A Tale of Two Islands

Friday, we took possession of our new 5 acre lot. We celebrated with Sue & Bill. Lawn chairs and cooler were arranged approximately where the deck will be and we enjoyed an afternoon sunning with appies and bubbly.

It was the Denman Island Home and Garden Tour this weekend. Although the weather didn't cooperate Saturday until early afternoon, we enjoyed visiting our old favorites, as well as some new additions to the tour. There are some hidden gems

down those dirt driveways! With emphasis on sustainable living practices, there were lots of unique ideas for our new property. The pictures are from various island gardens.

Sunday, we ventured down to Salt Spring Island

for their Home Eco-Tour. This tour was more about alternate building styles and we were able to see homes of rammed earth,

cob/cordwood, and even two bale homes.... one under construction, (which was of particular interest to me). There are many different views on bale construction and there is no proven method for construction in this climate. There is one main rule: Don't get it wet.... and yes, we live in a rain forest; therefore, it must have the best hat and shoes available.

While on Salt Spring, we ran into Valdy. See March 2007 Blog. I told him that I was going to call his agent to see if we can book him here on Denman, (he's never been here) .... Hmmm he said, I'm sure I'm booked there already (in October). You heard it here.... Valdy on Denman October '07.

Monday we can file our building proposal to the Island Trust. Although we don't need a building permit, Islands Trust must approve where the building(s) will be placed on the lot. It's not unheard of for islanders to be somewhat mistaken on property boundaries. Homes have been built, and wells drilled on adjoining properties in error. I'm not sure what Islands Trust do with the proposals other than file them for future reference (and collect a couple of hundred bucks to do so.)