Autumn has officially started here in the Interlake and the colours are beautiful once again.  I am continually astounded by the subtle beauty of this place, but in the fall the subtlety diminishes in a riot of oranges, yellows and burgundies.  I made my home here 9 years ago with plans to create a space for healing and opening.  My dreams are starting to grow as I am planning my first big investment into this place.  I am building a new home, one that is as natural as possible, working towards net zero energy usage, and inviting for others.  The spot has been chosen and the second set of plans is under review.  My priorities for building are first to be as loving as possible to the environment, both the existing environment and the one I am creating or recreating. My second priority is function and beauty, hoping to employ as many artisans and craftspeople as possible to showcase their work. And lastly, is financial.

These priorities are difficult as most of the natural build techniques and hiring artisans and craftspeople can be expensive, but it is integral to my dream that I not compromise the vision and integrity of building a loving space so I am doing all that I can to clear the way for this to be possible.

I am struggling with finding artisans and craftspeople as I am a hermit at heart, currently, and am resistive to putting myself out there.  I am working on that in my spiritual journey, to feel my fears about being exposed and the causal pain beneath those, so I can open to the wonders that others have to offer.  I am looking for home made furniture, cabinets, bathroom fixtures, light switches and various other necessities.  I love art with function and would like my home to be made from people creating what they love.  My aesthetic is natural, earth based, soft, curved with beautiful and innovative details. But this part of the building process is still perhaps 6 months off.

For now, I have to finalize my floor plan and get the structural plans in order so I can get approved by all the powers that be: banking, insurance and the RM.  I am eager to see how that process goes because of the natural build elements I am including.  I am building the walls out of hempcrete and may be building a berm around some of my home depending on finances.  I am also building a masonry stove as my centre piece and main heating source.  Those are the two elements that I am unsure of, how they will be accepted by insurance.  I will do a post exclusively about these techniques, hempcrete and masonry stoves, as I learn more.

I have talked about writing about this experience to share what I have learned and now it is time to start.  I have relied extensively on the information others have provided and I want to give back.  I’m finding that most people are good at sharing parts of the process, so, I can add to that and maybe share some different parts.