The (long) weekend of Machetes and Margaritas

Long weekends usually do not apply to those who do not have a "job" or do not have their kids in institutionalized care. But this last weekend which coincided with Memorial Day, we spent our time finding the perfect place to build our Cob House. That meant finding the ideal area for placement of the house in correspondence to the sun. That feels like connecting with the source/nature.

However the ideal area happened to in the middle of heavily overgrown blackberry bushes, which is what Jen had foreseen. I tried to fool myself by finding a different site sans the blackberry bushes yet lacking the connection to the source because it was the easier site to clear. And that's how the name "Blackberry Cottage" was coined, because we chose the site overgrown with blackberry bushes. Simple. Yet effective, at least to me and that's all you can ask.

We came with machetes knowing this area was a prime building area. I swung the first machete, and it was kind of overwhelming. An initial path was created with the kids staying a safe difference away watching. Once the two younger kids wandered off, leaving Nate watching in anticipation. I could sense this, and not too long after Nate had now joined me in the machete-ing. It was a proud time, father and son clearing the land for their future home. A couple hours later we had finished for the day.
The night became my introduction to margaritas. Well margarita-like drinks according to Jen. I am not sure if that was the plan. Nevertheless that is what happened. The drinks were drunk, and some some-some. And that's how to spend a chill night.

That's how Day 2 happened. Machetes by day, and margaritas (and some some-some) by night. By the end of Day 2, we had cleared the area (well the ground was a sad scene of slain blackberry bushes), created steps and tracks through the bushes and hosted a family. I was quite impressed by our achievements. The task of creating a home out of nature with three kids is forever a balancing act, but one that has now become part of our reality. It is balancing act that I want to play a part in.

Day 3 was home (for now) time, but before it was clearing up time while the kids had their last play. It is kind of exciting getting plugged back into the the technological life, yet at times confronting. That is another balancing act that we are learning. We shall be eating that skill for breakfast in the months to come.