black gold

ah, the outhouse.  i do love it so.  if you have never fallen for a privy, then you probably have not known one on intimate terms.  the pooper is not just a practical necessity.  it is more of a spiritual practice.  as i once heard thich nhat hanh profess "even deh urdination an deh defication can be verdy plesurabul".
it is quite the treat to get to stop what you are doing and go for a little walk in the woods several times a day.  and the digs only add to the fun.  a glass door and window with a brilliant view.  plenty of reading material.  sweet solitude.

 
we, like most modern back to the landers, use the humanure method.  that would be referring to creating a human manure.  covering all deposits with aged sawdust or peat moss.  and then when the bucket is full, adding it to the compost.  one year after you have finished filling the pile you can actually mine your own crap!  it's a beautiful thing.      

the mini-cabin

the first thing we figured we needed was a storage shed.  we chose 8x12 for two reasons.  one is that it is small enough to not need a permit.  the second is that lumber comes in 8 and 12 foot lengths- this makes things go a bit faster as there are fewer cuts to make.  papa started the building in winter.  in snow and rain.

he was already familiar with building decks, and this structure is not much more difficult than that.  the foundation is cement piers, with a plywood floor on top of 4x4's.

the walls are 2x4's filled in with redwood fence boards- which are really cheap and look great.  we used fir lath over the seams.  the roof is also redwood fence boards, though the seams are not filled as the metal roof rests on top of tar paper.

we found a used wooden window and door at a salvage place, and repainted them.  by this time we realized that we had a very posh storage shed.  and it made a great studio cabin.  so we put a small 4x8 porch on the front and the mini-cabin was complete.  it took only $2000 and 14 man-days of labor.

inside we put a few shelves and a coat rack.  two futons and a rug.  we spent much of the first summer in it, and it was a joy to have such a small space to care for.  with the summer days being long and hot we needed no heat and a lantern was plenty of light.  we had very little with us, and found we needed no more.    

in the beginning

we have been dreaming this dream since we lived it before.  while leaving i knew we needed to create our own homestead.  so for years we looked for land.  road tripping to find towns we liked, obsessively searching real estate in remote locations, replying to ads, bumbling up dirt roads with agents.  one child was born, then another.  the whole process a yearning, heavy load.
then, one day, divine intervention.  lakshmi came in the form of a chain email and opened things so that the time was now.  that night i found the listing for our land.  jumping in my heart i knew it was it.  a week later we powered up the valley and wound through the mountains.  rolling up to the driveway i could feel that, yes, this was our new home.  it all came together.  and so the homesteading could begin.
we are blessed with beautiful land.  a varied landscape of white oaks, ponderosa and sugar pines, douglas fir and cedar.  blackberries line the creek.  wildflowers follow one another in succession.  it is buzzing with life.  a backdrop of insects.  with snakes eating tadpoles and toads hopping about.  lizards skittering at the feel of your footsteps.  birds busily gathering food and hammering at trees.  the king of it all, bear, ambling about.