today being jan. 7. it is the end of the week and a Saturday. gee i finally get to take a shower. well i have been sneaking them daily , just dont tell the pit police they might be wondering why i am not stinking yet. well tonight's theme is , might just let you guess what the common thread is to all this . although this might be something i want to do for next day, and just post pics for tomorrows story then you would have a chance to guess. who knows you might win  something like a carving or something like that.
       so tonight's theme is water , and not ice.  1sr pic is me redneck sledding with dogs. the flat bottom jon boats make excellent sleds a little lean and you steer. weight is spread out over surface. a wax job would have helped immensely. had a great time with my older dogs who passed and babe. me ,bud ,zoey ,and babe,  in boat.
      second pic is a fascinating lesson in how structurally strong the crystalline structure of ice is. all told i would estimate 4 gallons of water is holding up a 400 lb. log 6 inches off the ground. i placed the log there after it snowed and then it packed the snow underneath and then the meltdown happened .you can see in bottom pic how high the log is off the ground. so 32 lbs.of water (8 lbs/gal) is holding up 400 lbs of log. sand this is due the strength of the snow as it crystallizes and creates lenses meshing together with air space. and the wood also insulates the snow from exterior heat sources prolonging the melting process.
       and you ask what that has to do with tonight's discussion of water. not a darn thing but it was interesting to me. snow turns to water and it becomes runoff. that is the tie that binds . in ohio we receive approximately 40 inches of rain per year / sq. foot . will get some conversion figures to show exactly how much water that is but later on in discussion.
        we need to go back to louis bromfield and his ultimate claim and what it meant to agriculture. he said he could retain and store 90 per cent of the rain water to fall on his land. this would be a boom to soil conservation as rarely do you naturally achieve those results. he also claimed that by incorporating organics in to the soil he increased yields , reduced tillage , and in creased the healthy bacteria in soil. this was back in the 1940"s . he also claimed the springs on his property increased water flow by up to 300 percent.this was used for irrigation then. he allowed little water to leave his property . anyhow i would like to incorporate his ideas in our discussion from time to time.

       i was selling carvings along the road a couple of years ago and aiden my nephew decided ge wanted to go on a wagon ride with me and hurriedly threw on the clothes as evidenced by the suspenders on his diaper, and he did put his shoes on though, now if he could just get those feet on the right legs , he will be in business with his hat askew he came running out  to meet me with the tractor and wagon. i was lucky to get some candid pics of him and my carving . 

     next is a pic of some of the sunflowers i have raised over last couple of years . thinking of putting a field of them out and possibly selling my own brand of bird feed. i would just be so happy to see a field of them floating in the wind. my goal for farming next year is to again expand my herd size of cattle here on farm, and to grow oats , and raise sunflowers , as well as the  usual; make hay. planning on expanding the raspberry patch this year to double the size. a lot of this depends on how much outside help i can afford to hire to accomplish these tasks. it is winter now and the farm needs little. the cows are on auto pilot as  i give them large round bales and only see them once / day to give them some grain and to see that they have water. so i live the saying when the cows come home , i feed them. that's what happens. 

        today being thursday , jan 5. 2012, and all is well on farm. really dont think i am going to get the old tractor running but it does tell a tale her on the farm. my brother faw used that tractor and was having a time with the tractor. it was an extension for his manhood. the tractor reflected him as it was a brute, an old oliver 70 i think it was close to being a 1939 model . it had a single exhaust pipe when new but someone i am sure was concerned about upping the horsepower out of that old lincoln engine with a magneto. dual pipes were cut into hood to up horsepower. eventually we found a distributor on another oliver 70 and the other tractor had 38 inch wheels versus 40 inch wheels , so we kept the other tractor running and parked this one for parts. both were strong runners. never a mechanical problem , just brakes seemed to be biggest problem . and brakes is what got my brother faw into trouble. he had taken the tractor and went over the hill by himself and was pulling small trees with a chain, as we were clearing fields. 

        working by himself , he had backed up to a tree and got off after setting the brakes on the tractor. instead of shutting the tractor off and putting into gear to hold it on hillside. fortunately he had to get off the tractor from the rear as that probably saved his life as tractor was backed uphill . when breaks let loose my brother was bent over getting ready to grab chain when tractor took off on its own freewheeling straight down the hill and headed for the center of two large trees. faw chased after tractor as  it headed for the split of those two trees, the nose of the tractor rammed right between the trees and rear wheels caught on the two trees, and the resulting sudden snap, sheared the front wheels off the tractor and they slammed into opposite bank. no one was hurt but i think after seeing my brother and surveying the damage , i would say we all should be thankful.  well we found another front end and jacked up the tractor and replaced the front end and here it still is wedged between the trees . kind of ironic that the tractor would eventually become part of the tree that once wounded it and where was its wound but the very place the tree had its arms embracing and that was its front wheels.

     maybe someday i will do another elephant . maybe i will keep the next one. the black walnut wood makes a beautiful elephant as you let it set in sun and greys out . the wood lightens in color thatis natural finish. main reason i havent done any elephants ids i havent any logs that are walnut as i have used them all up . i will not cut anything down to just carve. goes against my better nature . most f the wood i have got is from where people have already cut a tree down for other purposes. or it has fallen due to weather. dont like to work on stumps either . wouldprefer to take a log home and then carve and bring back and place on stump. works the same if not better. easier for me to carve and cheaper . and carving will last longer if not attached to stump. stops the moisture transfer. have a good one

      today being the 4th. and really would like to have direction as to the course i should take. well will start with my choice of pics from my archives.
     first pic is of obama the bull , born on election day as obama was winning the presidency. the young bull was black and having  being born on election day it was only natural i call him obama . he has been a good bull, pretty mid tempered. likes to show his butt on occasion, but is strong and powerful at he feed pans. lounging through his grain with the ease and assurance that he was going to eat it all, and he does. hardly ever tries the fence . but i never turn my back on him though or any bull in his position as they shouldn't be trusted. he works well as team member carefully gleaning the grass down here on the old farm , and this helps with the upkeep of the property.but i guess besides the obvious breeding potential of obama , is his ability to give me ample amounts of bs . he is a eating machine, consuming mass amounts of green material and synthesizing bs . when his bs is composted , it makes a very sunbstantial soil additive. returning to earth the fruits of his labor, completing the circle of life. i will give you another 4 years obama, things are a happening.
      the lower pic is of a couple of turtles who have a way of catching my attention when i am looking through my pics.  these are examples of earlier turtles i did . had trouble finding marbles for the eyes of my animals. and it was also that i had to carve because that was all the money i had coming in. my back was killing me and i had to push out the carvings. now life is somewhat easier, and i have learned to appreciate my art more. and in fact finished the rooster today. . have it hung on wall and i also changed its leg length and some other minor changes. will look at it a few days and let it dry and pick up more canvasses tomorrow. just trying to work fast but accurately. will also try to get some other projects done i have had on back burner. will wait till the weather warms some and try to get to outside projects i have going on.
     well with obamas bs , what i hope to achieve is to return it to the farms soil  and increase the organic content of the soil and increase the water holding capacity of the soil. by holding more water in soil you can effectively limit runoff.  louis bromfield wrote of this in his book , 'malabar farm' , and actually purchased a farm in mansfield ohio, area during the 1940's era, and incorporated his ideas into his agricultural practices on his farm. he wrote of his field trials , comparing European agricultural methods with american methods and making some suggestions to farmers to help them through the dust bowl era. his farm was a showcase for the hollywood elite who visited and were wined and dined and then handed a pitchfork. humphrey bogart and lauren bacall were married there and spent their honeymoon at the bromfield mansion. Malabar Farm State Park: Ohio State Parks - Home Of Novelist Louis ... , if you want more information or to read his books then check out the link to the state park information. although there have been significant changes to agriculture since his time. i still think some of his theories pass the tests of our ongoing organic movement as well as the buy local produce. he had a roadside stand where they used to sell vegetables in spring fed troughs to keep the vegetables like lettuce fresh. cooling them and washing minutes after picking. his farm was a bit of a fantasy but was unique and a good visit.
 

    today being the third of january was also a day for learning. been wanting a good rooster pic for my house so i figured i would make my own. been wanting this for awhile and today took the plunge. i did it the way i do a lot of my carvings , and did it my way. i am sure a professional painter might have other ideas about how to go about it. been painting all my sculptures for years now with artist oils . mixing colors and blending so had a pretty good idea , just needed to get it done. and i moved along real well. and the picture looks surreal to me. it is not finished and will let you see finished product when done.
    i can imagine myself to be a brain surgeon when carving with a chainsaw. talk about surreal . after all we both take power tools to work on cranium , neither of us have a foggy idea of what we are going to find, but unlike the surgeon, i dont have to worry about malpractice, and most of my patients usually live if not they are cremated , and you get a certain warmth in your soul knowing it kept you warm at least. i am also a dentist at times using a chainsaw to carve teeth, as well as being an optometrist working on eyes with my drill.i can be a plastic surrgeon taking a little extra baggage off the buttocks is no big deal. a tuck , or breast enlargement are within the bounds of my work. an imagination is a terrible thing to waste , and i think sometimes that is why we encounter alzheimers more frequently. we allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep with tvs doing our thinking for us. we let technology do what we used to do, only we did it the hard way.
     computers , smartphones , and technology in general are taking over our minds drawing out the necessary parts they need . they keep our phone numbers and addresses all straight. pay our bills , allow us to go shopping and at this point need to inject a relevant joke about technology i heard once.
     seems as if there was this guy who had to go to bathroom rather bad and someone was using mens bathroom and attendant said he could use the womens bathroom . well he needed to . time was of the essence. and he needed to go now. as he rushed to the bathroom the attendant yelled what ever you do "dont push the red button."
         well when he got in the stall he could see it was modern just 3 buttons on wall. no toilet paper , no flush handle , just a silver panel and 3 buttons. and of course the bowl. well he pushes the first yellow button and all of a sudden out of the wall comes to arms that pick him up strips his pants down and sets him bare butt on the toilet in one sweep and arms return to the wall.
    he sets there and thinks to himself , hey this isnt to bad, let me see what the blue one does. so after he finishes his business he pushes the blue button, and out of the wall comes the same 2 arms and pick him up and wipes his butt, and sets him down again. he says this is cool and i wonder what the red button is for?
curiosity got the best of him as he sat there wondering what it was that that button did. and finally he pushes it and the lights dim and he wakes up in hospital the next day , and in his room is the attendant at the bathroom and he had a bag in his hand . he looks at the guy and shakes his head unapprovingly side to side  and says " i told you not to push the red button guy"
    and the guy says "why not"
   the attendant comes at him offering him the bag , and says" well that red button was the kotex remover , and here are your balls. wonder what they will think of next.

      today being jan. 2 , wasn't a bad day. finally returned to some winter. would hate to get it all in march when i want to warm up. i am not to old to learn but can see why learning is a two edged sword. sometimes you find out things better left unknown.
     diarrhea apparently can be transferred to exterior surfaces from the act of flushing toilets. apparently you are now supposed to not only put down the seat of toilet for women but now they want us men to go one step further and put down the lid before flushing. apparently some germophobs took cultures  before taking an especially runny dump and , since they had so much and apparently a faucet to turn on and off the diarrhea at moments notice and  be able to determine if seat up , vs. seat down works best at giving good cultures. anyhow the toilet police have determined that you should always put seat down now as it does lessen chance. oh yeah, and wash hands. thank you toilet police for the update.
    next thing i need to talk about also concerns first thing in a way. anyhow it was a yahoo news article as was the first one, but anyhow it said humans eat a ton of food per person . unbelievable. i did some quick calculating and figured that was 5.7 lbs . of food / day. and of course we Americans have the highest amount of food / person of all nations. Americans according to this author were hogs. imagine eating the equivalent of a bag of sugar/ day. this is needed to achieve the results he suggested. well garbage in garbage out , that means we in effect do the other thing in appropriate amounts also. otherwise we would blow up and bust. and i don't know about you but i hate when that happens. well with out going into details , part of his article was seriously flawed. he says we drink 53 gallons of pop , 8 gallons or something like that of coffee. water weighs 8 lbs.per gallon and is zero calories if it is pure. pop has a lot of calories but the water in it has none and no nutritional value. as well most vegetables are 90 per cent water as well as alot of fruits and meat has water in it. so if you took all the water out of everything, you have maybe 500 lbs of protein and sugars, a more representative amount. sounded like the north Korea hunger propaganda task force sent that article out shaming us for being born in the right place and time. attempting to make life easier for the toilet police, who could stand to see less of us.
     well first pic is of cecil and orphy. cecil is the one with movable arms and is one of the starving farmers i have mentioned. he was originally supposed to be carved like new England weather vanes , with opposing hands that would spin in the wind on top of barns peak. well after i carved the arms out and fitted to the statue i knew there was no way i could let his arms spin freely as one might come off and whack someone or bust something up . it would whack you real good. so next option was to just let them hang at his side. my sister charly bought him before i finished him and it took me awhile but finally finished him along with orphy , the one with fixed arms. orphy was carved for a friend of mine in new york and i delivered him by train . had to pack him into carry on baggage and then i checked him into baggage compartment. when i got to Schenectady , i got off train but orphy didn't , and went on to next stop but amtrak officials were able to locate him and put him on next train back and i was able to round him up before i was picked up at train station. he happily resides at amsterdam ,new york, now.

   new years day 2012- and i am late to post again. still trying to find out the ins and outs of blogging process. and i am sure a few of you would like me to use capitals once in awhile. i read somewhere how it is important as a good blogger to always be pointedly correct as i think they called it, i just call it anal about rules. i quit playing that game and i am making up my own game and i call it simplicity. just think how much more simple life is without worrying about capitals. seems even spell check has times when it corrects a word and inserts the capital. in this case it is easier to just let spell check have its way. now for all you people out there that insist on capitals . imagine them. the reason i do without capitals is because i have a disability when it comes to capitals. my fingers are to big and my hands as well and i type with 2 fingers hunting and pecking my way across keyboard. i cant remember letter placement and have to look at keys and occasional the  screen. i am fairly proficient at this and can type quite a few words allowing my mind and hands to formulate together a coherent piece of work. throw in capitals and i wear out the backspace key. i felt i needed to let you unfortunate readers i have already allowed for something you can complain about. so nail me about my poor grammar, and lack of capitals. i am more interested in telling a story. oh yeah happy new years again.
     the first pic is a view out our farm lane. that is an Indian totem , with a snake wrapping around the base , an eagle on one side, a tee pee, a crescent moon, all symbolic of Indian culture.feathers and whole sculpture 99 percent done w/ chainsaw. in effect still working on it. was letting the wood bleach out as it is black walnut.
     the second pic is an imaginary fish. or is it. the sea is offering wonders all the time. one place where you can draw any type of fish or creature and inevitably it seems as if someone takes a pic of it. they are still trying to understand that world. a precious commodity to be cherished. the fish is swimming through a sea of sunflowers i planted a couple of years ago. eye candy for passing tourists.