From the category archives:

Things built

Merry bathing

December 23, 2009

Just in time for summer solstice ablutions my neighbour Steve and I moved a 600 pound carved Balinese water bowl into position in the far corner of the bath area and then spent the rest of the day hauling in top soil and pine bark and planting out 18 prostrate juniper bushes. Even though these [...]

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The Buddha and the Car

December 7, 2009

Both are recent additions to the landscape at Windgrove and each in their own way, whether static or mobile, provides a service.
The Buddha was purchased because I am creating a secluded zen garden for meditative bathing just behind the house where the present outdoor bathtub is located. Yes, just using plants and stones could [...]

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A better system

December 1, 2006

Well, the view was certainly great while I worked this week installing a new 2,000 gallon water tank at the far edge and on top of the Gully dam. A bit of ditch digging in hard, rocky clay brought forth a few swear words, but I sit here this morning happy that the job [...]

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Another fork

May 5, 2006

Within all our lives there have been those moments when we have come to a “fork in the road” and have had to choose to go one way or the other. Throughout history the symbolism of such a moment is always ponderous and fraught with indecision.
For years, there was only one road into Windgrove. [...]

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Six P rule

July 21, 2005

Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Almost every evening for the past month I have been slightly obsessed with drawing up plans for the four Windgrove residency cabins; places where writers, visual artists, musicians and others will stay to ponder their navels if they so choose.
Not overly large (around 250 square feet or 25 square [...]

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Deciding weekend

October 28, 2004

Over the past several months, the financial situation here has been squeezing me closer and closer to selling up Windgrove and moving back to America where I was invited to join an intentional community in Hawaii. Not a bad option, actually — if I only think of Me.
However, when I see how important Windgrove is [...]

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Important curves

March 18, 2004

At the Forest Rally this past Saturday, ten thousand people walked and carried banners through the streets to voice and display their concern over the continual destruction of the Tasmanian rain forests.
At one particular moment in the march, as I looked at the massed crowd curving its way back and further back [...]

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Peace pole

March 3, 2004

Finally, the first tender shoots of grass are poking through the top soil.
The past three weeks have been arduous, yet fulfilling, and the placement and landscaping of all the guardian rocks at the entrance to the house is now complete.
This could not have been done without the help of my “unexpected guest”, Daniel, who [...]

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Deus ex Machina(s)

February 12, 2004

Like the gods suspended above the stage in a Greek theatre who arrive in the nick of time to solve a difficulty, two separate events allowed the placement and landscaping of guardian stones in front of the house.

When the three dolerite boulders arrived on a rather large ten wheel truck, I was fearful of [...]

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Three dams project

February 3, 2004

Last Friday’s journal entry focused on a few drops of water coming into the house. Well, maybe more than a few; a flood.
What I failed to mention, though, was that while I was dealing with this inconvenience, the big effort of the day was in overseeing the completion of the last dam to be [...]

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