Newsletter:20080621/Welcome
From EcoReality
Contents |
Big Changes!
New Members
As if the excitement of finding the right property was not enough, we more than doubled our membership by adding five wonderfully talented, enthusiastic new provisional members:
- Justin and Osha and baby Lily Roller come to us from Vancouver, where Justin works on fuel cell materials for the National Research Council. Carol and Jan met Justin and Osha when they organized a premiere screening of Escape From Suburbia, and invited Jan to speak on a discussion panel afterward. They graciously hosted us at their home, and we talked long into the night about ecovillage living. Osha grew up in an intentional community, and longs to raise her daughter in such an environment.
- Penny Pobiecke and Mark Stiffler were at a "Finding Community" event hosted by Northwest Intentional Community Association. Jan and Carol were staffing a recruiting table there, and we felt bad among the other, more established communities who had elaborate displays and were handing out home-baked treats — all we had was a stack of brochures and some business cards! But that lack of window-dressing was not enough to deter Mark and Penny from booking a visit, and by the time the visit happened, we were able to take them on a tour of the new site, and they were smitten. Penny is a high school guidance counsellor, and Mark is a self-employed website developer. They live near Bremerton, Washington, and have begun their immigration process.
- Jan Slakov is one of Carol's and Jan's longest and best friends on Salt Spring. We met her when she hosted a showing of a David Suzuki film in March 2005, and we remained in touch via email throughout our immigration. Since moving here, we've helped tend her goats and trees, and she brings us fresh salad greens, and she regularly attends our pot-luck dinners. Jan describes herself foremost as an activist, but she is a substitute teacher for those long stretches when when the activism pay cheques don't arrive. Jan helped organize our upcoming Mike Nickerson event.
New Residents
As if new property and new members weren't enough, we suddenly had an opportunity we couldn't refuse. Prospective members Cody Becker and Kristin Allen were visiting, en-route from O.U.R. Ecovillage, and they happened to mention that someone there was trying to find a good home for a couple goats. We called and got details, imagining some old, broken-down creatures looking for charity, and were delighted to discover that they were Nubians (a noble, gentle breed known for their floppy ears and "roman" nose) and were two-year-old does -- in their prime.
They have certainly added to our challenges, as we were even more unprepared for them than we were for our first chickens over a year ago. We've got them in a nice free camping trailer with a temporary pen, putting them out on leads until we can come up with a better scheme. They enjoy long walks, and lead nearly as well as a dog. Affectionate and affable, they bleat pathetically if they see us walking away from the property to visit a neighbour or to fetch mail. We plan to breed one or both in the fall, and hope to have fresh milk next spring.
About 22 days ago, one of our hens, Thelma, got broody. We found a couple eggs under her, and begin stuffing more under her. Yesterday, we heard tiny peeps, and today, four tiny yellow fluff balls poked out and began running around. We've taken them away from Thelma in the hope she'll continue sitting on the five remaining eggs, but you never know about such things -- we'll let nature take it's course.
Things to Come
Big challenges remain. When we first started down this path, we thought we had a funding partner, but that went away due to health problems. The housing market has tanked, and we still have "EcoReality Lite" to sell to pay for a large portion of our new home. Bankers who were initially enthusiastic are giving us the run-around. If you know of someone who could help us over this hump with an investment, now would sure be the time!
But we have no choice but to remain optimistic. After all, this month's theme is Permaculture, which is all about transition strategies. In this issue, Carol talks about Permaculture in finance, Shannon talks about her carrying capacity and agricultural labour needs studies, and new members Penny and Mark talk about their introduction to Permaculture.
If you're in the neighbourhood, we hope to see you at one of our upcoming meetings, events, work parties, or pot-lucks!
