Women's March on Washington!

Disclaimer: This post has absolutely nothing to do with building the JayBee, so feel free to skip it if you're only here for tiny-house stuff.


Yes, I was one of the hundreds of thousands of participants in the Women's March on Washington on Saturday, 21 January 2017. Rode all night sardined in a bus, marched all day (well, actually stood in a packed crowd for many hours and then marched in two marches until we found a metro station we could access), then repeated cramped bus ride to get back home again.

I feel honored to stand with millions of people all over the globe who feel the United States should move forward, not backwards, on women's rights; LGBTQ rights; racial justice; immigration reform; workers' rights; health care access; eradicating violence against women; embracing diversity and all abilities; addressing climate change; and restoring civility, compassion, and truth to policy-making. That was the best part of the event: being a part of such a huge PEACEFUL gathering on behalf of a common cause. I only took two photos the entire day. I felt so penned in for most of the day that it was too much work both to dig out my phone and to access the food I was carrying. Here was my view for part of the day:

I'm standing in the middle of 7th Street, halfway between Independence Avenue (ahead) and Jefferson (behind). This was a moment near the beginning of the speeches when the crowd around me had shouted out to "lower signs"--and the throngs complied--so we could see the proceedings on the jumbotron way up in front of us. We didn't hear more than a few words of any of the speeches; the stage was blocks up Independence (to the left). I have since watched all of the speeches online from the comfort of my own home. My favorite speech was Ashley Judd's performance of Nina Donovan's poem (and Nina does it even better--watch her spoken-word performance online!). I have also watched videos that pan the crowd from overhead. Wow! (Our spot is included in this incredible overhead view.) We saw three or four medical emergencies play out around us over the course of the day. I have no idea how the medics were able to learn of the problems and respond to the correct locations so quickly, but it was impressive. All of the police, metro workers, and organizers we encountered throughout the day were pleasant, helpful, and welcoming; couldn't ask for more. I have read that there were no arrests.

Second best part of the day: making connections with the people wedged up against me in the crowd. We couldn't hear the speeches, and we were stuck together for hours, so we chatted about our lives, our reasons for being there, etc. And, coincidentally, we bumped into some of them again later in the middle of a march!

Third best part of the day: the signs. I will recite some of my favorites below. Passion, creativity, and cleverness were on display big time! (I'm not repeating the solely anti-Trump ones here.; you can always find them by searching online, if you're interested.) Power to the people. Keep on rocking on with the important work!

Respect Existence or Expect Resistance

Listen to your Mother Earth

Hate does not make America great

Protect Our Future

We are the RESISTANCE

This is what PATRIOTISM looks like

Build BRIDGES Not Walls

Public cervix announcement: People of quality believe in equality.

Support your mom

A woman's place is in the revolution

I'm with her    [with arrows pointing in all directions--and most often carried by a man]

Men of quality don't fear equality    [carried by a man]

Revolutionary white folk don't mistake privilege for progress: Fight 'til we're all FREE!

Keep your laws (and your paws) off my body!

Hate has no home here.

Now you've pissed off Gammie!

In OUR AMERICA:
   Black Lives Matter
   Science is Real
   Diversity is Celebrated
   Water is Life
   Kindness is Everything
   Women are in charge of their own bodies
   Love is LOVE!

Real men are allies    [carried by a man]

Nasty women make HERstory

My uterus is private property

Make America THINK again

Make America KIND again

My pussy
My choice
My body
My voice

We are the great-granddaughters of the witches you could not burn.

HOPE over FEAR

EQUITY    DIGNITY    POWER

I will not go quietly back to the 1950s.

NOT up for grabs.

Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.

GENDER JUSTICE
RACIAL JUSTICE
ECONOMIC JUSTICE

Reject Misogyny
Respect Humanity

All that is required for injustice to thrive is that the good do nothing.

Our sisters are asking 4 respect & equity: Please LISTEN    [carried by a man]

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage RAGE against the dying of our RIGHTS!

We will not move backwards.
We are moving FORWARD!

Well-behaved women don't defeat empires

Work for the change you want to see in the world.

Equality and justice for all.

Liberty and justice for all.

This nasty woman won't give up.

This nasty woman fights back.

Don't tread on me.

We are women!
Hear us ROAR!

This is what a feminist looks like.

Integrity matters

Our children are watching

Stronger togetHER

What do we want? Evidence-Based Science
When do we want it? After Peer Review

So bad, even introverts are here.

Tweet women with respect.

Boys will be boys GOOD HUMANS    [carried by a man]

Women deserve ALL RIGHTS

Women's Rights are Human Rights

Human Rights are Women's Rights

Without Hermione, Harry would've died in Book 1.

Support investigative journalism

A woman's place is in the revolution!

A woman's place is in the resistance!

Grab America Back

Cliterally done with this. Facts matter.

Girls just wanna have FUN-damental HUMAN RIGHTS!

We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.  -Elie Wiesel

Merry Christmas 2016!

Merry Christmas, everyone! (or happy whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, of course!)

Yes, work has stalled (again) on the JayBee. Too busy getting the old house patched together enough to survive another winter, getting ready for the holidays, blah, blah, blah. I will get back at it after the holidays, though.

The day before a big winter storm, I got up on the old rood and patched it as best I could. I always love this view of the JayBee; it looks like a dollhouse.

I may not be living in the JayBee yet, but I love to see it decked out for the holidays...

Wintertime supermoon.

Christmas Kitty.

Ho ho ho! See you in the new year.

You Know You're Taking Too Long to Build Your House When...

... you have not moved in yet and things are starting to break.

Remember my very nice Andersen door?

The door itself is fine--so far. The problem is with the threshold.

At first glance, that looks fine too. Let's zoom in...

See the long crack along the inside edge of the threshold? Yikes! I was thinking the threshold was pretty much indestructible. After all, it's thick, hard plastic--and it's a threshold! Isn't it built to withstand the pounding that thresholds sustain on a daily basis? Apparently not. Or maybe it needs the flooring installed next to it to support it and, of course, that hasn't happened yet. In any case, I guess I better figure out an effective repair before a whole strip of the threshold completely breaks off. Epoxy maybe?

You Know You're Taking Too Long to Build Your House When...

... people who are following your blog posts about the process point out that they have been following your blog for not just a couple of years, but many.  (See comments at the bottom of this post.)

Exterior--DONE!!!

It stopped raining today. (We've had tons of rain!) When the sun was out, there were moments it felt warm. When the sun disappeared, the wind felt bitter cold.

I applied the caulk around the last two south-side windows. This means the exterior is done! Even though more exterior work will have to be done when the house gets moved to its eventual foundation (namely the skirting/weatherproofing around the base), I still feel that this is a momentous milestone. Although the caulk is largely invisible to others, completing this step feels more significant to me than stapling up the last shingle. Even though it took me forever, I enjoyed shingling the house. I really dislike applying caulk, however. Having it now done... worthy of a dance party!

All the recent rain has pounded most of the remaining leaves off the trees, which opens up some views of the river.

Exterior Finishing Touches

We have had lots of rain recently. It helps make up for the lack of rain during the spring and summer seasons, but it's been getting in the way of my finishing up the exterior of the JayBee. After a pounding rain last weekend, I opened my door to see this: close to a hundred pears on the ground. Added to what I'd already collected, they helped me make a few gallons of pear sauce. Yummy!

It was blustery today but not raining, so I got the caulk applied around the upper loft window on the west end of the JayBee.

Since the lower window was already done, the west end is now completely done!

Then, I applied the caulk to the upper loft window on the east end.

The east end is now completely done!

All that's left to do: apply the caulk to these two south-side windows. May the weather hold...

On an entirely different note, I also recently installed this grab bar in the JayBee's shower.

Putt, putt, putting along...

Warm Day!

I thought today was going to be a re-set day--cleaning out the JayBee to get ready for the next phase of building, putting away shingle-related stuff, etc. But, once I got out there and realized how incredibly warm it was (mid 70s!), I knew I had to use the warm day for other things.

When I first built the front steps, I only stained the top cedar boards. I left the pressure-treated structural boards alone--to weather before I stained them. Well, today was the day! I disassembled the three sections, and started staining.

In process...

I even re-stained the tops, complete with the gritty stuff that keeps them from getting too slippery when wet.

Done!
(Yes, it won't be long before I have to move the steps out of the way of the plow guy. <sigh>)

Staining the steps took me longer than I'd anticipated (doesn't everything?!). Even so, I still managed to get the caulk applied around the lower east-end window. Four more windows to go.

On a different note, I think I have enough pears now to make some pear sauce.

There are still over a hundred pears in the tree. All too high to reach, I have to wait for them to hit the ground.