Monthly Archives: May 2012

Again: The Cloth Porch

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Laura

I know, I have said it a hundred times already, but I want to emphasize that I use the cloth porch more than I imagined I ever would and it seems to be not just my favourite hang out but the favourite of all of my visitors too.

Last year I put up the remaining spruce that was left over from the inside but I did not have enough to finish the job.  This year my husband and I broke down and bought 6 more boards.  They are not weathered so they look a little different than the ones from last year.

It makes the cloth porch feel a lot more like a room and a lot less like an after thought.  Here is what it looks like when you look in from the South

Categories: Cloth Porch, Nature, Off Grid, Simple living | Leave a comment

The Ant Tree & The Pending Storm

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Laura

Just an image from the storm that never materialized.  A good rain.  It was welcome and needed!  The black part on the right is the roof line of Tiny House Ontario.

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Open your eyes | Leave a comment

Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Laura

I changed my hygiene practices a while ago.  I stopped using all soap, shampoo and scented products and started using baking soda and apple cider vinegar for all of my personal washing.

Essentially one just mixes the soda with a little water and rubs it on hair or skin, and just like with cleaning your sink or taking away stink from your fridge you are both clean and deodorized… rinse.

Then a  couple of tablespoons of (organic: I use Braggs) apple cider vinegar in a couple of cups of water and rinse yourself (hair and body) with this again.

I put about two drops of olive oil on my hands rub it in well and then put my fingers through my hair for conditioning.  I have quite curly hair, so this helps it to look smooth and so little is used that it is not heavy.  A little bit of olive oil (a couple of drops) also moisturizes the face and works on the body too.  For me, it is the best product I ever used!

Interesting is that I no longer have any itch or rash anywhere on my body.  As a person who has suffered my entire life with dermatitis, it is shocking that this worked where the hundreds of products and thousands of dollars spent, including visits to dermatologists (free in Canada but not to the tax payer) never did work.  Some did for a while, but I never had permanent relief like I have now.

At Tiny House Ontario, I have still not started catching my rain water on the WC roof so the shower is not yet in order, so I sponge bath.

Here is the cloth porch again in use.  This time as a bathtub.  😀

Categories: Environmentalism, Nature, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 3 Comments

Tiny Steps

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Laura

There are a lot of jobs to building a Tiny House.  It sounds hilarious to people who work construction when you tell them this, but just as in any large house there are steps that need to be taken in order to get the job done.  There is a lot more planning too, because one cannot easily move around and the margin for error is very tight.  I can’t tell you how many men have told me that they could build what I have in a weekend.  I invite them to prove it.

I feel very sure that if I wanted to put vinyl siding on the Tiny House, if I had a ladder that I could do this in a weekend.  I have put up siding before and it is a very fast task, but I don’t want this and have not really decided what I do want so the aluminium is just a skinny love to get me through to the point until I do decide.

Anyway, I got as high up with the flashing as I can get without a ladder, so hopefully our ladder will fit in the car and H will bring it to me from Hamilton.  The little two step one that I won is not really great for these bigger things.  Sigh…

So, we did what we could on the siding and then started to search for rocks for a flagstone patio and walkways.  We had two small spies.

Categories: Dogs, Ontario, Open your eyes, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

Lights!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Laura

News flash!

Tiny House Ontario has now got electric lights!  Well, not really… we are still off grid, but the wonderful people at Home Hardware in Gananoque recommended a product called Lightmates: Power Series.  These are a very small LED puck light with a remote control switch.  The product itself claims that one switch can operate up to 20 pucks but Home Hardware cannot seem to get the company to cooperate and give them more of the individual pucks (for the last year or so) and thus has taken them of the shelves.  Even so, one of these little pucks is similar to a 40 watt electric light in function, only better because you can also switch it off at the puck and the switch just reverses itself automatically, so you have a two way switch.  This is great for the little loft because I can switch it on from downstairs and click it off when I am comfortably in bed.

They were about $15 each (this includes the batteries) and I bought three of them.  One for the downstairs, one for the loft and one for the in-house and the best thing is that the switches do NOT interfere with one another.  I have yet to see how long the batteries last on them.  If they suck and burn way too many batteries, I will let you know, but for now I have to say that I love them.  It is great to be able to read and write after dark now.

I can’t take night photos with my camera well, at all, so you will have to believe me when I tell you how enchanting it looks here now at night.  I have solar LED lights all around Tiny House Ontario and now with real light coming from the windows of this Tiny House, it looks so very lovely!

Categories: Off Grid, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 1 Comment