A thin, brittle layer of black ice had formed over the stone trough near the eastern granary wall during the quiet hours before dawn. The morning air was sharp, cold, and still, carrying a faint tang of pine woodsmoke and frozen iron from the forge chimney. Down in the valley basin, the river ran dark and heavy, its bankside reeds encased in clear sheaths of ice that glinted like blown glass as the sun’s first pale rays cleared the jagged profile of the eastern peaks.
We had shifted our attention to the internal water management systems of the lower workshop. With the porch deck leveled and the chimney soot trap secured, the next vital task was completing the stone cold-well that brought fresh spring water directly into the lower food preparation alcove. Running a clean, enclosed stone cu
