Progress during the days of grace...

A friend of blogger/author Jenna Woginrich calls this time of year the days of grace. I agree. All the business of summer has slowed down. All those projects waiting for attention are finally getting some. And the days are cooler, maybe a little breezy, and so much easier to work in. The promise of a cozy tucked in winter hints through the wind and sun.

It also seems to be a time for community. We have recently moved the sweat lodge of J's community to our property. It was in town, but neighbors complained of the smoke from the fire, and I'm sure those "weird drum sounds" and singing may have played a part. So we have had folks from the lodge community up here working on it and getting it ready. The lodge kids have had fun on the farm as well. Watching chickens and playing with the building materials pile. A 2X6 and an old tire make a mean see saw.

While I myself have built a lodge in the past and participated in several Native American ceremonies with the Cherokee back east, I have yet to do a sweat lodge. My time is coming.

This weekend we also had quite a crew, which we are in immense gratitude for, come assist with re-roofing the barn. Gone is the metal roof (which I love) and on with new decking and shingles (which I also love). New trim is also in the mix. One side is finished and next weekend we finish the other side. Now the barn/workshop will be dry, and hopefully dust and bird proof. J and I talked about what the barn looked like when we moved here. Oy vey! It was leaning like the tower of Pisa and there were birds and years of dust built up. The wind came through the sides and you could see pin holes of sun through the roof. Now, it is a great shop with a second floor and windows. What progress!

Some friends told us when they first saw the place they thought we were going to just raze it and start over. The house and the barn. There was so much to be done and the place was a total mess. It takes serious vision to see what we saw in the bones of both buildings. Now they readily express their surprise and delight with our cozy home and made over barn. It feels good to see the fruits of your labor and know it is all worth while.

I have my mind on next years garden. Raised beds vs. another plot. I think for ease, the raised beds may win over. With the weed invasion here, and our time constraints with battling said weeds, it makes the most sense. While we will have beds planted in the old garden area of fruit bushes and maybe corn, the raised beds will allow us more control over our crops and be easier to maintain after the initial building work is done.

I have been off work for the most part going on three weeks. A forced vacation courtesy of Congress. I haven't minded too much, even though the time frame is precarious and doesn't really allow for long term planning. I do wonder however, how I will get the gumption to go back. Sleeping in until 7am is nice. I also have some projects I have enjoyed working on. And time for writing, well that is just a total bonus. It makes the motivation to look for work closer to home that much stronger. We'll see how that goes. For now though, the focus is on making progress. And that we have in spades.



The original