Around the Homestead

Happy New Year 2022

Happy 2022. Here are a few photos from ’21 that made me smile. I wish you all the best in the New Year.

Bernie

Mule Polly checking out the new bed I built for my brother Christian when he came to visit. It’s built of red cedar and two-by-fours. In case you haven’t seen it already, Polly was the mule that pulled my wagon 14 months across America for the Lost Sea Expedition documentary which you can stream here on… Continue reading

Casper the Super-friendly Cat up for Adoption

AUGUST 26: CASPER UPDATE Great big thanks to our neighbor Brandon Lane Darrin who recognized Casper, the mucho-cool cat who showed up at our barn this week. It turns out Casper is “Kit Kit”, our neighbor’s cat. He disappeared in late March and has been reunited with his family, a mom and dad and three kids. A great ending to the story. Our barn’s a little quiet now since he left….

Casper is a trusting cat. This photo was taken… Continue reading

Hill Top Sunday Morning

Pony Pie on a hill (Caldwell County, NC / western NC)

Sunday greetings from high above the Shoe Box Canyon. Yesterday, my wife Julia and I rode to the top of the mountain behind our cabin. I thought you’d enjoy some photos of the ride.

Julia rode her pony Pie. I rode my mule Cracker. From the clearing high above the cabin, we just looked out over the Brushy Mountains to our South. We listened to the “chimp pang” call… Continue reading

Springing Toward Summer

Saddles on our porch: I rode the one on the left from Atlantic to Pacific oceans and the one on the right from here in western North Carolina to Idaho

Happy Easter Sunday to you. The leaves are darkening up, the mules are getting shiny and Snookie is panting in the dirt under the back porch. My wife Julia just posted a beautiful essay on spring moving ahead toward summer here up the Shoebox Canyon. Read the full story, with… Continue reading

Weekend Plans

Want to attend a Dog Hair Cutting Festival with my wife Julia and me this weekend? How about a Mule Ride. You might get a good one. You may not. Fun like Russian roulette!

Hey, how about a ride on a humpbacked mule. Nice! (Skye Pincock Evans photo)

You can tell Julia and I have a little too much time on our hands this weekend. She wrote an invitation to our neighbor P to join us for any or none… Continue reading

Measuring Pie for Hoof Boots (Part 2 of the 3 Part Series on Transitioning to Hoof Boots)

We clipped her nails and pulled her shoes. In my recent post “Off With Her Shoes” I wrote about how my wife Julia and I are transitioning her pony Pie from steel shoes to bare feet. In this update, I’ll show you how we trimmed and measured Pie’s feet for hoof boots. But first, to recap, a few pics of Pie having her shoes removed.

Julia pulling Pie’s shoes. Lots of pics and descriptions on how this went… Continue reading

Christmas Greetings

Snookie ponders his reason for the season

Merry Christmas from the homestead up the holler. “I’ll be Home For Christmas” is playing (the Bing Crosby version), the wood stove is glowing and Snookie is pondering another cookie. “I’ll be Home for Christmas” rings true this year, just not in original way it was meant (it was written from the point of view of a WWII soldier stationed abroad). With Covid numbers spiking, my wife Julia and I are hunkering down… Continue reading

Pickle Raft Crushed, Rebuilt and Refloated

Crunch! Last winter a tree crushed our beloved Pickle Raft. This week, we rebuilt it. Here’s a quick (30-sec) video of how that went followed by some pics.

Introducing the Pickle Raft

A few years ago, my wife Julia and I assembled what looked like a patio on top of a bunch of plastic barrels and pushed it in to our pond.

We christened it the Pickle Raft and life was good.

Building the raft. We scored the barrels on… Continue reading

The Garlic Journal

How long does it take to grow a head of garlic? Today I found out.

Last December, Scott, one of our hunt club members, gave my wife Julia and I 30 heads of garlic. They were amazingly delicious, grown by Scott in his garden. This, I vowed, I would have to try.

Scott’s garlic, well, what’s left of the original 30 heads he gave us. Hanging beside it, one of my favorite sculptures, a mango wood carving given to my… Continue reading
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