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!

Monday at White Hawk

Sue and I checked out Greg and Marty's black locust posts.  

Marty is pulling the bark off, and then they'll use the posts for their grape arbor.  In the process, we discovered that black locust fiber looks like great basket-weaving material.  Someday when kids are big and hands are free, I'd love to try my hand at weaving baskets from local materials.  Greg says these posts will last fifty years, so they're a great local alternative to pressure treated wood.

Then we documented some more construction progress.  Rob and Rod up on the second floor

I think what Kerrie is doing here is making sure the house is nice and tight by adding insulation between SIPs, but set me straight if I got that wrong.

As a bonus, Rob donated scrap wood that we can use for White Hawk campfires.

I thought we were going on the Loop Trail, but Sue turned right back around toward home, proclaiming, "Outside!"  

Um, I thought the Loop Trail was outside.  She wants to be where all the people are.  She often takes me next door to the construction site, shouting, "See!"

I think this is my first-ever photo of all four White Hawk homes together.

On the way home, Marty tells me that we can glean greens from their hoop house before they clean it out for another crop.  Greg finishes up the debarking with a draw saw, explaining how it works.  

He has a great collection of old and very useful tools.

White Hawk on Film

May 2 was a busy day in more ways than one.  Before the tour, we spoke with Frigyes Fogel, who is making a film on Cultural Creatives.

Then Natalie Jenereski from WBNG-TV in Binghamton arrived to do a story on us.

You can view the video here.

Construction Progress at Number Eight

In our last installment, Number Eight had a slab.  Now it has a second floor!

The SIPs arrive

Sue checks out the slab before the walls go up.

Rob and Rod put up a corner so tour folks can see SIPs close up.

Putting a SIP in place

Now it's really looking like a house!

From the south

Joe stood atop the topsoil mountain from previous construction to take this shot of the emerging second floor.

Here come the second floor walls.  These things go up fast!

May 2 Tour

We opened our doors on May 2 to share what living at White Hawk is like.  Despite predictions of thunderstorms, we enjoyed a warm, fun day of chatting, wandering the land, and listening to tunes by John Simon.

We want to provide more opportunities for you to stop in and see us.  Check here and on our homepage for upcoming tour dates.  As always, you're welcome to schedule a private tour.