sighs of anticipation & the return of the Sun

Mona tries out for roller derby!
“Mona Spumoni”

‘you tawkin’ to me?’

We’ve been making steady progress on the house, and ironically the more we get done the smaller the trailer seems and the more eager we are to get moved over.  Our  friend  Todd came over and helped Jeff set the wood stove so we’ve been having fires in there regularly, both for warmth as we work and to help the mud dry out.  I finished staining the floor boards for the loft and Jeff got them all put in. Right about then, our neighbor Adrian, who is a rug dealer, brought us a Persian rug as a housewarming gift.  We’re saving it until the mud is all on the walls, as it is pretty dirty work.

Ravi,  another friend on the mountain who has worked on a lot of straw bale buildings, came over and showed us how to get started mudding the bales, and the upstairs has a first coat done.  We’re planning to get a second coat on the walls up there and then we’ll move in upstairs.

We’ve also had our eyes open for things we need, trying to  to find used things that are still in good condition.  In the last couple of weeks we’ve found an oven on Craigslist, a 100 pound propane tank on Trash and Treasures (a call-in radio show on a local station where people can advertise things they are trying to unload), and a unique galvanized metal ceiling fan from Habitat for Humanity
.

We’re continuing to plug into the community  as much as we can.  Possibly against my better judgement, I’ve become vice-president of the school board for the Roots and Wings, the charter middle school on the mountain.   I also volunteered to feed the goats at the ranch once a week. Jeff is getting involved with a sustainability council that is getting started on the mountain, incorporating the school, the ranch, and all the various non-profits, animal scenes, and vegetable growings, and other community based activities.  He’s been feeding the yaks for a few days while Daniel, the main ranch hand, is out of town.  He also helped our friend Surya change the alternator in her car.

The weather is still pretty mild for this time of year, but we have gotten a couple of snow storms.  The dogs love it – they bounce around like a bunch of puppies.  We’ve been having our share of fun too.  I played a show in Taos on Solstice and a bunch of folks from the mountain came [watch on youtube].  The next day we went to a gingerbread-house building party, Lama style.  This gingerbread house was an adobe and it included an outhouse, a goat pen, even goats and chickens and an horno. .  We shared Solstice/ Christmas dinner with about 10 other folks, and the food and company was excellent.

All this and it isn’t even the New Year yet!

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~ by riverbird on 27 December 10.