The Wee Hours

I have come to prowling around at night. Padding around as quiet as mouse so as not to wake the Head Hillbilly before his alarm set for 4:30 goes off. But I am not alone here am I? I am not the only one sleepless in (named town here).

Not that I have chosen to be a night owl. It's just the way it is more often than not these days. So rather than just to lay there twirling my hair, replaying in my mind each one of my childrens lives from birth to present, or going over tomorrows to do list (which will certainly include a nap), I get up, duh.

And this is what I have been doing in those wee hours.

Painting watercolor daffodils.

You were thinking maybe I was reading chapter zillion of "War and Peace" Huh?

Nope.

But when painting daffodils doesn't do the trick, I pour myself a cup of warm milk, fluff the pillows and try a small dose of this...

Works like a dreammm...zzzzz....

100 years old

Not me, not 100, not yet, although, there are days when this cottage woman feels 100. Okay I'm exaggerating, 101. But Panther Creek Cottage will be celebrating 100 years of existence in 2011. For reals!

My imagination swims with thoughts on life here in the woods ONE HUNDRED years ago. I have taken a peek at the bones of this ol' girl when we needed to remove a small portion of wall in our tiny living room. Full dimension rough sawed lumber. Produced I am sure by one of the small independent lumber mills that used to dot our neck of the woods in earlier times. The sturdy gal has been home to our family for the past 27 years. The kids heights and hand prints are inscribed on the small closet door tucked under the stairway, and now each new grandchild.

She holds our history, all 1000 bless-ed square feet of her.

Panther Creek Cottage
1911 - 2011

This verse written by the head hillbilly from a song we would sing with the children in our younger days sums up our life at Panther Creek Cottage.

"Three Kids, a Mom and Dad.
We live here.
We're oh so glad!"


Below is an interesting video of Lloyd Kahn, 1970's designer of the geodesic dome. He and his peers were looking to design and build an efficient sustainable dwelling for the future. He abandoned it to the dismay of his builder friends, in favor of a simpler design for modest living. The family that built our home so long long ago, I think, built JUST what was needed to shelter their family. It has provided the same for us too, sufficiently.

SHELTER from jason sussberg on Vimeo.

Lloyd has a new book, Builders of the Pacific Coast,

Interesting homes for the imagination.