Carriage Hill Farm – Page 20

talking to jack

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Jack is an old mule. When I say old, I mean that Jack is really old… in the neighborhood of thirty years. Poor jack has seen a lot of life & his replacements have already arrived ont the farm in the form of Kit and Kate, two much larger mules that have already started to pull their own weight. Jack may not be around much longer but, while he is here, he will always have some company and conversation from this young child.

Exposure	0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture	f/6.3
Focal Length	300 mm
ISO Speed	100
Exposure Bias	-1 EV

In this image, I stopped down the exposure one stop because the sun wanted to blow out the bright colors of her pinafore. I knew when I took the image that I would want to convert the photo to black and white and thought that having a blown out area would ruin the tones that I was shooting for.

ted’s dry run

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

When I woke up this morning, the weather was nasty. The temperature had already reached 80 degrees and the rain had filled the air with with moisture. I took a deep breath and it felt like I was drinking water from a glass. After letting the cat out, I headed to the kitchen to make some coffee and put together some toast. This was part of my morning routine and my body could go through the motion on its own, while my brain wandered. The hot and humid weather reminded me of another time right after I got home from the war.

The summer of 1947 was a terribly hot summer and everyday that it would rain, the humidity would come out fighting just like it had this morning. If I remember right, it was a Saturday morning and I had nothing planned. I decided to head on down to the pond with my fishing pole. I didn't really care if I caught anything, the idea was to sit on the edge of the pond and dangle my feet in the cool water while I enjoyed the shade. So, I got my pole and tackle together and headed for the watering spot out near Stanton's Farm Road.

It wasn't long before I was settled in, watching my bobber floating on the still water. Soon, I caught sight of a turtle on a log. From where I sat, he looked like he was stuck in mid air. His feet were flying but he wasn't going anywhere. He looked likable enough, so I offered to lend him a hand.

"Mr. Turtle, can I offer you a hand into the water?" To my complete surprise, the turtle answered me back!

"No thank you" said the turtle, "that will not be necessary." Holy cow, a talking turtle!

"You can talk!"

"Yes, I can speak he said" between gulps of air. All the time, his legs never stopped. They just spun and spun like a whirligig. "It is a curse."

"A curse? It seems like a blessing to me, Mr. Turtle." By now, I had put my pole down, I wasn't interested in fishing anymore. "Why would it be a curse?"

"Well, now that I can speak, my big mouth keeps getting me into the worst of trouble. I just bet the catfish that I could cross the pond to the other side."

That threw me for a loop. Of course he could cross the pond, he was a turtle after all.

"Mr. turtle, that seems like a sucker's bet to me, of course you can cross the pond, you are a turtle."

"Oh no" said the turtle. "And call me Ted"

"Ok Ted, it is. And what seems to be the problem, you will surely win that bet."

Ted just turned his head and looked at me with a worried expression. "I can't swim and the catfish knows it!" His legs were still turning as fast as he could make them go. "But I got a plan!"

With that, Ted rocked his way off the log and into the water. I gasped, he could drown! But it wasn't to be. Ted's legs were spinning so fast that as he hit the glassy water, he shot across the surface like a skipping stone. Ted skipped eleventy seven times, enough to land him into the cat tails on the opposite side of the pond. I had never seen anything like it in my entire life!

I stood up to see if I could see Ted on the other side but, I couldn't spot anything other than some movement in the tall plants. I was a little disappointed. I wanted to congratulate Ted on winning the bet.

Unfortunately, I never saw Ted again. I just suppose that is the way it should be. Still, I give a chuckle when I think about Ted flying across the pond. Sometimes, I just bust out laughing to myself. When that happens, my wife looks at me like I have lost my mind. She doesn't know about Ted and his bouncing flight across the pond. She has no idea that what really makes me bust out loud is that, though I never found Ted again, I did see the look on the catfish's face when Ted skipped over his head and won the bet.

the threshing meal

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Earlier this week, I promised to share some images of the threshing meal at Carriage Hill Farm. Traditionally, the hosting farm would be responsible for preparing and serving a midday meal for the threshing workers that were working hard in the fields. The ladies of the farm would begin preparing the meal days in advance and worked hard to impress their guests.

Fifteen minutes before the meal was to be served, the bell was rung to give the men time to come in and wash up before they ate.

The first order of business was to get something to drink. They had plenty to choose from:

Ice Water

Lemonade

Raspberry Shrub

Iced Tea

Coffee

After grabbing a glass of their chosen beverage, the workers migrated to the table and found a seat.

What was served at this threshing meal?

Fried Chicken

Green Beans with Smoked Bacon

Coleslaw

Bread

Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar Water

Apple Pie

Berry Cobbler with Whipped Cream

Watermelon

Not a bad meal at all. The men were served under the giant catawba tree in the back yard. With the good food and shade combination, they got to relax, cool down and recharge before they went back to work.

While the field workers filled up, the farm staff waited patiently for their turn at the dinner tables. These are the folks that had prepared and served the huge meal to the hands.

the summer threshing

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Sunday was the annual summer threshing day at Carriage Hill Farm. If you have never seen wheat being threshed with a steam engine, you have really missed an impressive event. I've created a short video so that you can see and hear the process. Basically, a steam engine is used to drive a thresher via a long belt. Workers load dried wheat into the thresher where the wheat kernels are separated from the stalk. The kernels are drop into a bin that is emptied into a wagon while a conveyor piles the wheat stalks beyond the far end of the thresher where it is collected to be used as fodder for the farm animals.

Carriage hill uses a 6 horse power wood fired engine to power the thresher. A dedicated team of approximately 12 volunteers operate the engine and thresher, assisted by the farmer and his assistant.

The crew started in the morning and worked hard until lunch time. For lunch, the rest of the farm staff had prepared a traditional summer threshing meal for them to enjoy. They needed the energy because after less than an hour of rest, they were at it again until evening came.

I'll show you the threshing meal in another post. Meanwhile, enjoy the video and marvel at the hard work and ingenuity our ancestors employed to feed a growing nation.

friendly surprise

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I started visiting Carriage Hill Farm last October and by the beginning of the last year, I thought I had pretty much gotten to know the farm inside and out. To my surprise, I didn't really know the farm at all. As Spring and Summer arrived, I learned that there was so much more to discover. New activities, new events and new people to get to know.

Today, I met two new (to me) volunteers at the farm. A mother and daughter team that had a very loving and tender relationship. I really enjoyed seeing them together and wondered a little about the bond between mothers and daughters.

I have often referred to the farm as a living still life. The key word here is living. The place is full of life. Sometimes fast paced action and sometimes like this pair, tender and thoughtful.

che roostara

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

As the head of the ghost like organization Peoples Army of Carriage Hill (PACH) Che Roostara has called for the overthrow of the Friends of Carriage Hill governing board. Roostara and his chicken guerilla fighters have been terrorizing the rest of the Carriage Hill animal community with hit and run raids on the farm's cracked corn supplies. After each assault, PACH melts into the surrounding forrest and disappears.

The governing board has issued a commission to Lt. Colonel Sarah, the resident barn cat, to hunt down and destroy PACH and its leader Roostara. Perhaps soon, Che Roostara will be caught and Carriage Hill can return to peace.

at last, a post with chickens

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

I know, I have been remiss in keeping up with my chicken images. I feel like I have let you down. So, today, we will focus on the original white meat and that should keep us chicken-o-philes going for awhile.

Here is a rare arial view of a chicken. I took it from The Goodyear Blimp (not really). This chicken is Shirley. I know this because she has black and white striped feathers while all of the other chickens have white and black striped feathers.

Here we have the people ladies watching the chicken ladies. The girls (chickens) had been given some bread scraps a bit earlier and were hopeful that there might be more forthcoming. Unfortunately, there wasn't and they soon returned to eating bugs and worms.

I know what you are thinking & you don't need to worry. I made sure that Eric was safe from the ladies. He is doing well over by the summer kitchen where I introduced him to a cute little beetle.

barn dance

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Last night, I stopped by a barn dance at the farm for a couple hours and watched the crowd have a great time. The band was called the Corn Drinkers and they had the place hopping all evening.

The crowd was a mixture of young and old, city and country folk. The great thing about square dancing is that anybody can do it. You mix partners constantly, so you get to meet a lot of people.

I witnessed a lot of fancy footwork. And some that was not so fancy… didn't matter, they were all having fun.

Sarah, the barn cat, had a great time. She normally doesn't get any company in the evening. She likes to mingle with the crowd and is a master of small talk. I am not the social butterfly that she is and kept my camera between me and the revelers.

When they weren't dancing, the crowd was socializing. I had a great time. I'll be back in the fall when the farm hosts another dance. Maybe then, you will see a picture of me cutting the rug. Maybe…

purposeful toy

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

This simple toy is a popular attraction for children at the farm. Their are two of them side by side and the children love to race each other moving their man to the top of the string. By alternately pulling down on the two handles they can cause the man to climb. As it turns out, the same motion is required to milk a cow and our ancestors used these toys to train their young children in the motion. Later, as the kids got older, they already had the muscle memory required to milk the cow and only needed to refine their technique.

You would think that they knew what they were doing.

Exposure	0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture	f/4.5
Focal Length	28 mm
ISO Speed	640

just jack

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Tim McMurdo

Jack is an old mule, nearing retirement. I always think of him as the country gentleman of the farm. Though to be honest, he can be stubborn as… well, as a mule.

Exposure	0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture	f/7.1
Focal Length	45 mm
ISO Speed	100

This particular image highlights one of the reasons that I am really enjoying the Sony a55. The camera has the ability to capture very crisp images. Even with a subject as soft as Jack's muzzle, the details are present and are very sharp.

Now if only Jack were as sharp as his picture…