More good music...

If you are not listening to the music of Nanci Griffith you are missing a great folk singer. I bought "Flyer" in September of 1994 and I have listened intently to her ever since. She has a great voice and she sings like a sparrow.

Read these lyrics and tell me that she is not a great writer...

THESE DAYS IN AN OPEN BOOK

Shut it down and call this road a day
And put this silence in my heart in a better place
I have traveled with your ghost now so many years
That I see you in the shadows
In hotel rooms and headlights
You're coming up beside me
Whether it's day or night

These days my life is an open book
Missing pages I cannot seem to find
These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace against these times

No one's ever come between your memory and me
I have driven this weary vessel here alone
Will you still find me if I leave you here beside this road
Cuz' I need someone who can touch me
Who'll put no one above me
Someone who needs me
Like the air they breathe

These days my life is an open book
Missing pages I cannot seem to find
These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace against these times

I can't remember where this toll road goes
Maybe it's Fort Worth, maybe it's a heart of gold
The price of love is such a heavy toll
That I've lived my life in the back roads
With your love in my pocket
If I spend the love you gave me
Tell me where will it go?

These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace
Folded hand of grace
Folded hand of grace
Against these times

Get out there and get you some Nanci...

The basement is finished...framing starts next week

This is the view from the road...

Standing in the drive looking out to the pond.

Isn't it beautiful?

This is the upper level of the basement floor. It had to be poured high because of the ledge under it. We opted not to blast the ledge away in order to protect our well and the neighbor's.

Lower level and upper level - doorway out to the pond.

Those orange pipes sticking up are for the radiant heating in the basement floor. Warm water will run through the floor keeping the temperature constant throughout the year. We will have radiant heat on the first floor of the house as well.

This is the view out the basement doors. See the swimming raft on the right in the distance?

I had them pour a pad outside the basement doors. There will be a small deck above this and I did not want a mud hole just outside the basement.

Next week they will start building the floor over the basement and then framing the first floor. The only concrete work left is pour the pad for the garage.

Reading right now...

I am in the middle of Barbara Brown Taylor's book entitled Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. Her writing is poignant and revealing in a number of ways. I am appreciating her honesty about how she grappled with the challenges of ministry. Reading about those challeneges from a woman's perspective is a revelation to me.

I am listening to Lucinda William's new album, West. (Thanks, Roddy for turning me on to this remarkable singer/songwriter.) This is my third album of hers and they get better and better...

And the best product I have tried recently is Balsamic Syrup... This is balsamic vinegar that has been reduced with a little sugar or honey. You can buy it in a specialty food store or make it at home. This stuff is great on savory and sweet things. (Ice cream, bread, strawberries, warm potatoes, salad greens, you name it...)

Pouring the floor

The truck coming up the lane...

Pouring the basement floor...

The crawl space under the downstairs bedrooms is finished...
Look at the wet cement...Smoothing it out...
This is looking good...

These were taken yesterday...

These pictures show the basement and crawl space under the camp...

the subfloor will go on top of these walls.

Looking Due North

Looking from the "garage" through the house to the front "porch"

Looking at what will some day be the entrance to the breakfast room

Chihuly @ the Phipps

A prolific artist, Dale Chihuly’s glass work can be seen throughout the world, where his love of natural forms brings an incredible beauty to all sorts of venues; the canals of Venice, the Gardens of Pittsburgh and all sorts of outdoor exhibits.

I was able see his exhibition today and just marveled at his genuis...