Jay And Hooray!

Finally, the Eco Centre got the paint job it (she?) needed! We'd been putting it off for about 2 years now and were all set to ignore it for another year, when presto: help emerged in the form of 24 girls from the Ontario Rangers program. They simply called us to see if there was anything they could help us with for a full day. Well, we said, the house needs painting... No problem, was their response, just provide the paint, we'll bring our own brushes and lunches.
And they weren't kidding. That morning 2 big vans pulled up, and out of them piled the 24 able-bodied girls, roaring to go. After a fun house tour and something to drink we started mixing the paint, and off they went.
It was probably the best crew we ever had: focussed, cheerful, fun and hard working. At 3:00 pm the house was all done - except the garage's gable ends over our solar hot water collectors, a very tricky spot that we did the next day (as the picture below shows).
The paint we used was a Milk Paint, by the way. Made from, yup: milk; with specific plants and/or berry elements added for a wide range of colours. It comes as a powder and has to be mixed with water (1 part milk paint powder to 9 parts water for a milk paint wash or stain. Three parts powder to 1 part water for an opaque (house) paint). It's absolutely environmentally safe, doesn't off-gas, leftovers can be safely dumped in the sink and is easy to work with. Just keep it away from your cats who may want to drink it (ours was constipated for about 2 days). And it's probably the only paint you'll have to put in the fridge at the end of the day :-)
It's a regionally manufactured products; we got ours at the Homestead House Paint Co., a small & friendly family-run business in Toronto.

So here's a big shout-out to the Ontario Ranger girls for a wonderful job and for being a blast having around. The Eco Centre looks even better now!
Also a big hug for our dear friend Jane Oldale who not only helped out but also baked solar chocolate chip cookies in her solar oven right here on the spot.