The past week seemed longer than usual, but I’m sure that is related to how much time we have been spending inside. We recently had several nights in a row of below freezing temperatures and the warmth of the dome has been our best friend. We are excited to add that this warmth is now being provided by a brand new high-efficiency Buck Stove. Murray came by over the weekend and we installed a new chimney and got the thing running. All I can say is that it just couldn’t be anymore perfect for the space that it fills.

To reiterate how cold it really was, we dripped all of the faucets each night and they froze anyway. There was ice on the ground surrounding each faucet we dripped. Icicles formed in many places and the pond was completely frozen over. This cold weather is invigorating and just speaking for myself, I love it.

Productivity has not slowed and the Hostel is coming forward each day. We were blessed recently by a visit from a stellar trio of guys that brought a lot of effort to bear to some on-going projects, Frank & Jay Belo and Michael Carchietta. With their help, the chicken coop project has come to a close, a thorough clean-up of stray building materials has been undertaken and the windows have been installed in the new dome.

Lastly, we would like to send our love out to Marie Dussably. She has lived with us here for the past three months and has departed today on her way back to France. Her efforts here were tremendous and her inspiration tangible. One of her last projects involved taking a poll of guest satisfaction at the hostel over a period of time. We are happy to report that 100% of visitors claim to have had above average satisfaction with their days spent here. If we were into statistics I believe this number would correlate to the highest level of achievement you can reach for a goal! We are more than overwhelmed and blessed.

The Hostel Staff