Art

Getting Stoned

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Laura

We got so stoned yesterday at Tiny House Ontario!  We had expected this to come but were really surprised at how much we got for $175!

My cousin Andrea put in a flag stone patio last summer and it looks really great, so I thought using the same inexpensive and practical system as she did was the most sensible.  Basically, she explained, that they bought and put in stone dust, making the layer thicker than they wanted (because it settles a lot).  They levelled the stone dust, and then waited until the next summer to put the flag stones on in order so that the stuff settles.  Then they used only a little bit of stone dust to make sure that the stones all lined up and levelled well.  They let this sit too for a couple of weeks then when everything was well settled, they mixed Portland cement and put this into the spaces between.

It is heavy work, moving stone dust, then moving stone, but I love this effect and I am happy to do it. Thankfully my husband came down and we always do stuff together when he is around.  Yesterday it was charging the phones and computers while we got the stone dust in place.  He did the heavy work of shovelling, bringing and dumping the loads and I levelled and stomped on the dust to compress it with my feet.  We have quite a bit of it in place now.

It is a dirty job!  Both of us were coated with limestone dust so we made a trade.  We went in and had showers at my cousin Tracey’s place then we drove her out to her parent’s place because she needed to get there.  We also stayed and had a beer with them.

Her dad, is Vernie, who I have mentioned here before because he is the artist who made the cabinets in THO and her mom Irene is the person who gifts me with all the chipmunks!  They do not like them digging in their garden so they catch and then release them up in the forest at my place.  They and their kids too, are people who have a great sense of humour.  We all sat around laughing for a couple of hours.  What a great way to end a day of hard work!  Clean, fed and laughing with people who you love!

Categories: Art, Tiny House Ontario, Trade | 2 Comments

Forest Light

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Laura

For those readers who are photographers, you probably shutter… at my photos because of my total lack of skill in this department… and because I always blame my crappy camera.  It turns out the problems are all mine.  Apparently, my camera is not as crappy as I have been telling you!  Sorry!  I am just a terrible photographer!

Up on the narrows a few nights ago I was telling George that I cannot get good photos of the forest light because of my terrible camera.  He explained to me that my camera is a pretty decent one… Illusions shattered!   I showed him the photo I took a few weeks ago which is the only forest light photo that I have been happy with.  George, it turns out, is a man who is seemingly made of light.  He knew what to do!  He told me about the half way button on my camera which sets the light.  I have had this camera for about 6 years and had no idea!

George told me that if I point it at a slightly darker place, set the light by pushing the button half way in and then point where I want the picture to be, then click all the way in, that I should be able to capture the light better.

My current project is to experiment with this technique.

 

Categories: Art, Forest, Magical, Nature, View | 2 Comments

George LED

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Laura

It is not easy to take a photo of an LED light at night.  I took about 50 of them to try to get a good one of the LED light that George (the Kayaker) gifted to me when we met by chance up on 14 highway on the day of the odyssey.

It casts a great light and actually runs all night long every night so I now have a night light which is really very cool.

The chance meeting with sweet George provided me with enough information about how these lights work that I feel pretty comfortable taking them apart now.  I also started to put together the solar panels that I purchased a few weeks ago.  A little at a time and very cautiously…

Here is the best of all the bad photos.  Where can I find a good photographer when I need one?

Thanks again George it is a great gift for a Tiny House woman like myself.  

Categories: Art, Friendship, Off Grid, Sustainable living, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

Green Man

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Laura

When I look into the forest I very often see faces in the trees.  Some people refer to these as green man.

Here is a nice depiction by the artist Lauri Alexander.

In the evening there is a green man in the forest who can be seen clearly looking at me whilst I sit on the cloth porch.  Unfortunately, my camera is not of the quality that I can catch him when the light is behind him is perfect and he shows himself to me really clearly.  This is my Southern green man in the day.  Do you see him?  I am happy that he is still there, and still green…

Categories: Art, Cloth Porch, Forest, Friendship, Magical, Nature, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Laura

My husband returned very late last night form his business trip; actually, he came early this morning at about 2:30 am.  This morning we slept in until 10:00 and I still feel really pooped and irritable.  All very normal for me if my sleep schedule is interfered with.  I am a terrible candidate for shift work because just with this one weird night of sleep I feel sore and somewhat breathless.

There was also some work to do here on scanning my art work.  This can only be done from my husband’s PC… for some reason the scanner on our HP does not like my Mac.  This took us until 3:00, my husband scanned and I resized and so forth here on my own computer.

Getting stuff done often takes more time than you truly want to give it.  Particularly when it is stuff that you don’t want to do.  Did you ever notice that it takes a lot of time to do dishes and sweep the floor, but it does not take a lot of time to have a beer with your friends?

What this all boils down to is that I am staying put in Hamilton today and will leave after rush hour tomorrow for THO.  This will allow me another day to try and catch the injured feral mother cat and her babies, or at minimum feed her another time.  It also means that I can enjoy the air conditioning here before heading into the heat.  Sadly, it means that I will miss seeing Bear the Tinker at the Delta Fair… Bummer.

As for the dollar short… I am always a dollar short!  Isn’t everyone these days?

I hope you all enjoy a great day!

Categories: Art, Family, Money, Ontario, View | Leave a comment