The house
Milt and I standing in our "front window"
As you can see, I am refreshing my blog and trying to learn about how to put in more images and media. I also wanted to separate my writer self from my teacher self a bit. I thought about starting a second blog to post more helpful ideas for you about building strength and presence in the world. But I can hardly keep up with one. So, bear with me as I practice putting in new items. I’ll start with a couple of pictures of the early stages of constructing our straw bale cabin. We are actually living in it now, so I will post more finished pictures soon.
We are also having a straw bale earth plastering workshop on the place on June 5th from 9-whenever we get tired. Hope some of you can make it.
Jamie
I haven’t posted much lately-too busy getting our house built before the snow flies. At last the work on roof, foundation, and floor is completed and we laid the first straw bales last night. Today we made great progress and have two partial walls built. Working with the bales is half art and half trial and error. We slowly made our way around the logs and the windows, connecting one corner. I am happy with the size of the front window-huge. There will be light in this little house. I think we will be “baled in” within 3-4 more days with additional work progressing on spraying the finished walls with clay slip and beginning to plaster. I think we were both relieved to see the first bales go in. It has seemed as if the other work would never be done. There is still much to do but each day Milt and I get stronger and stronger (from working longer and longer).
Today after we finished working I went to the lake and stuck my feet in to see if it was still warm enough to swim. The nights are beginning to cool dramatically, but the water felt fine so I put my suit on and went in. The surface was glassy and the sun low in the sky. It was cold but still more refreshing than painful. I floated on my back and watched the fishing boats. A heron flew overhead and two seagulls went winging by in tandem. What better? I still can’t believe it is nearing the end of September and the lake is still not as cold as Rapid Creek in July.
I wish I could turn my mind back to a more introspective inquiry, but the building is taking all we have to offer right now. I am not so worried about the cold-I just want to know that the plaster will dry and set up once it goes on. Then I will breathe a sigh of relief and begin to fashion this construction site into a home site. Today I left for a few minutes and when I got back Milt was practically knee-deep in loose straw. A couple of the bales had burst on him-I thought he looked like a kid on a hayride.
One thing that continues to amaze me is how little stuff we need around us in order to be comfortable and happy. On our recent trip back to Rapid City we brought more of that “stuff” with us and I found myself feeling annoyed with the extra burden of material gods. I spent part of yesterday thinning out other stuff to make room for the new.
I am so looking forward to having this heavy physical workload behind us, so we can begin to dream forward into this new life. In my mind the house is finished, the fire is burning, and I am planning next spring’s garden plot. I am also finally turning my attention to some new writing project. Onward.
Jamie
Today I wandered around and kicked up hills in the sand and dirt and planted acorn squash and pumpkin. I thought it would be fun to see all these plants just roaming whereever they want to go. In my small garden in Rapid City I had to contain and train and cajole them to stay put. One year I had a pumpkin plant that took over nearly the whole garden.
I am experimenting with different things. In one spot I tried a “trench garden” where you dig a three foot deep trench, fill it with trash paper and cardboard, and the fill it in and plant on top of it. In another spot I tried bag gardening–bags of topsoil with the tops cut off and the seed sewn right into the bag. It is supposed to be a good way to start a first year garden. I only put greens and cilantro in those. Maybe I’ll call my pumpkin and squash garden “Free range squash.” I still have two grapevines to put in and then I need to replace my tomatoes and cukes. I also created a “Tool Tipi” today. That was fun–two trashy looking closet doors destined for the dump came together to provide a shelter for my rakes and shovels. It actually looks kind of cool. I stapled a rice bag over the top to give it a little more water protection.
The sun shone. The ticks roamed. The mosquitos smiled. And it was a wonderful few hours under the newly blue sky. There is just something about working with dirt and sand and my own trash pile that makes me happy. And then I ended the day with my second belly dancing class. My sister and two pretty nieces are all taking belly dancing lessons. They are one session ahead of me but I can shimmy with the best of them. I am not sure if my right hip aggrees, but that is what happens when a 55 year old woman shimmys.
Next week we fly to New York City to work with a “film doctor”. Fernanda is going to spend a day asking us questions about Video Letters From Prison and helping us to hear our own answers. No mystery as to why we chose her to work with! Gaydell–thanks for signing on. I miss you! When I figure this straw bale thing out I still may come and plant one on your land. Tell those other bear lodge eaters to sign on, too.
I’ll keep you posted,
Jamie
