Outhouse Update

Well, life goes on. In our iFundWomen campaign I made a joke about a windstorm taking out the outhouse, and wouldn’t you know, the next week this happened. Apparently, over the last 50 years the outhouse has been standing on this spot, the universe forgot about it’s plan to knock a huge, ancient oak smack dab on the top of the latrine, and my comment was like a poke and reminder.

Now, other than the huge panic those of you who purchased the “Name on the Outhouse” premium must be feeling right about now, (don’t worry, the door survived, and will become the “Wall of Fame”), and the sadness of losing such a huge, old tree, there is the next thought, “How in the world am I going to get that huge tree carcass out of here?” I mean, this is a B I G tree. Luckily, I have the world’s most capable neighbors, Toni and Ben. Those two have been through enough during their years out in the country that this was barely a blip on their radar. All week they’ve been chipping away at this tree. Thank you, Toni and Ben!!

The real beauty of this is that this tree is not just going to end up in landfill somewhere. Toni and Ben have a wood burning furnace, and the tree will be helping to keep their house warm next winter! Here we see Toni using a measuring stick they created to help cut the logs the precise length needed to work in their furnace. And, Toni has been keeping her eyes peeled for interesting branches for reuse as architectural elements in our new structures. So, this tree will continue to be useful, and live on for us.

Speaking of new structures, here’s one now! This is the latest photo of the new outhouse/shower facility. It will house two toilet rooms, with sinks, and two showers.

I think it looks lovely inside. I bet I’ll be using this baby instead of the little bathroom in the house, even when you all are not around for a retreat!

Here is Mike, working on putting up the dividing walls.

And here’s an artsy “through” shot, taken in from one door and out the other. Look at the blue of that sky! Spring is coming!!

Please, no jokes about tsunamis.