It was my birthday today, and last night we had a party in Beacon Street. It was fun, I had a surprise cake, lots of beer was drunk, and the best present was definitely a mug from a local farmer, Laird Cole, with a small cow in the bottom. You probably have to see it.


In the middle of the party it was somehow decided that we had to go and 'roll' the house of one of the students who wasn't there. Another aspect of that strange American college culture, which involves lots of wasted toilet roll thrown into the trees and around the bushes in someone's yard. It was actually strangely beautiful in effect, if one forgets the college humour aspect.


Its turned chilly over the last few days - jumpers are a necessity, which takes some getting used to after the sweltering heat. But every morning now there is a sharp nip in the air, and at night you need to wrap up. The dark is closing in, too, and the other morning I woke up to thick fog. The last couple of days I've been helping Daniel Boone put in a disabled bathroom at the hay-bale house, the very first Rural Studio project to be built. Alberta Bryant, who lives there, has not had legs for some time now. The house also has aged - it looks small and poverty-stricken despite its attempts at ennoblement, and has not been maintained. Talking with Daniel, we both don't understand how people never feel the need to maintain their dwellings but will let them decay and become filled with junk. It is sad to see, especially in this humid climate where any building material will soak up moisture and rot, given half a chance.