Little Ado about . . .

For those who have accompanied us on this adventure, there have been bouts of frenetic activity, separated by long periods of regular life. November was one of those frenetic months. Much was accomplished on the home building front. Amazingly this happened during the same month that Kirk went to Vermont for a week and we all got sick with the flu! We think it was the swine flu but we're not sure. Thankfully we are all pretty much back to normal.

Anyway, here's pictures of this month's progress on the home construction. Jayne has also been getting us ready for Christmas so there's a pic of her doing the decoration too.







Installing the drainage lines under the slab - one chance to get these right!

Excavation for the septic tank. Bedrock or "ledge" as locally known made it hard to get the tank deep enough. We got it, barely.





Dave Cole and company pouring concrete on November 2. What a beautiful day for the pour. Part of the mix was a little wet, causing delay in the finishing process.



















Kirk is back in his favorite spot - a trench. We finished the last 100ft. of the underground electric and cable trenching and installation to the house. Kirk installed a temporary mounting panel for the electrical service. This allowed us to finish the electrical service and get construction power. We can watch cable TV too! Right - like there will be time for such things.












The house construction materials arrive. Now we can get started building in earnest.

The electrical service finally got hooked up last week. It has been a lengthy process dealing with the local utility and inspection approval. But we persevered and now there is power on the site. We elected to install a customer-owned pole mounted service and then go underground. This means most of the electrical service is owned by us, simplifying dealing with the utility. This pole is about 130ft. from the utility line. The remaining 550 ft. is underground. Definitely more visually appealing and worth all the hard work.











A Mainer's favorite and most versatile tool finds another use. Why mess around with carving knives when you can grab the Husky I always say.






We also completed installation of the septic field. Not shown is a picture of the well just drilled. We got water right where our dowser said it would be. 120ft., 8 gallons per minute. We haven't had the water tested yet but this is a very good sign of a great well.

The Wide Wide World of a Homestead

The main story of our lives continues to be building our new house. Yes, the rest of life goes on too such as eating, sleeping, making money, conversation (lots of that always), etc. But building a house, especially on raw land is a very absorbing activity. Since we are functioning as the general contractor and doing some of the work ourselves, there is even more to keep tabs on.















Since the last posting, we've nearly completed the utility installation. The picture at left shows Cheryl relaxing before we unloaded two 550ft. reels of aluminum 4/0 cable. For the non-electrical people out there, 4/0 is about the diameter of your thumb. A cable is made up of three 4/0 cables and a somewhat smaller 3/0. This cable was pretty heavy! We loaded these reels on the trailer by rolling them up the ramp. Cheryl and I together barely got them on!

I attended the "learn-as-you-go" school of backhoe operation on this job. I picked a particularly challenging way to start. To keep the driveway open as long as possible, we trenched to the road crossing from both directions. That meant I had to dig sideways across the road to avoid falling into a trench. The material being trenched also made it tough - hard pan blue clay. I was getting pretty good by the end of the day though!

The picture at left is Cheryl enjoying pulling one of the heavy cables into a 400ft. trench that snaked through the woods. I would have helped her but I was running the backhoe to finish trenching across the road. Cue all the women in the audience "sure he would have!" Cheryl is quite a trooper. Later I helped her pull the second cable in. We found muscles that day we didn't know about!













We can't finish the house end and turn power on yet but that will come as soon as the foundation is in. Cheryl and I labored mightily to complete installation of the power cable and backfill the trench with sand. By the time we were done, we placed 35 yards of sand in the trench. Because we couldn't directly access all the trench with a tractor, sand had to be brought as close as possible then hand-shoveled in. Glad I spent several years shoveling coal into steam engines. It was great training for this job!! Near the end of the job, we worked all the day in a steady rain to fill the trench before it caved in. Glad it was warmer then:-)







This picture shows the best part of the utility job - final backfilling of the trench. Although this tractor is pretty small, it is a diesel and perfect size for working in tight quarters.

Whew - what a relief to be done with this job. We detoured through the woods because we ran into "ledge", a.k.a. bedrock on the original route along the driveway.





We also obtained a building permit from the town this month. That gave us the green light to begin foundation construction. Our excavation and concrete contractor, Dave Cole, graded the site this week and installed forms for the concrete slab. He also built the driveway and is a real pleasure to work with. Next step is installing drain, water and electrical lines in the sand under the future slab. The septic tank will also be installed this coming week. Then comes styrofoam insulation and PEX radiant heat tubing on top of the insulation. We anticipate being able to pour the slab the first week of November.
Once the slab is cured, we will cover it up with 2" styrofoam and put it to bed for the winter. This will position us to begin construction in earnest come March, weather permitting of course. Just in time for sugaring season.







The interior view is a future look at the inside of our house. Looking out the southeast corner of our house, the view will be much like this photo. Similar to this layout, we placed 3 large windows on each side of the corner to maximize morning light entry. Sure look like a great spot to wake up in the morning!

Anam Cara

We've decided to call our land "Anam Cara". This name comes from the Celtic tradition. It means soul friend. We definitely feel that every time we are on the land. It is truly a wonderful place!

Instead of a bunch of text this month, I decided on a photo essay. Mostly because we have become so busy with working on the land it's hard to find time for much else. We've managed to complete the 600ft. access road, clear the homesite of trees and stumps, sawed about 3000 board-feet of white pine into sheathing and trenched 400ft. for the underground utilities. We

also received final house plans from the First Day Cottage so we can apply for a permit. Then we can really get moving! The white box on the trailer is our future tool crib! Jayne pitches in to chip brush. Joe is sawing up the white pine for the future barn. Dale on the Kubota backhoe is working on the utility trench. And David is busy building the access road (driveway). And below is the finished road. Can't wait to see it in the fall!

At Last

The band at left is known as "The Mojomatics". These guys are a great Maine blues band - the real deal! Tommy O'Connell on harp/vocals and Mike Hayward guitar are long-time Maine blues scene vets. Mark Perez on drums and Mike Van Summern on bass are newer to the scene but they have the chops too! They host a blues jam in Freeport at a bistro/music bar called "The Venue". It's a high quality jam at a great place and I been going there to jam for about a month. A great way to unwind and play some bass with some great musicians.

We signed the contract to purchase our land today! Finding and buying this land has been a long process. Some prime construction time has elapsed while we've been planning, ruminating and negotiating. But this has been the rainiest summer in Maine, maybe ever. So construction would have been delayed anyway. During this time, Cheryl and I have been working hard to solidify our plans on many fronts.

First, we have decided to build a First Day Cottage as our permanent residence. See last month's blog for more on First Day. The more we looked at the First Day Cottage designs and concept, the more we felt drawn to make this our permanent home. This concept was strengthened by visiting a completed home in Bar Harbor. We talked with the owners/builders for several hours and came away feeling very good about First Day. This is not to say that we will not someday build an earth-bermed house. For now the First Day Cottage permits us to quickly and economically build a beautiful and energy efficient home. We are planning on the saltbox 1-1/2 story design, 24ft x 33ft., about 1300 sq. ft. Cheryl has put together a floor plan that provides a wonderful kitchen space, his and hers offices and a place for Jane upstairs. She also included her special love - a screened porch! Quite important in Maine.

In addition to the cottage, we are also planning a greenhouse, shop/barn and a chickenhouse. We've spent the last two days laying out the homestead, first on paper then with stakes full-size on the land. We had to remove a bunch of underbrush and saplings just so we could see to lay out the stakes. It's quite a job trying to plan how a group of buildings need to be positioned on a site, particularly when most of the buildings need maximum solar exposure. While trying to get proper solar performance, we also don't want the place to look like a strip shopping mall. A significant factor influencing the site layout is the septic leach field. We're planning to have the septic system designer out this week so he can tell us where the field will go and how big it will be. The picture above is our first structure on the land. With the high mosquito population, it's an especially welcome shelter!

So many details in building a new home on raw land. Well, septic, 1/8 mile long driveway, utilities, site excavation, tree clearing, town building codes, land survey, title search and on and on. And there's that little challenge of staying within budget while getting done on time. Since we started part way through the summer, we've lost a fair amount of building time. So we're working like dogs to get things lined up prior to closing on the land to permit getting a fast start.

All the brush cutting and hauling we've been doing lately has also showed us how out of shape we are. Cheryl and I have both been driving desks for quite a few years now. I especially have gotten very little in the way of heavy workouts since I've been renting a house. When I was 41 I could work like mad for a long time before getting fatigued. Now that I'm 51 and mostly sendentary, things are way different. So Cheryl and I have to work up to manual labor required for this job. Eventually we will get back in shape with all the work that needs doing on this project! And yes I'm wearing all the proper safety gear for using a chainsaw. Still got to constantly keep your wits about you though!

Jane and Cheryl recently returned from a 4 day visit to Michigan. The visit enabled Jane to go with her former church group on a camping trip to South Manitou Island. Cheryl spent much of her time catching up with family and friends around Grand Rapids. The 4 days didn't include travel time. Cheryl and Jane drove straight-through both directions which is about an 18 hour drive. Coming home they drove through the night so that Jane could get back to Maine for a rehearsal in an upcoming musical she is in. Jane rebounded quickly but Cheryl took several days to return to full strength. Driving all night is hard on 51 year-olds!

That's all for now - miles to go before I sleep!

Zeroing In

Negotiation. For some people this word is a "let the games begin" signal. For others, it is stressful and dreaded process. Historically we have been firmly in the second camp. We might have been able to avoid doing much of it under different circumstances. But our journey brought us to land being sold by the owner with no realtor in sight. So we've been dealing directly with the owner, which is a much more personal and potentially emotional process. Although we've been doing extensive reading on buying raw land and negotiating, none of this stuff is really adequate to the task. Like all else on our journey, whatever maps of the territory there might be are of limited or no value.

We ruminated for quite some time about the process of making an offer for this land. Even determining a fair price seemed impossible. Finally Cheryl plunged in and created a document. We decided not formalize an offer at this stage but rather express our understanding of the situation, declare our intentions and put forth a "proposal". We met with the owner for several hours, discussing our document, using it as a springboard to understand the owners goals. It was a very amiable afternoon - not the eyeball-to-eyeball exchange I had been dreading. Since then he has made a counteroffer, accompanied by an explanation of what he is after.

Throughout this process, we have felt blessed by interacting with a very spiritual owner. Yes he wants to make money from this transaction. But he has been very transparent about his life. In a short time we have become good friends with the owner and his wife. They live about an hour west of here, almost to New Hampshire. We would love to be neighbors of theirs but land is even harder to get there and it is farther from Portland. I know becoming friends with the folks you are buying land from violates one of the principles of dispassionate negotiation. And it will make it harder in some ways. But we feel coming to know these people has a greater purpose than mere financial exchange. So we pay attention to the intuitive as well as the rational and especially the spiritual however it manifests.

Home design is our other major focus. For financial reasons and because we want to get to the next phase of our lives, we have been looking a 2 step home construction process. Originally we hoped to use our travel trailer, combined with some other shelter to create temporary housing on the land. We determined that the trailer will be fine for construction convenience but will not be viable for winter living. So we switched to the idea of building an apartment over a shop for our initial housing. The shop will function as living space until the real house is built. Our plan has been to build about 1000 sq. ft. that we can live in indefinitely so that we can take our time designing and building the real house. Having recently lived in 700 sq. ft. with 3 people and 3 pets, we know 1000 sq. ft. will do the job nicely. In fact it may be so nice we never build the real house! If so that's fine too.

At any rate, the house shown above embodies some of the ideas we have for the real house. This house is located in Plattsburg, NY, not too far from the Canadian border. The house is a circular earth-bermed structure. It has a living roof (soil and plants) and the exposed walls are built using cordwood masonry. This style is quite old and employs logs about 8-12" long, set in mortar to form the wall. The log-ends form the exposed portion of the wall. The inside and outside mortar joints are separated by a treated sawdust infill which provides a thermal break. The wall is rated at R-19. The walls in contact with earth are built using dry-stacked concrete block, arranged in a radial fashion. These walls are coated with surface bond cement, water proofing and insulation. I attended a one-day seminar on earth sheltered construction at this home last month. We are consider incorporating cordwood masonry into our new home.















These two homes represent possible designs for what we call the "shop house". These houses are kits made by a company in New Hampshire called "First Day Cottage". Virtually everything arrives on a flat bed semi. They are designed to be built by the average person and are very economically priced. We especially like the "woody" interior and of course the relative low price. Here's an interior view.
As I mentioned, we may come to enjoy living in the shop house so much that we never build the main house! At the beginning of this posting, I also included an architectural rendering of a possible main house design. This design is earth sheltered, passive solar heated.

And so we continue learning to trust. Cheryl is much farther along in this arena than I. I sometimes call her the "Laughing Budda" as she helps me on this path. I'm surprised she doesn't call me "Grasshopper". For anyone who wasn't a TV watcher in the '70's, the grasshopper reference comes from the show Kung Fu. Grasshopper was the young monk in training.

Trust. Such a simple word. So difficult to achieve. So easily shattered. So necessary to our thriving and surviving.

Uh Huh

Many people probably feel daily life can be summarized by this month's title. Sometimes I think we started our adventure specifically to avoid that fate. There sure have been many twists and turns since we embarked. It will be a year next month since we jumped off the cliff. On the whole, it's been rewarding. There are some parts I'm glad to be done with. And we are still adapting to life in this fascinating state Maine.

The picture above was taken out our back window. It is one of two glorious, ancient apple trees in the yard. Beyond the trees is a large open field. This field is frequented by a fox, crows and other birds. We watched the fox at work recently, executing a series of hops, probably dropping on some unlucky creature. We are also priveleged to have nice song bird population including goldfinch, rose breasted grosbeak, blue bird, tree swallow, chickadee, white breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, cardinal, blue jay and of course crows. At a nearby farm we also saw a bobolink for the first time. It's great to have old friend bird species as well as newcomers.

Another view from our backyard at sunset . . .













Vehicles are another challenge in Maine. As you can see, for some reason I'm holding the van's side door handle. Last winter, the handle got ripped out when things got cold and the door wouldn't open. Getting parts for a 1994 Toyota Previa isn't the easiest thing these days. In Maine they have a mandatory vehicle inspection program. Unfortunately the inspection determined the van needs a new windshield, exhaust work and patching of two body sheetmetal holes. Old faithful Emma (our van) has about 243,000 miles and is still going strong. Still, we wish we didn't have to spend the money to make it legal in Maine. In good ole Michigan, these things wouldn't be an issue. But as they say here, "it is what it is." So we will be biting the bullet.

Land. Land. Land. A major focus for Cheryl and I now is finding our spot. Previously I included a picture of land we thought would be good. Turned out to be mostly wetland. But now we think this land may be it. Cheryl, appropriately and fashionably protected from black flies and mosquitoes is posing during one of trips onto this land. The land is 9 acres, completely forested with a mixture of white pine, hemlock, maple and black walnut. Some of the maple is sugar maple, suitable for maple syrup production. Everytime we go on this land, we love it more. We've already met some of the neighbors including a people on a large former farm. We instantly connected with the folks on the farm. They will soon have 3 generations living there since the owner's son is moving back onto the farm.

We've met with the land owner of of our hoped-for land a couple of times. He loves this land and has cared for it lovingly for years. I thought when we went on the land with him he would be able to name every tree! He suffered a tragic accident about 15 years ago when he fell down the stairs and broke his neck. Although he has great difficulty walking, lost fine motor control of his hands and is in constant pain, he has such a wonderful disposition. He is active as much as possible, including cutting and stacking his own firewood. Makes a person feel ashamed to complain about the little problems most of the rest us of have.

This picture shows the entrance to the land. Although you can't tell from here, this used to be a two-track access road. It's been awhile since any wheeled vehicle was in here!


The next photo is of a glade farther in the property. A part-time stream originating at a small spring flows, across the property and through this glade. It's not wetland but the water spreads out from the stream in this area making for a part-time wet area. If you forget the mosquitoes for a moment, it's magical!
















The land has multiple large white pines like this one. Some will need to be cut to make way for our house and food growing area. The good news is these trees will provide significant lumber for construction.

The particular area we are planning for the house is a sand/gravel rise. It has quite a bit of maple on it. The maple portions of the property are pretty free of underbrush as the photo below shows. Other areas will need quite a bit work to clear the understory for easier walking.

We are quite excited about this place! It is located not more than a 1/2 mile from the Saco River. There is much work to do before we can purchase and more still to get on the land. It is a bit overwhelming when you've never done something like this before. But the land keeps drawing us . . . drawing us . . . drawing us . . .

Spring At Last

Although there are a few isolated piles of snow left, winter is basically a done deal here. Flowers are up, trees are starting to bud and people are beginning yard clean up. With the ice storms and heavy snows, there has been much tree damage to deal with.

Although it may sound like a broken record, we are perpetually amazed by the beauty of this place. The photo above was taken at Bonny Eagle on the Saco River. One of the great things about Maine is you're never far from a lovely outdoor setting. In Michigan our experience of natural beauty often centered around lakes. And there are plenty of those in Maine too. But we've spent considerable time around the river and have come to appreciate its varying moods. It's become a priority for us to live in proximity to the Saco as we continue our search for land. Here is another picture at Hiram, also on the Saco. Hiram is located about 45 minutes northwest of us, not too far from New Hampshire. I recently did some work at this dam and was awed by the location. The actual dam is below the bridge structure. There is really not a lake as such behind this dam so it's a relatively low-impact on the land. Pretty cool.

Our search for land continues to take new and interesting turns. We've basically decided the land I mentioned in the last blog entry is not going to work for us. We discovered about 2/3 of this land is protected wetland. Another 1.5 acres is power line right-of-way. That left precious little of the 10.5 acres available to build a house on, raise food and care for animals. We looked at buying land adjacent that was owned by the same person and found that wasn't going to work either.

So Cheryl started looking in earnest for other possibilities. A search of MLS listings in the area turned up relatively little in the way of land for sale. There are plenty of houses on the market but not too much in the way of land. Cheryl being the resourceful individual she is was undaunted. She started visiting the town office, reviewing tax maps to find unoccupied land. Then she created a letter which she sent to all the absentee landowners, telling them our story and inquiring about their possible interest in selling. We received several positive replies from the letter, leading to some nice opportunities.

Of course, our finding the right land is proving no easier than choosing an area to move was. In addition to dealing with the usual issues that attend buying raw rural land, we are also seeking a place favorable to a passive solar house, zoning that is minimally restrictive, especially regarding farm animals, at least some similar-minded neighbors, minimal road & utility costs and by the way, land we enjoy being on. We are also seeking to be relatively close to the grocery store, hardware store, etc. to keep fuel costs down as oil prices bounce around. And other issues I won't bore you with. Not too tall of a list, eh?

And now for something completely different. I recently read a book by Mark Levin titled "Liberty and Tyranny - a Conservative Manifesto". Back in my 20's and 30's I would not have given something labeled conservative a second look. Later, I began referring to myself as socially liberal, fiscally conservative. But even that really didn't do it. Especially since I've moved to Maine and been immersed in the independent Yankee tradition, I found some common ground with Libertarians. Hence the title of this book held an attraction. Additionally I have regularly found common ground with conservative concerns. A quote from Abraham Lincoln on the back cover of this book is a great start.

" We declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself and the product of his labor; while with others, the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different but incompatible things called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny."

Wow. As part of our journey into living differently, I have come to see the insidiouness of government regulation. Mark Levin argues that regulation and the government that produces and enforces such is the tool of the "Statist". Levin's basic premise is the goal of government regulation is to subjugate the individual to the state. Hence the term Statist is applied to individuals who believe the State should be the source and controller of all. Generally Liberals would be tagged as "statist" although he asserts there conservatives who are also Statists.

It would be easy to write off Mr. Levin as another conspiracy theorist. But I believe there are conspiracies at work in the world. The mainstream mocks conspiracy theories in knee-jerk fashion, no matter what the political orientation of the author. I'm not exactly sure why that is. Certainly it is uncomfortable to imagine conspiracy, especially regarding the government. But conspiracies have occurred and will continue to exist. So why not at least entertain the possibility? The basic challenge I have with Mr. Levin's approach is not the idea of conspiracy by Statists. Rather it his implication that elimination of Statism will make everything whole again.

The belief in supremacy of the individual and greed-driven capitalism are also complicit in the mess we find ourselves. There is also no question we have become of nation of entitlement thinkers. This thinking cuts across all income and social strata. We are locked in endless combat about Socialism vs. Capitalism, liberal vs. conservative, individual vs. community. Much ink and talk has been expended detailing the flaws and attractions of these polar opposites. With the election of Barrack Obama, the liberals felt their time in the "wilderness" was over and it was the conservatives turn to be in the cold. Eight years ago the opposite was true. Where has this gotten us? It is inevitable in a win/lose situation, the loser does not go away but rather plots revenge. Meanwhile our society and country move closer to the brink. Without a transformation in our thinking, we are doomed. What doomed will look like is anybody's guess. But it will not be pretty.

So will we emulate the Earth by entering into a "springtime" of new ways of being? It is time to consider "the middle way" as Buddhist's suggest. It is time to realize that we need to be informed by multiple traditions as we forge a new way of viewing the world we find ourselves in. There is no doubt we are in territory that has no map. As Einstein said, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results." Let us stop expending energy fighting each other and seek instead how we can all survive the coming upheavals.

One Foot Ahead of the . . .

Recently I realized its been awhile since the last posting. Normally I try to post about once a month to keep the story fresh. The last posting was February 8 so I'm overdue.

Where to start? Much of February was consumed with the relative mundane - getting moved in while continuing to keep everyday life going. Of course, in this family, even the mundane seems to take on a new dimension.


We're feeling pretty well settled into the new house. As we thought, we really like living in this house and in this area. We're doing much less driving than we did at Casco. Although we don't go to Portland or Biddeford more than about once a week, doing so now is about a 30 minute trip rather than close to an hour. The grocery store, gas station and other common things of life are now just minutes away, again cutting driving and expense. The picture below is from our new living room. Much nicer than the old place in Casco. More than the practicalities though is the wonderful feel of this place.

We live about 1/4 mile uphill from the Saco River. We regularly walk the road paralleling the river bank. Like many rivers in Maine, the Saco and the land it flows through is beautiful. We've never lived in proximity to a river before. After several weeks of well-above freezing temperatures, the spring runoff is well underway. There are now rapids in the river just below the dam that were not there in winter. A hydroelectric dam is located just above the rapids. We watched today as several utility workers performed maintenance on the dam while suspended in a basket above the rushing waters. There are definitely more sunny days here than Michigan. Lack of long strings of gray days is a blessing. It doesn't snow as often as Michigan but when it does, the snow fall is substantial - often in the 12"+ range.

Since my last post, I went to Vermont for 3 weeks to startup the synchronous condenser project for an electric utility. It was a very tense time for me, mostly because I was still in a learning mode. The computer control program I wrote had a lot of mistakes that had to be corrected during the startup. Everyone involved was under a lot stress. But the $11MM project started up with only a cooling system problem on one unit. It was quite a thrill to watch the utility dispatcher in Rutland (about 30 miles away) move the 46KV crosscountry transmission line voltage up and down with our new system. Everything worked just the way it was intended. This startup was the culmination of a 2 year project to improve the transmission line across central/southern Vermont. The guy in the picture is my boss Kevin, hard at work programming.


A major focus for us over the last several weeks has been the search for land to purchase. We feel pretty confident we want to live in the Buxton area so we've been concentrating there. For those who haven't bought raw land, it is a whole new ball of wax compared to buying an existing home. If anyone is interested, we found a great book on the subject. It's called "Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country" by Les and Carol Scher. The book is an exhaustive work on country land purchase. We are looking in the 5-10 acre range with the goal to have some forest mixed with clear area for our passive solar house. Cheryl is pictured at one of the parcels we are interested in. We walked it extensively today. It is 10.5 acres across the road from a wonderful forested park on the Saco River. The land was cutover a few years ago so there are relatively few trees of size. But most of the cutover is well populated with pioneer trees of various sizes. Drainage is an area of concern. We hope the nature of the drainage situation will become evident as spring starts.

I wish I had a picture of another 5 acre parcel we looked at in the area to post. Cheryl fancied it as a fixer-upper. I have never seen such a dump! When approached from the road, view of the property was mostly blocked by a high, solid fence in severe disrepair. The trailer was ready for the torch - viewed from the outside! The yard was filled with all kinds of junk. An old 5th wheel trailer, a semi-trailer and a wide assortment of steel junk. It would be a major job just to clean it all out.

I started working at a guitar repair shop every Monday and have been doing it for several weeks. Scott is the owner and is he ever an easy-going, nice guy. He also attended the Galloup School in Big Rapids, about 10 years before I did. He is helping me learn the in's and out's of guitar repair. I also work with a guy named Tom who has been doing repair for about 8 years. He is a 50-something self-described hippy from New Hampshire. He also has a property management business which caters to rich people's places along Maine's coast. He is ramping down this business so he can do what he loves which is repair guitars. The shop is named Acoustic Artisans and is actually a partnership between Scott Conely (guitars) and Jon Cooper (violins). They are located in a multi-story old brick building in downtown Portland. In addition to luthiery, the building also hosts people rehearsing for music performances, people giving music lessons and visual artists. It is a wonderful center of artists and artisans, spontaneously interacting. Impromto jams also break out from time to time. The day goes very quickly when I am working at the shop. I wish I could do it more than once a week but it is unpaid since I'm in learning mode right now. So once a week is all I can afford for now.

Follow this link to Acoustic Artisans. http://www.acousticartisans.com/

While I work 4 days a week, Cheryl is the prime architect of getting us to the next phase of life. When she is not searching for land, she is busy learning about growing and preserving food, buying stuff we need for our new living situation, learning about permaculture, saving us money by lowering the grocery bill, generally keeping the wheels on and most importantly, working with Jayne. Cheryl is the spark plug of our family. We are infinitely grateful for her and her work.

Jayne continues working to adjust to her life here. This move hasn't been as hard on her as it might be for someone in high school. But she misses the social scene from her church group. Today she screwed up her courage and went to meet a couple of fellow home-schooling girls near Biddeford. Cheryl and I are hoping this will go well so she can start feeling more connected here. It's always hard to move and leave friends and family. It's harder yet when you don't have any friends in your new home. But it is all part of the process and good experience for her and us.

Here's Jayne shoveling at the Casco place on moving day.