We had our worst storm of this Winter season on Sunday and Monday. We received 16.2 inches of snow and more than 100,000 homes lost power (we didn’t). It took Richard, Frank and Ali quite some time to clear the driveway and sidewalk. We’ve been looking at the mounds of snow here, that just keep getting deeper by the week, and we’re wondering how bad the Spring thaw and subsequent floods might be. We never flood as we’re right on the river and about 40-50 feet up. But, when we have lots of snow during the winter, other people’s homes do flood here. We’re supposed to get more snow on Friday and even more late next week.

Anyway, if (when) the snow ever does melt, we’ll be able to get back out to our land in Western Maine to do some more building. Now that Mason is older and doesn’t need to be held every hour of every day, I’ll be able to help more with the building this year. Like I do with my crafts, I’d like to start small, making a miniature version of something before moving onto something really big.

Richard will be working on the main house this summer but that’s a bit too ambitious for me. Richard has been shopping for a composting toilet and I have volunteered to build an outhouse for it, complete with a moon in the door, of course. We have lots of large stones on the property. Since it’s a composting toilet, the outhouse will be permanent (won’t need to be moved around) so I can make it aesthetically pleasing (pretty!). I can even insulate it if I want…which will be sooooo appreciated by family members since it gets so cold here, even in the Spring and Fall. I’d like to add a window with curtains and a pretty flower box, too!

We’re foregoing any big trips this summer to spend more time building on the land so I’m really excited about having a project all my own.

Richard is considering recycling old shipping containers, converting them into buildings like one of our neighbors did. If any of you have done that, please holler and tell us about it.

This Week’s Maxism:

“I have a burp stuck in my heart.”

Angela

P.S. REMEMBER AND WRITE ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD USING MEMORY TRIGGERS! It’s fun and it really does work! My next class starts IN TWO WEEKS! Each class is limited to 15 students so sign up today! Remember, Write and Publish Your Life Story – https://www.writersweekly.com/wwu/courses/memories.html