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)