Off the Grid

I'm in a posty mood and I couldn't figure out how to make the one on Tucker segue into this one, so this makes post #2 for the evening.

Our friends in Canada are finishing up their lake house at Shuswap Lake. And by finishing up their lake house I mean they designed and built it themselves and now they are installing things like cabinets and railings. In addition to being a radiologist, apparently he can also build houses. I guess 13 weeks' vacation a year will lend itself to serious hobbies.

But even more amazing is that it's off the grid. No electricity or water or gas or phone or cable is available, so they had to be creative. It is located on the side of a mountain with only boat access. Which leads to amazing thing number three: Every single material that has gone into the house has arrived by boat.

My cushy little plug-my-toaster-into-the-wall existence has a difficult time comprehending what "off the grid" means. Apparently, that means solar panels and generators and water treatment systems and uber efficient fireplaces. And one crazy heavy propane tank that powers the generator that they had to lug up from the lake to the house. I wish I had pictures. It's modern and gorgeous and has this unbelievable accidental view of the shoreline and a carefully thought-out cross stream of breezes when they open the windows.

We are definitely planning a trip back up to Canada to check it out.

So all that to say, when I was in the check-out line at Whole Foods a magazine caught my eye. On the cover was the line, "Start a Self-Sufficient One-Acre Homestead." Ummm, I couldn't be farther from living in self sufficiency. So it was intriguing. I bought the magazine.

Inside is a diagram of what your one acre could look like, with a little house and crops, pig pens, cows, a greenhouse, chicken coops, compost piles, and beehives. Doesn't that sound incredible? It seriously makes me want to move to, I don't know, Idaho or somewhere and do it. Maybe even off the grid.