With 5 days in counting for half of the folks here the pressure is on to wrap up some of the main building projects so they can be enjoyed, but also for those who may not make it back to leave with a sense of completion. The sauna above is the main push, we are hoping to fire it up in 2 days. The actual cement sauna is complete, but as seen above, we are building an adobe brick wall around it for insulation, our mud/mortar pit is to the left and we are dancing away , the roof is slowly going up, some would say with many "glitches", but here, things are taken in stride, and frusteration is rarely exposed. I find myself often laughing at the situation, thinking " what would Phil say".... warped rafters, posts that are reclaimed and trying to square them up is almost impossible. Wise Peter (there is also an 18 year old peter, so that is how we differentiate them) is a builder in Seattle and he handles all of the trial and error graciously. All he says is "this is Thailand", who knows, he may have a bottle of whiskey hiding in his hut that he escapes to?? 
A few days back 13 of us headed off to Pai, a town 3 hours from here, truck LOADED with all necessities to camp for 3 days! What a site for the locals. 10 of us plus baby ping piled into the truck like a bunch of ferong vagabonds. The permaculture festival was a bit more of a festival, Thai style. The 3 generation organic farm was incredible with food forests, bamboo and teak houses that were built with so much creativity and natural artistic features from materials all found on property. A no plastic policy was implemented, and easily achieved with bamboo water bottles, bamboo cups, split bamboo bowls, all carved and intricately beautiful. Monks had a ceremony to bless the land and it's prosperity with so many local thai villagers supporting the organic, sustainable movement. Thai folk singers, poets, rappers sang late into the night, with a few of the hard core festival goers still playing music as we woke. An inspiring adventure, and a chance to see some parts of thailand I never would have made it to. 
Lazy days in the nursery, chit chatting with the ladies, planting seeds, and watching the abundance of what a tiny seed can produce.... We must make it a priority to save our seeds, ancients seeds, that tell a story, that have fed and nourished people for thousands of years, that are balanced and not raped of nutrients that plays an important role in a supportive, natural ecosystem.
The yurt like roof of the chicken hutch...
And, the beautiful, finished product!! One project fully accomplished!!
That's it for now my friends........
