This is a beautiful piece of tech – a wood stove and a pot. It is simple and easy to use. Not quite as easy as hot water straight from your taps, but still fairly easy to use. Gonna miss the ready-to-go hot water in the summer. 🙁
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Pond at Sunrise
Here is the mural directly on the drywall in the living room. Wayne tells me that, as far as he knows, no one remembers the person’s name. Apparently, the same artist that did the rainbow on the stairs. The signature is A.W.S and the year is 1985.
Heroes
Welcome to the first book post for Daily Quotient. The method for choosing a book is hapharzard. First, a coin is flipped to decide whether to pick the book from the upstairs library, or the front porch (sun room). Then, I grab one from a location without looking at which one I am choosing. The idea here is to end up with titles that I may not normally be drawn to, and hopefully a representative sample of the eclectic nature of the library is presented.
The book is The Home of the Heroes: The Aegean before the Greeks by Sinclair Hood. I have no back story for this one. I’m guessing a textbook from an early member. 
Mouser and Grasshopper
Woo hoo, the cats are doing there job!
Allow me to formally introduce the newest Big house residents, Mouser and Grasshopper. Lesley offered us these male kittens. We wanted to control the mice population here, so it was a perfect fit. It is also great for the kids, and most company seem to enjoy them as well. They are keeping us busy as they enter the clumsly adolescent stage. Ah well, it should get easier when the spring comes along, and they become outdoor cats.
Earlier this week, all was worth the effort, when Wayne seen Grasshopper (black and white) catch a vole, which he shared with his brother Mouser (grey and white). This was an exciting moment in the house because since we got them (two months ago) we had wondered whether these cats were going to keep rodents down or not. We had not seen them in action until now!
Jimmy’s Road
I want to draw your attention to a document that B# has written regarding the use of a shared road. To read the document, contact B#. It is not the details I am interested in for this post, but the framing. I think it is an excellent example of how to “do community”.
The document is not binding. It is presented as a best practice. It is emphasized in the document that it is a suggestion for what the interested parties and supporters think is best for the shared space. I also like that is a living document, meaning that the document will change as people provide input. Also, putting the wishes for the road into type provides clarity, a record of what was said, and a great reference for new users.
Here is an excerpt from the intro.
With evolving membership and the natural ebb and flow of people through these spaces, a few of us got together and put a shared vision out for an access road we all share and use. The hope is that through this we can be aware of each others desires and different uses of the road, find a way to use it that works for us all, and share it with future community members.
There is nothing binding about this document. We hope that community members engage with it to shape it into something that works for us all, and to be clear on our shared visioning. We recommend that we refer to it when planning activities on the road which could alter it, and to communicate our intentions in the spirit of letting each other know. But that we don’t expect our activity to have to go through any sort of approval process.
Preparing for Maple syrup
Gallery
This gallery contains 15 photos.
Olathe, the kids, and I joined Stu and Lesley in preparing for the upcoming maple syrup season. We had a great time because it was just great to get out and be in the woods. Leslie told me about making … Continue reading
Daily Quotient
I’m announcing a new series within the Dragonfly blog called Daily Quotient. It will feature seven themes – one to match each day of the week. For the most part, it will be a photo essay – a short blurb about a photo taken here on the farm relating to the theme for that day. There are several motives. Firstly, I get to share my exploration of Dragonfly, and, in particular, it’s archives. Secondly, I am happy to provide a window for fellow Dragonfliers and interested community members to the inner collections and happenings here. Lastly, it’s for fun.
The daily themes (for the time being) are:
Sunday – a book from the eclectic DF library
Monday – art work found in the house
Tuesday – a piece of tech from the property
Wednesday – Lava lamp baby! oh yea!
Thursday – a people-related moment in time
Friday – a piece of nature
Saturday – a tangible object not already mentioned.
It all begins tomorrow, Sunday February 26th.
Spring (cleaning) is early!
Well, with the un-seasonably warm weather this week, the Big House members have started some early spring cleaning. We have unearthed many a corner in this house. 
The kids’ toy area under the stairs is now just that again. The living room/dining room is still coming along nicely; we have a great dining space and a big screen setup for movies. The upstairs hall has begun to clear up as well.
Today, was a feat. The bathroom has been cleared and is fully functional – tub, loo, and wringer washer. 
You just have to haul your water in 😛 Also, the same with the mud room – cleared (mostly). An interesting treasure awaited us in the mud room – a stash of Andy’s photos. Wait ’til you see these Andy! Olathe and Wayne were very intrigued as they went through them. Olathe also found an old photo album of Sam and her when she was a baby. Olathe and Wayne are like two archeologists on a huge dig. Lots to explore!
Meeting follow-up
Well, back at the beginning of this month (February) there was a meeting. Some members were no shows, one was uncooperative, but hey some things were accomplished. There is now a finance committee that includes some Big House residents, and some discussion took place regarding the logging. However, there is going to be much work needed here. Hopefully, focusing on the positive will bring it along swimmingly.
Mandate
There has been some great conversation generated amongst the household members and visitors to the Big House, regarding Dragonfly’s direction. For now, Wayne and Olathe have developed (and discussed with other residents) a mandate! I think it is a great launch pad. It goes as follows:
To provide a geographic resource to facilitate community-based projects.
Well, go ahead and let us know what you think…