Goddess is my back sore this evening! The Dearinth work party was scheduled for 10 am in the hopes that most people would be there by 11 am. So Tom and I started about 9 am. We went out to see about getting flat pieces of rock big enough for altars for the seven directions but small enough for us to be able to move without injury. We found all we needed down by the birch tree that went down last week. One was a stone in its roots and the rest were tumbled about by a dry streambed. We had to leave two until Jack arrived though as it turned out I could help lift it but the additional weight was too much for my knees and I couldn't walk up the incline. Sometimes my physical problems really irritate me. But at least they are not as bad as they might be and don't stop me from doing most of the things I want to do. Tom is really sweet though. He has had to do more as my knees and wrists have gotten worse. And most of these are not projects that he wants to be involved in doing, except to help me. If I could do them without his physical help he would not be doing them.
Phoenix got here before everyone else again. We were appropriately amazed. After a bit our other nestmates showed up as well and we got to work on re-mulching the paths that we had mulched last year. Hopefully this mulch will last a little longer. My next mulching scheme is to see if we can get bags of grass clippings from people who live in town and have to bag it for the city to pick it up. Grass doesn't compost easily, mats into clumps that won't blow away easily unlike leaves, and will hopefully keep the weeds from growing through. We would still need dump trucks full to mulch all the paths but even with just the ones we have done so far it takes a little less effort to mow it. I was hoping that it would work out to plant more daylilies but the time was too tight.
When Jack and Kim showed up Tom and he went back down to get two of the larger stone pieces. I am quite happy to have all the altar tops already. I expected it to be a slower process of wandering the land trying to find the size and shape that would work but this worked out quite well. I take that has an indication that this was a good idea. Of course, if it had been slower I would not have considered that an indication that this wasn't a good idea:)
The SweetWood meeting didn't take too long. We dealt with business and then heard serious concerns of one of the members about membershipping and a new member. It all looks like it will work out fine eventually.
My children showed up before we were totally done but it was fine. Corey hasn't been home since he left the end of January so he spent some time walking about saying that is different, this is new, the rearranged living room isn't that different. He also spent time just looking out the window. When I pointed out that he missed the view he said, "I guess." He is living in a basement now so doesn't really have a view and he is used to being able to look out at the forest and see birds, deer, and other animals. It was good to see them and have them home for a short time and we had a nice Mother's Day dinner. They bought me odd little food items. It is one of the things that I like to get, the kinds of things that I would not buy on a regular basis or in some cases to try because it is more money than I want to spent in that manner. So it is nice to get such items as a gift. They bought me crab pate and jalpeno stuffed olives, for example.
After they left we went into the hot tub as my back was quite sore. I must have lifted too much or twisted or something. It was painful just sitting in the hot tub with the jet pulsating against it. Sigh...
Copyright © 2001 Kyril Oakwind