Daily Journal

to follow along

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We had family to the garden for wine tonight. We have a great view but no deck.. Until we have a deck, 4 pm wine is served in our garden.. I’m not complaining, its lovely. But I look forward to the day we have a deck at the front of the house. Building a deck is on our list of things to do. Wine with family, (and friends)  while we watch the sunset would be amazing                                                      .may 31 037

Conversation came up, as it does and I don’t know how. Names were mentioned of friends from long long ago. Two of our closest friends from back in the day have been gone (to cancer ) for 8 years.. Aside from the wrongness and sadness of it all, their deaths remind of us of the preciousness of time. There are clichés out there to remind us not to waste time. Facebook sites to share and life coach quotes to repeat.. galore.. But when it comes down to it.. most of us just worry about paying the bills.. Time isn’t available to think about much else.

Here on this island, tonight, the bills are here, medical issues exist. We accept our time is precious and we work hard at ensuring that our happiness is paramount..

Nothing is more important than embracing the present.

Appreciating all that we have.                                                                                       june 7 082

Most people would not like this life.  I know it isn’t for everyone. My blog is not written to promote our lifestyle as one that is the best. It isn’t. Living off grid away from the maddening crowd, however, is the lifestyle for E and I. It is a little different of a lifestyle from the norm and so I write about it. Those who are interested in the trials and tribulations seem to enjoy following along.. Other islanders, when away, like to keep in touch with the goings on….. But for the majority of our old friends, my blog would probably be pretty boring stuff. It’s hard to relate to conversations about septic systems and batteries. Lord knows my eyes still tend to glaze over when wattage is discussed.

We have made some new amazing friends in the two years we have been here. Last nights bridge night proved again that we are among kind patient people who are easily convinced to look past our faults… ( 4 spades? I meant 1 club.. can we go back?)… For those of our old friends who are gone.. we miss you.. To those of our friends new and old, who follow along.. feel free to comment, I would love to hear from you. To those of you I don’t know, who are interested in our life living off grid in BC Gulf Islands, I am honoured that you also chose

to follow along.

 

A harmful influence

/ Off Grid Islanders / 16 Comments

I need to write this one in response to a couple of blogs/discussions I have read/heard about the state of our youth.

I was one of those parents you criticize and my children are those you were worried about… I watched them as they played on the street. Our eldest son is the same age as Michael Dunnahey and that made a real difference on how we raised them. Our children were rarely out of our sight.

I drove our kids to and from school, friends, hockey games and parties.

Our daughter at 15 worked a shift at mcdonalds which ended at 3am. We were at the door to drive her home at the end if her shift.

They were sheltered and protected. (And loved unconditionally)

When they were 18 they travelled across the country to university. With savings from summer jobs they have travelled the world with their friends. One of them walked the Great Wall of China, and wandered most of Europe, one has sky dived in Australia and scuba dived in Thailand . Another hang glided in Austria, climbed Manchu Pichu and swum with sharks in the Galapagos. Two have slept under trafalagar fountain after missing curfew at their hostel in London. (Different trips four years apart)

We have a wild fire fighter, a business major and a social worker.

We kept them safe while we had them. We always knew where they were and it often involved underage drinking and excessive partying.
Then we sent them out on their own.

Their friends are just as fearless as they are. They have travelled more than we ever had the inspiration to do in our twenties. They are concerned about their fellow man, their environment and have grown up knowing nothing but unconditional acceptance for those of different sexual, political or religious persuasion.

I am not worried at all about handing our world to them. They seem to have thrived by spending their childhood protected and sheltered. Their childhoods were different than ours but no worse. Access to recreational Video games and computer access were a benefit not
a harmful influence.

and.. and… and….

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We were running on empty this morning…  Olympic watching has required more diesel than normal this winter. Not at all like yesterdays brutal storm, today was sunny with calm winds.. So we popped over to town for a fuel run. Four diesel, one gas, a small propane and two jugs of water… (from a tap in Nanaimo)

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We didn’t have any other reason to be in town so took the opportunity to price out one of our next projects… We have a store picked out (Shar-kar) for the wire (2 inch stucco mesh) and now just have to figure out a plan and my new garden fence will be on the go.  Last year the deer were able to sneak some tomato plants through the fence. That problem needs to be fixed and I have a couple of other things I want to do before the garden starts to grow for the season. The current wire will be repurposed for tomato cages and tree protection. Clematis is already starting to come in so we need to get on it… Our sons have offered their services for projects too big for E alone so I am thinking we will take them up on their offer for this one…It isn’t so much a difficult project as one that is under a time constraint. Once you take the fence down it needs to go right back up before the deer come over and feast…june 9 013

The fence I am picturing is like the gorgeous one at the Belgian house on the road past BH.. Those on the island will know the one I mean. In fact I think some are friends with the people who live in that house. It is funny, we all know landmarks by different names but can immediately identify a location by another’s reference.. Case in point, yesterday when I said E realized he needed to turn around from his trip after he rounded Morris’s Point.. You all know where he was.. You would also know where we were if  I said we kayaked to Shell Beach on the island in front of SoHo or we saw a dear at the bottom of Forbes Hill. I had never heard the beach next to SoHo referred to as South Beach until we moved here fulltime.. Vacationing on that side of the island we always just called it the Marine Park… The names seem self-evident once used….

I have a large collection of unfinished winter projects. I wonder if they will be touched if I haven’t completed them by now. The yard work is too appealing… The garden needs to be weeded, I need to finish pruning the apple trees, sew the poppy seeds, rake the debris from the storm, move the compost boxes, lay a rock border down to the house, tidy behind the outhouse, there is wood to split, garden fences to build and we need to throw a torch on the burn pile…..

and .. and … and….