July is a beautiful time of year here at HiBar Ranch. See what's been going on as we celebrate the Fourth of July and enjoy all the beauty and grandeur that is the Smoky Mountains. Remember to subscribe to our youtube channel if you'd like to follow our videos. https://youtu.be/ElLuzvOS6FU
Huge progress has taken place on our tiny house project. We are building the "Raven House".... a gorgeous tiny cabin. See the latest progress in our video. This cabin will be off the grid with solar power and is located on our farm where self sufficiency and food independence are our priorities. https://youtu.be/zGLNwncvx2g
It has been such a blessing having our little Aussie's this spring. They were born March 26th and are heading home to their new owners this week. Here's a few great shots of our spring 2020 litter for your enjoyment!
We were able to get so much done on the tiny house this last week!! Ridge beam, rafters, sky light framing, dormer framing, new lawn......wow. Follow our tiny cabin journey. https://youtu.be/HN-SFAd54Iw
My hand crank cream separator has not been working. Why? I am not sure. Apparently, in spring, goat milk has less fat so there isn't a lot of cream to separate. Maybe that was it. Or, maybe we weren't running the hand crank fast enough to get it to separate. Who knows. But, the bottom … Continue reading Finally! My New Cream Separator Has Arrived
It's been a busy spring at the farm. Now that we are getting caught up on things I thought I'd tour our property and see what was happening and what was blooming. I love this seasonal tour across the farm.
Down here in the South the honeysuckle are blooming and the air is fragrant and beautiful. The skies are deep baby blue and appear different than before; before Covid 19. There are rarely any planes seen in the sky and the sky appears better for it. The clouds and blues are stunning. I took a … Continue reading Traveling Across Our Farm – Such Beautiful Sounds
Follow along with us today and learn about the five key elements of a homestead kitchen. As more people begin to grow their own food again, thinking about the layout of your kitchen and/or remodeling to accommodate the home food productions steps is very helpful. Watch our Hearth & Home Series and learn what is … Continue reading The Five Most Important Items In A Homestead Kitchen – Hearth & Home
It's amazing what one man can do alone at the age of 73. Mike is building this gorgeous tiny house cabin alone for his daughter (due to Covid 19 she can't be here much since she's a nurse or she would be). Follow the progress and how to do the hardest part - installing the … Continue reading Our Latest #TinyHouse VLOG – Finishing Ridge Beam and Rafters – Follow our Tiny House Journey
I am not sure there is anything cuter than Australian Shepherd puppies. Our litter was born April 4th. They spend a lot of time outside sleeping in the warm weather. We have seven puppies - six boys. Five are blue merle and about five have beautiful blue eyes. It's been such an amazing spring on … Continue reading Australian Shepherd Puppies Getting Really Cute
It was cold today at the farm and cloudy. The babies are all doing well - the baby goats, lambs, chicks, ducks, turkeys, puppies, and now the new rabbit babies. They were born yesterday. After milking out seven goats this morning I was so tired. It always hits me this time of year when I … Continue reading Mountain Living – Rustic Elegance In The Smokies
News came out today that while many asset classes have dropped - energy and services to name a few - due to Corona Virus, food has seen its highest price jump in a given month since 1974. And with that, rent prices are still going up as well near 4 percent. On top of that, … Continue reading Food-Flation And The Ever Shrinking Supply Chain
Here is our latest VLOG that travels through our day at HiBar Ranch; from sheep shearing to milking goats, to milling lumber to raising babies - goats, sheep, dogs, and more. Watch what life is like on the farm. https://youtu.be/NF_Pfnpnces
Did you know there was a mystery race here in the Appalachian mountains before the first explorers came. Did you know they were totally erased from American historical records? Learn more about our ancient bloodlines - Our Melungeon story. Melungeon DNA is the biggest break away fascination in DNA testing today. It appears a whole … Continue reading Our Ancient Melungeon Story – A Mystery Race Here In The Appalachians Pre-Dating First Explorers
So much has taken place in the last week at HiBar Ranch. Here is a collection of black and white photographs that capture life on the farm. Wow. When I look at the photographs I have taken over the last week and a half I am moved by the beauty of this farm. It brings … Continue reading A Week At The Farm In Black & White (Photography)
We are building the Raven House tiny cabin. The hardest part is to put up the ridge beam. Here's our latest VLOG from our youtube channel on how you go about doing that. Also see what this cabin will look like when finished and what the cost is to build this and get it to … Continue reading Putting Up The Ridge Beam and Rafters On Our Tiny House
It's cold this morning at the farm. We live in East Tennessee which is usually much warmer this time of year. However, this morning we awoke to a chilly 33 degrees. It's sunny now but still quite crisp. So, before I start my chores I am sitting by the wood cook stove. It's burning again … Continue reading Thinking About China During Corona Virus – A Different Perspective – View From The Farm
I feel like this is the first time I've been able to truly sit down and relax with a cup of coffee this whole early spring. We had intended a big and busy spring due to a planned family reunion here in East Tennessee over the Fourth of July. However, with Covid-19 we've had to … Continue reading Reflecting On A Busy And Unusual Spring @HiBar Ranch
Folks are following along on our journey to build a tiny cabin that is off grid at our HiBar Ranch in East Tennessee. Our ranch nestles up against Smoky Mountain National Park. Here are some of the amazing pictures of what the final cabin will look like. We hope you remember to subscribe to our … Continue reading The #Raven House #TinyCabin We Are Building At Our Ranch
We've had to take down some dangerous trees that could do damage to our farm structures. Mike finally milled one of the two large logs that comprised one large oak we took down. This is how much lumber was generated from that half a tree. If you look closely you'll see the lumber on the … Continue reading Big Oak On Our Log Mill Today – So Much Lumber
We are making huge progress on our tiny cabin build. Here is the latest update as of yesterday.! We are moving up to the second floor now in this beautiful cabin loft. We hope you enjoy our latest update and remember to subscribe! https://youtu.be/Ink1JZeSQ7E
We raise Navajo Churro sheep at our farm here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Our shearer comes out every six months to shear our boutique flock. We have our wool milled into yarn and roving for spinners, weavers and rug makers. This is such a special and difficult craft. I hope that Corona … Continue reading Sheep Shearing – A Dying Craft – Photos In Black & White @ Our Farm
What a busy day! Join us on our tour of life on the farm. Watch a sheep shearer shear our sheep. You'd be amazed at how fast he can do it. Installing bee supers, feeding puppies real food for the first time and more. Remember to subscribe to our blog and also follow us on … Continue reading Busy Day At The Farm – New Horse, Puppies & Sheep Shearer Here
I wanted to share some of the lovely photography that we've captured on the farm yesterday. Why? It's beautiful number one. But, number two is because I had an interesting conversation with our feed supplier yesterday, the AgCo-op here in Maryville Tennessee. I asked, "how's business with the whole corona virus thing going on?" Now, … Continue reading FARM LIFE ~ A Beautiful Life (Farm Photography) @ HiBar Ranch
What a day at the farm. So much going on. It ended great because we have a new wonderful critter at the farm. What our blog to see our day and our new farm additions. https://youtu.be/0oiBIfhSzjo
Well, it's almost 8am right now at I am ready for a very busy week. I have to head out early to get grain for the horses, sheep and goats and hurry back because our farrier is coming. It's been hard getting folks out during the quarantine. We are also having our farrier haul our … Continue reading A Big Week At Our Farm – Lots Happening #TNHomesteading at HiBar Ranch
Here's our daughter refurbishing her outdoor furniture where all the fabric in the seats tore out. This is an easy replacement and gorgeous; not to mention very durable. https://youtu.be/7GJHqPEMHjQ
The bees are doing great that we just installed at the beginning of April and our baby goats are doing well. Come take a tour with us on our farm today as we feed the bees and the babies and check on all the new food on the farm. https://youtu.be/w0weMHY_714
We are beginning to see real progress on the tiny house project we are doing here at HiBar Ranch. Now that walls are up and windows ready to install you can begin to sense the space and appreciate the views and connections to nature. This cabin will be completely off grid and it is starting … Continue reading #TNTinyHouse2020 – Latest Progress On Our #TinyHouse Project Here At The Farm
Here is our farm's latest VLOG on the realities of raising your own meat to feed your family. It also delves into the reality of our on demand food supply chain and what we can learn from the corona virus that has plagued the world, and how food scarcity is a real issue to prepare … Continue reading Raising Your Own Meat In A Food Scarcity World – What Corona Virus Teaches Us All
It has been such a special spring here at HiBar Ranch. Yes, I know the Corona Virus has caused the entire planet to hunker down. No, that isn't pleasant to many. But, on our farm very little changes; even with quarantine. We spend our full days here on the farm in retirement and will continue … Continue reading Farm Life: Spring Puppies Bring Great Joy
Here is a video to enjoy of spring at the farm with the puppies exploring outside for the first time. We also show all the spring babies we've had at the farm thus farm this season. Enjoy! This is a great video for the kids and grandkids who may be cooped up and want a … Continue reading New Australian Shepherd Puppies At The Farm – Their First Day Outside – TOO CUTE!!
See the latest in our #TNTinyHouse2020 series - a tiny house build we are doing at HiBar Ranch in East Tennessee. We are a homesteading family whose roots go back to before Tennessee became a state and are direct descendants of the famed long hunters who first travelled this land. https://youtu.be/yHFvNQoWRx4
Here is the latest video on our #TNTinyHouse2020 project here at our farm, HiBar Ranch, in the Smoky Mountains of East TN. Laura's dream is becoming a reality. https://youtu.be/pPQD4xrFLtM
Our latest VLOG on the progress on our #TNTinyHouse2020 project with our daughter Laura Davis here at HiBar Ranch. https://youtu.be/8QwZlpl8LHo
We are building a tiny house on our ranch here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee follow along with us and watch part two of our tiny house journey. Here's the latest. https://youtu.be/2ZWsGWZ-1JA
We are starting a very fun project here at HiBar Ranch - A tiny house - for our daughter Laura. Watch our latest VLOG on the start of this project. This will be a very fun project this year. https://youtu.be/occ2OYFByoM
We had another lamb this morning. He was born early I am guessing but was outside by his mother and very weak and not nursing. Here is our latest VLOG on how to save a newborn lamb that is in this condition. https://youtu.be/N8dbdNwN-0U
We are so blessed here at HiBar Ranch. Our litter of Australian Shepherd pups have arrived. We have six boys and one girl. Here are some of the latest cute pictures of Ruby's litter. Here are a few of the cutest latest pics of day old pups. They will be for sale in a few … Continue reading It’s Puppy Season!
We have been so busy here at HiBar Ranch that I haven't even had time to blog. So, I am doing catch up on all the things we have been doing in the last month. With the Corona Virus hitting the world, it put us into fast and furious mode. We typically are busy this … Continue reading Holy Cow! The Last Month At HiBar Has Been Crazy
Did you know there were a group of people before the first explorers? They were dark skinned often with blue or green eyes. They said they were the lost tribe of Israel. Others said they were Portugese. Who were these people? The are called "Melungeons". Our family are of this line of people that were … Continue reading We Toured East TN To Learn About Our Melungeon Heritage – The Story Of A Forgotten Race In American History
I went to Israel last year and have compiled some of the best photography into a VLOG that also captures some of the prophetic elements of our times taking place right now in Jerusalem. https://youtu.be/c-Ex5WHNJYg
So the weather over the last week and a half now has been totally insane here at the farm. I had done voice over for a new VLOG on the crazy weather a few days ago to assemble this VLOG video below. I was commenting on how strange all our animals were acting on the … Continue reading Our Animals Sense Earthquakes This Week Before They Happen!! Watch Video
We live right next to Smoky Mountain National Park. I've been wanting to write a blog for the last several days about our insane weather and have been compiling photographs but I may likely do a VLOG on our youtube channel as well. Since the end of January, we've gone from 70 degree days where … Continue reading Insane Weather Of Late At Our Ranch
Our ranch sits on sacred ground to the Cherokee Nation. I often feel them walking here. Many interesting things happen on our land that are, let's say, supernatural. We see interesting things. We've captured extremely interesting phenomena on our cameras. This ground is very powerful. Here is a poem I wrote about what I was … Continue reading Spoken Word Poetry: Cherokee Whispers by Lori Davis
It snowed today at the farm. So, I spent the day inside my writers cabin. In that cabin I have a collection of influencers that have shaped my life and spurred my desire to write poetry. Walt Morey and Paul Croy are those two pioneer writer/poets. Learn more about these talented people who were telling … Continue reading Pioneer Poetry and Writing: Preserving The Value Of The Past For Future Generations
The snow is beginning to fall as I type this. I am about to go outside and do the chores. I have trepidation this morning as I wonder how bad the flooding still is in our valley. I watch the temperature, hoping it will inspire me to dress up. Boots on, warm coat, cowboy hat......no, … Continue reading Snowfall Morning After Significant Flooding At Our Ranch – East Tennessee
Well today has been an exhausting one. Tennessee has been saturated with torrential rains. You've probably seen by now that water is raging through Gatlinburg, TN and Sevierville, TN is completely flooded in areas. This morning we awoke to insane water on our farm. I will have pictures up in a few days as the … Continue reading Tennessee Flooding Today Nearly Took Out Half Our Farm
Come along with us as we do chores today and see what a day in our life is like at HiBar Ranch here in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. We have lots of babies in the barn (kids and lambs) and it's an all around pretty great day to be playing in the hay … Continue reading Come Along With Us While We Do Chores Today – A VLOG of life at HiBar Ranch
We love writing and blogging about life on the farm and living a way of life that is tied intrinsically to the land. I love writing poetry and photography as well so it is wonderful that our family, comprised over 20 somethings all the way up to 70 somethings have decided we should start a … Continue reading Our New Quick “VLOG” That Captures Why We’ve Started A YouTube Channel – Homesteading & Rural Living (& Farm Poetry)
