Cohousing-L Mailing List: Dogs, clotheslines and other related matters

[MartyR707 (MartyR707]

Hi Friends,

As we here at TAW move ever closer to moving in - yeah!!! - many isues are
starting to surface as we realize that hey! we **are** going to be living
together!!  Of course, along with the issues are a wide array of opinions and
feelings.  I would love to hear any stories (humor would be great right now),
solutions, compromises, advice, whatever that any of you have on these
following issues (to begin with):

Public clothesline somewhere in the common area near the laundry room in the
common house.  Do you have one?  what are/were the issues around it?

Dogs - is there a fenced area where dogs can play together in your common land
somewhere?  what is the size?  any rules?  any issues, stories etc?

Veggie Garden - how is it managed - in general terms?  Do households have a
private bed if desired?  Is all food for common use only?  do gardeners and
nongardeners alike share the food equally?  Do kids have a space of their own?
any problems with not enough food to go around? or TOO much food?!

Meals - we still have a ways to go here in our planning, but any brilliant
suggestions or funny stories would be great - the usual stuff:  how many
nights do you eat together, how often do you cook, what percentage of the
community comes?  how are kids managed (or not)? all eat at the same time or
staggered? etc.

Landscaping:  Is the area in front of each home - facing common space -
considered a private front yard or part of the commons in terms of landscape?
Is it one unified, well-maintained landscape design, or do folks do whatever
they want or don't want in front of their house?  Any stories about kid
impacts on landscaping?

Please send replies to me at MartyR707 [at] aol.com - and add (cc) the list if 
you
think it's something new for all.  Thanks so much - I love hearing stories
from existing communities and hope to get a lot of replies!!!

Marty Roberts
Two Acre Wood, Sebastopol, CA