This, as all posts these days , is about the house progress , as that is all that is happening these days.Here is Yeonmi helping Granpa plant "flowering grass" as it's called on the small slope above the rock wall.I have yet to look up the the translation to know what it really is, but it is a fast spreading creeper that blooms for 2-3 months of spring, usually in violet, but we bought white.Granpa (red hat) is one of two such 'granpa " neighbors directly in front of us. He farms trees and shrubs and gave us some sparse azaleas 2 weeks ago, and on Saturday he planted 100 small azalea and the grass.... he worked for 3-4 hours and charged us 180$ : 150$ for the azaleas and the rest for the labor and the 2 free plum trees he donated.This comes after Granpa A ( toothless)'s wife ( yet unnamed granma, but cherub faced) donated hundreds of rooted shrub cuttings on Saturday morning. As we set out to go buy some EPS and whatever else , she flagged us down instructing us upon return for Yeonmi to bring over the wheelbarrow ( understood by YM as a loan). She returned with it filled with the saplings which are our living fence. Two trips in fact. Most of the properties in the village have one of three varieties of living fences. One is broad waxy leaved, of which we have been instructed to come and remove and take from a different peach farmer's lot and have yet to do, the second is a vicious thorny fast growing plant that blooms yellow in July, and the last which we got form granma , a rather thin and straight, very robust , deep rooting and manageable kind.Later that day the same granma brought over some Jeon-a traditional kind of vegetable pancake -this one was onion and mushrooms, yummy. We could hardly respond to the help any other way than to return with meals purchased from the restaurant, which toothless granpa returned the plastic dishes from ,later, including his own dishes which granma brought the pancakes on. So here starts some kind of endless Tupperware filled exchange battle.Our friendliest neighbor is granma A ( yet unnamed widow, who has a rabbit- so maybe she should be toki halmoni) who brings bulbs, seedlings, snacks, leftovers for the dog and has small labor requests on occasion. She is adorable and gracious...and cute. Her property extends along side ours, her father used to own all our land and the hill forest behind. We needn't buy many greens this year as they will surely all come from her, and she doesn't use " agricultural medicines' ( pesticides and fertilizers). We are already struggling to finish the huge bag of fresh spinach that came last week.So the landscaping of the yard is becoming a community involvement as all are gardening peoples who are proud of our efforts and desire to live the rural lifestyle.In Korean society, elders are named by their titles rather than their names. Doctor, master, owner, teacher, professor all are used, as are familial titles; younger /older brother /sister etc.So the neighbors are all either haraboji ( grandfather) or halmoni ( grandmother) , rarely do you hear names or ever learn them, hence the confusion. So we speak about them by their location, clothes, description or gestures: " y'know concrete granpa" or "tractor granpa" or " peach man" or " flower pants granny". One of the eldest looking women from the village who pushes a baby stroller ( in place of a walker) is cruelly named ( i'm sorry) " hiroshima halmoni" from the skin disease she has. She is also deaf and of poor sight and is often walking in the middle of our villages single laned road and we have to wait for her. Outside the village building, are parked 3-4 weather baby strollers as the granmas convene during the day for visits. Even in old age, Korean men and women segregate into gender social groups.It has been said that Koreans see themselves as one big family, and the language reflects this. So when I start to feel the support and nurturing from the community with our home building efforts , I start to understand the natural simplicity of this extended lineage and cooperation/coexistence.The kitchen was put in last Wednesday. the contractor showed up with his hand in a bandage brace, after nearly cutting off his finger on our project. Bad omen, maybe so, but the bad luck scare had passed by the end of the day, when at sunset the power company man came to disconnect our illegal theft. Our electrician ( name unknown, nicknamed ' bali-bali' , his mantra he yells at me ( hurry) in Korean-possibly the national mantra) didn't go to city hall and register and get the meter, so we were stealing power, likely billed to the land's previous owner, for which he likely got a large bill as the power tools do use a fair bit of power.We pleaded innocence and ignorance, which of course it was, as I didn't really have to do anything with the process, and the next day Bali-Bali man came around to install it, hook up the fusebox and give us some power and of course, to yell bali-bali at me to hurry up and finish.All the neighbors and folk speak to me respectfully and do their best to explain, and after realizing that my answer is too slow, or unintelligible, resort to the charades and pointing necessary to convey the message.Here is view of the bathroom.So we planted and planted all Saturday and Sunday. I hauled dirt for redhat granpa, so that he could beautify the land.And a shot of a work in progress, the kitchen dining area wall.