Summertime and the Living is Easy.........

(I've posted lots of pictures, if you want to see any of them clearer, just double click on them)

Well the month of June kinda went by in a blur. Work has been slowing down as all my clients take off for summer holidays and prepare for weddings, graduations etc. I'm torn between wanting to have lots of work = money for material, so I can get started building the house or taking time off so I can enjoy the weather. I'm such a sun slut. I can't help it, as soon as the sun comes out, I just want to drop everything and go to the beach. I don't mind working when it's raining and cold, but once it warms up, I just want to be outside. Unfortunately, I don't have two nickels to rub together, so some work is needed if I want to eat.

For years , I have been attending a big Summer Solstice party in the interior of BC. I didn't think I would make it this year as funds were non-existant. I missed it the last few years as all my energy and attention was down here at the marina and really,really wanted to go this year. At the last minute, David got a couple of very large boats come in to lease water space and figured we could afford to go.

So with a great flurry of packing, phone calls and a million stops along the way , we finally got out of town Friday night. We drove through the night and arrived exhausted at 2 am Satuday morning. A quick jaunt around the property to the fire pit to say hi to everyone, then it was off to bed for some sleep. The next three days were a huge celebration of life. A couple of hundred people came together and played music,danced, put on skits, dressed up in wonderful costumes,played silly games,celebrated Solstice, the births of new babies and reconnected with friends and family. I had the time of my life and a grin from ear to ear. Just what the doctor ordered.

Happy faces on both of us


Big grins as they wait for the mile long banana split eatin contest(no hands allowed!)


Some of the beautiful drums played over the weekend


The Ceasar girls come by with tasty libations to cure our morning hangover's


The Cross Dressing soccer tournament

I wish I looked this good in a dress!


Some music to entertain us


Making masks before the nighttime parade




David carved his mask out of bark

A very out -of- focus picture of my costume and mask


Hula hoops are the new craze this year. The girl with the orange one, gave me one to take home as long as I promised to practice and be in the hoop contest next year. In the picture you can see the outdoor stage behind and the peanut gallery also known as Hecklers Row to the left


I think I have a way to go before I can do this!

So I took on spin on the hamster wheel to get some exercise



Before dinner we did a blessing of the lamb and the sun


Which resulted in this sunset on another wise cloudy day


The carving of the lamb which had been slow roasted over an open fire all day


Food that everyone prepared was then brought into the circle to the fan fare of drums for a huge potluck dinner


The food is prepared in this outdoor kitchen which is the back end of the theatre


The next day we had the baby naming ceremonies which was preceding by a creation play



Some Solstice friends









The owner of the property, Laurie with one of his many admirers

Laurie, has the best hobbit house ever. His creed is "if your going to build something, don't make it just functional, it has to be pretty to look at as well". With that in mind, every aspect of his house is a work of art. He is a potter by trade ( as well as an author) and has built some amazing structures on his 50 acres of land. He encourages the artists among us to build art installations on his property, so there are all kinds of things to delight and amaze you as you walk around the place. There is an outdoor theatre with a kitchen attached as well as a full size labarinth planted from trees that is a couple of acres in size. We had a candle lit parade through the labrinth on Saturday night that was an amazing and beautiful experience. I always leave his property feeling reborn, rejuvanated and inspired. A great start to the summer.

A small meditation cabin or office sitting out in the middle of the pond


A large statue dedicated to Astarte makes a fun place for children to hang out


The firepit, a giant mushroom and Hecklers row


The entrance to the Grove of Forgiveness. This is where the parade ended and we let go of all of our grudges from the past year and give thanks to the universe for all our blessings



This structure holds the pumphouse for the cistern which holds his water supply


The pottery shed and some of the artwork on it
The dragon's legs are the door handles






The pump house for the woodfired hotub


The Hot Tub


The door to the sauna


The cold plunge pool between the sauna and hot tub


The Haul of Shame aka the garbadge/recycling center




Pictures of the house





Every beam has something carved on it




The part of the house that is made of logs is the original homestead, the rest Laurie added on over the years














Interesting squat toilet imported from asia with mosaic art


The bathtub set into a bay window



Banister carving


Beautiful doorway


Jar storage in Kitchen




Wall covered in cedar shakes, using the natursl shade variation to make a face



Cosy entrance to the home




Doorway detail



On my way home I recieved a call from the cousin of a good friend, who has just opened a new massage clinic. She was wondering if I would be interested in working there. Again, Im torn between jumping all over that and not wanting to be locked indoors for the summer.I can't really afford to turn this opportunity down tho, so will have to grab as much sun as I can the next few days before I commit to anything.

My pile of material continues to grow. I now have about 2000 feet of beautiful hardwood flooring, a kitchen cabinet with glass doors for the dishes and a pile of cedar shakes. Ive run out of room to store stuff which is a problem as I'm not quite finished collecting yet. I'm mostly needing framing material now and I can get started. Once I have some kind of structure in place, I have most of what I need to do the interior and some of what I need for the exterior. Not bad for two months and most of it for free. I cant wait to move in, I can picture it clear as day.

My cache of hardwood flooring


Yesterday was Canada Day, so I kidnapped David and dragged him to the beach. It was one of the busiest days, I have ever seen down there, must of been well over 5000 people. Although the sun was shining, we had gale force winds that had a cold bite. That didnt scare anyone away tho, they just bundled up and kept partying. All the musicians were down in full force and kept the beat going.


Playing in the wind


Impromtue beach sculpture, another random act of beauty


After the beach we went downtown to the waterfront and watched the fireworks.



All in all , a lovely day, Happy Birthday Canada, may you have many,many more.xxoo

And where would Canada be without the beaver? Here is our national symbol in our backyard enjoying a snack. For once its not our house he is dining on.

Full Circle

Well its my 100th post and yesterday I saw the floathome that started all this for me 15 years ago. I had just graduated from massage school and had my own business that was doing very well. I saw a listing for a beautiful wood floathome and went to check it out. I fell completely in love with it. It was a log cabin with tons of stain glass everywhere. I went to the bank to organize a loan, but they wouldn't consider it, even with a 25% downpayment. Their reasoning was that someone could cut the ropes that hold it in place and their investment would just float away. Without land they wouldn't give me a dime. I was heartbroken. I never thought I would ever be able to afford this lifestyle and grieved that house for many years.

Yesterday, David and I went out to a marina up river to check out the situation with a floathome that was in need of more floatation to keep it from tipping over. We ended up having a very interesting and informative conversation with the owner of the marina for a good part of the afternoon. While sitting there, I was admiring a beautiful floathome that is moored there. I love swans and a mother and her chicks were dining in our little bay right in front of this house. As I was taking pictures I kept getting a sense of deja vu regarding the place but couldn't figure out why.

As we were getting ready to leave, we went back to take one last look at the problem floathome. While standing on the dock, a woman came out of the other home and walked towards us. I asked her if she lived in the beautiful wood house. She said she did, and would I like a tour? Of course I did! As soon as we walked inside, I recognized the place. She has done quite a few changes to the place which improved it even more but I knew it was the same place. I fell in love with it all over again. It was such a delight to be there again and the swans came right up to the front window while I was there admiring her river view. It couldnt have been more perfect. It was great to see how she was able to create such an amazing space on a 16x40 float. I have been struggling with trying to vizualize my lifestyle and furnishings in a limited space. Her home gave me a good insight into how to accomplish that.

She graciously allowed me to take some pictures but as she was on her way out, I felt pressed for time so just fired off a bunch of quick ones. Unfortunatly they didn't all turn out but here are some that did. It hard to capture this place on camera, hopefully I can go back and try again with more time.

The swan and her babies


My dream home( the tipouts,gables and back deck were new additions..part of why I didnt recognize it straight away)


Standing in the living room looking at the kitchen on the right with bathroom in back , stairs in the middle and entrance on the left


The living room with some of the many stain glass windows



Ceramic fish inlaid into the kitchen floor


The upstairs consists of two lofts connected by a bridge. The master bedroom on one side and a bathroom with a clawfoot tub and a guest room tucked in behind that on the other side. A cute window seat makes a nice nook to hang out in.


The bridge leading to the bathroom as seen from the master bedroom



The window seat



The guest bedroom



To cap off a wonderful day, our friend Mike who lives at the other end of Mitchell Island, dropped by in his cool speedboat and took us for a sunset cruise on the river



Life has been good lately. We have been having an awesome year as far as weather goes. A short mild spring, tons of sunny days and a June like no other so far. Ive been to the beach quite a few times already this year and my tan is well under way. The long days have completly changed my sleep cycle and for the first time in my life I am up and about at 7am every day. I know, dont fall over in shock! Im usually not seen about until noon so this is big news.

Im still collecting stuff for my home. I got all my kitchen cupboards the other day as well as an overhead light for the kitchen and a breaker box for my electrical needs. I did end up hearing back from Sandy( the guy with all the plywood for free) and 3 long drives out to the valley to pick it all up and I now have 40 sheets of wood. Thanks Sandy , your an angel! The rest of the stuff I need to start the building process is fairly specific to the job, so not sure how much more I will be able to scrounge. Now what I need most is an infusion of cash to buy the hardware and framing lumber so I can get started.

In the meantime, I have finally had a moment to play with my creative side for a change. We had a friend coming over who was using the shop to build drums. He showed me how and I made six so far in total. Heres the first two with paintings finished on them. The others are still being worked on. The big one is made of bear skin and has the most amazing sound. The design is a tattoo that was found on a mongolian shamaness that was found frozen in the ice. The bear claws around it are from another tattoo that Ive always liked because of its celtic look.
The design on the smaller drum is the local Native design for "thank you" or "Welcome"



It feels great to be doing something creative again. I can't wait to have my own shop and get all my tools and craft supplies out of storage and set up so I can use them.

So a rough start to the year, but at mid-point I see light at the end of the tunnel and am full of hope for the future. Menopause be damned, its full speed ahead.

Ok, So this is the Plan

Now that the dust has settled, I have a plan. I bought the 20 by 25 foot concrete float from Steve and bought another 20 by 25 ft float from Roger. When I am ready to build a house , I will attach the two together for a 25x40 ft foundation. I am still in the planning stages so may even add some more concrete pods to have 48 feet in length. I wanted to build a couple of stories high, but got worried about the tip-over factor, so I'm trying to keep it to one story with living space in the attic. A good size deck space is important to me, so I have to leave some real estate for that.
I would like to build something that looks sort of like these houses




I have rented a second 20 foot container and have been scouring the free section on Craigslist for everything I need to put this house together and storing it there until needed. I am on a roll!!! So far I have aquired;
-a complete matching bathroom consisting of a jacuzzi soaker tub, toilet and two sinks with all the hardware, a steam shower unit, another toilet, the propane cookstove, a stacking washer/dryer, an under-counter dishwasher, four old-fashioned heavy- as -shit, water radiators, 20 french style wood frame windows, 4 interior doors,all my salvaged light fixtures from the boat and apartment, and about 60 bags of insulation.

Not bad for only three weeks into this. So far I have spent in total for all of the above $2,440.00 Most of that was $800 for the floats and $1,100 for the steam shower ( original cost over 3,500.00, I got it new in the box for a third of that, so great deal as far as I'm concerned).It's a shower/steam room and has jacuzzi jets to massage your back! I can't wait to try it out.
The bathroom fixtures were only used 3 times and are worth around 10,000( for free...they didn't like the colour...pale peach. I can live with that, no problem!)

So as it stands now, I need plywood and 2x4's, vapour barrier, black tar paper, cedar shakes for siding and roofing,drywall, some kitchen cabinets, a fridge, two bathroom cabinets, two exterior doors, a wood cookstove, a propane water tank and an electrical box and wire along with some plumbing. Some of this stuff I can get for free, the rest is affordable.

I'm thinking I can build this house for under $10,000. That's my goal anyway, it will be interesting to see if I can pull it off. Finding the insulation for free today was a super bonus. There was an ad for 60 sheets of free plywood the other day. Haven't heard back from the guy, so it might be gone already but that would have been enough to build my cabin for sure. Im still keeping my fingers crossed that it comes through.

Now that we have moved into Davids floathome full time, he has been putting tons of hours into fixing the place up. Things are coming along nicely. He hooked up the jacuzzi tub I got last year and a new stacking washer/dryer. The bathroom sink got plumbed in and the tool room super organized. The loft bedroom is now a reality. It still needs some insulation, the hardwood floor nailed down and a window installed for ventilation but its a wonderful space already with an awesome view out the main windows in the living room. We found a free hot tub on craigslist and finally got it running out on the deck. Its so awesome to sit out there after a hard days work and enjoy the sunset from the tub.

All the wildlife is back in full force. Bridget the duck and her beau come by daily for a feed and a visit. The geese parade their babies up and down the river. The little birds that were living in the boathouse when David first got it, now have a nest in the eves and we watch them building it from the living room. The river otters hang out on the deck and have staring contests with the cat. Every now and then the beaver comes by and takes a bite or two out of the house for old times sake. I really love having all these critters around, it makes living in the city more tolerable.