Rainwater Collection

Greg is adding two barrels to his rainwater collection system.  Water gets pumped from the barrels on the ground up to a barrel on his balcony, giving Marty and Greg plenty of water pressure for watering the garden.

Dame's Rocket Paradise

One thing that makes me cringe is the memory of a line I once wrote:  "How enchanted was I by the sight I beheld."  I was going through a Jane Austen phase, but is that any excuse?  Well, the line applies here.

Directly in back of our house and through the tree line, I can hop onto the Loop Trail that Joe (and the deer) made.  It was  here I stumbled into clusters of dame's rocket in every direction.  The photos don't do it justice.  Suddenly it's everywhere!

 
There were so many that Sue and I could gather bouquets for everyone without spoiling the effect.

Community Garden Update

Steve and Greg have made great progress on the community garden in the center circle.  It's all tilled now, and Greg has sown one-third of it with five pounds of sunflower seeds, which should make for a spectacular sight this summer.  Steve has planted onions and will be adding melons and pumpkins.

Pond Play

The pond is one of our favorite places to play.  We throw rocks, check on the progress of plentiful tadpoles, look for animal tracks, and poke at the mud.  Those who don't mind the mud hop in for a a swim.

Grape Arbor

One day, Greg dug holes behind his house. This is curious, thought his neighbors.

Another day, large logs arrived and got shaved. Interesting, thought the little onlooker.

Finally, it all came together. Greg added a wonderful grape arbor to the back of his house. Rob Champion and Kerry Gordon and Rod Lambert put together the structure.

Marty planted some grapes. Covered with leaves, it's going to be very nice. I hear there are plans for a hammock underneath it.

New Faces Around the Campfire

It's campfire season!

Liam, Jules, Devin and Steven, our newest applicant household, visited White Hawk last weekend and thoughtfully supplied s'mores ingredients.  We'll be seeing more of them when they move to Ithaca in July.

What's New at Number Eight

It was exciting to see the crane roll up to lift the roof trusses.

Now it's really looking like a house.

For a while, the Beebe-Lungs had a moon roof.

And then a porch!