Memphis Democrat
April 15, 2004

Hi folks, Alyson here. The incredibly warm weather this past week has meant lots of puttering around outdoors, readying for the summer. Then it frosted, hard! But luckily our peach and pear blossoms, which had just begun opening, held on tight and made it through. Good thing - we love fruit.

Some folks have been a bit ill lately with a nasty stomach flu and fever, but it seems that the last to catch it are now all back on their feet.

Alline is finally back home after a long stay in California with her parents. We're all delighted to have her back--especially Kurt, and their dog Baloo. Rachel went up to Chicago this weekend to visit her friend Lisa, who just returned from traveling the world. Don went away for a few days to learn how to inspect organic livestock operations.

Tony and some helpers righted the new Skyhouse woodshed this week. You may remember that it was toppled during one of those wind storms in March, when it was only partway done. Now it's well anchored to the ground, and full of wood again.

Ironweed (that's Tamar, Sara and Ted) got their solar panels hoisted up onto the roof, with the help of Tom, Cecil, Tony, Thomas, myself, and various neighbors who came by to offer a hand and give moral support during the sometimes nerve-wracking effort. By now all their batteries are wired too. Speaking of solar power, Cecil also hooked up the last of the solar panels that are on the roof of the Common House. Once we get an inverter big enough, we'll be able to run the pump for the water system and everything else.

Kurt is making tremendous progress on the Milkweeds cottage. This week he's been sealing their cistern and installing a gutter system for rainwater catchment. I can't wait to sample their water. Filtered rainwater is so sweet and alive tasting.

Chad's been busy germinating seeds in his homemade "warm-box" and planting them out. The other day he built a 16x4 foot cold frame out of strawbales, salvaged wood, and fiberglass. It's the largest single-light cold frame I've ever seen.

We had some fun this week with folks from Sandhill. Every Thursday we have a potluck dinner with them, and this week some of them came over early to play soccer with us. Renay, who's just learning to play (and has some really flashy shin-guards!) was the player of honor. She said she had a lot of fun with the Truman students who played with the kids last weekend at the high school.

As a matter of fact, those who think of us as workaholics might have been surprised at us this week. Besides the soccer, we also had an afternoon of ultimate frisbee, a singalong down at Bluestem Coop, and a formal ball (I'm not joking) called Spring Fling. Everyone dressed up real fancy, and the Common House was especially decorated for the occasion with flowers and streamers. Bob and Laura also had a "Warren Warming" one balmy morning--a gathering to bless and protect the land where they'll be building and gardening together.

Also, some folks thought our prairie burn was so fun that they decided to burn another of our prairies, a much smaller one this time. The burn went fine, even without the fire department here to help. It's great to see the new greenery poking through already.

I'm also excited that the vernal wildflowers are up. This weekend I spotted violets, yellow violets, spring beauties, spring cress, trout lilies, Virginia bluebells, and Dutchman's breeches.

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