Ok… I have to say this… today when I looked up “how many days since Dec 24, 2014”, I had to pause and take a deep breath. It’s been almost 3,000 days – and don’t forget the nights! There are almost 3,000 of them too! OMG we’ve been working on this project practically forever. Whew, glad I got that freak-out moment out of my system!
When we started this Earthship project we agreed – no time constraint – the plan was to enjoy the process, the people, and the experience. There haven’t been too many ‘freak out’ moments – the worst has been COVID and crazy building material and food prices. Does it feel as scary to you as it does to me? One good thing though: it’s highlighting the value of the ‘friend economy’; neighbours helping neighbours and the importance of family food security. I almost bought a cabbage today… $6.00 for a cabbage!!!! And tomatoes – I can’t even look at the price!
So… what’s been happening at the ‘ship?
The last time I checked in with you we were madly prepping for the cement floor pour scheduled for August. The roof was on, the rainwater collection system working, and we’d begun packing out (filling in the spaces between) the 1174 used car tires that form the north and east walls of the house. We were busy I was working on the glass boxes for the memory boxes in the floor.
Well… the floor is in – 48 hours before our family and a handful (almost 100) of friends dropped by for dinner on August 5th. Crazy times it was, but we did it. The party, the floors, the wall of wine, the donation to the food bank. You name it… if it was on my master list. It got done.
And then September happened, and our wonderful volunteers left for new adventures; Alex and Johanna headed off to Mt Washington to ski, Johanna went back to Germany to start University and Jeremie and Krista went to Victoria to begin a new chapter in their lives. For the last couple of weeks of September and the first couple in October, Tony and I wandered around the property, grateful and amazed at what had been done by all our helpers.
As the weather got cooler, the curious RDN path walkers dwindled from a handful of people a day to a few then the trickle stopped. The dry snow flew; Tony and I were on our own, and we rested.
And then in mid-October to our joy and great fortune our friend Hans flew back to Canada from the Netherlands and stayed to help us until mid-January. Each morning began with Hans knocking at the door and asking ‘you ready to go Tony?’, and Tony was ready, 6 days a week. On the 7th day, Hans baked bread and did laundry and Tony and I ‘got off the property’ and just hung out together. Each day the house progressed a little further. The interior walls were framed in, work on the wiring began and soon there were lights. I began working on the interior bottle walls in the main bathroom.
Inch by inch theDoighouse Earthship project moves forward.