Author Archives: Laura

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About Laura

Laura is an Artist who lives in Guelph Ontario. She is interested in societal equality, beauty, architecture, philosophy, feminism, people watching, dogs, animal rescue, ecology, as well as the generational ties between people. Laura has always been interested in peace and because she loves animals she is vegan. https://www.instagram.com/atelieroflauraleemoreland/ https://www.facebook.com/AtelierofLauraLeeMoreland https://atelieroflauraleemoreland.com

Hamilton

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Laura

Today, I am in Hamilton.  While here, I took a few minutes to stop at a couple of the wonderful old tiny houses that are part of the Hamilton Ontario, neighbourhood: Kirkendall North.  I left cards at couple of particularly charming ones to see if they would be interested in allowing me to tell the story of what it is like to live in these houses and a little about the history if known.  If the owners will meet with me, then I will do features about them on Tiny House Listings.

The houses I selected are all about a century old and appear to be between 3 and 5 hundred square feet in size.  I really hope to hear from the owners, not just so I can meet the Tiny Housers… but also because it would be fun to share some new stuff about old tiny houses with you, and to learn about them myself.

The great news is, one of the houses had someone at home… and surprisingly, I was invited in.  I have secured a time to come back to do an interview and take some photos.  It is a charming place which if I am well organized you will learn about next week!  Are you all as excited as me???

Here is a little info and some wonderful photos from the Kirkendall neighbourhood that might give you some idea of what is coming your way.

Below is an obscured photo of one of the houses that interests me.

Maybe this one?

Categories: Ontario, Open your eyes, Re-Use, Tiny house, View | Tags: , , , | 17 Comments

I Will Huff and Puff… and Sneak About

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Laura

Speaking of things that lurk in the forest, it looks like we had a visitor in the night.  Actually I think that there were four or perhaps five of them.  It is hard to guess because the footprints are all mixed up.  They were travelling East.  This visitor left paw prints as big as the palm of my hand.  I think he must be a very big boy!

Can you believe that I never heard a peep or a howl.  Incredible since they were very close to THO, the snow is so crunchy and I sleep with my head next to the open window.

I wish I would have seen them!

Big paw prints

Categories: Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments

Splurge on Illumination

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Laura

Beware the ides of March!

Out in the forest there are a lot of things that go bump in the night.  I love this about THO!  Being so close to nature is brilliant.  Even so, I have been very nervous about letting my dogs out after dark.  In 2011 our poor little handicapped Phyllis (who died in 2012) had a very close call with a fisher even though I was just a foot away from her.  If you have never heard one here is a little video.  Imagine how scary is was to have that thing screaming outside your house for hours after scooping up a little dog and bringing her in to safety; bloodcurdling!  The creature was mighty mad that it missed the poodle meal!  Despite what the ladies in the video said, it is my experience that these fishers seem to have little fear of humans, I hear them outside very frequently.   This is why I only bring out the dogs individually on a short leash after dark if they ABSOLUTELY have to go.

I purchased a powerful but costly little 12 volt spotlight last year when I was getting the wiring for the house but at the time I did not have a ladder to get up there. Now that it is warm enough and I have a ladder, I got the light into place.  I wish I had the sort of camera that worked well in night conditions so that I could show you how bright the candle is for this little light, but since I don’t I will estimate that it is similar in brightness to a 200 watt bulb.

Poop Garden spot light

It looks terrific and is bright!  In fact, the dog garden lights up like a ball field.  Obviously, I don’t want to light pollute at THO and keep away the fireflies and other wild wonders, but it is great to be able to get the dogs out and feel safely able to see what is out there.  This said, I won’t use it except to let the dogs out and also to help people see to get to their vehicle at night.  Despite the $100 cost it is a very nice safety feature to have.

Categories: Dogs, Forest, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 10 Comments

Wood Spirit and the Wolf

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Laura

I have finally installed the wood spirit that I purchased from wood carver, Steven Kenzora.  When I wrote about the purchase in an earlier post, I said that it would be put in a place of honour.

Since picking it up I gave quite some thought to where this would be. I decided, finally, to secure it in the arms of an ironwood tree and is facing the entry door of the house.  The tree is due North-West of THO which marks the line between black and white, earth and air and is directionally the mark of the winter solstice with respect to THO itself.  What is interesting, at least to me, is that the tree, an ironwood (considered to be magical by those who practice Wicca) seems to have grown in the specific location and shape to hold this carving.  Ironwood is a slow growing tree with a 7.0 growth factor; so this tree, with a ten inch diameter is about 75-85 years old.  I guess this tree is a sister to Twerp (so named for Tolkein) who is due South-West to THO and perhaps 20-30 years older than what is now named, Wood Spirit Tree.  Interesting too, I think, THO has ironwood trees that are at all four directional cusps and each is within a couple of hundred feet of the house at each of the cusp directions.

What I did not notice until I joined the two is that there is a howling wolf that was carved by nature into the wood which Steven carved into.  Like the Wood Spirit the wolf is a symbol of community and communication, but the wolf is also a loyal guardian.

A lot of symbolic meaning hidden in plain sight.  If you know about these things than you may have guessed that I have been recently influenced by a viking.

Can you see any other symbolism that I failed to mention here?

Categories: Art, Erazim Kohák, Forest, Magical, Nature, Ontario, Open your eyes, Tiny House Ontario, View | Tags: , , , , | 6 Comments

Tiny House Ontario Meets the Market

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Laura

I have some great personal news.  My paintings have been accepted at the Kingston’s Springer Market.  I will be there as a casual vendor from April until October.  Market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  If you are thinking of coming up to Kingston and are planning on seeing my work, please send me a note so that I can be sure to be there.

 

Photo on 13-03-07 at 12.11 PM

Categories: Original Art work of Laura Moreland | 4 Comments