Lilac Window

so I think we are at the mid point of our trip. 

I am glad we made this trip so long…I am so not ready to come home. Seeing the open ocean today made me cry. I miss it. I cant deny it, I miss the ocean A LOT.

I am coping a bit with changes in my life. Not going back to work, but needing to earn money, has become something to wrestle with. Being a mom, choosing to have kids over career, is also a wrestle. I dont know where this path is going to lead me, but I pray that I will walk the path that has been laid out for me, and I will be ready for what life has to give. 

Perhaps thats all pretty cryptic, but thats where I am at.

middle of the road.

how is it that every place we visit we dont want to leave? What an amazing journey we are on. 

Here we are in Courtenay visiting old friends and just loving it. We will probably be here the next week, checking things out, enjoying the local lifestyle, visiting. 

I am finding it harder to write stuff, which for me, is a good sign. It means I am starting to relax and stop over thinking. 

We drove out here today, two hours from Glenora felt really easy after the long drive from Calgary.

I do have to admit though that the boys are getting tired. It is hard for them, all the change. But I know it is also strengthening. Marcel has had a few major melt downs, and it really becomes obvious when we are pushing him too hard. But he is also having the time of his life, meeting new friends, seeing new things. I am so proud of how resilient and strong he is. Emery takes everything in stride. He is just thrilled that there is more to see and explore. 

Though it was hard to leave Rivendell, now that we are here, I can see it will be hard to leave again. We feel so at home already.

so it is our last night at Rivendell.

As you can tell, it has been transforming being here. The river, the people, the amazing lush forest, the gardens, the plants, the buildings, the lifestyle has all embraced us. For me, this place is regenerating. I could stay forever.

I have to say, that the Cowichan river is amazing to swim in. I didnt remember it as warm, but after swimming in Lake Newal, Shuswap Lake and Cultas Lake, this feels bath-like. The clear, rushing water is refreshing in a way that is hard to replicate in a lake and so different from the ocean. The sound of the water, the deep forest, the warm sun, all recharge the soul.

I was lucky enough to participate in a yoga class in the yurt this morning and one more blissful day here. I am not sure I am ready to go…

Now down to the nitty gritty. 

This is a cob outhouse. I really want to learn more about the logistics of composting toilets. At Rivendell there are two. 

The one in the picture is a cob structure that has a humanure composting toilet inside. It is yet to be finished and that is why there is a plastic roof. The idea is that the waste will sit for at least a year so that it will properly decompose before being used as compost. The other out house is another type of composting toilet that uses perforated tubes to keep the waste aerated. These also have to sit for a year before being used in the garden.

We finally made it to the river today. Swimming in the river felt so amazing. I feel like I’ve finally arrived, and that our holiday is seeping deeper into my being. I cant believe we’ve been gone almost 2 weeks! Its actually taken this long to finally relax.

We visited the Duncan Market today, which was really great. Our friends were playing in the Marimba band, which was awesome to listen to. Such happy sounds!

Oh, yes, there is yet another amazing building here at Rivendell. This is a mongolian yurt, that has been made semi-permanent with a beautiful hard wood floor, and wood foundation.

And yes, I was lucky enough to have my paintings hang in this amazing space. 

I took the photo of the inside, both to show off my paintings, and also to get across just how lovely and warm the space is inside. 

The Yurt is a round building, made of small wood elements and a fabric covering. It is semi-portable, and tent-like. This one has a round skylight in the middle, which brings in beautiful daylight. It is nestled in the woods, and the open windows, with insect-screens create a most scerene place to spend the afternoon.

The person who owns Rivendell, is an old friend, and she uses this space to teach Qi Gong. It is also used for music and some other movement classes. 

These Yurts are mass -produced and I have seen a few examples of them. This one is particularly lovely because it is tenderly cared for. It has a pellet stove, which is amazingly efficient and burns saw-dust waste from the local mills. The beautifully soft floor begs for your feet to dance, and babies to crawl around. There are not many other places I would love to have my art work hang. What an honor.

Here is another most beautiful space at Rivendell. This room was actually transformed from a two car garage, to become a living space for guests and family. It has been warmly inhabited by a beautiful family, who have made the space functional, warm, and inspiring. 

The walls are painted with a home-made milk paint, involving milk, pigment and clay. I actually helped to paint the room, many years ago, by hand with a brush, in many layers. The resulting affect is a rich, textured look, that resembles a woven fabric. The floors are oiled hardwood, and the windows and doors were build with cedar. All the other trims and finished were brought in over time to make the space a home.

The four corners of the space are designated for different functions, the bedroom, office and living room, kitchen and fire. Hanging cloth, a set of drawers and handmade wood furniture are used to create division and a little privacy. Attention to detail, small ideas and creative solutions for living in a small space are everywhere. The use of natural materials, in the toys, furniture and construction creates the warm, gentle and soothing environment.

We visited O.U.R. eco village today. The village is a learning center for sustainable living.

I was excited to go here, because I have yet to find many other places where this type of learning is shared in a formal way. As you know I have an interest in education as well as architecture.

We arrived at lunch time and got to share our meal with some interns and some residents. The eating shack is a cob building with seating, windows and a fireplace build right into the clay walls. I cant tell you too much about cob, except that it is clay, it is built up by hand and sculpted as you go. The forms can be as organic and curvilinear as you like. It is not expensive, but the labor time is extensive and thats the limiting factor for a lot of people.

At Eco village they focus on training, so the buildings are quite small, because they are projects a class can accomplish in a week. I also learned that cob is not as good an insulator as light clay as it is more massive, and still by far, the most insulative material is straw bale. Although all three can be used in combination, depending on directionality, and design. The image in the picture is the sanctuary, and it is a combination of cob and straw bale.

My favorite little building was the children’s play building, that is a small shelter with a green roof, that is used to section off a part of the garden for a sandbox and play area. They had fenced off the little space with greenery and it was such a pretty, safe and central place for the kids to play. The little cob structure was colorful and sweet, and also I think that organic form makes a lot of sense for kids.

The center also has incredible gardens, and some livestock  - pigs, sheep, chickens and turkeys. There are permaculture classes going on while we were walking around. 

We didn’t have much of a chance to ask questions as the boys kept us busy, but I got the sense that I would love to come back for a future workshop, particularly in straw bale. Check their website if you are interested in taking a course as well.

Day 8

hello my loves.

Well. I  have such a precious gift to share with you.  I don’t know how to present it. This building,  is a labour of love. It is a living, breathing example of community building, light clay construction, japanese timber frame, heart and soul.

Patrick Amos, a light clay builder spoke with me all evening about the clay, about the building process, about community, about the work of making shelter. Yeah, we had a wonderful evening – and a lot to to talk about.

This building can’t be shared in a simple post, but I mean to give a little info about it – some generalizations. 

Light clay is a mixture of clay and wood shavings that is pressed into forms to make walls. A double stud technique was developed for this building where the clay can pass between the studs, creating a solid clay wall.

The benefits of clay include its ability to equalize both the temperature and humidity in a space. Just breathing in the air in this space gives you an idea of the power of the clay. It has an incredible calming affect – not just as it is being handled and used for building, but as a finished wall. It balances and settles energies. Light clay is used in Germany and Japan, although is very uncommon here in North America. sadly.

The workshop is used as a studio for Moonrise music – drum production. Chris Bertin makes incredible musical instruments within the walls. I cant wait to share more about him and his family who create such magic here. 

The second floor is a housed within a Japanese timber framed roof. The wood space is used as a studio, yoga swing demonstration room, sewing space and recording studio. The place is flooded with art and creativity.

As I said, I will bring you more about this building as there is great learning and knowledge within it. 

Inspiration.

I cant tell you how excited I am to bring you this post. 

One of the reasons we decided to do this trip is so that I can do research in sustainable building practices out here. I want to bring you information about little projects that have yet to be documented and shared with the world. This will be the first. I want to do proper write- ups and research on these buildings, perhaps leading to some sort of publication…but for now you get my field notes, and my thoughts. 

The cabin is a small building currently used for guests, or for growing teenagers who arent quite ready to leave home. The purpose behind the building was to allow extra space, without requiring a building permit, or permanent foundations. It is a simple structure, with no connections, but with a designated place for a wood stove in the future. 

This is an example of sustainable building, prefabrication, modular building and recycled building. It is also a simple form that is inviting, and functional. It smells amazing, due to the use of cedar.

This is the innovation of a local builder (Phil Carson from Coombs) who has found a way to use the off cuts from the the mills. He takes the 3′ boards and builds double sided panels which he fills with insulation. These panels are then repeated, as walls, floor or as roof pieces. The entire exterior and interior of the building is then wood, and doesnt require finishing. The insulation is a loose fill, that is made from recycled materials, and that “breaths”, eliminating the need for a vapor barrier. The modular system allows for doors and windows to fit into the panels. The gabled ends are fenestrated for views. The finished exterior roof is covered with standing seam aluminum for water seal. The panels themselves are supported by square posts that have been cut with slots, so that there is no need for any more structure.

The little cabin is meant to be portable, and the floor has minimal insulation. The biggest complaint is that is can be cold in winter and there is a draft coming from the floor.

This modular, prefabricated, recycled building concept is totally fascinating to me. I love the use of natural materials and how simple the building components are, with infinite variations. This inspires me to look into the waste material of any industry and to see how they can be used for building components. I love how the use of one 3′ board becomes the basis of the entire building. The whole concept of this structure is a source of inspiration to me, never mind the fact that it is so simple and beautiful to experience.

day 7

We woke early, packed up and headed to Stanley Park, where we rode bikes, met with friends and visited the Aquarium. Yeah, we didnt hold back. All fun, all the time. Thats us.

We made it to “Rivendell” which is the well – suited name for this piece of paradise. We are dog-tired, and cant think of anything but how tired we are, but we know we are in some sort of heaven, that will be well documented over the next few days. 

stay tuned…

OK, so day 6 is a big cheat. 

(and this is the nly pic I took all day – of Em, climbing like spiderman up the slide…)

We can handle traveling 9 hours with kids, camping, roughing it, cooking all food over an open fire – but visitng friends in Vancouver till all hours of the night totally wore us out!!!

So, this post I am writing the next day. Just to have a post up, that says, yes. We made it  to vancouver. We visited MEC and the comic shop (I mean really what else is there??) and then saw some good friends, who left Calgary for the shores of North Vancouver. Marcel enjoyed playing with their daughter and we visited till much to late. We slept better than anywhere else, in our tent, on the front lawn of a friend in the middle of the city. It was a nice, short, visit.

So, there’ my big cheat. Consider me confessed….

a big trip day 5

I cant believe its day 5!!! How did that happen? I truly fear that this trip is going to go too fast. Some folks couldn’t believe we were taking two babes for five weeks camping. But truth is, I cant believe its only five weeks! Granted, we are tired, busy, burned out and sun fried – but we are loving it! 

OK, OK, enough gushing. Today was a little hard. Emery is teething and really mommy-needy, Marcel can get tired and cranky, I hit my knee on the car door in a gloriously graceful exit, and then I dropped my bag of special things – like sketch book, paints, camera and watercolor paper in the toilet. 

I was thanking the Gods that I hadn’t used it yet. 

er… the toilet that is….

Mark and I have been discussing the village idea. Out here fire and how to cook food is a big issue. In winter Im sure t would be a bigger issue. But I love the way that water is totally free and accessible, but the simple fact that you have to carry it to your site means that you are more conservative and careful with it – and the fact that you have to heat it makes you totally aware of how much energy you are using. (Although, I do really like the hot showers…Im spoilt a little on this trip!) I think energy in a utopian community would be divers and suited to the region. Wed have to employ every means possible – solar, wood, gas, I don’t know, Im sure some smart person can figure it out.

I love the idea of having an old fashioned water-wheel at a central stream, where people can come and plug in their lap tops to charge them. It could be a central meeting area, to discuss, and socialize. Its that kind of thing I love – high tech, and rustic in a synchronistic balance. 

Oh, and the trees are amazing. Those totally awe-some trees. We are profoundly moved by their presence. 

a big trip day 4

So we hit the beach this morning and headed to visit family today. The beach was spectacular, and the water so warm! But, yeah, hard wood floors, and walls can be a good thing, when you need a break – from baby-eating-rock-patrol. What a lovely visit, dinner and time spent together. Sometimes roughing it is just about helping us appreciate the comforts we normally take for granted… like a roof.

Some people are surprised we do cloth diapering out in the bush. To be honest I am not finding it difficult at all. Granted we do visit friends and family every few days to wash laundry, and I do put on a disposable on occasion – especially at night, when its cold. But the whole cloth diapering thing has been fine. The best thing is that we can rinse the wet ones and hang them up on the line. So far we haven’t run out, and I have only 15. We save the soiled ones for the laundry machine though… 

Also, the Mei Tai gets used by both of us. I wasn’t sure which wrap to bring, and we don’t have room for more than one, but because Mark and I can both wear this one, it won out. Morning nap started out this way – on my back. This is a great way to put baby to sleep while camping. It also helps on the baby-eating-rock front.

a big trip day 3

yeah. so, I’d say the hardest thing about this camping thing is when we have to break camp, drive all day, and set up camp in one day. Yup. Thats definitely the hardest. It makes the days spent actually at the campsite really easy. And really fun. Today we left the Shuswap and drove to Cultas Lake. We are staying here for a few nights at least. 

We are visiting family here, but the place is so beautiful we may have come even without that incentive. The lake is so warm! We are used to cold water, and this was such a treat to actually be able to stand in the water without turning blue. We are going to have a lot of fun over the next few days. (Just as long as we get some sleep – our site is near a busy road, which detracts from the rustic beauty of the place, just a little…)

I was imagining some sort of idyllic intentional community that resembled the Shuswap campground all day. I was thinking about what sort of infrastructures exist external to the camping experience to support that sort of activity. I mean we use fire wood, and water at the site, but then there’s the ice, the food we bring in, the clothes, dishes, computers…?!? Our Jobs, the ability to buy the cars to drive-in, to take the time off work, to prepare enough food etc to get us through a few days are all intricately related to the camping experience. Even back country camping you have a life to support it. Now, I was thinking about ways that as much of those worlds could be integrated into the experience – so you could stay longer, with less expense to you and the environment. The Dacha idea from the russians come to mind, or a middle ages village, but with high speed internet…combined with small artisan industry, unified vision of care for the landscape, gentle living on the land. I really wonder if such a thing is possible.

a big trip day 2

for a long drive is a day at the beach. And today just kept on giving. We had such a glorious time at the beach we are sad to leave tomorrow. We enjoyed swimming, sandcastle building, sand eating (thats Emery…) bike riding, and all the friendly folks…we think we’ve found paradise.

The whole while we are soaking in the sun and loving the forest, I cant help but think about this whole experience, and just how truly “sustainable” it is. I mean, I don’t want to be all anal, and weird about putting a damper on our trip, its just interesting to ponder, as I ride down these roads filled with young families, and camper trailers – burning $5.00-a-bag wood. 

I love how camping makes you totally aware of your dependancies. I mean, we are all happy to go without flush toilets,  share showers, sleep out doors, cook over a camp fire, carry our water…but for how long? And what sorts of resources and industries exist external to this site for this to all happen. I want to think about that over the next few days, and bring some of my ponderings to you over the nets. There are so many wonderful things about the experience here, I think that some learning could be applied to how we live regularly…I just want to think about what and how these learnings could be brought home.

My mom told me about our friend from Kenya’s new found love of camping. According to her, Kenyans just don’t understand Canadian camping. I mean, they came all the way to North America, so that they wouldn’t have to “rough it”. She says they’d much rather sit inside on a sunny day than on a pretty patio. Thats her perspective anyways. Maybe thats why you don’t see very many immigrants in the camp grounds…

What is funny about that story is how she reacted when she finally succumbed and went camping with my parents…at a provincial campsite. She absolutely LOVED it! She couldn’t believe there would be toilets, hot showers, chopped wood, easy water to access, picnic tables, fires with grills, and any of the other amenities we are used to. It was like she finally understood camping, and the thrill of living outdoors, while still in comfort…. This truly is a luxurious holiday.