Life on Tom Cat Ridge 
Update Christmas 2014


Life has been fairly nominal here, on the Ridge. We had a very pleasant Summer and a very nice Autumn, and have passed the time in tranquility, for the most part, being blessed with health and a sense of contentment. I do calculate my last post to have been in the Summer of 2013, and I will aim to make better efforts to keep the public informed as to my doings; my goings and comings in the area.

                                      Click on any image to enlarge.

The place is as it usually is, and as Thomas Jefferson said, "Here we have trees of use, and ornament." It was my brother who showed me that these trees were tastier than the kind our grandfather favored, about a half mile from here, on the rest of the old 119 acre plantation. Indeed, those were for cooking, and these can be eaten quite readily from the tree.

"I continue in the enjoyment of good health, take much exercise, and make frequent journies to Bedford..." as my mentor, and former Bedford county neighbor, Thomas Jefferson once said.
That sounds familiar to me, as well, although I could do with more exercise.

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My neighbor's Bedford home is a very nice place to visit. I have, since my last writing, actually become a docent at Master Jefferson's Poplar Forest retreat, in the county of Bedford. I am very honored to hold this position, and I have created my own official tour of the home that I think best suits and highlights all of the choice interests of the property, and of the man, himself. The tours are generally 45 minutes in length, and begin in the visitor's center and work their way towards the house. In future, I shall highlight my work at the home, and shall go into an even greater detail concerning what all of note is happening at President Thomas Jefferson's restored property.

The designs of Andrea Palladio (1508-80) are ever with our Master Jefferson, as we see here in a photo I took of Monticello in the year 2012, and during the November of that time. The rotundas and the Roman look, the brick structure and the tuscan columns and those porticoes are ever a source of style and design. Note the single floor dwelling style that calls to the French fashion, wherein all in England and in the states were at that time using at least two floor incorporations in their designs.

The Peaks of Otter, a view not one hundred yards from the front of my Three Acres Plantation, here on Tom Cat Ridge. A mountain range climbed and surveyed by Mr. Jefferson in 1815, to the summit of Sharp Top Mountain, on the left.

And Autumn comes in rather unannounced in the heat of the late Summer, but eventually cooling things off and striking the occasional tree with a splash of vibrant delight.

 
                                     Click on any image to enlarge