Another painting, just finished today. Black, white and blue.
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Lookout Algonquin
A recent painting of a place that means something to me. Happy 5 week old Birthday to this blog.
The best things in life and the boring details
The best things in life aren’t things; even so, there are some things that you need. Largely, I really want to believe that stuff is not that important. But then I think of those who live on, and with nothing; I submit that existing without stuff would be quite impossible.
In Tiny House Ontario, like in each Tiny House, the stuff that I keep must be absolutely considered. A detailed deliberation must be given to every bit and bob, even if it is as small as a barrette or a box of nails. Food, too, must be closely observed. I like to grow or buy fresh and since there are farm gatepost stores in the area and a some wonderful general stores too, I don’t have to worry too much about storing it, at least for the time being; I am there living only during the growing season but eventually, food storage will be an important issue and by then I believe that a fruit cellar will be an absolute necessity.
Despite the size, there are five storage areas in Tiny House Ontario. On the main level, there is the kitchen and the shelves at the West side. In the loft there is the closet, the dresser and, opportunistically, I bought roll under the bed storage when it was on sale, but I have not put this to use.
The necessities:
Tools for building and outdoor work. Cooking, serving, eating and food (I keep a few gross but easy dry things there all the time, like Mr. Noodles and dehydrated soup, as well as beans, flour, salt and sugar should someone need to survive there for a few days), my grandma’s kettle and dish soap. Water for drinking, cooking, washing as well as survival books and extra eyeglasses so that I can read them.
A reasonably well stocked first aid kit and toiletries, a wash pan, and a couple of buckets, face clothes, towels and throw blankets, garbage and recycle bins, clothing, bedding, candles, matches and lighter
A cell phone, bee’s wax candles, lights, batteries, propane, BBQ, camp stove and a heater if you do not have a heat source built in are also required, as well as a cooler or refrigeration source.
Stuff that I love and believe I require:
Literature including the complete works of Douglas Coupland , poet Sean Moreland, and some family history books. Cards, a few games and puzzles, candy (for the children who come), and chocolate (for me). I also must have art and art supplies, as well as a solid collection of old Harrowsmith magazines which tell me how to do a lot of homesteading stuff so they may well be required as much as I like them because I use them for reference materials.
I also find it important to have some spiritually, emotionally significant and things that comfort me. This collection includes: a justice and safety spell, sweet grass, white sage, and burning shell. A green crystal, the family bible, angel cards, carved boxes, a friendship ball, an Irish shamrock, the ashes of my late dogs, a hat and a salt and pepper poodle shaker set.
I would guess that the stuff I love makes up about 1/10 of the total mass of stuff in Tiny House Ontario, I suppose I could live without it, but I choose not to and I am grateful that I don’t have to make the choice of what to leave behind me, as many unfortunate people have had to do all over the world. It would be interesting to know how this breaks down in the average home. When you look around your home now, I wonder what do you need in there? What do you have just so that your home looks nice when visitors come?
Categories: Art, Douglas Coupland, Materialism, Sean Moreland, Sustainable living, Tiny house, World
Tags: Consumerism, Douglas Coupland, Materialism, Stuff, Tiny House, Tiny House Ontario
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Tiny House in a big world
Yesterday, I posted about the people I know reacting to my move toward living in Tiny House Ontario and two things happened since then to make me think about perceptions – a little bit more closely.
The first thing is that my beautiful and long time friend, Donna, who lives in Kingston, Jamaica, wrote to me semi-privately about the last post: “I’m a little amused/amazed about the reactions to your Tiny House. People live like that all over the world, happily and joyfully!” Of course she is correct. We Canadians have so much space around us that we tend to forget, actually, we really do not know, that people all over the world live in little spaces.
I was oblivious that people would be able to live permanently in anything small until a few years ago when I had an opportunity to visit another beautiful and long time friend Sigita for the first time in Germany. Then I saw this again when I visited Kafka’s home on Golden Lane in Prague, Czech Republic. Both of these experiences did not make me want to live in a Tiny House, but they did show me that it is possible to do so, and to recognize that people can, and do live comfortably in small spaces.
Don’t misunderstand me. I lived in a room when I was a student and I also lived in a tiny (240 square foot) one bedroom apartment when I was a young woman. But I always saw these smaller places as being temporary – until I could afford bigger, better, more. I did not aim to live “that” way forever. The early part of my life was all about saving for a bigger house, and then when I got a bigger house, I wanted an even bigger one. As a matter of fact, it was my large collection of stuff that made me believe that I needed to have a bigger house. You know, so that I could put all my stuff in there; just like George Carlin said. I don’t believe that I am a particularly greedy or unusual Canadian. I think it is normal for us to expect to own a home when we grow up here. Perhaps it is part of being a society of immigrants who came hoping for something more and better?
The second thing that made me think about people’s reactions, is that I got my first annual report from WordPress. I opened it up to read and discovered that I have readers from other places on this planet; this really surprised me! Given that my blog is only one month and two days old, I already felt pleased at just how many people stop in daily to read about my passion. I have, to date had nearly 4000 reads, that is about 85 a day, and I really thought that all these reads were my friends and family. I assumed (because they know me), they are interested in what I am doing. Or at least worried that I might ask them a question next time I see them. What I mean, is finding out that other people who do not know me are reading, makes me believe, I should acknowledge there is habitable land outside my own small geographic area.
Now that I know that there are readers from places outside of Canada, I want to be sure that I am not forgetting that to the rest of the world the concept of a Tiny House may be really quite normal. Also to acknowledge that I come from a position of relative privilege, and I want you to know that I recognize that to a lot of people in the world (including in Canada), having any kind of roof over head is not attainable. I do know that people live different lives not just here in Canada but everywhere in the world. I do know and this and this is one of the reasons why the reduction of my footprint on this planet is so very important to me.
So, here you are! From Canada, USA, Jamaica, Chile, United Kingdom, Romania, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore, Philippines and Australia if WordPress got you all right. Wow! Thank you for reading! Tiny House Ontario is just this wee spot which I feel is sort of sacred and I am so pleased to find out that other people feel drawn to it too. The Tiny House has had such a huge impact on me and it is changing me profoundly still, every day, even when I can’t be there.
Here, I have posted a photo of Golden Lane in Prague. The Tiny Blue House is where Franz Kafka lived and wrote. It is much smaller inside than it looks from outside because the walls are very thick. The map is of those of you who found Tiny House Ontario and again, thank you for stopping by! 
Categories: Environmentalism, Materialism, Readers, Stuff, Sustainable living, Tiny house, World
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Tiny House Ontario 