Back to (Eco-)School

Yup, it's that time of year again: students are headed back to school. Same goes for us, as our "Living Green" courses will be kicking off again through Confederation  College's Continuing Education program.

We'll start on September 26: "Living Off the Grid", from 6:30 - 9:30.
Next is October 3 with "Intro to Solar Energy", also from 6:30 - 9:30.
Then is there's a new course slated for November 7, again from 6:30 - 9:30: "Intro to Small Wind Power", offered by popular request.
Follow the links above for more information, or check The Key's fall issue on page 31.

The great thing about these courses is you don't need to be living in Thunder Bay to enjoy them. The College has a number of "virtual class rooms" all over NW Ontario, hooked up to the actual class room via closed circuit TV. It's almost as though you're actually there, very cool!

There's always a high turnout for these courses, and with the recent (and impending) significant price hikes for Hydro, propane and gas, we expect they will sell out even faster now. Interesting how the economy can be part of the drive to be green...

Cool Courses Coming Up

Winter's darkest days are behind us and each day we're clocking a bit more sunshine (read: sun power). From a distance the Nolalu Eco Centre may seem to be hibernating, but the relative silence is misleading. We're already planning this coming summer's activities, and there's always a steady stream of folks dropping in for house tours and B&B stays.

One activity is coming up fairly soon, even: the ever-popular "Living Green" classes as part of Confederation College's Continuing Education program. The first class will be February 23: "Introduction to Solar Power", and the second one March 9: "Living Off the Grid". Follow the links for more information, or check The Key's winter issue.

The great thing about these courses is you don't need to be living in Thunder Bay to enjoy them. The College has a number of "virtual class rooms" all over NW Ontario, hooked up to the actual class room via closed circuit TV. Very cool!

There's always a high turnout for these courses, and with the recent (and impending...) price hikes for Hydro, propane and gas we expect they will sell out even faster now. Interesting how the economy can be part of the drive to be green...

snowshoe tracks at dusk

One of our favourite winter activities doesn't require any electric or combustible energy to enjoy: snowshoeing. The conditions this year are just glorious, so you'll find us breaking trails when ever time (and the weather) permits. Call me crazy, but I love winter for it.

Getting Ready For Winter

Happiness is... a full wood shed in October



Life's been too busy to write any weekly blog updates for the past few weeks, but we're back again! A brand spanking new woodshed has been built, about 6 cords of firewood (enough to heat the house for 1.5 cold winters) have been cut, split and stacked in it, the South porch has been tiled & provided with a handsome ceiling, and our "green" fall courses through Confederation College's Continued Education program have been another resounding success.

Heck, we even managed to squeeze in a full week of vacation! Yes: seven blissful days of "dolce far niente" for the first time in 6 years - and it sure felt good.

With our batteries recharged and enjoying a gorgeous indian summer we're ready -well, amost ready- for winter. There's one project to sink our teeth in: plastering our strawbale guest house tomorrow with its last plaster coat before the snow flies. Check next week's blog to read and see more about that! After that, we'll dig in for winter and semi-hibernate for the next 6 months.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and may all your turkeys be free range!

Endings and Beginnings

This weekend was Labour Day weekend, marking the last long weekend of the summer, always a sweet and sad occasion. Camps and cottages get closed for the winter, the countryside is busy with the traditional fall fairs, and ice cream places see their last line ups of sun-burned customers before the cool weather moves in.

It was a pretty busy weekend for us, too, with a number of EcoB&B guests staying with us (always delightful company), the cutting and splitting firewood for the winter (and stacking it in our brand new wood shed), and a few house tours.

One house tour stood out from the others: about 20 students from Confederation College's Architectural Technology Program with their program coordinator Butch Petrone as part of their Orientation Week.

It was great to have architecture students visit with the specific purpose to learn and experience more about unconventional methods of building and designing. After all, these are the folks who will be part of the new wave of environmentally more sustainable ways of building, and we were pleasantly surprised to notice their keen interest and smart questions.

It was an encouraging experience for us, seeing the enthusiasm the next generation of designers and builders has for new ideas; it's all about being open-minded and interested in new concepts, avoiding the traps of conventionality.

A warm thank-you to Butch Petrone for getting his students to tour this unconventional place, and for introducing them to environmentally saner building methods. We're looking forward to continue this relationship!

The Babees Are Safe

The last 4 weeks have seen little blog action, but we're back again! Not that there was nothing to blog about, but life has just been too darn busy for any weekly updates; and being on an intensive 2-week film shoot followed by a week out of town didn't help much, either.

Still, much has happened and is happening. We'll be offering our "Intro to Solar Energy" and "Living off the Grid" evening classes through Confederation College this fall again, dates will be posted shortly. We're also mulling a full-day "Advanced Wind Power" workshop, and will announce more as soon we have made a final decision.

Our House Tours also prove to be very popular, with a steady stream of folks visiting our place. Word on our Eco B&B is getting around, pulling more and more guests, all of them lovely people we thoroughly enjoy having.

In the mean time, our previous blog about the bee hives that beekeeper Tom placed on our property drew a lot of response, many expressing concerns about the fact that there was nothing in place to scare the bears off. Of course they were correct in this, and of course Tom was aware of this issue as well. So 3 weeks ago he installed an electric fence around the hives, specifically designed to keep bears at bay.

So call us solar geeks, but what we like about it it's a solar-powered electric fence; and I can tell you first hand that it works. In case you're wondering why the hives are sitting on those cement blocks, that's to keep them out of reach of another predator: skunks, of all animals. Skunks love burrowing into those hives with their long sharp claws and aren't deterred by any stinging.

So far we've had a pretty good, almost average summer, making happy bees (and people). Our fields are filled nectar-filled wildflowers and clover is growing abundantly; I can't think of any better excuse to go easy on cutting the grass...

The Eco Centre’s Coming To Town!

Maybe your life’s just too busy to make it to Nolalu to visit us. Maybe you’re afraid you won’t be able to find us (if your sense of direction is anywhere like mine). Or maybe you just hate winter driving. Whatever the reason, we’ve had numerous requests to “do something in town”.

So when Thunder Bay’s Confederation College approached us to do a series of courses for their Continued Education Program we were just tickled pink. Finally, the Nolalu Eco Centre will be coming to town this winter!

We’ll be offering 2 different courses: “Living Off the Grid” (on Wednesday Jan. 27 and Saturday Feb. 6) and “Introduction to Solar Power” (Wednesday Feb. 17 and Saturday Feb. 20).

Both are brief introductory courses that will give you a very practical bird’s eye view of what’s involved in a seriously greener life style, the challenges and rewards.
It’s practical, hands-on information from folks who live what they preach. And with a fee of only $36.00 it’s hard to go wrong.

If you live in Northwestern Ontario, check your free winter issue of The Key, and go to the brand-new “Living Green” section on page 71 for more information. The same information can be found online here.

It won’t replace the experience of visiting the Nolalu Eco Centre of course, but hey, at least you won’t get caught in a snow storm!