John and I pulled a 10 hour day yesterday to finish the wall. It looks great. Changes the character of the house….will take some getting used to. My friends have been great. Several people visited while I was here: Ingrid, Sarbjeet, Denise, Leda and her husband John. Most reminded me (gently) that my efforts wouldn’t change anything. I know. I tried to strike a balance between everyone’s priorities for the house. I’ve acted on my values – I want a peaceful, beautiful home full of a demonstrative loving family. The “peaceful” part is where my mind has been. I realize it wasn’t….and…that we produced that together: co-construction. I’m changing, and welcoming it, painful as it has been and no doubt will continue to be. If nothing else, how I’ve spent the last ten days here matters to me.
I’m particularly proud of the stairs, but there are several other features that emerged spontaneously: the future water pool, a heart stone, a triangular niche for (possibly) a worship icon, a quartz portion that gleams in the sun. 🙂
Steph–
What seems most obvious to me now (duh) is your desire to leave your permanent mark on the house and the property. I agree that it is a beautiful addition and that it changes the character of the area. . . but think about it. This is a house in which you are no longer (right now anyway) a daily presence. People might make such changes out of boredom, to reflect internal changes or from a strong need to leave their footprint in a way that will be remembered.
BTW–on Denise’s comments about the hired and free labor. Where did my garden labor fall? Geez Benneth had more beans on those plants than I’ve ever seen in my life. What does she feed them?
Take care,
Your friend,
Leda
Leda, I’d say your garden labor falls closer to Sarbjeet’s subtle mind control than Denise’s injuries, which she says are “healing quite nicely–no gangrene, no splintered bones puncturing the skin.”
As to what Beneth feeds her garden – a good mixture of topsoil and cow/horse manure, and some fish emulsion. If she has other tricks they are deep, dark secrets!