Hello, I'm Willie and I'm the artist behind the art that you see on my other pages. We live in WNY on what I've dubbed..." Heaven on Earth." I reside here with my wife, a spoiled dog named Lightnin and 2 mouse catching cats. Both Kat and I are artists, Kathy is a master with material and I am, a published writer, a finish carpenter, Blessed with many skills.
My passion has been the creation of the "Kennedy Think Tank and Learning center" where I'm trying to help others learn about organic gardening and the many paths to having a sustainable lifestyle. Over the past 20 years we have taken our 1872 farmhouse from a state of utter decay and transformed it into a custom home. We heat with wood that we get from our land and other sources. Trees we harvested were milled into the wood I rebuilt my house with. We then in-turn, planted over 500 trees to compensate for this harvest.(My smaller trees will be the benefactor from the removal of these "wolf" trees.
The area we have designated for food gardens has spread beyond the 25 raised beds, so now we're terracing the hills. We're also tilling other flat areas to grow the grains, squashes and strawberry plants that supplement our diet throughout the year.
Our main source of fertilizer comes from the combination of manures we get from an alpaca farm, and from a friends horse paddock, as well as the chickens we have for egg production. The compost we make from these sources creates a very fluffy, well balanced fertilizer for all the varieties of crops we grow. We have a wide variety of perrenial plants and trees that could provide a bounty of foods if mother nature wouldn't be so fickle with her late spring frosts. We have apples, peaches, cherries, plums, elderberries, mulberries, currents, black and red raspberries, blackberries, and our beloved strawberries. We eat and harvest all we can and making jellies from the berries.
It's this "madness" that I want to teach to as many that will listen. New this year is the blog I've started. I'm new at blogging and as a newbie I hope to learn soon the suttle nuances so I can reach even more ears.
As the world implodes upon itself, in this consumer based economy, I feel that what I know from my experiences is exactly what folks need to learn.
My blog chronicles the journey we have pursued to our self sufficient, sustainable lifestyle. My art being one of the paths I have taken to further that goal. I am a firm believer in the "Freely given... freely give" philosophy. If I can help my "brother's boat ashore...then my boat arrives as well !"
I believe that a man can accomplish great things if the energy is applied, at a steady pace,in sure direction. I've been branded a "Utopian" and they're right. I believe in humanity. All we need is to work towards a common goal... helping others,one at a time !
Winter is slowly coming but today the sky is blue and the trees are about peak color. We had a great spring and summer, the crops grew well and the trees fruited equally well. We had a great tomato harvest but we lost our sweet corn to a pernacious raccoon. I hope it was fulfillomg for him/her, it had me talking to myself ! If the wolf is coming up the sidewalk... bolt the door and ignore him. He's been around before and we kicked his butt before so... we'll do it again. Have faith and pray for a new day in America. Suppirt an artist... feed a community !
My business is all about recycling, I take found objects and make them into wind chimes. Distressed wood gets me thinking about picture frames, wooden memory boxes, and bird houses! It's a beautiful thing making art from the contents of "Granny's" kitchen !
Our carbon foot print is big enough, but hopefully, our trees, plants, landscaping, gardens etc...will help make up for it. We try to live by the saying "Waste not, want not." It's not as easy as it sounds. If you want to know something, just asK. As to "How" we did it?" Well, it was all God Amen! So...begin living the "good life,"get out there and put in a Victory garden, and take a step back, from the edge!
Thank You for visiting my site. Please visit my linking partners.
"Life is a Journey best taken in the company of others, so that you can laugh at where you have been!"
Please pass my site on to your family and friends. I'm told my wind chimes, my Bird houses, and my custom wooden signs, make great gifts for those that: have everything, need nothing, and are hard to buy for.
Take a look and see !
Sincerely, Willie
The custom, rustic, fully functional bird houses are "One of a Kind."
The personalized wooden signs can either be routed into the sign's back board or have raised lettering. Both styles of lettering make great signs, Pricing is determined on the size, number of letters, and whether the lettering is "raised" or "Routed Into". As a general rule, the raised letters I cut make the sign about double in cost over the hand routed signs.
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