Sirius Part Two

So I left off with the gigantic rosemary bush. After leaving the greenhouse area, we peeked into the kitchen. It was industrial sized and awesome. It had a whole bunch of pots hanging just like I tend to visualize, with huge ovens and stoves and ranges....in short, a modern version of a village/manor scale village. I'd love to cook in a kitchen like that! Anyway, we ventured outside as well. There was a stone bread oven out there! It was obviously homemade, with glass shards and colorful pebbles decorating it. There was a bit of a lawn and some eating space, neither of which cut back the trees too far. Perfect size in my opinion.

Inside, we went into the wings. Because they are private apartments, we didn't get to see inside any room spaces. But we got to see how it was set up. It kind of made me think of a hobbit hole or something. Which is funny considering the descriptions on Kara's blog about Hobbiton. Anyway, the construction inside was wood and cozy, with nooks here and there and some built-in bookshelves. The bathrooms are constructed pretty much just how I think a bathroom should be... toilets separated from the sinks and eachother by ceiling to floor doors and multiple toilets in each bathroom... and the toilets were composting! ;)

Eventually we took off our shoes, passed through a solid, thick wood door with a little window on it and went upstairs. This is the place where the community gathers to perform, be entertained, dance, and sometimes share various forms of spirituality. They also rent it out to other groups. I don't remember much of the explanation at the moment, but my host explained the architecture... it is octagonal, with large beams coming around a center.... basically the roof structure has a lot in common with a yurt, except made permanent. The major beams are left visible. The floor work is even more amazing.... inlaid darker wood than the main light wood forms a star in the center with rays coming out... it's hard to describe adequately, but it's pretty cool. Especially when you consider that this was done by just a group of people trying to make something for their own sake and benefit... granted, one of them at least is a carpenter.

That was most of it.... I wished we'd had time to go on the guided tour and learn more about the social setup. I look forward to going back. I was delighted and impressed with what I experienced, and I'd like to learn more, and perhaps get involved eventually.