Areal photo of our neighborhood
TA-DA!
A few months ago I wrote about some hinges that I had forged over the winter while in France. At the time, I mentioned that I would have pictures available when I would get them installed and I have. 
Some people are incredulous at how brazen we are in our selection of items to take back and forth to Europe and America. These ‘hinges’ for instance must have looked mighty interesting on the security x-ray scanners at the airport.
Want to see the hinges up close
and personal? You know what to
do, just double click on the photos.
We also brought back a 23-kilo (50 pound) slab of steel. Actually, it was a cast decorative sacrificial iron for the back wall of our fireplace. It was so close to the airline’s weight limit that I could not even carry it in a suitcase. I simply wrapped it in a piece of cardboard and tied a rope around it for a handle. With a sly smile, the ticket agent asked if it was ‘delicate” and subject to being damaged during transit. On our trip over in December, we brought a 4 foot steel sword that had served as a prop for the Illusions I performed.
We simply have no shame and don’t mind looking like hillbillies if it will allow us to move the things we want back and forth across the Atlantic. I remember 2 years ago thinking that the time would come where once we were set up on both continents we could fly back and forth with only our passports in our back pockets.
Great theory. The reality is that since we transition to see some of the kids for several weeks to a month every six months, we need clothes for that period. I also need grubby “work” clothes for doing odds & ends chores where ever we are and our laptop to keep in touch.
What a difference
a few months make!
Our marina being rebuilt in early April
and first boat in the water in Late May
A very close call
For the second time we have come within a hair’s breath of loosing a home to fire. The first time was a fire next to the house in California when I was weed whacking. I had a gallon of gas catch fire when fumes were ignited by the hot tub heater pilot light. We lost and entire water treatment system and hot tub pump and heater system. Flames came within feet of igniting the whole house which would have gone up like a torch.
This time was different. We have kept a metal drum at the “point” of the downwind side of the island to burn construction trash. The point is away from any trees and is surrounded by water. Janice had burned a bunch of cardboard early in the morning and the fire burned itself out. We were home for several hours afterward before going out to the mainland to shop for supplies.
When we returned, we noticed a fire boat with flashing emergency lights racing for the “rift”, the part of the river that separates Canada from the US in which our island is located. We wondered where they were going as this is the “driveway” that runs right by our front door. Sure enough, as we came around the bend in the river we saw them and 4 or 5 other boats tied up at our dock. The house looked normal, there were no flames or smoke but I could see people running all over the island.
I thought that perhaps there was some kind of medical emergency and they were just using our dock to load a sick or injured victim from one of the boats. The problem was that there was so many boats docked that there was no place for us! Finally a neighbor moved his boat as he told us there had been a fire.
It seems that the fire we had in the early morning had heated the metal drum so much that it ignited the “duff” below the drum. This in turn took hours to finally ignite the surrounding blueberry bushes, which burned up to the woodpile and kindling right next to the house.
What’s it like living in Canada?
OK, for the North American challenged, let’s start by dispelling a few myths and stereotypes. No, not everyone in Canada lives in an Igloo nor is there snow all year long. Yes, everyone says “Eh?” all the time and like the Brits, can pronounce words in weird ways. Yes there are Indians but no, they don’t live in Tee Pee’s. Honey Bee is located a little south of the latitude from our home in France but a little North of our home in California. The 
country is large and beautiful (after all, it is right next to the USA) and there are Caribou but you’re not likely to run into them in the larger metropolitan areas. Politics here are as weird as anywhere and Canadians have a sense of humor that is well…..different.
Factoids: Coast to coast, 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the US border. In other words, if you started 100 miles north of our Island you could conceivably not see another human being until you got to the North Pole. While many Canadians would bristle at the idea, culturally you would often have a hard time telling the difference from many similar areas in the US. Similar but think smaller scale.
For instance, in metropolitan Phoenix Arizona alone, there are more medical helicopters than can be found in all of Canada. (We tend to stay close to the border ….) To its credit, Canada has adopted the metric system while the US has not (bad dog!). 
For all the noise about the Mid East being such a big supplier of oil to the US, most Americans and Canadians I have talked to do not realize that Canada is actually our largest supplier of oil. Food, language and customs are the same as in the US. The exception to virtually everything of course, is the Province of Quebec.
The province of Quebec is a French enclave within the North American continent that for decades has toyed with and at one point came darn close to succeeding in promoting its political separation from Canada. Think of it as Canada’s Kurdistan. The thing is, much like Canada’s military, nobody takes it seriously.
Canada is similar to France in that it has never heard of a tax it did not love and would not adopt in a New York minute and it has a system of socialized medicine, although unlike in France, here many feel it is not as successful.
We have to remind ourselves that we live in Canada as we are so literally intertwined, going back and forth across the border. Sometimes we cross back and forth as much as 3 times in a day. Often by boat, sometimes by car and many days by swimming. We do remind ourselves though because unlike in the EU, crossing the border here is serious business and custom officers on both sides have no sense of humor about casual crossings. For the record, in the event that this blog should come to the attention of US or Canadian Customs, we always report as required. Yes, always….
Going Green
Returning unapologetically and unrepentantly recently from yet another unnecessary flight from Europe got me to thinking about some of our friend’s and family’s concerns regarding our wasteful ways. You know, the global warming thing.
OK, so I am not likely to worry about the spotted owls when I trim the trees at the Bee this summer but that doesn’t mean I can’t do my part to help save the planet and delay the end of the world, right?
So, in the spirit of compromise and just plain wanting to get along, I have come up with a dozen things I vow to do to help reduce our “carbon footprint”.
From now on I promise that I will:
Reduce the amount of ice cubes in our cocktails (hello!!!! It’s all about the electricity!!!)
Not wear a tie, reducing the need for cooling.
Dry my swimsuit on the dock instead of in the dryer.
Forgo first class and fly economy. (Sorry honey, smaller seats use less fuel)
Keep our little boat and cars instead of upgrading to a yacht and a Hummer
Pay our bills online to save the trees
Eat by candlelight
BBQ often this summer instead of using electricity to cook
Turn the lights off at the island before leaving for the winter
Not get a job, eliminating all the driving back and forth to work
Always put the “pedal to the metal” when we are in the boat so we can get there faster and use less fuel
Live in France during the winter to reduce our heating needs.
I figure with such frugal use of my PCA (personal carbon allowance) I could sell the rest as 'carbon credits' if you are not as environmentally sensitive with your ‘PCA’..….
Project update
Ok, I am seriously beginning to feel like I am building the Winchester house**, in installments, in three different countries on two continents.
We do believe that this summer will see some huge visual and comfort improvements here at the Bee. Last year we had some hiccups in the system and it took us a week to get completely up and running. This year we were pleased that it only took us 6 working hours and with new systems in place we think we can cut it down to 4 hours next year. (The only damage done was a toilet seat cracked from the cold) The goal is to make our arrival as easy as possible and to have a fully functioning and comfortable household without a lot of time, effort or drama.
You have to remember that unlike our arriving at home in France, no one has been in the house here in 6 months, the place has been frozen for half that time and all plumbing has been drained with the water pump raised out of the river. We are our own water company so we are responsible for filtering and treating our own water so that it is safe to drink. Meanwhile the phone has been turned off, satellite TV and Internet suspended… you get the idea. It takes a little time to get everything up and running again.
How do you get washers, dryers, dishwashers, etc.
to an Island?
Easy. Just toss'em in the back of the boat!
Since our arrival we had installed the last of our windows and French door upstairs in the bedrooms as well as the large picture window in the living room. It took 3 buddies to help manhandle these large heavy monsters into place. Now we will work on finishing the bedrooms in preparation to receiving the natural log circular staircase we commissioned last summer and should be ready by mid August. It will replace the hideously sorry excuse for a staircase that we have endured since we bought the place.
That done, we got busy installing our dishwasher, washer and dryer that we had ordered while on the road in Italy. No big deal for you maybe, but a BIG deal for us. Having done without for several summers, we are beginning to feel like this is becoming the home away from home we had always intended it to be.
** For my young readers, the Winchester house is the 110-room mansion in San Jose, California of the famed rifle manufacturer by the same name. After he died, his wife believed that if she ever stopped construction in her house, she would die. The mansion is filled with rooms within rooms, staircases that lead only to the ceiling of the room and many other odd architectural details built for no apparent reason.
