About 11 weeks later, we had our counters put in.

We’ve got a couple more small projects before we can call it done (tile backsplash, paint, trim work), but it was definitely a good experience. We learned about electrical work, plumbing, ducting, general construction, countertops, how to live without a kitchen.

Check out the photos at flickr.

I got a photo of it lurking in the bushes.

Pure evil lurking in the bushes

I’m just waiting for the crows, racoons, squirrels and rabbits to all get together and make a run on the house.

What you don’t see usually is 1) the four co-owners in a room together at the same time during the party 2) the hours of preparation it takes to throw a party at Casa Do Bruce (we actually have planning meetings) 3) people left out or ignored 4) and the patience, compassion, and love that creates this specific house.

Last weekend we had a party that was a combo deal: Graduation, dual birthdays, Solstice, and bring your own occasion (any excuse to party!). We had out of town guests, pans of pasta, several different types of dessert (including a cake shaped like a massage table, a gluten-free cake, and some leftover raw tiramisu), BBQ, ping pong, Cornhole (see flickr pictures for this), a fire pit, a keg, a dance hall, and one of the best damn times lots of people have had, at least in a while.

We, the inhabitants of Casa Do Bruce, take pride in celebrations like these. I hope I am speaking for all of us when I say that we don’t just throw a party when we have people over. We provide the space and co-create (it woudn’t be as fun without all of our peeps showin’ up) a moment where we can all appreciate the amazing world we live in. Yes, bad things are happening around the globe. Yes, some (most?) of us feel a bit powerless about that. Yes, not all of us have experience with healthy groups of people. But we come together, even in “distant” Burien (seriously, it’s NOT that far from Seattle!), to look each other in the eye and say, “We can create THIS. We can hug, laugh, argue, joke, dance, cook, eat, kick-ass in cornhole, and that’s all US. We don’t pay taxes for this, we don’t have rules about it, and we can do it as often as we want.”

The morning after I woke up early and I had such a warm feeling. I LOVE this. I love people staying over (voluntarily or not), making breakfast the next day, watching the crazy photos from the night before on our movie screen, and reveling in the fact that there is SO MUCH LOVE in this house. It’s not just a house. It’s who we are. I could die happy. I know some of THE most AMAZING people and I am lucky enough to spend the best years of my life with them. Nothing could be better.

So to all our peeps, thanks for your willing and conscious participation in our lives. You make it all the more awesome.

Oh, and one last thing you don’t see…the goat. But one day you will.

House-warming Photos

Photobooth

But this morning, I got to see my housemates and got to take in how caring they are, while Josh and I run around with a doom cloud. We’re just having a hard time transitioning and it doesn’t help that we’re half of the household. But when I see the smiles of Stan and Lauren in the morning (or anytime we see them), I am comforted that the whole day isn’t and won’t be crappy. We have awesome friends, who work hard to be our friends AND our housemates, and who love us, and that makes me want to smile and cry.

You see, when trying to build community you can’t tell people (or yourself, for that matter) that it’s all worth it when the shit hits the fan. When the chips are down, something happens. People in community know that there is a group to hold, as well as individuals.

When Lauren tells me there’s work to do outside, I don’t hear that I have chores to do, I hear that this house needs 4 people to make it work. And when I am hating people, I can make some time to be by myself and work the land. I NEED that. Even if I can barely drag myself into work clothes, I need the gentle push of my friend.

And when Stan says he’ll burn us a disk of the “necessary” Lost episodes, I hear the gentle hug of “It’s okay, this crappy feeling won’t last too much longer.” So I smile. It’s just a tv show, but now it’s more than that. It’s our friend telling us that we’re not alone, we won’t hit bottom, and it’s almost over. Sigh.

This is what community is. It’s two people helping two other people and then we switch. I look forward to our turn to make wheat-free and sugar-free pick-me-ups for our friends when they are having a rough time. I look forward to giving that gentle push so they know we’re watching and we’re able to care for them too.

I love this house AND home.

So out I went, clad in a thick sweatshirt, work shoes, a warm jacket and gloves. I realized that being prepared via clothes and warmth allows me to stay outside longer. We sorted the wood pile (burn or salvage) took apart wheelbarrows, and loaded all the appropriate crap into the Caddy to take off to the dump and recycling site. Man, did it feel good!

Then I had a hankering to rake up some cedar pine needles and make things look pretty outside. It felt so awesome to see a clean backyard! Now I know what Lauren and Stan are talking about, regarding being outside.

Our family used to spend a lot of time outside. Now that I am an adult (officially, now that I’m 30), I realize that I have been missing them, out there with me in the garden. I must be intentional in either inviting them to physically come over, or just bringing them with me in my heart while I pull weeds, rake, and harvest the bounty our land provides us.

I’m eager to have people over and despite our slow progress with our various remodels, it’s good to have occasions to get our shit together and have visitors.

Stay tuned for how we pulled off the pre-wedding event!

But today, on talk like a pirate day, Josh and I started to chip away at the what must be decades-old layer of chicken manure in the coop. At first it was easy going, but then we got to the gooey center which had an odorific smell of ammonia and shit. We pulled out the nest boxes and got all of it. We also tore down the sorry excuse for a broken down chicken run so we can put up a couple of new runs when we get chickens.

We plan on getting a bunch of chickens next spring so we can have fresh eggs, manure for compost and perhaps some meat. I also think it would be fun to have some chickens roaming around the garden eating snails and slugs and other insects that are damaging to the garden.

Future outdoor projects:

• get a pair of goats
• clean out the greenhouse to make it usable
• build a bat house this winter (help control the mosquito population)
• get a dog (because I’ve wanted a dog since I can remember)

Now we just need to update our kitchen so that our hot appliances don’t look like lipstick on a pig.