An Office with a View

If you have to work while on vacation, this is an OK location to do it :) This was my workspace on a recent European vacation. Sitting overlooking the Mediterranean was just fine with me!

Spring Visitors

Recently, a good friend and her dog Thoby (as evidenced by this photo) visited my property in Nova Scotia. It was very odd to see the place with snow - as I have not been there during a snowy season.

Thanks for keeping an eye on things Sue!

I have a God Daugther!!!!!

At 9:47 am, February 2, 2007 the world welcomed Leonie Jakob. She weighed in at 3,650 g and was 51 cm long. Mama Rosi and Papa Mikey were reported to be doing welll!

THE GATEWAY TO BABEY-LAND

I just spent a week in Nova Scotia, visiting my new property - finally getting a chance to explore my newly purchased part of the planet. Here are some pictures.

Previous posts about this property have really only shown the most accessible portions of the 6.5 acres. On this trip I was able to explore the interior of the property. It is really pretty spectacular. I would estimate that less than one acre has been cleared, this is where the camper sits. This property has a yin and yang to it. The property is pretty evenly divided into two, one part on higher ground that is densely treed, the other part in a lower lying area and less dense in trees. On the height of land there is a rather large clearing that would be a great place to put a house - it has a great view of the area and has lots of nice trees. The last half of the pictures below are of this area and the view from it.

Click on any picture to make it larger

How I Spent my (late) Summer Vacation

I just spent 8 days at the International Straw Bale Building Coalition conference, held in Peterborough, ON. It was REALLY great! Not only did I learn a LOT about natural building, but I discovered that this coalition is really an environmental and social justice group, where green construction is used as a vehicle to cleaning up our planet while allowing people to opt-out of the conventional circus we call living!

Here are some pictures - enjoy




The new administration office at Camp Kawartha - site of the conference.

Straw bale windows are deep and curvy!





A bit overdone to my taste, but some fresco work that was done on the inside of the office!








Homes Made of Straw - INCONCEIVABLE


This is a really lovely, two-storey, round house that is entirely off-grid, with solar and wind power. The window and ceiling detailing was really lovely.

This One for Mikey

I know how important sanitation is to Mike, so I made sure that this place had a toilet that even he could learn to love!

A Man and His Kingdom

I cannot believe how lucky I am, at this point in my life, of realizing a life-long dream.

From the time I was a child I dreamed about owning property, building a house, and making it my own. I got the 'bug to build' from my Grampa Purves, the single most important person in my life. After spending many hours helping him with home repairs, and home construction, I knew that I wanted to have a place of my own to do the same thing. Now I do.

This property is 5.6 acres, most of which is wooded. While it does have the lovely camper on it at the moment (which will be just fine for holiday visits) it is my intention to build my own little home here, and live full-time here in 5 - 10 years.



One of the chief benefits of this particular piece of property was that it is on the shore of a lake, Armstrong Lake. While I am not right at the shore, I am only a stones throw away via a 150m path just across the road.

Uncle John - Eat your heart out!!!

My Uncle John, apparently, is quite jealous that i am now the proud owner of a Bigfoot Camper. Who knew that I happened to get as a side benefit of my property purchase the "top of the line' in campers! (it was built in 1988, but does have A/C and an microwave!)

Armstrong Lake, Nova Scotia

Effective noon on Monday, May 15, 2006 I will have my very own piece of the planet, conveniently located on the shores of Armstrong Lake!

three...two...one...

Well, here it is - my first blog