Over the last weeks of heat wave, I wished I could lay down outside to read when it was simply too hot to do anything else.
I mentioned this to my husband and magically he had a solution. A zero gravity chair. $50 (at Canadian Tire) I believe, he said.
Thank you! I love it!
My husband and I carried in 100 litres of water from our neighbour’s house today. Thankfully they are good to us and our garden. I hope I can produce enough that I can bring some stuff up to them!
Finally we saw a tiny bit of benefit to all this water carrying. We picked to make a little pasta sauce. A few good sized tomatoes, a green pepper, lots of basil and flat parsley. I added salt, oil, garlic, gnocchi and a good beer (my favourite kind) on the side.
Since we returned with all this to Hamilton from THO, it is not really a zero mile diet, not even close but the sauce was great and so too was the cold beer!
I will be in Hamilton until Sunday so I will catch up on my posts I hope!
My husband and I were sitting in the cloth porch this afternoon. We were discussing plans for the next week because he is away on business and I had to return to Hamilton for the week because there is a list of things that need doing here. Suddenly there was a HUGE explosive noise that happened not too far away from the house. I could tell that it was within the property that belongs to us, just South East of Tiny House Ontario.
My husband is not a rural born person and he was puzzled, but I knew right away that we were losing some HUGE trees to the drought.
We walked back through the land. All of the forest small plants are dead, small trees too are failing. We found the big tree that we thought had come down but then we saw that not only was one down but quite a few came down. We lost a lot in last year’s tornado but now one of the biggest trees on the property lost a huge part and there are about 8 more trees that have come down. We did not stay too long back at the ridge, there was still a lot of noise coming from the trees and I certainly do not want to be under one of those if they fall!
Can you see the tree spirits in the images?
My God! We need rain.
Andre who I re-met again on Facebook a few years ago came to visit Tiny House Ontario last night. I have not seen him face to face for about 30 years now. We had been planning on him coming for some time because he is a talented amateur videographer and photographer and he thinks that THO will make for some interesting shots. Last night, his visit was to “size” it up. ;-P He brought his daughter Chantelle and his grandson Andrew out with him. Andrew reminds me a lot of his beautiful Aunt Cindy, so he will be a stunning grown man in a few years. Little Andrew played music for us on the stainless steel pot that I gave him. I bet he is the next Tommy Lee, but perhaps not so Motley.
Just at dusk my childhood BFF Lesley treated me to a pop in and brought her husband Clarence over as well. YEAH! We chatted into the night on the cloth porch. She is just as sweet today as she was as a little girl and her husband too is a smashing great guy!
I am sure I have mentioned that I LOVE to have visitors. Particularly when they come by in the evenings. At Tiny House Ontario, where there is no disturbance in the nature of things I can’t help but reflect. To say that I am fortunate to have the friends that I have is not enough. I am charmed in this way.
Blessed be, all of you.
Today, like yesterday, is not as hot as it has been. But my garden is looking pathetic because of the drought. There is no water left in my rain barrel and with no car it is difficult to drag water a half kilometer from my closest neighbour. My dream of a zero mile diet is not going well at all. Too, my friends/family who are vegetable farmers, and just down the road, are in the same boat as me; only it is worse since this is their livelihood. You cannot water whole entire fields even if you have a good well and a hose or two. It is just terrible!
My turnips, rutabaga and lettuce are all dead. The Swiss chard is barely making it and it is the same with the beets. My tomato plants and squash varieties look strong enough (in the plant) because I give them the most water because they are the most filling and easily managed produce once they come. Still, the tomatoes are small and rock hard looking and the squashes while they produce flowers do not produce fruit. I wonder if the flowers are all male?
Herbs need very little water and seem to be doing fine even so, the blocks of these might sustain an adult through a day or two, thus not exactly what I hoped.
On the other hand my writing is going well. I have found a good groove and I think that the novel is flushing out really nicely. It is a contemporary rural story, except I have written out all the mcmansions that are, in reality, taking over the fields. Though this year it does not matter much since the fields in most places are not producing food, next year it will matter again I hope. Largely I find the take over of agricultural land, absolutely appalling and I do not want to give the people who do this any voice at all in my creative writing.
I thought I would let you all know that I recently heard from a radio show out of the United States, KBOO, Portland Oregon. The host contacted me and wants to interview me about what it is like to be a woman who lives in a Tiny House. I think I am reasonably good with words… paper words that is. Electronic words too, are comfy for me. Even so, I am not a person who likes or enjoys public speaking. Strange thing is that this is always surprising to my friends who find me outgoing and find the fact that I talk to EVERYONE I meet to be (sort of) annoying and time consuming. The truth of the matter is that I am actually a nervous talker who is a secret invert. I feel awkward and judged in social situations and in more public situations I am pretty much convinced that a huge sign pops out of my forehead when I speak which says, STUPID PERSON – ALL SAID BY HER IS INVALID. This is crippling.
Last night I finally spoke to my girlfriend Liisa about not really being comfortable with doing an interview. She is astute as anything and I always respect her opinion even if I don’t always agree with her. This time she said something like: “Laura, if you really want to pursue the creative life and be an advocate for simple living then you cannot do so without a certain amount of putting yourself out there.” I squealed… “But I want to be a recluse”. Still I know that she is right.
I will do my best to contact the host today via email and see if we can arrange an (EEEEGADS) interview… perhaps from Liisa’s phone since my Telus cell phone is totally not reliable in the forest (are any of them???).
Please send me any good vibes regarding not making a fool of myself, and also not feeling like a fool. Both are equally important. Confidence is so hard to come by… particularly for recluses who live in the middle of the forest!
If you have time too, please do a rain dance! My poor little garden is so darn thirsty!
Tiny House Ontario 