Well it has been a very busy month moving out of the townhouse and into the trailer. The trailer delivery was done very early one morning with the help of one of Gord’s brothers. It was very tricky to maneuver a 27ft trailer around corners and then backing it into position. Gord and I accomplished a huge amount during this time despite the adverse weather conditions. Our first night at our new home was the night of the biggest winds. Wow! We felt like we had moved into a mud pie…and we were the filling. We were lucky that the rain held off until we had moved most of our stuff. The kids were to arrive in a few days and our desire to get the mud under control prompted the rental of a chipper. There was a huge pile of branches from the past right where we wanted our compost pile to be. This day of chipping was done in the pouring rain and on the second windiest day. We sure enjoyed our Brandy that night.

The trailer is quite comfortable and hooked up to the grid with power. We got the pump in the well working and can fill up the trailer with water by plugging in the 220 pump. This will be improved today as Gord is bringing home a pressure tank and switch so that we can leave the pump plugged in and have a garden hose hooked up. Not every girl gets a pressure tank for Valentines Day! The septic system has one tiny part to be completed before we can use it. The person who was to finish the job last week cut a couple of fingers mostly off…Yikes! So we have had to wait. Meanwhile, we have scrambled to complete our outside bathroom. Our 4×4x8 bathroom is turning out well and is built from recycled and scrounged wood, windows, and door. The foundation is rock, clay, and crushed rock all tamped down. Since this is a composting toilet, there is no hole and very little smell. A 12 v solar fan will be hooked up shortly and this bathroom will be similar to the one on Wise Island. Check out #8 on our powerpoint presentation. The bathroom has been tiled and will be cedar sided shortly. Unfortunately, since we haven’t been able to find anything suitable used; we have purchased the siding new. The compost piles have also been completed and we are very excited to have this up and going. In the townhouse we used to transport our veggy compost to Gord’s brothers; we couldn’t stomach just putting it in the garbage. Holes for posts were dug, and the posts and boards were all found on the property. The holes were filled with drain rock left over from the septic field and then tamped down with crushed rock. This should last quite a few years. Just think, the entire direct cost for our outside bathroom will be about $300 plus our labour. The direct cost for the septic system was about $30,000. If you factor in the environmental cost of the septic, (concrete, heavy machinery, parts, etc) and the environmental benefit of making compost it all gets pretty silly. But we are determined to do it all by the book, and we need an approved septic system in order to get a building permit. The septic system was almost complete when we purchased the land.

We have been spending quite a bit of time working on our 8×12 den, despite the cruel weather. This has been very challenging to say the least. A few weeks ago I made a trip to Wise and brought back the air compressor and sliding mitre saw. We were going to hire someone to help with this construction, but have ended up doing it mostly ourselves. This has proved to be very satisfying and it is turning out beautifully. Once again all materials are recycled and scrounged. We are using a door, and four windows from the original Compton road home. The past and present are coming together. About half of the materials came from an old shed of Gord’s brother that we dismantled and transported in three days. It was lots of work bringing it down and pulling nails, but worth it. We are currently looking for some sort of recycled or eco-friendly roofing and siding for our 8×12 den. Any ideas? We would like to use a metal roof on the den. The foundation, walls, and rafters are up and there is a 4 ft deck on the front. We have had to beef up the foundation quite a bit and rented a rock drill to secure everything. We even found 14 inch cubes of concrete to use for a foundation tucked away in the trees. This property has had an amazing history and there are many hidden useful treasures…most of which are very heavy. Gord and I have both lost considerable weight and sprouted new muscles. Food bills have gone way up and we have been eating chips and chocolate for snacks to keep up the calorie intake.

The kids spent the first week in their new home and we went to extra effort to ensure a happy transition. Hot chocolate, fire and marshmallows every night. It worked! They loved it and easily adapted to trailer life. They think it’s a great adventure. They even watched a movie one night. I pick the kids up at 3pm in town and then give them fun jobs to do when we get home. They have helped in forest paths, rock paths, and restoring an old picnic table.

The neighbors have been great. They are all very curious about our project and we seem to have been accepted. There are lots of young kids around here too…it couldn’t be better.

We purchased a Mazda MPV a few weeks back with only 400,000 km on it. (it had a new motor at some point) It runs great. Gord installed a trailer hitch and we borrowed a utility trailer for a couple weeks from a friend of Gord’s. We may need to buy one. Are there any used ones out there for sale? The Mazda Protégé has been sold. We listed it online and the person who responded turned out to be someone I new from Salt Spring who writes web pages. Perfect! We have arranged a partial trade and our new and updated web page will be coming shortly.

The site for our home has been excavated and we will need to have our engineer back to discuss different foundation options. A big hole was found next to the bank and it isn’t a good foundation…perhaps we can burry a water tank here.

The plans for the workshop building are really coming along. We have decided to build a 220sqft workshop built out of clay, sand and straw (cob). Check out this photo of a cob house on Mayne Island. Our building will all be done to code. The cob workshop workshop will be built with volunteer labour. Normally these courses cost over $1000 per student but we are offering it free to committed individuals. See the attached sketch from my Dad. The course date is tentatively set for June 3-10 and will be lead by Elke Cole. Please let us know if you might be interested and would like to learn some skills of this building method.

As always, we are looking for used and eco-friendly building materials. Please let us know if you have any to donate or sell or know of any good sources.

That’s it for now, Ann and Gord