This is the week! This Saturday, I'll debut my documentary Bois d'Arc Goodbye back in my home county and I am pretty excited.
While we were making the film, producer Don Cash of Texas Parks & Wildlife Television followed Bubba and I to create this segment for the Emmy award winning television show.
For the past year now, my brother Bubba and I have been working on this documentary about a creek where we grew up. If all goes as plans, a lake will soon flood the bottomlands where we roamed as boys.
This half hour documentary takes a look at the creek from a historic, ecological, and personal standpoint and hopes to serve as a reminder of the heritage that is lost if the lake becomes a reality.
If you are in the neighborhood, join Bubba and I for the premiere of this film and the short program sponsored by the Fannin County Historical Commission on May 1st at 6:30pm in the Honey Grove, Texas Civic Center.
I was going to name this post "Blog Cabin" because I thought I would be able to post images as the construction slowly took place.
However, building began while I was away and so my brother Bubba keeps me updated on the swift construction progress.
A few months ago, my wife and I decided it would be a good idea to build a small cabin on our land close to where we both grew up in Northeast Texas some 250 miles from where we live in the Texas Panhandle. Call our pending lifestyle bi-residential if you will.
Anyway, while getting started on the construction was painfully slow, it went blazingly fast once the framing crew began. These two images were taken 24-hours apart and show how fast this thing really went up.
It isn't a big place but big enough for sleeping quarters. If you've ever stayed in a hotel suite at a Residence Inn the place is roughly the size of those room. By no means big enough to make a permanent residence but perfect for sleeping, some light cooking, and hanging out.
We've been inspired to go green as well. The walls are framed with recycled lumber pieces finger-jointed together to make the pieces stronger that first-cut lumber. Ample windows allow plenty of natural light and eliminate the need for using a bunch of electricity during the daylight hours, and the water system will consist of captured rainwater, double osomosis filtered and supply a low-flow shower head, toilet, and kitchen and bathroom faucets.
Furthermore, we're installing a U-panel, Galvalume roof which will direct more heat away from the ventilated attic space. For now, we've wrapped the house in a Tyvek material and will insulate the attic with a cellulose material to further reduce the energy expenditures to heat and cool the place.
The cabin's exterior will be lapped Hardy Plank siding stained with a cedar stain.
Sunday, I arrive to start the interior work so I'll keep you updated on the progress.
Successful Farming radio called me for an interview about a month ago. While I told them that I no longer do my old job as an FFA advisor, they still wanted to hear my thoughts on teaching agricultural science.
While there are three parts, they are all pretty short.
It's finally here... After a couple of months of planning and work, I am proud to announce the launch of my new micro-site, The Picture Pasture.
The Picture Pasture was designed an an exclusive home for my huge collection of agriculture and rural lifestyle imagery. As time goes on, all of the ag imagery at www.russellgraves.com will be gone and all of it will live on the new site.
While www.picturepasture.com is now fully functional with over 1,200 images on-line, watch for the number to grow exponentially over the next couple of weeks as I work diligently to upload new and fresh content.
For those who have used russellgraves.com a bunch, you'll find that The Picture Pasture's keyword based system makes finding images easy. Furthermore, the ability to build and send lightboxes makes this search system easy and intuitive.
So take a look around, and welcome to The Pasture.
Ready for a weekend of learning about photography? Then check out the just-scheduled Wild West Photo Tour happening on the weekend of May 22nd - May 24th.
This year we'll be on the historic Mott Creek Ranch near Matador, Texas where we'll immerse ourselves in the history, culture, and natural beauty of this rural area of Texas.
This is an all inclusive workshop so be sure to sign up soon as I think the spots will go fast!
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at russell@russellgraves.com.
Day two of Turkey Fest started like day one except that it was accompanied by more rain, lightning, and 50 mile per hour winds. For yet another morning, the same tom we chased yesterday humbled Bubba and I again.
What we needed was a change of scenery. So this afternoon, we moved to a new property and within thirty minutes, we'd called in three mature toms and two jakes. With a single shot, Bubba downed a nice 18-pound bird.
