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.

Dancin' and Prancin'

Who says nature is boring? A few days ago we were treated to a private show by a big red fox having a whale of a time in the December snow. The -14C and cold winds didn't seem to bother him as he played around, diving and dancing, taking his sweet time, even catching the occasional rodent.

(click to enlarge)

Perfect timing, style and gracefulness, just a joy to watch... Foxes are creatures of habit, so we're keeping our eyes open for a repeat performance!

Snow And Straw

Let it snow, let it snow, I wrote last week. Be careful what you wish for, they say. Well, we did get lots more snow (yay!) - and had to cancel our informal get-together that was planned for Sunday afternoon (boo!).
We had been asked to host an afternoon with 2 folks who work in North Japan on local social and ecological issues for the United Church of Canada and were looking forward to meet them, together with a few good friends. Well, thick heavy snow prevented it from happening. That's how it can go in this neck of the woods; we like to think we're in control of what happens, but really we aren't. Oh well, another lesson learned.

Fortunately our straw bale presentation at renowned architectural firm Kuch Stephenson Gibson Malo went ahead as planned, last Friday. "Kuch", as the firm is affectionately called here in Thunder Bay, specializes in buildings that make more sense environmentally; they have been asked to work on an exciting new straw bale project in the town of Red Rock, not too far from here. We thoroughly enjoyed being invited at "Kuch's" and talking to the open-minded folks there.

The ambitious project is to build a 4000 square feet multi-purpose straw bale building on the rejuvenated harbour front, facing the lake. The challenge will be to make it as environmentally friendly as possible within the serious restrictions of a public space.
Kudos to the Red Rock city council for having this vision, the stamina to stick with it and for getting the complex financing in place! It's now in "Kuch's" capable hands to come up with a proposal that will satisfy the many complex and opposing demands, not an easy task. But having met them we now feel if anyone can pull it off it's them.

First Snow...

Last Sunday morning we woke up to a beautiful white world outside. A good 10cm of snow had fallen overnight and the late afternoon before. All those dreary fall browns and grays outside had suddenly morphed into a sparkling brand new world. Our neighbours tell us "This is it, this'll be on the ground till next spring".

Somehow that first snow is always a bit exciting and magical; shades of childhood, of snowmen, snowball fights, snow forts, trying the ice...
There's less squeeling and peals of laughter in our lives now when seeing the world covered in its first white robe of the year. Yes, there's still that sense of excitement, mixed now with the knowledge that after the very busy fall things will slow down a bit. We don't exactly go into hibernation, but we do hole up more, spend more time indoors. We eat more, too, mostly with good friends. And personally I like to revisit a few old Hollywood classics in our solar-powered mini cinema.

What I like best about winter is it doesn't have that urgency summer and fall have, of things that got to be done. Get firewood ready, work the gardens, do maintenance and renovations, organize workshops, house tours, feel guilty about not doing that canoe trip we promised ourselves...

Instead, the snowshoes have been prepared for another good workout and the snow blower topped & tuned up. I know I'll feel different about it in 6 weeks or so, but right now I'm ready for the cold season, secretly squeeling with delight inside.

Carbon Emissions Be Gone!

We recently spent a week in Toronto for a big-city-fix, our first vacation in 6 years! Isn't it interesting to notice how your sense of vacation changes depending on where you live?  "You can take the boy out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the boy", to coin a phrase.

Because we only had 1 week, driving down there wasn't an option; it would have meant 5 days on the road, leaving 1 measly day to enjoy our destination. So I booked a free flight (thank you Aeroplan!) but felt bad about the ecological footprint involved. Canadians spend too much time on planes, and no matter how you cut it: planes ain't good for our environment and are part of the growing greenhouse problem.

Granted, Canada is just too darn big to travel by other means and still get there within a reasonable amount of time. So what to do? The answer: purchase a carbon credit!

When processing our online bookings I was pleasantly surprised when a window popped up asking if I wanted to offset the carbon emissions for these flights by purchasing a corresponding carbon credit. Turns out that in our case of two return tickets Thunder Bay - Toronto, the carbon credit cost us less than $25.00 - a no-brainer, of course.

Carbon credits are getting increasingly popular with consumers and industries alike. The basic idea is that by supporting alternative energy programs, like investing in solar and wind generation, planting trees etc., we can offset the carbon emissions created through the burning of fossil fuels in transportation and industries.

Now mind you, even though I felt not as bad about the flights, it isn't the solution. It's tempting to think we can maintain a basically destructive lifestyle simply by buying more carbon credits. Sorry, it's not the fix we need, it's only a band-aid. Ultimately, we have to drastically change our lifestyle, a tall order to fulfill.

So until then, purchase those carbon credits whenever you can. It does help, and hey, you'll feel a lot better, too!

Plastered Again!

It's been a long time coming, but our straw bale guest house finally got its second plaster coat, just in time for winter! A dedicated crew under the guidance of master plasterer Dan worked for a full day getting the job done, inside and out.

A big shout-out to Mark who helped out with, well, just about everything, Kelsey who effortlessly out-plastered the guys, Jacomyn who tirelessly worked the noisy paddle mixer, and your humble narrator who was just happy to survive the day intact.

There aren't many straw bale homes around here (although the number is growing!), let alone straw bale guest houses. Once this one's finished it will be available year-round: nice and cool during the hot summer months, warm and cozy during our stone cold winters. It's got a great location overlooking the beaver pond (if you're quiet you can see the beavers at work) with lots of privacy, yet close enough to the main building should you need anything.

Now we can move on to finishing the place and make it into the coolest-ever guest house that we have in mind. All that's left now is to put in the ceiling and insulation, put in soffits and facias, finish the floor, build a small kitchen, two bunk beds and a table, put in a woodstove, install a basic solar electric and hot water system... Hmm, don't call us for any guest house bookings just yet, it may be another year or so.

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!