Tis the season to plan and dream.

Until we have a place to stay other than a tent, there is not much we can do over the Fall and Winter months to further our dream Republic. However, 'tis the ideal season for planning and design, so we thought a quick overnight trip to Cortes Island on a relatively good weather weekend would be a good thing (see previous blog re site measurements/plan) so that I can begin on our (currently favoured) design for the main house (sketches above - no comments on how on earth I'm going to deal with snowload on this roof, pse).

Unfortunately, we have guests in the B&B for 3 nights this weekend coming (think of the money, Penny) and the weekend thereafter, looks like Nev and the work crowd are finally going fishing (hard to begrudge this). Weekend after is Thanksgiving, a vague possibility for a trip except we accepted a booking on the Monday evening (lady coming back from Cortes!), so it will have to be a quick trip indeed.

In the interim, I have switched from presenting Green Building at Lighthouse to manning the resource centre once a week, which is an amazingly timeous opportunity, because that's where their library of sustainable materials are kept, along with lists of suppliers and other interesting contacts. And at least I will feel like I'm contributing while learning more, even though I am nuts about materials and finishes, so am pretty clued up, even if I say so myself.

This also ties in very fortuitously with my decision (at last) to start a small "green" design business. It is after all why I went back to school, and presents the same opportunity to change old, unsustainable design and renovation practices one homeowner at a time. Wish me luck and watch this space!