Fair Ferry Fares Boost Faire

Who says Canadian politics are boring? OK, maybe it was me, (not so long ago) but I take it all back. As it stands, Stevie has sent himself to the the "time out chair" until mid January, (with the blessing of his mommy) for being a bully to the other children. Now both sides of the argument are spending hundreds of thousand to tell us that they've been done wrong. Recent polls say that many Canadians believe all three federal party leaders should resign and I tend to agree. Should a federal election spring from this mess, somebody is going to get spanked.

The Denman Island Christmas Craft Faire is one of the biggest days of the year for local Artisans and entrepreneurs. The last two years have blessed the Faire with some of the worst weather of the season. This year, the winds and snow were absent and from first appearance the attendance looked pretty good. The ferry fare has been reduced by a third until the end of January and the last of the "fuel surcharges" have been eliminated making it somewhat more appealing for shoppers to come here from Vancouver Island.

Straw Bale House Update: The garage stairs to the loft are operational and efforts switched to back-framing in the house. There is still a considerable amount of beam-work to be done which leads to a bit of a catch-22. The beams (some 14 pieces) are yet to be planed, sanded and stained. As the weather will no longer permit staining outside, the garage will have to be insulated and heated to act as a drying facility.

Post Election Pause

We had a busy weekend, (last weekend), as Tyler and Jill came to visit. We also celebrated Ashley's 14th birthday. In an attempt to keep the 12 party goers busy, we devised a Denman Island scavenger hunt. Groups of girls had to hunt for things such as... the name of the event taking place at the hall that night, a piece of driftwood shaped like an animal, and the signature of a ferry worker etc. (I'm sure those deckhands had never experienced teen groupies looking for autographs before.) The girls all seemed to have had a good time. The next day, we ventured off-island for a walk at Nymph Falls on the Puntledge River. The salmon are just beginning to spawn and could be seen at the bottom of the "fish stairs".

I'm still more than a little puzzled by the outcome of our federal election. Maybe my memory is better than most? I couldn't bring mself to vote for a party that would have had us fighting in Iraq... that broke it's own law on set election dates... or that embarressed it's country last December at the Bali climate talks. I somehow believed that Canadians were going to give Mr.Harper a message that the environment is an important issue... Now I realize that it is an important issue as long as it doesn't cost us anything. Now that the "world financial market" has gone for a big dump we can put the environment on the back burner and concentrate on "economic growth". I'm still waiting for some political party to have the nards to say it out loud .... that economic growth is the reason, not only for the world's economic problems, but also the sorry state of our environment. Economic growth is not sustainable.
"Economic growth, the root cause of our unsustainable ways, is creating a serious conflict with the ecosystems of the Earth. Because of this fundamental conflict, biodiversity loss is likely to become a problem of far greater importance, even than that of climate change, unless we stop our perennial drive for more and more growth and move to a sustainable economy." Qualicum Institute.
On the news today Harper was suggesting that the world must have more financial ties...... The Bilderbergers must be rubbing their hands together in delight. They couldn't have planned it better themselves.... or did they? (Bilderberg has now endorsed Obama???.... but does he want it?))

Strawbale House Update: This week the re-screen went down. Next will be the heating tubes for the radiant (in-floor) heat. There will be a learning curve for this, but the cost savings of doing it ourselves is huge. Garage entry doors are in and I'll buy the materials for the carriage door next week.

Vote Environment

A Quickie

As the Canadian federal election nears it's neck & neck between the Lying Thieves and the Thieving Liars. The Pot-Smoking Skinny-Dippers are running a distant third. Same old, same old for Canadian politics. (Judging by lawn signs, Denman Island seems to be heavily leaning toward the Pot-smoking Skinny-dippers... there's no shortage of support for both activities here.) Meanwhile south of the border there's more action than one can resist. I'll predict that the US pres debates get better ratings in Canada than the Canadian leadership debates. I can only say from this little island.... what the...?
It's hard to believe the magnitude of the financial situation there and the ripple effect it will have world wide. Is this what happens to all self-policing industries? The prediction of American debt was underestimated in my December 2007 Blog... can I add another trillion?

Strawbale Update: Masonry Heater core has been assembled. The brickwork can be done after the slab is poured. There's lots riding on that slab pour!

gotta go and watch the debate.....

Electoral Dysfunction

"Elections are no time to discuss serious issues", Kim Campbell.
I think everything has been promised except "bigger elephants in all our zoos!" Whether we want it or not we're going to get decreases in income tax jammed down our throats. It's a fact. As more "boomers" retire and have less income, there will be less income tax revenue collected. What (they) are not saying is that the lost revenue, can and will be made up elsewhere. Can you say user fees? Be it on beer, bridges, or bowling (or ferries)... you're going to pay on a different source to the same bank account. So please bend over as your income taxes are reduced. If I'm sober on election day and have had my fill of cold-cuts and puffin dodging, I'll be voting for.... maybe I'll wait until after one of those enthralling TV debates. Hey, here's an idea... We should let the American citizens elect our new government and we'll elect theirs. That way we'll have some one else to blame for voting in the same old bafoons. (neither of us could do any worse)
Strawbale house update: Work continues on the sub-slab preparation. The water lines are aligned to fit inside a (2X4) partition wall inside a closet, where they will be attached to the (hot or cold) manifolds. Electrical conduit from the house to the garage and pump house also has to be buried and cable pulled through. I'll run an extra conduit just in case we decide to experiment with solar or wind power in the future. I'm happy to report that it's raining heavily and the skylight does not leak, (nor the roof(s) for that matter).
The garage exterior is almost finished except for some detail and door setting. There's also the interior framing and stairs to build, but that can wait until winter.

On the weekend we went to a strawbale party on the island. The other bale house on the island was ready for bale stacking and plastering. About 15 people showed up and work went quicker than expected. It was a pretty good learning experience for us, especially the plastering technique.

.... some homework needs to be done on in-slab heating. Kari isn't crazy about "forced air" heat as illustrated in the following video. (she should know better than to go to sleep before me.)