Katie very often says that I have more of a problem with our current dwelling than anyone else does - including herself. But I do think we are equally excited about the latest progress in our home building plans.

My father was down, this last week, from Ohio for business and pleasure. The business was a rather large trade convention which he addressed and I joined him in attendance. The pleasure was a brief autumn stay on Walker Mountain with the grandchildren. During the visit, he asked about our plans for the house and some of its features. And then on Friday afternoon he sat down and, in just a few minutes, sketched out a rough floor plan with front and side elevations. He included all of the features we had mentioned and included others we had in mind but had not yet mentioned. It is a great leap forward in the planning stage to see a rendering on yellow legal paper rather than just pictures in my foggy head.

The house that we plan to build will not be very unlike the house that my parents built about twenty years ago. It will be simple to build and simple to heat. It will help me take care of my family. It is our hope that the architecture and building process will be as consistent with our convictions as my parents were when they built theirs.

Finishing the root celler seems a little more urgent the last few days. Monday, we brought back home from Ohio, four and half bushels of apples and about fifty pounds of honey. With the apples, we will bake, fry, can, and dry them. We will make pies, sauce, caramel apples, and apple butter. Some will be eaten sooner, and many others, much later. The apple blossom honey will keep me busy brewing mead and hold us over well until we get our own hives established up here on Walker Mountain. So, the root cellar will also serve as a mead cellar. Word is that a sixteen year old mead needs about sixteen years to rest before the feast.

Well, it's going to be that kind of feast.