on the boards

….or the computer anyway.  A couple of images of projects we’re working on.

of houses and trees

 Keeping the 2 little boys in my life happy and engaged without employing the electronic babysitter is an ongoing effort.  To that end, we promised we’d build them a treehouse this summer.  We have a magnificent maple in our backyard that has been begging for children to play in it’s branches.  My darling and long-suffering husband spent the past week of his “vacation” toiling away in above 30 degree heat to make the vision emerge.  There’s probably nothing worse for all 3 of them than having me trying to turn it into an architectural project.  Really, they’d be happy with a couple of sticks of wood and a ladder, but I have to look at this structure out my dining room window every day that I’m working.  We (shelterbelt) started out with aspirations of grandeur, but the reality of budget, schedule + structure have intervened – just like real-life projects!  I’m currently struggling with the guardrails.  At the best of times, balusters are unattractive necessities.  When safety, 2 little boys’ impatience + budget collide, however, I think I’m going to wind up taking the path of least resistance.  The photos demonstrate it’s progress – it looks rather beautiful in it’s basic form without guardrails contributing to visual clutter….The squirrels are quite delighted with it too and seem rather chuffed that we’ve added to their playground.  At least I don’t have to worry about code requirements for squirrel protection.

slow homes!

We’re not alone!  Discovered http://theslowhome.com/blog/slowhomeprinciples/ tonight.  If all our clients ascribed to the 10 principles (and I think the principles are equally relevant to commercial/cultural projects) we could move towards making the world a better place.  The slow home principles are a concise summary of our values.  Check the site out.  Bring back sensitive, considered, personal design!  Advocate for architecture.  Value craft.  Pause to appreciate quality.

web site

A big shout out for Kim Clegg of Ratcreek Design (www.ratcreek.com) for getting our link to the blog up on our website (www.shelterbelt.ca ).  Thanks Kim!  Stay tuned for further website development once we get some projects at a stage where we can publish them….