The Hermitage

Today, I've been helping John build his "Hermitage," a small cabin which he will use as a place to practice his contemplative life. It is located about 300 feet from the house in a little glade by a brook - a dry brook right now, but which always flows in the spring and some years, flows year-round. It is 9x12 in size, with a small front porch. John has totally designed it and for the most part built it by himself. It incorporates a lot of the materials he salvaged from the old shed which I took down earlier this summer,  2x4's, 2x8's, OSB board, etc. He is also incorporating some 8x8 beams he salvaged from a barn. It is essentially a post and beam structure, but he calls it a hybrid because at the two ends, the stud wall is sharing the load of the roof with the vertical beams. That's because the beams have some dry rot, and he wanted to be able to take them out if he had to. It is all put together with screws. It is really a nice structure. Today he was putting up the rafters. Since it is far enough away from the house to make an extension cord impractical, he has used hand tools a lot, although he has used a cordless drill. He has had to do a lot of cutting of boards near the house and then carry them to the hermitage. It's been quite a job! Here are some photos I took yesterday (forgot my camera today).

Approaching the Hermitage

Closer up

Starting the rafters

My job today was basically  handing things up to John, which saved him having to go up and down the ladder. After he had done all the rafters, Cynthia took us out to eat at a nearby Chinese restaurant.
 Meanwhile, Ellen stayed home nursing a bad cold. She's been pretty miserable with it, but feels a bit better this evening;

 While we're on the subject of buildings, let me go back and pick up a couple of photos from Swarthmore. Our friend Wallace has done a great job of creating a garden around her house, and also creating a warm and lovely home inside. Below are some before and after pictures.

Wallace's house, which she rents from Swarthmore College, back before she had moved in, about six years ago.

The way it looks today

The living room, back when it was being repainted by the college before Wallace moved in.

The living room today. 

Full Sunday

Today we went to church in Dummerston.  Pastor Susanna Griefen's sermon on Genesis chap. 2 made a brilliant correlation between the movement of that chapter and the overall progress of evolution - sort of a "theology recapitulates ontogeny" argument. Intriguing! She also made a long and heartfelt prayer for Betsey.

After church, on this crisp fall-like day (the last day of summer!), we took a lovely walk on Black Mountain Road and then headed down to Amherst First Church where Katie, Savanna and Brendon were performing with others in a Peace Concert - celebrating International World Day of Peace. Both Katie and Brendon sang several solos, Katie played acoustic guitar and Savanna electric guitar. 

         Brendon (middle), Katie (at mike) and Savanna (far right) performing. 

                                        Brendon singing a solo

                        Katie singing with her friend, Dorothy

                    Katie also sang duets with another old friend, Roger. 

                  A group of drummers had us all dancing in the aisles ! 

After this event we all had supper at a nearby Chinese restaurant. A good time together! 

Family time

These past two days have been family time. Yesterday, Friday, we had lunch with Katie and Savanna at their place, a very nice lunch on their screened porch, and it was lovely to see them again after three months away. There was a lot to catch up on. Brendon came home after school and we got to see him a bit. Then they all went off to an appointment and we headed home, but we called the Feinland's to see if they were home, and we stopped at the Sugarloaf Frostie in Sunderland for a bite to eat. Julie called while we were eating saying "come over," so we did, and we were there for their Shabbat ritual, which included lighting candles and sending the light out to Betsey, Rob and Katie. We also each said what we were grateful for and something about ourselves we liked. We were glad to hear Ben say he was grateful for his high school teachers! 

Tonight we will round out the family time by having John and Cynthia over. 

Oh yes, I promised a photo of our new shed. Here 'tis:

                              Our new shed. Cute!

Inside the shed. I hope eventually to build some shelves. 

                   We also have a new lawn! Things are looking nice!

The work done included making the driveway and parking area in front of the house look neater. 

Our first engagements

Today we returned to our lives here in Vermont, in a way, by going to meetings and events: Ellen to her prayer shawl knitting group, me to a meeting of the Pastoral Relations committee at the Guilford church, both of us to the first rehearsal of the Brattleboro Concert Choir. I'm not sure I was quite ready physically or emotionally for this re-entry but I managed to survive. My voice is about 50% of what it should be, but I haven't sung much for 3 months or more, so I'm hoping that use will improve it. The Guilford church seems to be thriving, which I was glad to hear. And the knitters are just knitting away. 

Yesterday I reorganized the new shed that was installed in our absence. It's night time right now, so I can't take photos but I 'll post some tomorrow. 

We've just been enjoying being home these past three days, getting back into the routine of tea and toast in bed in the morning, then reading in bed for a while, or listening to "The Exchange" and the "Diane Rehm Show" on New Hampshire Public Radio. Then getting up and puttering around. The weather has been lovely for the most part. Tomorrow we have a Hallowell rehearsal in the evening. Gradually we'll become accustomed to a new rhythm. 

I think Betsey may have an oncologist appointment and an MRI tomorrow. 

We're home

We arrived home late last night. The house was only a little musty after being closed up for three months. No mice invasion that we can see. No ants. On the cool side. Needed two quilts last night. Ellen is suffering with an allergy attack. We've been taking it easy. I built a fire in the wood stove which both feels and smells good. We are pleased with the work Zac did while we were gone. I'll post some photos later. 

Stay tuned - i 'll keep posting even though we are home. 

Montvale on the garden state parkway

        Montvale rest area, just a few miles from New York State. We're getting there! 

Earlier, we had breakfast with Harry and Sarah. 

Sarah and Ellen

 

Library day, redux

I ended up spending the day at McCabe Library yesterday. Actually, I was in the Friends Historical Library from 10 to 1, then McCabe from 1 to 7pm. Gots lots done, but realized I need more time still in the Friends Library. This project has sort of a feel of infinity!

I ate brunch in the college dining hall - $10, all you could eat. I have to be careful in places like that these days. My stomach doesn't comfortably hold what it used to.

Swarthmore College Dining Hall - I had sort of a combined breakfast and salad bar

I had supper in the college snack bar, which opened for the evening at 6:30. It was raining, so I had to walk back to Wallace's in the rain, but had thought to bring an umbrella, and it wasn't raining very hard, so it wasn't too bad. Ellen and Wallace were at the movies when I got back, but came in later. I had a lot of "cleaning up" to do on the computer, after my time in the library.

We're having breakfast with Harry and Sarah this morning and then heading home! Gosh, it's been close to three months since we've been home! I hope it's still there and all in one piece!