Girl With Gold Earrings

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Portrait of girl with gold earrings.

Locust Pods

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Locust pods my wife picked up on the way back from lunch.

Pouring Concrete up High

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Construction workers pouring concrete.

Afternoon at Chestnut Oak Farm

Chestnut Oak Horse Farm, Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Pot Belly Stove

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

An old pot belly wood stove stands beside a pile of tobacco sticks in my Grandfather's old pack house.

Afternoon Still Life, Squash

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Still life of squash.

Neighbor Portrait

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Neighbor Jeff Latham at Routh Oil Co. in Lineberry, North Carolina.

Dirt and Dust

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Gene Lineberry stirs up soil and a little dust with his disk at the end of my road in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Llama in the Pasture

The folks at Rising Meadow Farms in Grays Chapel, North Carolina have several llamas with their sheep herd. The llamas produce some wool, but their main responsibility is to protect the sheep from potential predators like coyotes.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Daily Bread

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Old mill, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Taking a Break

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh0

Charlie. Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Pack House Chair

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

An old chair sits in the tobacco pack house on my Grandfather's place in Grays Chapel, North Carolina, left from a time when cured tobacco was graded and packed for market.

Acorns

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Acorns on the green table. Still life.

Greensboro Window

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Window, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Goldenrod

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Goldenrod blooms in the back field of our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Disking

Steve Tate disks land to get ready to plant winter cover last week at Goat Lady CSA in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Sawmill Afternoon

Images from my ongoing project at Gary McMasters' sawmill in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

B&H Panel

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

B&H Panel, Asheboro, North Carolina.

Ropes and Tackle

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Still life, rope and block and tackle from an old mill.

Christine Running

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Daughter-in-law Christine, running for a commercial shoot.

Kidd's Drive Inn

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Kidd's Drive Inn. Liberty, North Carolina.

From the Afternoon Walk

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Mature milkweed heads from a walk this afternoon on our farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Devin With A Beard

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

My younger son Devin is in graduate school at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He made a quick 36 hour visit home this weekend. Short but we'll take it. It's rough to have a child sixteen hours away.

Portraits of a Montagnard Couple

Portraits of Chram Rode and his wife Broih Fnu, a Montagnard couple originally from Viet Nam, now living in Greensboro, North Carolina. For the past two seasons they have been working for the Goat Lady CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) garden near my home in Grays Chapel.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Working Land

Justin Sparks from Wilkes County and a coworker were in our neighborhood this week preparing land. They are on contract with a local dairy to produce silage for cattle feed. They were using some special equipment and while they were tilling the land they were also incorporating barley seed that had been broadcast on the fields. The barley will be a cover crop that will provide green fertilizer for next year's corn. It's interesting to see ways farmers are working to be more efficient. It's pretty cool riding around in the cab of a eight wheel, 450 hp tractor as well.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

North Carolina Mountain Color

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

October is a month of change in North Carolina. Starting in the mountains and moving east, Mother Nature makes the transition from summer to winter with her brilliant displays of color. I think this is my favorite time of year, although I do dread to see the cold and gray of winter coming. This image is of Yellowstone Falls, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesville. It's located in the Black Balsam/Graveyard Fields area of Pisgah National Forest, one of the wildest and most beautiful spots in the Blue Ridge.

For info on the Blue Ridge Parkway, go to: http://www.nps.gov/blri/

Trailer Load of Pumpkins

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

A load of pumpkins and squash at a neighbor's farm in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Sheep Dogs Working

Sheep dogs demonstrate their natural herding instincts at the Open Farm Day at Rising Meadow Farms in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

(Photographs copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

View from the Feed Bowl

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Chickens feed in their lot in our backyard in Grays Chapel, North Carolina.

Persimmons

(Photograph copyright 2011 by Dan Routh)

Still life of persimmons.