Building our new house
In early 2007, we began building our new Round House here at Sacred Groves with a vision to expand our residential community on this beautiful land.
We purchased 3 round structures from Oregon Yurtworks--a big house with a large round Great Room that has become the heart and hearth of the Sacred Groves community, and 2 yurtlettes, private bedroom-cabins for new residents. We are modeling a "small is beautiful" lifestyle with small personal spaces, sharing kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, living room. We are enthused about the joys and challenges of community living, committed to the spiritual and personal growth required for sharing life in this way.
This blog, which has the most recent entry at the top, tells the story of the construction of the new house, starting with the foundation built Spring 2007. Carpenter and Groves resident Tere Carranza has managed the project from start to near-finish.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
the joke's on me!
We poured the sonotubes and footings for the smaller yurts ( we've dubbed them 'Cedar' and 'Plum" for the trees and shrubs nearby) yesterday in a chaotic frenzy of unwieldy hoses, splooging concrete, and a willing crew. Yes, it took us forever to clamp the hoses together that delivered the miniscule amount of concrete to the far yurt ( Plum - in honor of the Indian Plum that hangs over it) - and we slopped more concrete on the ground than actually made it into the forms. And we did a much better job of delivery into the forms for the Cedar yurt. By the time we trained the hoses on the cosmetic curb inside the main house ( this is designed to keep the dirt from spilling from one level to the other) - we were more or less experts. Most of the mud made it into the forms - and then, there was no more concrete! Half of the curb wall remained empty!! A contractors nightmare ( # 305 ). Shit! I was pissed off - but tried NOT to take it out on the great helpers who were sweating and straining to move the hoses and concrete under the hot summer sun. I yelled "GOOD JOB" and then scurried over to 'finish' off the forms at Cedar - where the concrete was globbed and piled high covering the formboards and braces and everything!!
Francis left without saying goodbye - and I feared that he was upset with me for not masking my frustration adequately - and I feared he thought I was pissed at HIM! When in fact, he had done a heroic job of pulling this very green crew together and getting them to help him with the very physical work of hose-hauling, hose-control, hose-lifting, etc. BOO HOO! Therese corroborated the notion that Franics was upset ( 'he said he heard you say 'fuck it' and then you ran off into the woods..) which made me feel even WORSE.
As soon as I finished working the stiffening concrete away from the forms and attempting to smooth it out - I called Francis. 'Sorry for being such a pill' says I.
"WHAT? I LOVE working with you guys and gaias and feel honored that you called me to help out! I WAS JUST KIDDING!!! In fact, Dave elaborated on what I had said, and told Therese that you didn't just run away - you ran CRYING into the woods!!!"
Oh - I guess Therese did not get the JOKING part....
Anyway - we ran into both Francis and Dave at the Bainbridge Island Downtown 4th of July street dance that evening - and we all had a great laugh.
Who knew we'd get so much mileage out of a 'measly' 6 yard pour. (more pics)
posted by Tere # 6:53 PM 