Alyne Harris
Alyne Harris is an artist worth knowing about. I first fell in love with her work when, many years ago, I found a small painting of a church in winter that had these two red cardinals in it. It was at the old Modern Primitive gallery in Atlanta and Ms. Harris was virtually unknown. I snatched up that church painting, framed it, and gave it to my best friend Catherine for her wedding. Later on, my sister Dolly and I were back at Modern Primitive and Dolly bought this incredible church choir scene by–you got it–Alyne Harris. (Still wishing I had been quicker to whip out my checkbook that day.) But recently, I found this piece of hers called “Ocala Horse Farm.” This one is coming home with us. http://tiny.cc/5qmnU.
Gate Installation 101
Project of the Week: Install Driveway Gate
So we’re about to start the property fencing, and our friend Ron is going to help us with that, but Mike insisted he didn’t need any help installing a driveway gate that will connect with the new fence.
Project summary and lessons learned:
1. You need a flatbed truck to get a large, heavy, metal gate home. Hanging it out the back of a Sequoia while driving down the highway is not a good idea.
2. A concrete base for a fencepost is best put in when the weather forecast calls for sunshine, not rain.
3. A 4×6 fencepost from which to hang a big gate seems reasonable–but a 6×6 is better.
4. A 3/4″ drill bit is needed to bore holes for 2″ bolts. Off to Lowes to get a new drill bit.
5. Ready to drill the holes. Uh-oh, both drill batteries dead. Charge batteries and find something else to do.
6. Okay, holes drilled. Whoops, realize that special 2″ crescent wrenches are needed to get the 2″ bolts off the hinges to hang the gate. Back to Lowes.
7. Hang the !#*^@)*# gate. Pop open a beer. Proudly send wife pictures. Put shiny new tools away ’til next time.
Barks & Belly Scratches
Mike got a visit from a neighbor this week while working on a fence. “Sissy” from across the way stopped by to say hello. Actually, we met Sissy last year on our second visit to the farm…right before bought it. We were checking out the upper pasture when this crazy dog started barking furiously from across the road, then ran toward us at breakneck speed. Well, I tucked tail and starting running, too–AWAY from the potentially mad, rabid dog. But Mike stood his ground (as Mike usually does) and when Sissy reached him and Adrian, she dropped and rolled onto her back for a belly scratch.
SOME PIG.
Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, author of the Series of Unfortunate Events books) said in an interview, “You never really love a book like you love a book when you’re 9 years old.” For me, that was Charlotte’s Web, a book that changed how I (and millions of others) saw the world. I think about this little tale a lot and all its life lessons. Author E.B. White described his book as “a story of friendship and salvation on a farm.” He also once told a young reader that, “In real life, a spider doesn’t spin words in her web…But real life is only one kind of life–there is also the life of the imagination. And although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too–truth about the way people and animals feel and think and act.” Sure, in real life words to live by aren’t usually found in webs. But, still, most of us do try to be radiant and terrific, don’t you think? Personally, I’d consider it the highest compliment if a friend just called me “Some Pig.”
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