Wednesday was our last day of blue sky and sunshine for a while. Fujaku, Joel, Kakumyo, and Gary took advantage of it to work on the barn in anticipation of the Oregon Tradeswomen coming to work on more framing Thursday.

We’ve been seeing more praying mantises around the property, as well as owls and other birds. The garden still has greens and tomatoes, as well as some squashes, but is getting close to needing to be winterized.

On Thursday an Environmental Sciences class from Portland Community College visited to study our stormwater systems. Here they are standing at the edge of the pond, which is beginning to fill back up with the fall rains.

We continue to work on finishing details inside and outside the Sodo, as well as on landscaping and gardening tasks. Regular Wednesday work parties are a great way to spend time with sangha doing useful things on the property. There are plenty of tasks for everyone who shows up between 9:30am-3pm. We also have a mid-day sit from 11:30am to 12:30pm. If you are around for lunch time (12:30pm), you get lunch for free.