A crisp, sunlit clarity settled over the valley as the morning light broke over the eastern crags, illuminating the exact midpoint of our homestead's construction arc. The early summer air was sweet and cool, carrying the sharp scent of damp clover, wild mountain rosemary, and fresh pine pitch from the timber racks. High in the elderberry thicket near the stone reservoir, a pair of blue finches darted through the leaves, their bright notes mingling with the steady, deep pulse of the river flowing over the lower weir.
I stood on the central stone pavilion between the main hall and the newly completed workshop, holding an iron scribe, a polished horn rule, and a sheet of heavy drafting parchment. Before me lay the dressed granite capstone meant to seal the arch of the main courtyard wellhea
