the pictures are in order so that you may more easily follow me along as i carve the totem . thanks for your interest and hope you enjoy. 

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

and you thought you knew the wizard

More Wizard of Oz Stuff

    I found this and decided to share this with you. As to whether it is true I don’t know but I am sure Frank Baum would know . But it does make one think they may be on to something. Enough to change my impression of the classic and make me think it is the public that has been duped for years. You decide .  There was no author to support these views, so I thought I would share and give the credit to unknown.



·         
·         
·         
·        The Real Meaning Of "The Wizard of Oz"

"The Wizard of Oz," written by L. Frank Baum, is not a mere child's story.

What is "Oz" a symbol for? Ounces. What is measured in ounces? Gold. What is
the yellow brick road? Bricks or ingot bars of gold.
The character known as the Straw Man represents that fictitious, ALL CAPS, legal
fiction - a PERSON, the Federal U.S. Government created
with the same spelling as your birth name. Remember what the Straw Man wanted
from the Wizard of Oz? A Brain! No juristic person - legal
fiction - paper corporation has a brain because he/she has no breath of life.
What did he get in place of a brain? A certificate: a Birth Certificate for a
new legal creation. He was proud of his new legal status, plus all the other
legalisms he was granted. Now he becomes the epitome of the brainless sack of
straw who was given a certificate in place of a grain of common sense.

Now, what about the Tin Man? Does Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) recall
anything to mind? The poor TIN Man just stood there mindlessly doing his work
until his body literally froze up and stopped functioning. He worked himself to
death because he had neither heart nor soul. He's the heartless and emotionless
creature robotically carrying out his daily task as though he were already dead.
He's the ox pulling the plow and the mule toiling under the yoke. These days,
his task masters just oil him nightly with beer and place him in front of a
hypnotic television until his very existence no longer has any meaning or value.
His masters keep him cold on the outside and heartless on the inside in order to
control any emotion or feeling that might arise.

The Cowardly Lion was always too frightened to stand up for himself. Of
course, he was a bully and a big mouth when it came to picking on those smaller
than he. (Have you ever noticed how bullies are really the biggest cowards?
They act as though they have great courage, but, in reality, have none at all.
They roar, but with no teeth of authority to back them up.) When push came to
shove, the Cowardly Lion always buckled under and whimpered when anyone of any
size or stature challenged him. He wanted courage from the Grand Wizard, so he
was awarded a medal of "official" recognition. Now, although remaining a coward,
his official status allowed him to be a bully, but with officially recognized
authority. (He's not unlike the Attorneys who hide behind the Middle Courts of
the Temple Bar.) et al ad infinitum.

What about the trip through the field of poppies? Did you notice how this had
no narcotic effect on the Straw Man (no brain) or the Tin Man (no heart or
soul)? They weren't real people, so drugs could not influence them. The Wizard
of Oz was written at the turn of the century, so how could the author have known
America was going to be drugged? The Crown has been playing the drug cartel game
for centuries. Just look up the history of Hong Kong and the Opium Wars. The
Crown already had valuable experience conquering all of China with drugs, so why
not the rest of the world? What was the Emerald City? The Federal Reserve
System.

Who finally exposed the Wizard for what he really was? Toto, the ugly (or
cute, depending on your perspective) and somewhat annoying little dog. Toto
means "in total, all together; Latin in toto." What was it that the witch wanted
after she alleged that the little dog had bitten her? TOTO. ... everything.
Notice how Toto was not scared of the Great Wizard's theatrics, yet he was so
small in size, compared to the Wizard, that no one seemed to notice him? The
smoke, flames and holographic images of Oz were designed to frighten people into
doing as the Great Wizard commanded. Toto simply padded over, looked behind the
curtain (the COURT, etc.), saw it was a scam, started barking until others paid
attention to him and came to see what all the barking was about. Who was behind
the curtain? Just an ORDINARY PERSON controlling the levers that created the
illusion of the Great Wizard's power and authority. When Toto pulled back the
curtain and completely exposed him, the charade
was at an end. (The veil hiding the corporate legal fiction and its false
courts was removed.) The Wizard's game was UP. What was he after all? .... a
con-man. A FRAUD.

We can see, in this tale, just how loud the bark from a little dog can be. How
bout YOUR bark? How big is it? Most of us remain silent and wait to be given
whatever food and recognition, if any, by our legal master. Let us not forget
those pesky flying monkeys. What perfect mythical creatures to represent the Bar
Association Attorneys who attack and control the little people for the Great
Crown Wizard, the powerful and grand Bankers of Oz: GOLD! How, finally, was the
evil witch destroyed? .... pure, clean water LIQUIDATION! How, at last, did
Dorothy get home? She simply clicked her heels. She always had the power, and SO
DO WE! What would it take to expose the Wizard for what he is, tearing away his
veils? We each need only a brain, a heart and soul --- and COURAGE. Then, and
perhaps of the greatest
importance, we need to learn HOW to WORK TOGETHER. Only "in TOTO," WORKING
TOGETHER as ONE Body of the King of Kings, (whatever name or form that may take
for each of us), can we have the freedom given to us.
Thought this would be refreshing in light of this continual topic and need for
resolution.

ADDITION (bwh)

Also, note that Dorothy did not have a mother or father reference... i.e. no sense of who she was or from where her direct heritage came. In this case, Dorothy's legal guardian was obscurely named Aunt "Em" or "M" for money. That means that money was her "legal tender." Get the double meaning? Even James Bond has to answer to "M." And, who is "M's" secret-ary? Miss Moneypenny. And speaking of money, "tin" was a term for valueless coins back in the day. So, "Tinman" had more than one meaning as the value of our money was degenerating once the Fed came along and produced coins with little or no gold or silver in them and nothing with "witch" to back them.

Let's also not forget that the Wicked Witch of the "West" represented the bankers of the New World (America) who would control its resources and people legally (flying monkeys) and psychotropically (poppies). Dorothy's house (equity) landed upon and killed the Witch of the "East," representing a false sense of security that people from Europe felt when they trekked to the New World. Note how the "little people" began singing Dorothy's praises when she accidentally killed one of the "banking" witches. But, wait. This Witch was from the East, the Old World. So, again a reminder of their false sense of security through song.

Though, to her benefit, what often protected Dorothy throughout her journey was the ruby slippers, which were previously in the possession of the late Witch of the East. In Baum's original story written at the turn of the century, Dorothy's shoes were silver. In other words, she was backed by silver and, therefore, protected against anything that might come her way. The shoes always kept their value and strength even against a scary new banker (or witch in this case). Interestingly, the movie was made just shortly after the Great Depression, which included the government's vicious "gold grab" on behalf of the bankers and wall street.

Further, what was it that awakened the "organics" (Dorothy, the Lion and Toto) in the poppy field? Glenda, the (supposed) good witch covered them in snow. Snow? Nah! It was cocaine (actually a legal stimulant at the time and in Coke, of course), which worked against the effects of the poppy-based opium. Therefore, Glenda is also a ruse of so-called benevolence regardless of the legality of cocaine at the time (we've seen its effects today).

And, notice at the end of the film, this "good" witch knew the secret that would get Dorothy home all along, but didn't tell her right away. What a bitch! Perhaps, this was Glenda's way of having Dorothy learn her own lesson. But, as stated previously, the prizes given by the newly humbled wizard were themselves ruses... ersatz representations of cures and freedoms. So, this journey, or lesson, was ultimately futile.

At the end, the wizard, once he is forced to admit his trickery and subsequently provides his empty gifts, he is not even "charged" by "the people" of the land. He is forgiven and let go to fly away (escape) in a balloon of all things. My guess is that, no matter how often "we the people" maintain vigilance to uproot these banking night crawlers, the message here is that, because of our naiveté, one of them always gets away to start the vicious financial cycle all over again in some New World.

At the end, Dorothy discovers that it was all a dream, "witch" means that whatever lesson she learned she did so while asleep.

And now, here's the really, really big one that might be difficult even for those who already acknowledge the financial subtext of the story to digest. "Hollywood" was created and commissioned by the Illuminati for the purposes of social engineering and mass thought control. Knowing this, note that the desired look and effect that the filmmakers chose for the wizard to use in order to intimidate and scare "the people" into submission was, in fact, quite...

REPTILIAN.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

whats up on the farm

How things are going on the farm.

pondering mid summer?

      The weather has been a big factor this year in how the farm is doing. We have had considerably more precipitation at higher intervals to prevent one from making hay. I am still on my first cutting and have lost a considerable amount of hay due to spoilage. But all is not lost permanently as I still removed the hay and added it to my mulch pile I was trying to make to finish the decomposition process. The old adage when they give you lemons make lemonade applies here. My decision to get rid of the cows I believe is now wiser than it was before. Hay was their most needed component to keeping them, and with this weather I wouldn’t have been able to keep them anyhow having lost half my hay due to bad weather and it  would have forced my hand to do again eventually what I had to do. In the end my primary goal for keeping the cattle was to make compost and in effect I am still doing that without the cattle.


      Some of the topsoil I have added my compost to has performed exceedingly well, and as well the manufactured potting soil seemed to have done well also. In some cases when left alone for a while weeds flourish greatly in my topsoil and show all the characteristics of being fed way to well. Thick heavy foliage abounds. When applied to a yard, will yield a starts of new grass in three days or less, and complete coverage in a couple of weeks. This indicates a soil that is well fertilized with enough organic material to encourage seed growth. I have plans of bagging my own potting soil as well as having bulk screened topsoil available. This may happen before fall, for fall seeding. If you are interested in either the potting soil or the topsoil just call and let me know.
     The bees in both hives seem to have settled in well with a flurry of activity and occasional bee beards growing on the hives as the activity in the hives  are speeding up due to increased numbers of bees and honey being made and a need to cool off the hive. I try to leave them alone but soon I need to enter both hives and see how well they are doing and judge the need to add more storage space for honey production. The buckwheat I planted served its purpose by providing ample flowering in its seed production. Multiple flowers on different areas of the buckwheat allowed the bees to forage on pollen created of which I observed multiple bees taking back to the hives. Overall I have noticed an increase in the number of bees here in the valley in different areas; I owe this to the hives I have placed there as well to the numerous wild flowers and berries in various stages of bloom.



    We have done well in again having a bountiful raspberry crop with huge raspberries. I need to expand these berry patches as they seem to do well without much interference from me except managing them to produce better. As well I have started a new campaign to plant a tree a day for the rest of my life here on the farm. It seems like a lot but in reality, but  if I live another 20 years it would only amount to about 7200 trees give or take a few hundred.  In the end this will more than make up for all the trees harvested in my name for different purposes like napkins paper plates , lumber to house myself , and toilet paper , making me truly a green person. I am lucky as the farm could easily absorb that many trees and many thousand more without yelling ouch. Yet this will only be a fraction of the trees harvested here over the years for a variety of different purposes,( coal, farming , heating etc.).

      Anyhow this is kind of where I am at as I reach a mid-summer reflection of events here on the farm. I am hoping to yet harvest more hay and sell some more trees as well.  I have done limited work on the cabin I was going to build here but plan on doing more with the remainder of my summer as well enjoy what time we have left before the weather begins to turn colder.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

everything is a little whacky around here


Whackers has finally hatched her brood. 


My back door step 

      Whackers has finally hatched out four baby ducklings with a faint resemblance to Greeny my six dollar male drake as  i believe he is called . I hate to jinx poor whackers but we have been at this crossroads before. I wish her the best because if determination is a trait that is favorable i know she will eventually get it right. the chances of her having any ducks make it to adulthood is nil so far after about six hatchings she has went through .
       For the last 3 weeks she has been parked by my doorstep as i guess it is the safest place on the farm . Her first nest had the eggs pillaged this year already then she layed 20 more in the nest beside my house and hatched out four ducklings.
     A little while ago she announced she was ready to leave the nest and brought her brood out for me to view before taking off for the pond. She tired me out with her sitting on the nest and her determination to start her motherly duties of teaching her young how to survive. Since i received the ducks she is the last surviving duck and is about four years old i would guess , having hatched out twice a year for all those years and still no surviving offspring.
     Contentedly she sat in peace watching my comings and goings only t sneak off the nest to grab a bite drink a little water i provide along with some birdseed. then back on the nest giving these eggs had every chance to hatch if they were going to. She was determined and it payed off so far and i have a good feeling she will have success this time. Nature has a way of proving me wrong, and i hope it doesn't this time as she is one animal i admire greatly as she deserves living more than i do at times.
     She is the essence of life and how truly marvelous it is when it comes to lesser animals , as we take for granted how being human is a comparative  easy ride because of our intelligence as compared to the average duck. i could hardly imagine a woman sitting on a nest for three weeks eating hardly anything preening her feathers and making a nest with the fear that at anytime something will raid the nest and steal your existence without you being able to do anything about it. Let alone have a male counterpart who swims around lazily in the pond awaiting the return of his mate with her new brood. the whole process of reproduction and survival of animals is something to observe especially when it is placed at your doorstep.
      I have done what i can and i don't think it is natures way to interfere in the survival of animals unless it is a protected species. We need the biological diversity that nature has provided us with to perpetuate our future offspring in a natural way. As humans we interfere to much and are usually the root cause of most of the problems with the  biological nightmares we have created since technology has improved creating more opportunities to destroy our environment in new ways. we need to adopt a if it isn't broke don't fix it attitude  with some animals.
      Well i wish her the best and hope she is finally able to grow her young into adulthood. She deserves it and i know it wont satisfy her as she will be back next spring trying again. If they survive i will provide an update otherwise i will just hope that someday her dreams come true she deserves it .
       





Whackers with her brood posing before making the trek to the pond. 

Friday, July 25, 2014

took a break for a few days

Hey!!!! Im back 


           Above is a pic of the Ohio river at Sistersville Ohio which is where you end up when taking st. rt. 800 south to the river, they have a ferry there and for 4 dollars  you can load your vehicle onto the ferry and cross over into West Virginia. it is a really nice ride and very scenic. I recommend to anyone wanting to head out for a drive to nowhere in particular. 


     This is a picture of some work that Yockey Farms was doing as we install no maintenance rock mulch and move this rather large red bud tree accidentally planted in wrong place( they needed a place to heel in the tree or keep it over till they found a permanent planting spot. Well the problem with all that is sometimes you never get back and after awhile the tree grows. This is what happened and this was the most demanding aspect of our job here as it was quite a job just to get the tree dug out. I then had to move the tractor in to eventually give me enough power to move the balled tree. We moved it a total of about 10 feet. but with a tree this size, it may as we;ll have been 50 feet. Please dont call and ask me to do this again. I would rather sell you a tree. 

  picture of john helping dig out the tree. 




finished tree placement
        Well i am giving up carving at local events and will just carve at home. i am doing this as i renew my focus on my priorities as i try and reinvent myself again. seems like life is always changing . Goals are met and new ones are set, or possibly things are not working out the way you want , and try as hard as you might you give some things up. We are always changing. and when i grow up i will have to tell you just what it is i think i want to be. But i hope that isn't for awhile. I like keep my mind open to any possibility.
       Well will try and make a better effort to get back on track with my writing. please excuse my periods of enlightenment as I call it. Thanks for reading.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Covered Bridges of Ohio- a few of my favorite things.

Covered bridges of Ohio


South of Lancaster ,Ohio. actual buckeye in bloom. 

Newton Falls I believe


Holmes County 

 Shortest bridge in Ohio outside of Lisbon, Ohio. 


 Although this is not a covered bridge shot, the painted water below this bridge was to beautiful too pass taking a picture of , the last three shots are of the same derelict bridge outside of Lisbon, Ohio. I found by accident. 



Tuesday, July 1, 2014

free bear finally done

Free bear finally finished


     Well i finally finished the free bear i offered as a door prize to someone if they attended my open house . that took me awhile but have finally finished it. I cant say who won it because she is a minor, and I don't think it is right to use young adults for advertising purposes. Still  that doesn't stop me from using the bear's image as that is a product of my imagination. Hopefully this young person will enjoy this free gift from Yockey Greenhouse and will return in the spring again for many years.