by Deborah Lee Luskin | Aug 21, 2024 | Living in Place
We had a two-week respite from pouring cement, laying bricks, and otherwise working on the oven last weekend. Instead, we performed our day jobs: Tim saw patients, I met deadlines, and Andy worked a weekend shift. Without him to supervise, we took a break from...
by Deborah Lee Luskin | Aug 14, 2024 | Living in Place
As promised last week, here’s my growing glossary of masonry terms. Learning new words while laying bricks makes hard labor interesting. Mortar Board (noun) I have a BA, MA, MPhil and a PhD, so until I laid my first brick, I thought a mortarboard was a square,...
by Deborah Lee Luskin | Aug 7, 2024 | Living in Place
Bricks in a rowlock pattern, outlining the future oven. I’m learning to lay bricks as part of this summer’s Big Project: building an outdoor, masonry bake oven. Slow Going We started The Project around Memorial Day and thought we’d bake our first pizza over Labor Day...
by Deborah Lee Luskin | Jul 31, 2024 | Living in Place
PART ONE: GETTING STARTED In addition to growing fruit and vegetables, raising new laying hens, and tending a flock of meat birds, every summer we also often undertake A Project—as if picking berries, pickling cucumbers, and moving chicken tractors weren’t enough to...
by Deborah Lee Luskin | Jul 9, 2024 | Living in Place
Writer and editor Martina Tyrrell publishes a newsletter for writers “to inspire and support you to meet your writing goals.” Because I’ve been tangled in a long-term project and need support, I subscribed. I’m glad I did. Accountability & Time Management...
