Yep, winter is here, but that's okay. Christmas is just around the corner, and we've been busy, so we're staying nice and warm. We recently held our first presentation in Toronto, at 401 Richmond, and it was a great success. Many thanks once again to Margie Zeidler for hosting us.

We also launched our Sustainability Committee. The environment is on everybody's mind these days, and like virtually every other cohousing project in North America, we intend to incorporate green features into our design. This article will give you a good idea of the kind of neighbourhood we want to build.

Sustainability is also about creating communities made to last by building strong connections. To that end, we recently started our monthly KCC Coffee Chat video call. It's a great way for our members to stay in touch, and for new members to get to know us and to learn more about KCC. Yet another way for us to build our community

Now that we're a lot closer to buying a site near downtown Peterborough, we've been surveying our members to get a sense of the kind of homes we want, and how to go about building them. As this TED Talk makes clear, one of the keys to a cohousing neighbourhood's success is "built environments - the very homes we choose to live in."

Andrea and Dave are keen to get started on designing their new home. They also know a thing or two about keeping active and having fun. That's why they think cohousing is such a great idea.

There are plenty more reasons why cohousing makes so much sense. Come and find out at our next Orientation Session, at 1:00pm on Sunday, Dec. 15 at Activity Haven, 180 Barnardo Avenue in Peterborough (enter through the back door).

After the Orientation, you are also welcome to join us for our monthly business meeting, starting at 3:00pm. And at 5:00pm we invite you to stay as our guests for the potluck dinner.

To find out more, contact us at info@kawarthacommons.ca (add us to your address book), or visit kawarthacommons.ca. We're on Facebook too.

Looking forward to meeting you!

You can’t listen to the Thanksgiving Address without feeling wealthy. And while expressing gratitude seems innocent enough, it is revolutionary idea. In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition. Recognizing abundance rather than scarcity undermines an economy that thrives by creating unmet needs. Gratitude cultivates an ethic of fullness, but the economy needs emptiness. The Thanksgiving Address reminds you that you already have everything you need.

- From Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Our First Toronto Presentation

Twenty-five cohousing enthusiasts showed for our overview of cohousing and Kawartha Commons. We got all sorts of questions, and had some great discussions. Top of mind for many was the price for units in our project (we were in Toronto, after all). It's too early to talk hard numbers, but we do note that the median price per square foot for a condo in Peterborough is about $300. Compare that to over $900 for a downtown condo in Toronto, and it's no wonder people are taking a closer look at Peterborough.

And while we're on the topic, the City of Peterborough is a pretty cool place for a cohousing community. There's an active artistic community here, and as Peterborough has become increasingly diverse in the last few years, it has been working hard to attract newcomers to Canada.

These videos will give you a good idea about the many opportunities in Peterborough's creative and innovative economy, and the many cultural and recreational attractions. And there's no better place to be if you love to get outside.

Our Members Speak - Andrea Bonner and Dave McPherson

As long-time Peterborough residents, we love life here in the beautiful Kawartha Lakes region. Andrea is an IT professional with Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; Dave's a retired Electronics Technologist. We enjoy life to the fullest, keeping busy with camping, sailing, biking, travelling, and seeking out food and drink adventures wherever we go.

We indulge our "inner introverts" too, with quieter pastimes such as reading, drawing, painting and spending time with our Golden Retriever Tilly, and our grown children and extended family. Dave loves to tinker, fixing and building just about anything, while Andrea is always up for a session of playing European-style board games such as Settlers of Catan. Dave loves fusion jazz; Andrea prefers music with words.

We find lots of ways to keep busy, and we've met a lot of people in our Kawartha Commons community who share many of our interests. We firmly believe in the long term mental and physical benefits of living in a friendly and supportive community and look forward to participating in the design of our cohousing home with our friends, new and old, at Kawartha Commons.