Some affirmations

We're not going back to South Dakota! It took a lot of consideration to reach this decision. First and foremost: it's a huge commute. hahaha. We could have made it there on vegetable oil, but we would have likely left with diesel. Second: the pay did not seem to cover the psychological cost of an unorganized build. Third: it's time to build a nest. Oh, and a fourth reason might be that our truck has to be disassembled... All clear reasons to stay right where we're at in the happy hills of Berea, Kentucky. We do regret not being able to see our new friend Mahesh in action, but I trust everything will go well. Besides, he only lives in Iowa.
Soooo, I left out some cool details about the place we are currently setting up. The cabin is on Jessa, Nathan, and Mary Ellen's property. Instead of listing their names all the time, I will call the place Homegrown Hideaways. This is the name of Jessa's idea for a sort-of school that gathers people to learn about natural building and sustainable living. The concept is really exciting! They finally have enough land to let students and instructors camp-out and get hands-on experience building wonderful structures out of straw-bale, cob, earth-bag, or whatever element is appropriate for the workshops. Jessa and Nathan have had the long-standing dream of creating this non-profit organization, but there is still uncertainty about how it will all come together. It will happen, though! Jeff, Jessa, Nathan, and Mary Ellen have all worked together on builds before and they are chock-full of knowledge just waiting to be re-applied on-site.
Back to the details of our new nest... Homegrown Hideaways is 100 acres of mostly tree-filled hills and wildlife. It used to be at the bottom of an ancient ocean, so there are plenty of rocks and fossils strewn about. The driveway slopes down a hill to a bridge that crosses a creek (I'll take pictures when I get home). The long driveway curves around and passes a stage, pavillion, concession stand and firepit until you reach the garage and main house. The main house is where Jessa, Nathan, and Mary Ellen currently reside, but it will hopefully become a community house once some dreams have come to fruition.
One of the cabins on the property is at the start of the hill about 100 feet down from the start of the driveway. It has been abandoned for a few years, but it has huge potential. Jeff has been busy ripping out old flooring, and we just started screening in the porch. We're adopted a wild kitten, too! Without pictures, this is tough to explain. I'll get right on it...

We're two lost souls in this giant fish bowl

Jeff and I spent some quality time with family recently. His dad, stepmom, and their twin boys (age 3) were living in England and decided to move back to Daytona, Florida. But, they had time to travel between locations. They took a mini-van loaded to the brim all the way out to the west coast up to Oregon, Washington, Montana, and visited family of all sorts. After their visit to Yellowstone National Park they traveled to Greenfield, Indiana and scooped up Jeff and I. This was my first chance to meet this part of his family. What a ride! We went to Versailles State Park and Clifty Falls in Southern Indiana (which are great places to visit) and camped out before Memorial weekend was in full force. For the weekend we stayed with my dad's side of the family in Vevay, Indiana right on the Ohio River (where I grew up). The river was chilly with just enough beach to expose some sand, tons of driftwood, treeforts, beautiful rocks and shells... The scene was refreshing. I stayed at the river for about a week with my grandparents while Jeff and his family drove off to Florida.
At this point, the plan was for Jeff to travel north from Florida to Indiana, pick me up, and head back out to Iowa then South Dakota for the earth-bag project on Pine Ridge reservation. Buuut, we were sucked into the vortex of Berea, Kentucky where we currently remain.
We wanted to spend some of the down-time between late May and early June in Kentucky so that Jeff could continue working for a wonderful character named John who was one of Jeff's first project employers. John's near-done earth bag structure is near the top of a hill in a sustainable community called Egrets Cove in Berea, Kentucky. The other houses on the property are made of wood, straw-bale, and natural plasters.
The community catches rainwater for drinking (post-filtration of course), composts humanure, and uses the sun's rays for most of their power year-round. I started to take pictures, but my face seems to have broken the camera on my lap top.
For the past week, Jeff and I have been living out of the back of the Isuzu P'up (Jeff's truck that runs on vegetable oil). We discovered some problems with the truck, and currently it won't run. It's not exactly in the shop either. The people we are staying with, Jessa, Nathan and Jessa's mom Mary Ellen, are incredibly hospitable. They are the new owners of a 100-acre plot of land with camping, a stage, a concession stand, a couple abandoned cabins, occasional livestock visitors (some recent storms blew some cattle and horses our way), and other random creatures.
Nathan has a truck that runs on "grease" too, so he knows a lot of the mechanical jargon and maneuvers to get our P'up back running.
In the case of the broken truck, we've decided not to travel back out to South Dakota. We're taking it as a sign and making due with where we're at. Conveniently enough, one of the cabins on our friends' property is the perfect size for a temporary home. It needs lots of work, but Jeff has been pulling some things apart and working to make the cabin livable. We think we'll stay here for a while to possibly start a nest.
In other news, I am one third of the way through my pregnancy. I'm almost to my 14th week, and development seems to be happening at an excellent rate. I think the baby will ask to come out one of the first two weeks of December (40-41 weeks). We're looking into midwives around Berea since we are likely to stick around.

Jeff and his arch he's oh-so proud of. Hard work!