Trying a new blend. Meridian from G. L. Pease. This is a medium English blend. Leathery orientals are definitely in the foreground. Latakia is present but very subtle, and occasionally I detect a bit of sweetness from the Virginias. Smoked in a Petersen Irish Harp #pipestr #grownostr

Closing out a productive day. Started off at sunrise, loading a steer and taking him two counties south to the butcher. Then return home, swap trailers, load mini excavator. Then drive one county east for a soil evaluation. Had a couple hours of afternoon left when I got back, had the excavator already in the trailer, so I used it to cut some firewood the easy way. #grownostr #proofofwork #farmstr

Spent the morning in the woods. Needed to check the fences in this timber because I'm moving the cows here next. Brought along some tools to deal with any fallen limbs on the fence. The cattle only spend about one week here per year. This area gets minimal maintenance and has been allowed to get brushy for deer cover. Notice the buck rubs on this trail. The fence on the north side is down in one place and undercut by the creek in another spot, so I'll put some temporary electric fence in front of it. This is why farmers have no free time. I had this section of timber clean as a park two years ago, and now look at all the trees down. Cleared a path for the wire, and now it's ready to move the cows in. #grownostr #farmstr #proofofwork #getoutside #knifestr #edcstr

Finally a warm enough evening to spend some time in the shop. Couldn't decide which project to tinker on, so I settled on just turning cavendish and latakia into smoke rings. #pipestr and chill. Northwoods from JM Boswell smoked in a T. Cristiano bent Dublin ESEE Izula was on my desk, so it made the picture too. #knifestr #grownostr

gm We start another week. Remember, never leave home with empty pockets. ESEE Knives CR2.5 Zippo lighter Maratac flashlight IDL Tools pliers Homemade leather wallet Keys #grownostr #gm #knifestr #edcstr

Through my soil evaluation and dump trailer hauling gigs, I get to discover lots of very rural places. And there are a handful of areas where property values are low, and county code enforcement is non-existent, which tend to draw people of an alternative lifestyle. When I get called to one of these areas, I always know the trip will be interesting. Most normal people would describe many of the places I end up using the word "sketchy". I'm enough of an anarchist backwoodsman myself that I thoroughly enjoy these backroad explorations. Today, I delivered some firewood in an area known for it's Mormon population, the polygamist variety. I wound through a maze of potholed dirt roads, drove over a narrow pond dam, and past a very nice, welded pipe rodeo arena in middle of the woods. I went past the remains of an old sawmill. Pretty normal so far. And then, mufflers. Mufflers, tailpipes, catalytic converters, piles of them. Stacks and mounds of them. Mufflers and tailpipes strewn across the forest floor. At least half an acre of timber piled with thousands of mufflers. This was either the dumping area for a very busy muffler shop, or the hidden cache of the most prolific catalytic converter thieves in human history. Now, I own a dump trailer and know the way to the scrap yard, so what I see is piles of free money lying in the timber. I would love to find the landowner and offer to clean it up for him, but the likely scenario is it's owned by an old man who doesn't want it picked up thinking he might need some piece of that junk someday and will hoard it til he dies like Smaug on his gold. So, on I drove, dropped off the firewood, and made my way back home. Just another typical afternoon for me. #grownostr #ruralruins

Still cold this morning. Couldn't find my ice chopping axe, but then I found it right where I left it over a year ago. Cut a hole in the ice for the cows. Now I need to go soak this axe handle in linseed oil. #gm #grownostr #farmstr #winter

gm -2° F here this morning. Chickens fed. Cattle checked. Ice broken. Now to see what else I can accomplish today. #grownostr #winter #edcstr

Snowy days are always a good time for some firecraft. Started this fire with some fatwood shavings and some birch and cedar twigs, which were quite dry despite the ice and snow this week. Tools used: ESEE CR2.5, Cold Steel frontier hawk, Zippo lighter. #grownostr #bushcraft #knifestr

Grass was a bit difficult to touch, but I went outside today anyway. #grownostr #outdoors #winter

gm Here is the view going down the county road this morning. Only tracks so far are mine taking the tractor out to feed the cows. #grownostr #farmstr #gm #winter

Well, the ice storm they hyped up for the past several days turned out to be more than just hype. Power went out about 10:30 this morning. So I went out, topped off the gas in the generator, checked the oil, and let it run a few minutes so it would be ready if needed. Then I set up my propane Coleman stove in the shop and fixed a pot of chili for lunch. Just as I got the chili done, the power came back on. We had lunch. I fed hay to the cows. Just another day for a rural, self-sufficient, rancher. #grownostr #farmstr #proofofwork