Closing the Door on 2012

Closing the door on 2012, while I haven't really even opened it here this year! My original plans were to concentrate on off the grid living. I have been negligent, so here is a year-end up-date.

POWER -A big concern for us living up the Jervis Inlet is power. We are off-grid and have an inverter system that is powered by a pelton wheel and a propane generator. We have water rights to the creek near our property. From this we run a pipe through a pelton wheel to generate electricity. When the wheel is clogged with debris or the water is low or we are using a large amount of electricity, we have a propane generator.

Propane costs have doubled since we moved here. Therefore, generating our own power is paramount. This summer all has gone well with the hydro system, until August, when the water level was very low. We had to use our generator much more that we wanted. Also we realized that our batteries were getting old and were not holding a charge as long as they should.

So we called Gary of Solar Plus to the rescue. Gary brought us new batteries and gave our inverter system a thorough going over. The four new batteries have the capacity of 6 of the original batteries. Not cheap either, $400 each but still we could have spent more. We know others off-grid who have spent $1000 each. Anyway, we now have no problem running our house daily, lights, radio, phone, including the occasional microwave, without ever turning on the generator, I usually turn it on to top-up the batteries while I wash clothes at the same time.

DECK AND GARDEN -  Another project this year was to replace structural lumber and decking on our lower deck. Actually all decks are on the list, but the lower deck was first. New stairs from the upper to lower deck was installed earlier.

Ran into a carpenter at the docks this summer who did a superb job for us. We now have a new lower deck. Plans are to extend it this spring so I will be able to have a container and raised bed garden. We will double the deck size. This is where all the sun is, so that is where the garden is too.

UPCOMING CHANGES - Soon to be enacted plans include changing from a propane refrigerator to an electric one. We run a small chest freezer now with no problem. The energy star appliances are so much more efficient that we are sure we can add an electric refrigerator to our system. I chose a bottom freezer style and now need to arrange pickup and delivery to our place.
Also on the list: upper deck will also be redone this summer. Jim's workshop will be finished. We will get extra wood into the wood shed next summer! Better stop, that is enough on the list for now.

Not a Gardening Year!

Bok choy in recycled styro boxes

Good intentions and what I thought was a great start to gardening this season have all been for naught. I planted peas twice. Either the bluejays ate them or they rotted in the ground because it was so wet. Bok choy and lettuce  did okay. The broad beans are looking good, but that's about it. The tomato and pepper plants are growing very slowly. Some blossoms, but there just hasn't been enough sunshine and warm temperatures to bring on the fruit.
I did get a first flush of strawberries, but again not enough warmth. When we went down to Washington state last month it should have been the peak of strawberry season. But the crop was late. Too much rain and grey skies.

My favorite pink rose bush that just blooms it's heart out!

Not giving up though. Will plant second crops of greens and beans since they are the ones doing well.
Meanwhile the herbs and flowers seem to been doing fine. Have an abundance of chives, sage, thyme and some lovely flowers on the deck. So can't complain.

Ready for Spring!

This has been a very cold and wet winter and I am ready for spring. We have had a few sunny days that remind us of the beautiful weather that will be here soon. Spent Saturday on the deck in the sunshine. Some of the early spring flowers are coming up. The hellebores were late this year. They usually appear in late January but were a month late this winter. They are such a welcome sight in the middle of a dreary, grey day. Also the slugs don't seem to like them, so that is a plus. I have spent a fortune on hostas which get devoured by the slugs. So the few I have now are in pots.
Some spring projects have begun. We have had Kelly and his boys over a number of times to work on different projects including repairing the back porch. Now it has a new roof and stairs. Clean up of the recycle bags. We are good about dividing our recycling items. The difficulty is getting them over to the mainland and down to the recycle center. There isn't any recycling in Egmont, except for cans and bottles at the community hall. So that has always been an issue. We have a whole season's worth of recycling and the boys are hauling it out slowly but surely.
We have purchased some more water pipe and hope to have a dedicated 2" pipe for the hydro. A few hundred more feet to go. One big problem with our water pipe is that it travels over logs, rocks and rough terrain to get from the creek to our house. This means dips and low parts that either freeze in winter or eventually gather sand and rocks that block the water flow. We hope to remedy that this year by tying up these sections to make the pipe more level.
Another project is the garden. I haven't gardened much the past couple of years, but intend to get back into it this year. The beds need amending and the grow boxes need some repair. One of the problems here is lack of sunshine because of the large trees. The only truly sunny place is the swest side which is on the rock bank above the dock. Years ago my son Mason and I constructed tiered growing boxes along the rock bank. They are in need of repair now. I will get to it. Growing herbs and salad greens along with some peas and beans isn't too difficult once the boxes and planters are set up. Planting time is fast approaching. So I have gotten out the seed packets: peas, onions, lettuce, chard, carrots will go in first.

New Year's Plan

After some thought, I have decided to focus this year's blog entries on the practical living experiences off the grid and up the inlet. Our house is on face value much the same as anyone's. We have electric lighting, switches on the walls, tv, computers, etc. This seems to surprise many of our visitors. Because we live by boat access and  in such a remote area, people expect to see an outhouse and candles or oil lamps. We do have all of those but they are our back-up. We live a fairly normal daily existence as long as we watch our power consumption, maintain the batteries and keep the water flowing!
In many ways, that is what is missing from an urban existence. There is no accountability for your energy consumption that is as definitive as your battery going low and your electricity going out. Except for maybe a huge hydro bill when you consume a lot of electricity in a month. It would be an interesting experiment to have homes put on a metered system that shut off when you went over your allotment for the day or week. Sure makes you consider how much you are using when that happens.
We have been working on repairs and upgrades here and there this month. The dock has more buoys to shield the boat from ramming against the dock in high winds and waves. Our boat, the Expat is being repaired again. Another section of rubber railing has come off. The only solution so far has been to put the very large buoys off the wooden dock for protection. The drawback is that it makes for a very large step from boat to dock!
We almost lost a friend this summer as she tried to step on the boat and fell part way. No harm but her leg could have gotten crushed between boat and dock. Still working on this one.
Another project has been to shore up a corner of the back porch and add new steps and add a covered roof for that part of the porch. I plan on moving the recycling to that area so the immediate back porch off the kitchen is cleaner.
Still looking for a good place for the compost bin. It has been moved many times. I have one of the enclosed  plastic bins that rolls on a stand to stir the compost. It should be in the sun for maximum heat and composting, but that is difficult with all the trees. And it would also make it inconvenient to carry the compost from the kitchen. I had open compost bins originally, but found that attracted too many critters in the wilderness. So the enclosed bins are the way to go. Now I find I need to purchase another one, so I have one composting and another filling.
While we have had some lovely sunny days, it is still winter. Today the strong, northern outflow winds are blowing. It is cold and expected to go below freezing tonight. Sure glad we purchased a new and larger wood stove this fall!

New Year comes in cold!

It's a cold, cold new year that has blown in the inlet. 2010 ended well and I look forward to a good 2011. Right away though the new year is a challenge out here in the bush. Our water line has frozen as it always does when it dips below freezing.
The water pipe running through the forest from the stream is in shade and it eventually freezes after so many days of freezing weather. We prepare for it with a lot of 5 gal buckets of rainwater for washing and a drinking water supply on the back porch.
Our little pelton wheel is running but the smaller pipe to the house has frozen. Usually this only lasts a few days. We have lots of ideas to solve this occasional problem, but never seem to get around to it. The easiest solution would be to put some heat tape on the pipe from the house. We have never done this because of the electrical draw on our system. However, we have been getting an increase in amps from the system so we are thinking of trying it.
Just the beginning of fun problems to solve living off grid!
Happy New Year to everyone!

Egmont Saloon Night - What a Kick!

This year's second annual Egmont Saloon Night was such a kick! Everyone had a great time and we raised money for the community hall restoration. Great bunch of volunteers and a very supportive business community helped make it a success.

 

Community Projects Completed!

Been a busy summer and I am happy to report that two major  community projects I have been working on are completed!

 

The Egmont Heritage Centre - Totem Pole carving by Arnold Jones

Arnie with Bella and Ali carrying eagle w

Frog face on whale tail

The new 24 ft. pole at the Centre is fantastic. Arnie did a wonderful job. Two seasons of carving a cedar log donated by the Sechelt Community Forest. Arnie's clan is the frog. So he has carved three frogs in his memorial pole.  The pole is centered at the entrance to the museum and will have a native plant garden surrounding it.

Arnie painting killer whale

me, Arnie, Jess and Sonja

 
The Egmont Community Club Hall - hall foundation and renovation

New cedar shake porch roof. New porch comes later!

This has been a long process for the community. Started raising funds five years ago. Lots of raffles and other fund raising projects raised over $50,000 from the community. Grants from Heritage Legacy Fund $25,000 and Jervis Inlet fund / SCRD another $25,000. We have a perimeter, cement foundation now, a basement room that will become our Thrift Store and restored old windows and a new porch cedar shake roof. Whew! Now will enter Phase II - paint inside and out, kitchen reno, heater, and moving Thrift Store downstairs. More fundraising!!

Mural No. 2

Another mural was completed for the Egmont Heritage Centre on July 3 by Davyd Oram. The theme for this 4' x 8' mural was "fishing". This time Dave painted at the Centre. The end result was a brightly colored picture of a fishing boat next to the dock. There was music, bbq and a beer garden. Thank goodness the weather turned out nice. The next day was cool and rainy. Once again we lucked out with the weather.

A great group of musicians donated their time and talents to make the day even better. Katie and the Cornpones, Joe Stanton and Gordon Birtch were excellent. Over 100 people enjoyed the day, while around 50 stayed for the seafood bbq of salmon, shrimp, salads and fry bread! Yum!

The proceeds go to the Centre and the totem pole. There will be limited edition prints signed by the artist available in the fall.

Aboriginal Art Show - Egmont Heritage Centre

Some beautiful work has been submitted by local Native artists to the art show at the Egmont Heritage Centre. This includes beadwork, carvings, baskets and other cedar weavings, drawings, clothing and felt art.

A reception for the artists was held on Aboriginal Day, June 21. Take a look at some of the work.

Russ Silvey             

                                                                                                             Jessica Casey

First Saturday Murals

A great artist and all-round nice guy, Davyd Oram from Sechelt, BC is painting four murals for the Egmont Heritage Centre. Each mural will be painted on the first Saturday of each month with a theme reflecting Egmont history. They will eventually be incorporated into the museum's outdoor display.

The first painting was done on Egmont Day, June 5.
It was facinating to watch Dave create a 4' x 8' mural in only a few hours. People loved it.

The next mural painting is going to be on July 3 at the Egmont Heritage Centre. While Dave creates there will be music, a bbq and beer garden.

We are busy planning the seafood menu and getting organized.
The plan is to produce limited edition prints signed by the artist to raise funds for the museum.

Will keep you posted!
                                                                                                  Artist Dave and brother George (left)

Egmont Day 2010

After a lot of worrying about the weather and rain, the sun came out and Egmont Day was beautiful. Lots of extra work this year for the volunteers, as the entire event was held in Egmont Park. Spent Friday carrying tables, chairs, canopies, supplies out of hall.It rained for two weeks straight, but Saturday, June 1 was beautiful and sunny. Kids had lots of fun with fishing derby, relay races, cake walk and games.

The Egmont Community Club served over 100 hamburgers, 60 smokies, at least that many hot dogs for lunch and dinner for 75 that evening. There was also the Skookum Burger eating contest, canoe races, a parade and a scavenger hunt. Lots of fun.

What a super group of volunteers, board members and supporters.

But it's one of those things, now I am glad it is over! Whew!

Whistler, Zero Waste and the Sunshine Coast

A very busy week last week! Attended the Recycling Council of British Columbia conference in Whistler last week.
The trip started off with sightings of a variety of animals along the highway. Leaving Egmont we had what looked to be a barred owl fly out of the woods and land on a tree branch and watch us drive by. A short time later we slowed as 3 deer made their way alongside the highway. Later on the way up to Whistler, we saw two bears. One was trying to cross the busy highway. Hope he was okay. Did I take any pictures? No! But we did see them.

Stayed in a WorldMark condo with a super view from the balconey. But most of the time was spent at the conference in Whistler. Many excellent speakers on the environment, Zero Waste, etc. I was covering the conference for the online magazine I edit, sustainablecoast.ca. So check it out for stories and information from the conference coming up in the next issue.

                                                                                       Richard & Jim "Two Old Farts with Ponytails"

There was another Zero Waste workshop on the Sunshine Coast over the weekend sponsored by the group SuCESS. Great speakers and it was an excellent learning experience for many attendees. One of the founders of the Zero Waste International Alliance, Richard Anthony, was the featured speaker. We hosted him for a couple of nights at our place. What a super person. He has been an activist since the '60's and it was fun re-telling stories from "back in the day".
With his guidance we hope to bring the Sunshine Coast to Zero Waste by 2020 or sooner. He is a wealth of information, ideas and energy. He travels all over the world helping other communities realize this Zero Waste goal. Visit his websites: richardanthonyassociates.com or zwia.org.

Now it is time to get ready for the annual Egmont Day celebration this Saturday. Please no more rain!

The Joys of Waterfront Living

Usually it is paradise out here on the Inlet. But the other day a storm rolled in and after SE winds came over the mountain and threw the tops of the trees around, it changed to NW. That is trouble for us as the waves build and it slams into our dock.

The winds howled all night and when we got up in the morning the deck was littered with fir cones, branches and leaves. The dock ramp had broken loose at the top and the poor Expat, our boat, was damaged from hitting against the dock repeatedly.

The boat will have to be re-fiberglassed and the rubber trim replaced. Today a landing barge, The Inlet Raider, came in to lift the ramp and get it reattached. They also delivered our new wood stove which was great.

But as things can go wrong, they did. As they were leaving the Raider's prop caught on a submerged anchor rope. Not knowing this, they pulled away taking the dock with them. They stopped but not until the ramp was moved over and one of the stiff legs came off it's hinges! It took a while, the rope was disengaged from the prop and the ramp had to be realligned. We now have more work to do on the stiff leg.

The guys asked us if that was okay and I teasingly told them "That's all the damage I can afford today!" Everyone kept in good spirits and the guys went off to see the hockey game.

Not everything goes smoothly and you just gotta go with the flow.

Back in Egmont

Well, we finally made it back to BC! The usual cramped plane ride back to Seattle. The next morning our car wouldn't start. Had to have it towed to the GM dealer and the fuel pump replaced. Did you know that the fuel pump in a Yukon is in the gas tank?! After all day in the dealer's lounge (thank goodness we had our computer) and the cost of more than our trip, we got back on the road to Bellingham around 4 pm.
I had reserved us a 2 bedroom at the WorldMark in Birch Bay so Mason and Krystal could join us. So we spent two days there and had a very nice visit with the kids.
It was nice to get back to Egmont and the Inlet. The weather hadn't improved that much however. Still cold and rainy, but some sunshine to encourage us.

Then the big storm hit on Friday, April 2. We were having an event at the hall when the electricity went out. No clam chowder for the guests. I boated home in very choppy waters until I got around Egmont Point. Jim and friends Laurie and Rick were listening on the marine radio in case I needed help. Once around the point it was fine. Got home just at dark.

Back to Egmont the next day for the Easter Hat Tea. Everyone dressed warm as the electricity was still out in Egmont, so there was no heat. But we had a good time and many people wore decorated hats. This is such a fun, traditional event in Egmont.

SXSW Festival, Austin, Texas

Jim and I have left the beautiful, but cold and rainy Sunshine Coast, BC, for Texas and the South by Southwest Music and Film Festival in Austin, Texas. We are staying with our good friends Gary and Jody Askins in Salado, Texas.

We left for Austin on Thursday and spent two full days listening to all kinds of music from bands from around the world. We spent Thursday afternoon at the famous Waterloo Records where they held an outdoor concert. We enjoyed music by Ola Podrida, Carrie Rodriguez and The Watson Twins. All were good, but Carrie Rodriguez and band were especially impressive. Her south American influenced bluesy/rock tunes were great and she played a variety of instruments including guitar and violin.

Unexpected and impressive was the solar powered stage and sound system by Sustainable Waves. I ended up interviewing them for the online magazine I edit, Sustainable Coast which deals in environmental and sustainability issues for the Sunshine Coast.

Friday morning we attended the acoustic brunch hosted by BMI and Billboard at the Four Seasons hotel. Great brunch and free open bar. So I enjoyed Bloody Mary's with my music. Heard seventeen year old Cara Salimando, Sam James from Boston and Tommy Reilly from Scotland. Even got a cowboy hat that I will be able to wear to next year's Egmont Saloon night!

Jim and I then decided to go to 6th Street where there are lots of clubs and free music and beer. One place was featuring all Canadian bands for the week. But we decided to go into a club that was featuring international bands. An Australian band was just finishing up and we enjoyed the next band from Mexico, Da Punto Beat. Good rock with a hard-driving bass. All this was presented by Dart Music International which is an Austin-based nonprofit.

There was lots of street music and theatre on 6th Steet. Including a parade through the area by the band Guar. They have been around Austin for a long time and are really something to see in their monster/warrior costumes. A parade of people were following them as they made their way through the streets.They are definately part of the "Keep Austin Weird" scene!

After a brief rest at our hotel, we took the shuttle for the Auditorium Shores outdoor show. This is a huge venue, again free, which showcased the Bodines and Cheap Trick. Super fun.

Returned to Salado on Saturday and that evening we attended the fundraiser for the Temple Literacy Council at the Salado Silver Spur Theater. Gary and Jody read from Robert Fulghum's "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten".  They did a superb job and raised over $5000 for the council! Good going Gary and Jody!

After the show, we went back to their place for wine, food and got to know some of their friends.

Other things we enjoyed, sitting on the deck in the sun looking over the creek, playing with Mork the Wonder Dog and Denver, shopping, eating good food and drinking Texas beer and wine, late night talks about the "old days" and watching movies.

We are already making plans for their visit to see us or maybe meet again in New Orleans next year.

Tsunami Warnings and Gold Medals!

After the earthquake in Chili, tsunami warnings went out to the Pacific coastal countries. We got calls from friends, talked to Jim's sister who lives on the Washington coast and waited for the 3:15 pm expected hit. Nothing, nada. A ripple, maybe? If anything, later that evening, the water was as smooth as glass. Beautiful. We are protected here by Vancouver Island and Texada Island from the Pacific Ocean.

On Sunday, the Olympic hockey game did cause major tidal waves! Canada is estatic! After being bummed out for not "owning the podium", they are now too full of themselves.This expat, who just doesn't get hockey, is happy either way. US or Canada. In my mind they both did extremely well. Gold is good and silver ain't bad either.
Thanks to Duane Burnett for the flag design!