I’ve been mulling over in mind what does 2018 mean?… for me, Tony, our kids, family, friends, our volunteers,… theDoighouse Farm & Learning Centre. It’s definitely been a year of moving the project forward, getting things done, celebrating successes and having fun.
Seriously… busy…
January
January kicked off with both Tony, and my birthdays… Our solar system for the 5th wheeler was installed and we continued to work building our community garden boxes. Tony was still working, but I spent my days doing what I loved doing… getting my hands dirty!
February was our eldest daughter Jessica’s marriage to Alan, including a trip to Mexico for a week. No… we didn’t do any work on theDoighouse that week, but what a fabulous time we had.
In March, we completed the installation of 9,000L rainwater collection off the four shed roofs. One downside – the water collection was just too far away from the gardens. In December we will be build a larger system and in 2019 we will incorporate 7,000L from this system into a new garden system. The remaining 2,000L (2 IBCs) of water will service our community kitchen needs.
The sea lions returned to Lighthouse country. The sea lions were following the herring fishery. There were so many of them we could hear them barking all the way to our property. Course it is only a few minute walk to our place from the bay… but hearing them was a first for us!
Arlene (my sister) and I ventured into the world of mushroom growing, taking a class with Jessica Wolfe. It was a fun day, and we took home logs inoculated with oyster and shiitake mushrooms. We decided to gather the sisters together and show them what we had learnt!
One of the things I appreciate the most about having moved back to Vancouver Island, is that we see and do things with most of my six siblings, and with Tony’s family too!
April
In honour of our friends Pat and Leonard we have a very special garden dedicated to Leonard.
In April, the daffodils bloomed.
Of course, May was also the arrival of David Koblos, our first volunteer of the season. This year we had several ‘regular’ volunteers that stayed and helped for most of the summer. Horizon (USA), David (Mexico), Chris & Iliya (Jamaica), Nigel and Christian. Others came and stayed for a few days, even weeks. In total there were over 35 volunteers at theDoighouse for 2018.
May
Kath is missing, but everyone else is sitting on Jessica and Alan’s wedding quilt 
Tony’s friends at UVic sent him off with a reception held in the Faculty Club
On the family side of things, May was busy with Tony’s retirement and the “sister’s retreat”. Each year we sisters gather to sew the family wedding quilts. This years retreat included quilts for our daughters Jessica and Sarah. It’s not everyday that you get to spend time with your siblings; spending time with Diane, Kath, Karen, Arlene and Mary-Ann is incredibly special for me.
June
‘Dig in the Dirt’ doing the excavation for theDoighouse.
House construction kicked off with the excavation for the foundation of theDoighouse Earthship. The foundation for the main tire wall is 2 courses of used car tires. It was very exciting to see the first row rising from the ground.
Also in June, our daughter Cecilia graduated with a Master’s in Environmental Sciences. This meant a quick trip to Sweden for Susan, and a little holiday to Italy. Very precious time together
July brought Sarah (our daughter) and Ziggy’s wedding; a beautiful bride and a very proud dad!
There is just nothing like the moment you see your daughter in her wedding dress for the first time!
Our friend Jo-Anne and her daughter Riley stayed for a week and worked on the building of a cob oven. We followed the instructions… but have yet to put the final coat on the oven and fire it up. Something to be done in 2019!
My niece Alesha arrived to help work in the community kitchen. With 8-10 people for lunch and dinner, Alesha was a big help, getting veggies prepped and things organized. It turns out that Alesha is also a great tire pounder!!!
August
Row three – first official row of the main tire wall. The first 2 are officially foundation. At this point… only 9 more rows to go!
August was tire pounding, earthship building, garden work, volunteers and having fun. It was incredibly hot. We hosted the ‘annual friends and family’ summer party.
We also took several groups of volunteers to visit Pacific Rim National Park, Cathedral Grove, Tofino and Ucluelet – amazing beaches, surfing and of course stopped at Tacofino Cantina! the delicious food truck in Tofino.
the Whiskey Creek Farm with Real & Laurel
Cement pour of the vestibule (greenhouse) foundation.
3 tire rows completed
So hard to say goodbye to Horizon. 
One last cuppa tea together 
Nigel, David, Real, Laurel and Christian 
One final hug with David 
The earthship adventure ends …
the cycling tour begins
September was full of tearful goodbyes, David and Horizon off on a cycling trip to California. Nigel and Christian headed back home. Tony and I continued to work, and were joined by Colin (Australia) to mill boards, paint and install the siding on the little sheds. I learned to make doors – this will be particularly useful when we start building the doors for theDoighouse.
On September 31st 2018, TheDoighouse Earthship building season ended. We have completed the first 6 rows, done the drainage for the north, west and east walls, the first foundation pour for the vestibule/greenhouse. The airtubes are in, and backfilled…. waiting for the water tanks to arrive in the Spring 2019. It’s been a great summer. We can’t thank our team of professionals, earthship builders, volunteers, friends and family enough. It has been wonderful to have your support and your help in making our dream of theDoighouse Farm & Learning Centre one step closer to reality!
October
October kicked off the first of our monthly fireside@theDoighouse – these chats connect professional builders, enthusiasts and individuals curious and/or passionate about natural building. If that sounds like you, or someone you know, we meet the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
The fireside@theDoighouse group also met in November to discuss natural building. Our next meeting is January 15th 2019.
December was spent working with Chris to build a 10,000L rainwater collection shed for the community gardens, doing the layout for a huge sunflower shaped garden, garden cleanup. We met local log home builder Frank and Courtenee and swapped logs for labour. We managed to move all the logs that were inside the community garden to new piles… one stack for the mill, one stack for log home building, one stack for firewood. With the splitting and selling of firewood it was pretty hectic.
Luckily the gates were not damaged 
just think of it as new doors and fences…. 
100′ trees… 
My wonderful bird house made by John Fowler is repairable
The big storm ended our year with 10 trees falling over the entrance blocking driveway access to the property. Another 5 fell a little further up the driveway. Family (Bill and Nicholas) and friends, (Real, Laurel, Mark and Adrian) came to help clear the driveway. The good news is the bird house is repairable, and the cedar trees will become our classroom/garage doors, the cedar branches part of the garden fence and the rest will be chipped and spread into garden paths. Days of clean up to follow in the new year…
I mean… what else could we possibly have to do with our time?
