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.

PhG Tours

I recently visited with Jennifer Cleland of PhG Tours, who came out on a sunny day to have a look around.

She has a natural passion for travel and local history, offering guided tours and itineraries for travelers to the Finger Lakes.  I learned a lot just perusing her website.  In fact, I recommend it to anyone looking to get historical and geological-tinted feel for the area.  Hope to see you again, Jenny!

Digging and Construction Progress

Everyone is digging, it seems.  Joe is getting ready for our asparagus to arrive.

Greg is digging holes for the black locust posts that will support his grape arbor.

And now, an exciting installation in our saga, The Birth of a Slab!  Plumbing roughed in, ready for insulation...

Insulation installed

The grid for the pex tubing
(Pex tubing is what the water will flow through in this radiant heat system.)

Kerrie and Rob install the pex tubing.  Kerrie does beautiful tile work, by the way.  To see more of Kerrie and Rob's work, see visit the Creative Constructions blog.

Time for concrete by Everhart & King Brothers.

Et voilà!  We have a slab.

Joe and I love the thermal mass of our slab next door.  It's cool in the summer, holds the heat in the winter, and keeps our utility bills low.  There's a lot to be said for living on top of a rock!

Fancy Newsletter

We have a newsletter with all the bells and whistles! Plus news. Take a look:

'News from White Hawk Ecovillage'

Catching Up

My photo album tells me there's lots to share, so here goes.

The moon at 6:42am on April Fools Day.

Biking on White Hawk Lane.

Greg and Marty's hoop house is full of greens.

Sue and I like to toss rocks into the seasonal streamlet that runs into the pond.

First crocuses at number 7!

The porch at number 7 is currently littered with toys, but we'll be clearing it out to make a stage for John Simon to play at our May 2 tour.

On Easter Sunday, White Hawkers and friends attempted archery for the first time.

Busy day on Monday!  The first shovelful of dirt got scooped up at 8 White Hawk Lane.

Then I had lunch downtown with Susan Cosentini of New Earth Living.  She's a creator of the Aurora Dwelling Circle currently under construction in Ithaca.  We consider our living options to be quite complementary, since the Aurora Dwelling Circle offers an urban, walkable, predesigned option, while we offer a rural, land-rich, open design option.  We look forward to working collaboratively to share the experience of community living.

By the time I got home, George Van Valen's crew had made a lot of progress!

Then students from the Cornell University Sustainable Design project came for a tour.  

Formerly the Cornell University Solar Decathlon Team, the group is now considering three kinds of projects:  international humanitarian, a local home or community center, or a prototype high-tech home.  

On Friday, the forms went up around the future foundation of number 8.

I'm pleased to announce that the daffodils are starting to pop!

Joe has been working on clearing and marking a trail around the village.  Much of the tromping down has already been accomplished by the deer.

Along the way, you can see springtime ramps

and White Hawk's tiny waterfall.

Today, plumbers Deb and Mike installed the sewer and water pipes that will be in the slab at number 8.

And this just in from Saratoga Springs:  Jules and Steven are busy prepping their home for showings.  Jules' new passion is vacuuming walls!  All fingers crossed for a quick sale.  After more packing, Jules, Steven, Emma, Devin, and Liam will become very familiar faces at White Hawk.

New Family Headed to White Hawk

Jules, Steven, Emma, Devin & Liam are headed from Saratoga Springs to Ithaca!  Jules says they have been very busy sorting, organizing, purging, and sprucing up their current home.  In preparation for their move, they brought a truckload of possessions to store here.

Advertisement for White Hawkers: We help unload trucks.

The culmination of all their hard work?  Their sweet home is now officially on the market.

Now they're looking forward to a quick sale and getting their White Hawk home started.  It was fun to see and interact with a new family hanging out on the land. Can't wait until Jules, Steven, Emma, Devin & Liam are right down the road!

I Can Knit

I can't knit.  I don't know how.  It seems that all my friends--every single one--know how to knit.  Amazing!

Dmitri has been steadily insisting out of the blue for the past two months or so that I know how to knit.  I finally decided he's right.  I just don't use yarn yet.

I communicate with people and groups. I weave and blend them together.  The sweater I'm knitting is called White Hawk Ecovillage. I don't have a pattern for it, but like my whiz knitter friend Jenna, I have instincts about what to do next.

I love this type of knitting.  I do it naturally and willingly.  I'd never dream of clocking my hours and checking them off as work done.  I just want to do it, so I do.  Plain and simple.  I notice that we all have our natural interests here, and we all fall into them easily and willingly.

Joe loves to walk the land, make maps, participate in site planning, beautify and make the land the more welcoming place to be.  I know to go straight to him when I have land thoughts to take advantage of his perspective.

Alicia loves to make beautiful images that convey complex messages in one second.  I'm so glad she knows how to do that!

I love how everything is optional, how it's possible to live here without any heavy obligation, saying yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no.  For example, you are not likely to find me doing much physical labor.  But as soon as I say that, I become interested in a sandbox project that involves digging.  Our interests are always evolving, and our participation follows.