George has been making his own beer for about 12 years now. I have gotten pretty good at it an can make some pretty tasty beer. It has won several blue ribbons at the Wilson County Fair and is in high demand around the neighborhood. Just lately, Judy and I started making wine. Its a little easier than beer and we have had pretty good success, winning a ribbon at the fair with the second wine we made. I get my supplies from:

• Midwest Homebrewing and Wine Making Supplies

• G Homebrew in Lebanon

We are very involved with the local animal welfare organization, New Leash On Life. Judy serves on the board of directors and is the current secretary. I am the event photographer. We have fostered many pets until a good home could be found for them. Bark in the Park is our largest annual fundraiser. The 2009 event was a huge success, thanks to our many volunteers and staff. Here are some links to the various department within NLOL.

• New Leash On Life

• Fix for Life

As the owner of a small business, the chamber of commerce is a great help to me. I am a member of the Mt. Juliet/West Wilson County Chamber of Commerce. It is a very active chamber and has the interest of the business man or woman at heart. We have just started a new council to help home based business owners like myself. Appropriately named The Home Based Business Council, we meet the third Tuesday of every month at 8:45am at Wilson Bank and Trust in Mt. Juliet, TN. Come visit us and see what we are all about.

• Mt. Juliet / West Wilson County Chamber of Commerce

Judy and I have been involved with the Wilson County Fair since we moved here in 1993. We first started with a local tractor and engine club. I rebuild old antique tractors and we displayed them at the fair. We usually spent all 9 days sitting with our club watching people go by. The club also ran a old tractor powered saw mill for every ones entertainment and education. We also entered items in the fair events. Among other things, we have entered canned goods, pictures, wine, stained glass, beer, cat show, dog show and others. We have won numerous ribbons for our efforts. In 2003 we decided we wanted to be more involved with the fair itself. We became members of the board of directors and now help with actually putting on the fair. Paid admission for the fair in 2009 was over 505,000. Our fair has won lots of awards way to numerous to list here. People and organizations come from all over the Unites States and abroad to see just how we do it, especially since its all done with volunteers. Here are some pictures from the fair.

• Wilson County Fair

On day while walking around the farm, I happened to see a small wildflower. It caught my interest because even though it was very small, it was very pretty. I went and got my camera and took several pictures. I spent the next several days trying to find out just what flower I had found. I finally found its name and some general information about it. Seems like our forefathers has used this flower for several medicinal purposes. Well, I started looking around and low and behold, there were many different wildflowers that I had not noticed before. Taking pictures of and identifying wildflowers on the farm has now gotten to be somewhat of an obsession. I have identified over 250 different varieties. You can see pictures in the photo gallery. Some of my resources are:

• 2bn the Wild

• Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb

• Wildflowers of Tennessee by Jack B. Carman

• Wildflowers of Tennessee by Horn and Cathcart

• Field Guide to Wildflowers by The National Audubon Society (My first)

Judy has been an avid sports fan for many years. Her dad used to take the kids to the local ball games, be it football, baseball or basketball. The local college team is Vanderbilt. Judy has had season tickets for Vanderbilt football and basketball for about 25 years now. She and her sister and nieces and nephews attend every ball game they can. Of course tail gating is a major part of that so they make a day of it. Go Commodores!

• Vanderbilt Commodores

Last but not least, a lot of our time is spent here on the farm. We have 40 acres on the top of a big hill where you can see forever it seems. It is in Wilson county which is known for its rocky terrain. For about 5 years Judy and I spent hours moving and picking up rocks. It was so rocky that I completely demolished a bush hog in the first year. Every year we continued our vigilance till now I can mow every thing that is not woods with a large zero turn mower. I mow about 26 acres and it looks like the park that I envisioned when we moved here. We embrace nature here by providing shelter and food for all the critters. I have over 40 Bluebird boxes that I maintain. Besides the Bluebirds, others such as Tree Swallows, Chickadees, Downey Woodpeckers and Titmouse nest in these boxes. I go through about 20 pounds of black oil sunflower seeds a week. I also keep food out for the deer and turkey. Judy has the green thumb and keeps several flower and herb gardens around the house. We spent a lot of time this summer creating new focal points in these gardens.

• Views of Sycamore Ridge Ranch