Different Pumpkin Fields - One Year Appart

Pumpkin Patch - Indiana - Hubers - 2010
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Pumpkin Patch - Kentucky - Gallrein 2011

Got Some Air

We went on vacation to the Blueridge Mountains in Virginia near the Mountain Lake Biological Research Station. Got some air.

Urban Burley

Got my tobacco crop from field to barn today. Such as that is in the big city. My thanks to the Bullitt County support team that made this urban tobacco operation functional. Next stop...2012 State Fair.

Vine Hidey Spot

Using drift wood from the Falls of the Ohio I made a vine structure for Ruby to hide out in. The top picture was back in March. The second picture is how it looks at the end of July. There are three different vines planted on it. Hyacinth bean, moonflower and lufa gourd. The lufa is definitely the most aggressive. I also have a few okra plants growing in the circles at the base and some peppers in pots. The bottom picture if a similar structure (and an older one) that Nathan and Otis made over at Aleve's house. This one is two years old now and it's beautiful.

Apples to Apples - Garden Over a Season

Here's two views of my new growing beds. The top picture in each pair was just after I put in the boxes at the end of February. The bottom picture in each pair was taken at the end of July. About five months apart. I've already had several crops out of the raised beds and have just planted cow peas and pole variety of red speckled lima. I'm hoping it climbs up the trellis I made from some salvaged wrought iron porch supports. Oh how I love scrounging in alleys.

Birthday Hideout

• Nine bales of straw
• Seven balloons
  
• Three bamboo poles
• Two bed spreads
• String
• One three year old girl
• One five year old friend
• Me
  

Caterpillar Cake Walk

For her birthday Ruby requested a "blue cake" and this is what that po gal ended up with. A caterpillar cake that Erin made and I helped decorate. Complete with caterpillar frass coming out the sound end of this north bound caterpillar. I gotta tell ya...frass goes over big with young uns. I think we're going to figure out a way to include frass in some upcoming cakes.

Morning Pool Party

This little puddle of a pool is a big splash with Ruby. This morning she brought her horses into the pool to clean them. Libby, Kiki, Pullman and Man-O-War. It's been a polite kind of summer and everything is growing lush.

A Fairy Moved Into the Mulberry Tree

A fairy recently moved into a cavity at the base of the mulberry tree. Just in time for Ruby's third birthday. She'll be excited to see that she has a playmate that is smaller than she is. She doesn't know this yet. We'll let her discover it for herself. I'll keep you posted. I can't tell for sure but it looks like the fairy constructed his/her abode from debris collected at the Falls of the Ohio. It looks like maybe that little donkey must have carried everything here from the falls. Poor little thing. It must be tired.

Asserting Independence

We went to a family gathering at Uncle Tiny's house and participated in a very down home celebration of the 4th. It was like I remember holiday celebrations being when I was growing up. I thought black and white would be the only way to capture it in all of it's nostalgic glory. The gals had a great time in the pool that Honey brought. Let's see...the food I remember included grilled corn on the cop, beef burgers, pork burgers, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese (2 kinds), hot dogs, the kind of cheese that comes individually wrapped, Erin's great cake with chocolate/coffee/cinnamon/coconut milk icing, and... well, you get the picture. The old car is a Chevy nomad. Quite cool. Ruby's older cousins were into taking photos and Ruby had fun being a model. She loves her cousins.

Falls of the Ohio

Visiting the Falls of the Ohio is like stepping back in time in more than one sense. It's a world famous fossil bed but it feels ancient in other ways too. And it looks like a boneyard with the white bleached trunks, branches and nibbins of wood that collect there. Some are huge trees complete with their roots. Ruby loves it because there are lots of treasures to find. If you want to get a really great sense of the place you should visit the Artist at Exit 0 blog that I have listed as "blogs I watch". That blog is one of the most extensive and interesting place-based blogs that I think exists.

The 17 to Childhood Home

This evening we took the 17 bus out Bardstown Road to Buechel to visit the home that Erin grew up in on Plaza Avenue. Ruby got a kick out seeing where her mommy grew up. Then we waited for the west bound return bus in front of Fern and Moody's where some regulars entertained us with their cornhole tournament. A train traveling across the old Buechel Rd blocked the bus route long enough for me to run in and grab a quick cold one. The benefits of not driving.
Sweet evening.

Zoo Blues

Here's a Louisville places tip: Visit the zoo when the weather is overcast and threatening rain. The crowds are very manageable on those days and it's not so miserably hot. What's the worst that could happen? Perhaps a downpour that sends you to a shelter with an orangutan to visit with for a spell? This is Ruby watching the sea lions at Glacier Run. Love these colors.

One Walk Triad

Last evening we took a stroll through Cherokee Park and on to Bardstown road. This hollow tree is a new found favorite hidey spot for miss Ruby for obvious reasons. It's a fairy hideout. Complete with large inviting door and well placed window which also serves as the carryout window when ordering food from her restaurant.


Further along the trail we hiked up Dog Hill just as the sun was setting over the uplands. The weather has been undeniably great this week.

And we ended up going for an ice cream on Bardstown Road where we ran into three young gals creating an epic hopscotch grid. By the time we headed home they were all the way down the block with no obvious signs of stopping. I thought that was just grand. Love this town.

Shadow of Seed

The native grasses are so much more elegant than the ones that were brought here. That's what comes when you are from your place. This is the river oats which is ripe with seed just now.

Crackle of the Bat

In the Some Peoples Republic of Billy Goat Hill some of our parties are heated with Louisville Slugger bats and chilled with cave conditioned air. This is not an exaggeration or a boast. It's just how we roll on the hill.

Sunk in Concrete

There's a project brewing at Bernheim where objects will be put into a concrete pour around the Grigsby Shelter at the Childrens Play Garden. Do you by chance have any items that would be cool to put into the mix? Speak up quickly. These are stepping stones I created back in the early 90s in Peckerwood. I now use them below the whiskey barrel rain collector near the back door. The plastic animals have held up well. I also like the imprint left by the mardi gras beads that were there and now are not.

Yucca - Peak Bloom

I always look forward to the yucca by the back corner of the house to go into peak bloom. The color of the blooms against the mint green lap siding is beautiful. It's peak bloom right now. Thursday, June 9th.

Chicken Coop Concert II - Audience Portraits

These panoramic shots by TimFurnish on an iPhone using the Pano ap. These shots by Tim inspired me to get that ap. It's fun. Click on the images to see them better.

Chicken Coop Concert II - Musician Portraits

In the order they performed at the concert. All photos by Tim Furnish.

Top Photo: R Keenan Lawler
Lawler is a prodigiously talented raga guitarist who performs frequently on resonator guitar. Lawler has an encyclopedic knowledge of Carnatic music and has developed many idiosyncratic instrumental performance techniques to complement his ragas with percussive and drone elements. http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9590-music-for-the-bluegrass-states/

Middle Photo: William Tyler
The Nashville-based guitarist for Lambchop, Silver Jews, Will Oldham, and many more has recently released his first or third solo album, depending on how you count. A cd-r and LP under the name Paper Hats were released on his own Sebastian Speaks label , while the first album under his given name, entitled "Behold the Spirit" was released on the Tompkins Square label to widespread acclaim. http://www.tompkinssquare.com/william-tyler.html

Bottom Photo: Michael Chapman
A brilliant, if somewhat obscure British singer-songwriter recorded albums for Harvest, Decca and Deram among others; his second album, "Fully Qualified Survivor" produced by Gus Dudgeon (Shirley Collins/Davey Graham; Elton John; John Martyn; Fairport Convention; David Bowie) was recently reissued by Light in the Attic Records, introducing Chapman's classic recording to contemporary audiences. Chapman recently ...completed a UK tour with William Tyler who will join him on select US dates including the chicken coop concert. http://www.michaelchapman.co.uk/

Following a Tree

I've been taking pictures of this pecan tree at Bernheim for years now. This isn't even one fifth of the pictures I have of this one tree. Following one living thing over a long period of time is eye opening in many ways. I recommend it for multiple reasons. Here's just one: You perceive time differently. Here's another: You begin to notice background. And here's a third: you realize that light changes as much as leaf color.

Chicken Coop Concert Series - Dos

The second Chicken Coop Concert was held on Sunday, June 5th. Three guitar musicians played. R. Keenan Lawler - William Tyler - Michael Chapman. All were fine but Michael, visiting from England really mesmerized me. It was great kicking back listening to birds singing and watching chickens shuffling to his music. Not the bar scene where you would typically listen to him. He was a nice man to hang with for a spell. Loved our sweet tea.