Before I say anything else, I want to note that I have a peculiar issue with posting from here as my iPad (that I am using to write this) has a scant bar of wifi, but because I take photos on my phone, I realized today they have not been syncing. So, I have very few photos on my iPad that I can use. Argh! So, I will try to resolve that tomorrow and get some more photos up…

Today reached at least 34°C! In the shade! I contemplated going for a dip in the ocean, but yesterday I spent hours out on the water untangling my buoy line (a story in itself) and re-setting up my boat pulley lines (another long story), so I felt the pull of the land more today. This morning I managed to have a shower and do a huge load of laundry by hand, so I almost feel civilized.

After the sun went down a bit I decided it was time to do some more work around here. Since it is taking us a while to determine what our bunkie and eventual more four season cabin design will be, we need at least a wee shed, shelter, shack, shop, studio structure to be able to escape the elements while we are here.I have been busy the last few days clearing a site to build said structure, and make a sketch of what that could look like, but since I have sent that to my neighbour who might help me build it, now I have a bit of extra time to do something else. So I decided it was time to clear the garbage wood on a plateau down by a gully on the land where a little cabin used to be, but was pulled down because apparently someone was squatting there back in the day. It is quite a mess of decaying lumber and particle board and littered with nails. We have already done a lot of cleaning out garbage up here and have brought at least 3 boat loads of garbage to the facility in Powell River. But I figured it was finally time to tackle the beast, and so I put on my safety glasses, leather gloves and steel toes boots left over from when my daughter went on a trip to Dominican Republic years ago, and I went over to do that around 7:30 pm.

When I got there it seemed pretty overwhelming as there was wood and waste strewn around a site at least 40 ft long, but I was determined. Banish the mess! Free the land! So I started on the debris farthest up the slope and worked my way down. I made a pile of lumber and wood that might still be salvageable that is nail free (which had like only 2 boards!), and a big pile of wood that has nails, a pile of garbage, and a pile of wood that could potentially be burned, and I managed to actually get through most of the debris strewn about the site. There was a bit left, but my back was tired and it was getting hard to work safely without setting up lights, so I finally called it in around 10:00 pm. I have some before and after pictures of the site I will share when I can.

Although it can be scorching during the day, it dropped down to about 10°C again tonight. “Feels like 6” says the weather report. My tent is in two vestibules, so at night I close the central flap to help keep it a feel a bit warmer in my zone. One of the things I debated with myself before coming out this spring was whether to get one of those canvas tents that you can put a little stove into.I also pet the screen of a few camping cots that I could set up in my fantasy glamping scenario. Every night I kick myself… Or, according to family systems theory, I should say that the part of me that likes the comforts of life (Miss Comfy) kicks me that I didn’t do that. But the part of me (Miss Frugality) that descends from thrifty farm folk wanted to make the most of what we already have and save the monay for actual building. And another part of me (Miss Ecology) also reminded me that part of my design criteria for the land is to keep material waste to a minimum if I can. So those annoying bishes won out, and now grumpy Miss Comfy has to wrap in a bundle of multiple blankets and sleeping bags to be warm at night. And so I popped a chewable cherry melatonin and washed it down with some magnesium citrate water prior to coming to bed, and I lie down in this glowing orb on a cold shore, wrap the fleece blanket around me, get into my sleeping bag, pull the wool blanket on top and, in spite of my love for self debate, am half way to dreamland before I put out the light, with a smile on my face.