Stuff from Denman Island: Life in the Trenches

For the most part, it has been T-shirt weather, which means the weeds need to be cut twice a week. I can't say we have a lawn, but the front and back yards are a combo of wild grass, weeds and wild flowers. July, being our driest month of the year slows the growth of the "lawn" and, of course, we cannot water it.

After not seeing the elusive Alligator Lizard in three years, I've seen two this year... unfortunately, the second was at the working end the the gas powered weed-whacker. The snakes are very good at getting out of the way, but it seems the lizard, (although extremely fast) prefers to hide out in the tall grass and hope for the best.

We finally take possession of the property on the 15th. The delays have been due to lack of power. The power trench has now been dug and the conduit installed for our underground power lines. The underground part may turn out to be a huge asset given last years winter storms. The picture to the right shows the trench running from one end of the property to the other...about 345 feet at this point, (the narrowest). Sienna is about where the front deck will end up. The picture on the left is the driveway, which will see improvement only after all the cement trucks etc., have done their worst. Sometime this week, there should be a power trench dug along the left side of the driveway to take the power to the last building site on the line. Our nearest neighbours are 10, 12 and 40 acres. We're by far the smallest at just over 5 acres.

There's a steep learning curve when it comes to building straw bale homes. I'm in the process of absorbing all the information I can get my hands on. Our floor plan should lend itself well to straw bale. The construction will be a hybrid of new and old construction methods. Materials will range from insulated concrete forms to mud and lime plaster. It may be possible to have a foundation in, post & beam in place, and a roof on before the rains come. This will provide a skeleton framework and dry storage for straw and tools etc. Further to our "enviro" undertakings, we are looking at a septic system that utilizes a secondary treatment plant and a "wetlands" rather than a traditional septic leach field. The treated fluid in this case is virtually pure. As we're at the top of the hill this will be appreciated by well users below.

Tyler stayed for the weekend for some R&R. We were going to walk on the north-east beach on Saturday, but the logging road to reach it, has now been gated by the Northlands Owners. (A very petty move, in my opinion, to take away beach accesses in hopes of gaining support?) Anyway, there are plenty of beach walks, so we switched to plan "B". Curt and Denise come for a return visit next week, followed up by Sue and Bill on the weekend, to take in the world famous, Denman Island Annual Country Home & Garden Tour. If you have never been to the DIACHGT, I highly recommend it.

Friday Night at the Backhall featured Bob Wiseman. It's hard to describe Bob... a, songwriter, movie making, accordion, guitar, keyboard playing kinda guy. He alternated short movie clips and sung story songs.... although hard to describe, it was entertaining.