Phoenix rising from the flames, Q. Cassetti, digitalRefinement coming on with this bird. Not finished yet. Some of the shapes are not working…and need a bit of the retouching white out and some reshaping. Rob thinks he looks cranky. Cranky works for me. Rising from the flames takes determination and crankiness. So there.

More birds planned for this project. Only, instead of them being the whimsical birds, they will be fauxcuts like this. Getting my reference for the trip next week so as to focus on the Hangar illos. I hope this can gel. It would be great to nail this stuff early.

The back hallway sketch (placing windows in place, working with the open area) is getting interesting and real. I will cut in a picture so you can see what is happening on the construction front. I have been cooking down pork in a crockpot to make pulled pork (which is absolutely the easiest, nicest way to slow cook the meat…and to that, cheaper than cold cuts for the crowd I am feeding everyday. We have David and John and their new team member and wonderfully interesting Henry. There isBack porch redux. Q. Cassetti, 2010 Bruce and Erich and sometimes a few more depending on who is on site to work on the project. So, fast, hot lunches are my expertise. I will make a gigantic pot of soup and have it drained by the end of lunch. With it getting colder, the hot things will be more and more important. Note the new roof. and the pulled back dimensions. Also, you can see the rubble and the gigunda dumpster (second one) to just clear out the crap that has been bolted on, taped to and retrofitted to this hallway which,, now we are back to the original dimensions and roofline, we are getting tons of light in the first floor of the house. The Cave has gone. Let there be light…and there was light (after a big hot lunch of pulled pork).

Henry is interested in all sorts of things…permaculture in particular. There is a permaculture expert here in the Tburg environs who takes on apprentices to teach them about permaculture practices, and putting those practices into use. Wikipedia describes Permaculture in a clear way that even weak minds can grasp (like mine):

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies.

Permaculture is sustainable land use design. This is based on ecological and biological principles, often using patterns that occur in nature to maximise effect and minimise work. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs, harmoniously integrating the land with its inhabitants. The ecological processes of plants, animals, their nutrient cycles, climatic factors and weather cycles are all part of the picture. Inhabitants’ needs are provided for using proven technologies for food, energy, shelter and infrastructure. Elements in a system are viewed in relationship to other elements, where the outputs of one element become the inputs of another. Within a Permaculture system, work is minimised, “wastes” become resources, productivity and yields increase, and environments are restored. Permaculture principles can be applied to any environment, at any scale from dense urban settlements to individual homes, from farms to entire regions.

The first recorded modern practice of permaculture as a systematic method was by Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer in the 1960s, but the method was scientifically developed by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and their associates during the 1970s in a series of publications.

The word permaculture is described by Mollison as a portmanteau of permanent agriculture, and permanent culture.

The intent is that, by training individuals in a core set of design principles, those individuals can design their own environments and build increasingly self-sufficient human settlements — ones that reduce society’s reliance on industrial systems of production and distribution that Mollison identified as fundamentally and systematically destroying Earth’s ecosystems.

While originating as an agro-ecological design theory, permaculture has developed a large international following. This “permaculture community” continues to expand on the original ideas, integrating a range of ideas of alternative culture, through a network of publications, permaculture gardens, intentional communities, training programs, and internet forums. In this way, permaculture has become a form of architecture of nature and ecology as well as an informal institution of alternative social ideals.

Here is the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute >>

Certainly something to think about.