Meb's New Cancer

Lisa Davidson is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Meb Boden.

“It is four and a half years since Meb’s initial breast cancer diagnosis, undergoing arduous treatment and surgery. Two years ago, at the beginning of Covid time, Meb was found to have lung cancer and had a partial resection of one lung and radiation treatments. Well, that old bugger is back. Scans have found tumors on the adrenal gland, lung and brain.

The need for funding for Meb is imminent. Her many treatments and subsequent energy drain will make it very hard for her to keep up with the work and day-to-day expenses of running her business and giving classes. The cost of gas keeps going up, and each treatment is an hour away. Even if it’s only a small contribution that you make, any assistance will make a difference. We will continue to update as we go forward, and we wish you all a good summer. Thank you so much!

Despite difficulties over the past four years that would bring most to their knees, here is the story of what Meb and her husband Tom have accomplished together since late 2017, and some of their dreams for what lies ahead”.

Lisa Davidson

 

Meb:

Over the past 2 Covid years, we built the workshop of our dreams and almost finished building the house on our woodland property. Our home and business are now completely off the grid, powered by solar.

Last year we moved out of the rented workshop we worked and practically lived in for the past 20 years since we left our boat and workshop on St. Maarten in the Caribbean.

The beautiful new 600-square-foot workshop teaching space is entirely off-grid with solar energy powering tools, blowers, lights, computers and photography equipment. The upstairs “clean” space is also 600-square-foot but with sloped walls, so it feels like a snug nest. All of this is built with wood posts that we milled ourselves, debarked and sanded, plus materials locally sourced within 10 miles of our property.

We now have HOT running water! That says it all, doesn’t it? We have a rainwater catchment system with a thousand-gallon storage cistern. Our indoor bathroom has a Curly Cherry vanity and a composting toilet, and we recently completed an outdoor shower that overlooks the frog pond and the Mountain Laurel groves.

We have so many plans for the Spring and Summer! Currently, our winter heat is from the woodstove only, but when we can get it completed and enclosed, our solar sunroom will provide all our heat, together with an indoor fireplace. As well, we’re working on designs for an Indoor shower!

Three major expenses right now are; getting our tractor repaired, more batteries for solar storage so we can work when it’s cloudy, and a new drum sander station to easily accommodate four people in a class. The tractor is our workhorse for all the heavy projects, like excavating trenches for a much-needed gray water system and pulling logs out of the forest.

The snug 156-square-foot cabin where Tom and I lived for 17 years is now our guest accommodation. Charming and comfortable, the tiny cabin needs a new roof. It allows our guests to be self-sufficient while attending a spoon-making class or just enjoying a quiet getaway surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest far from the urgent hums and beeps of everyday life. Some guests prefer glamping in their own RVs while with us for a day class or a weekend workshop.

We have dreams of finding a young couple, or a family perhaps, with whom we can share what we have learned: living practically, treading lightly on the land, creating a beautiful, functional off-grid work/life space, building on the business acumen that we made from the ground up.

We hope to teach and pass this torch on to younger people who want to build on what we have created and go forward with their own creative energy, lifestyle, and dreams.

http://www.mebskitchenwares.com
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