Monthly Archives: June 2013

Looking Good

I am just starting to feel better after being struck with a flu that is traveling around the Kingston area.  It was not a nice experience.  My sister and I both caught it from our little niece who brought it home from daycare.  It was so awful that both she and I begged to be shot many times during the worst 18 hours of our suffering.  It reminds me how difficult it is to suffer for those who are living in chronic pain or illness.  The frustration must certainly be overwhelming.

Now that I am feeling better I decided that a super cleaning was certainly in order.  I don’t often use bleach but make an exception when contagious illness enters my home.  I also use disposable towels too.  I put a little watered down bleach on the towels and I wipe down everything, then I throw the towels in the trash.  I super cleaned every inch of the in-house in this manner and treated the counters and floors in the tiny house the same.  After I bleached the floors I also covered them with wax because they were getting sort of dusty looking anyway and I sort of like my floors to shine.

Here are the results of my cleaning gig.Cleaned in-house

Cleaned floors

The stupid thing was I did not think about gravity opening the drop leaf table before I picked it up off of the sofa (to put it back on the floor).  Sooooo…. when I picked it up, it grabbed ahold of my skin on my tummy and pinched me.  It will take a few days for this little nasty to heal up.  Thankfully, I don’t wear a bikini anyway….

tummy pinch

Categories: Off Grid, Tiny House Ontario | 12 Comments

Another One… EEEEEEEEK!

I am not a big fan of spiders.  I like the work they do… catching and eating mosquitos  But the simple thought of having a huge jumping one in a confined space like Tiny House Ontario (with me) is what my personal nightmares are made of.

This one, is the variety I fear the most because they can jump at least 3 feet.  I know this, because I witnessed last years giant do so when I accidentally brought it in to the in-house on my ladder. A few days ago I spotted this magnificent apex of vileness, on the cloth porch.  I did not wish to kill it, and honestly I was too afraid of it to catch it… and now I don’t know where it is…  This means, I have to keep the door closed between the two.  Above all, do NOT want the creature in the house with me!  Simply put, if it got in, I would have to move out until someone was able to get it out for me.

Now you know…. just like Jim Stafford, I don’t like spiders and snakes.

IMG_0367 IMG_0368

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: | 11 Comments

Peanut’s Place of Promise

One

I know there are thousands and thousands of causes out there.  Some close to home, far some human, some animals, some medical, some basic needs… it never ends and fatigue is so high.  Now and again one gets under your skin though.

Today, this was something that profoundly affected me.  I learned about a shelter in Greece that is now feeding about 200 dogs.  Suddenly and without notice the government cut off ALL funding that was coming in to care for these animals… and the dogs are in danger of starving.

It has been being run by an elderly woman (who has another woman there helping now).  The old woman was starving herself in vain to try to save every cent she had for these poor animals.  Until the dogs are all adopted the situation is critical!

I am not earning much money but I was able to put off a project and squeezed to make a small donation and I am asking if you can too?

They are asking for a couple of dollars a week… but I gave a one time donation because as an artist I never know how next week will be and last week I sold a painting so I know I am okay for a bit.

Here they are on Facebook.

Here they are on the WWW.

Here is the place to make a donation.

Please help if you can.

Peanut's Place of Promise

Categories: Dogs, Food | 2 Comments

A Very Special Guest

I have lived a few places in my life, and quite a number of people who I love are movers.  This makes me one of those people who have loved ones scattered around the planet.

A couple of years ago when I started this blog, it was so that I could explain in one breath exactly what I was up to (building a tiny house).  One of THO’s most loyal blog followers and certainly one of the friends for whom I started this blog is my sister friend Donna.  We shared a lot of words over a long time when things were a little less easy for both of us.

Well… she is visiting from Jamaica and graced THO (and me) with a visit.   We had a nice lunch, a long drive, and a look around the house and gardens.

Beautiful Donna at THO

You have no idea how much I wanted to keep her… but she has a life elsewhere… She has to get back to it, I know.  Still… you know… I miss her already.

Categories: Friendship, Magical, Ontario, Open your eyes, Tiny House Ontario | 11 Comments

Total Darkness

DARK

Three nights ago, I awoke… peeked at my light up watch.  It was 3:00 am and I was in my loft at THO.  It was dark.  I opened my eyes, but they did not adjust to the light.  I looked out the window but there was no light, I could see nothing at all.

It dawned on me that I have not, even in the forest of the tiny house been in complete and total darkness since I took a photography class many years ago.  I lay there, petting my dog who I could tell was Minnie by the way her fur feels in my hand.  She is the neediest of my dogs because of her being a runt perhaps and she is always cuddled right in to my tummy while I sleep.

I am not normally insomnia ridden but I lay there awake for about two hours until the daylight broke the darkness.  It was not restlessness or frustration that kept me awake.  I was looking at nothing because my eyes never adjusted.  I simply enjoyed the rare experience of living without light.

Have you ever been outside, or in a room with many curtain free windows and experienced absolute total darkness?

Categories: Forest, Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Tiny House Ontario, View | 4 Comments