Plumb spent

You know how it feels when you're first with your significant other, when passions are running high and you kiss and kiss until your mouth feels bruised and your face is raw, but every time you feel the ache it feels kind of nice, because it's representative of all the amazing things you're experiencing? That's how I feel right now every time I try to perform the smallest function with my hands, which are covered in little bloody blisters and nicks and could potentially shrink in to permanently withered claws after my weekend pulling about three zillion staples and nails (placed about every 1/2 inch) one by one out of the kitchen subfloor.

It's Monday morning, and I'm slumped in my chair at work, feeling satisfied but hung over without any of the fun night-before buzz. The weekend's farm work crew consisted of Ted, Jeannine, Becca, Chris, Charis, Jay, and Jerry Osberg, along with his brilliant worker-bee daughter Brita. What got accomplished: The entire plumbing system was replaced, a sub-floor was installed in the bathroom, the holes were all drilled for the bathroom appliances, ventilation pipes and upstairs sink pipes were installed, new, regular-people-sized doorways were cut for the bathroom, the kitchen counter and sink were replaced (new butcher block - like buttah), and four layers of subfloor and linoleum were painstakingly pried off the kitchen floor, with bare oak now exposed. A sink and a table were also assembled. I have to say that if a union had been involved in our informal hiring of Jerry, we'd be in court right now, because the man basically works from sunrise to sundown, with minimal breaks. He really can't even be bothered with lunch. It was wonderful to experience the gale-force work happening all around me. These people are serious.

On the drive home, Jay and I talked about how what we're doing is another way of living sustainably - of learning our living space up and down, and knowing how to take care of it and make repairs as needed. Jay and Chris will be finishing up some of the plumbing and electrical stuff, and I know how happy they are to have that knowledge under their belts. Progress continues! Next in line is tiling the bathroom floor and sanding the hardwoods...

In other news, our neighbor Bill Beyrer, who basically owns all of the land around us, is happy to have us walk and ride on his property. He came by to see if we wanted to lease our field out to him for farming next year, and we had a great conversation. I continue to feel lucky that we're getting to know these folks.

Love and sweet smelling grass hay to all,

Charis