Rafters, Communities, etc.

I’m still working on the rafters, but an end is in sight! Part of the reason it’s taking so long is that the weather has been terrible, and I can only make myself work in the rain for so long. But it’s coming along. 

I have a few more rafters up than are in the picture, but this is basically it so far. The next couple of days are supposed to be nicer, so hopefully I will get more done…

A couple of people asked what the community I live in is like, so I’ll talk about that a bit. For punk/etc. community, there is another land project nearby with 4 people on it, two building a place and two building an extension to their existing place. They live a 45-minute bike ride away, along the rail trail, and we have “family dinner” on Fridays, which means some sort of potluck at the one finished house between all of us.  Travis and I stayed there for a month while we were looking at land out here and their place is inspirational as far as how much you can get done in a short amount of time- chickens, a well, (soon) two good-sized houses, a root cellar, and various other projects.

As far as the non-punk/etc. community, I live in a group of several houses and forested lots with a baseball field next to a field of cattle. That is Peakes. It’s pretty small. The next community over is St. Theresa which has a golf course/restaurant/variety store and an old school which now serves as a CAP site. Also a neat little garden to walk in, graveyard and church. The closest place with services is the village Mount Stewart, a small place with a library, several nice old houses and trees, a gas station, post office, self-serve organic grocery stand and a few other things. It’s also the hub of the bike trails in the east, and really pretty. Many of the pastel houses are boarded up, which works for it somehow.