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.