We have spent what time we could for the past two weeks focusing on the patio space. The patio was chosen as a starting point for a few reasons. As we do not have a huge amount of funds, cleaning the patio is cheap and very obtainable. We wanted to get this third of the property in shape so we might use it for various fund raising events. Our progress can be seen here.

We did a conceptual draft of what the building might look like. This was done so the commitie that handles rezoning would get some idea of what we want to do to the property. This draft will morre than likely look nothing like our finished result, it was pulled out of the air, on the fly, for practicle purposes. Click here to see the draft.

The next goal for the patio space is to seal up the old bay door openings - three on the front and two in the back. Doing this will allow fro higher security and privacy. Security is a major issue. As the building has been a squat for some time, access to the inside is too easy and leaves us with having to tote our tools back home at the end of every day. Locks will need to be replaced and a new wooden door built. The existing one is in no shape to keep out unwelcome guests.

On the garden area - there has been MUCH discussion on how to clear the overgrowth & insane amount of poison ivy. As we are wanting to stay eco-friendly, creative ideas are needed. We have discussed various means of clearing - using black plastic sheets to smother undesirable areas of vegetation, using a few goats to eat away at targeted areas (and they are so cute too),tilling it all up and sorting out the bad bits, and other good ideas. As most humans have this tendency to have a bad reaction to poison ivy, we must proceed with caution. Any ideas on other ways of treating this are welcome. Drop us a line here.

Since we cleared out most of the patio, we were able to hold our first circle there. A magical thing indeed. It was good to finally bless the space with our collective energies.

We live by the idea that we are all leaders in this venture... no one is a slave or just brute help. We need to continually examine what we are doing and why we are doing what we are doing. Intent is a very important part of this process.
While it is hard to come up with the actual cash we need, everyone needs to contribute at least the minimum of what we agreed, so that if nothing else, we can pay the note.