Food

People in Need

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Laura

I have just heard that The Dutch charity organization Mensen in Nood (People in Need) has started a very provocative campaign.  The Swedish fashion photographer Carl Stolz has taken photos of people in need.  They are posing with the typical stuff that the consumer culture we live in, has taught us to believe we need.

I think that it is smart and appropriate and hopefully effective.  It is certainly in line with my own beliefs about greed.  Hats off to this charity for pointing out disparity.  Hopefully it shows us that we can really do without and that we do have a little something to share with those who quite literally have nothing.

Categories: Food, Materialism, Money, Simple living, Sustainable living, World | 1 Comment

Rocky Paths and Just Dessert

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Laura

If you have ever owned property, you will probably know that almost everything that you do is basically two steps forward and one back.  In my case, when the steel went up, the gate went down and the stone walkway which was just laying there settling, had to be removed.

Today we had fairly good weather warm but with a nice breeze, so I resized the gate and put it back in.  It also had to be turned around so that the hinge side is on the post and not on the house because I do not want a bunch of screw holes in the steel.  Because I turned it around I also need to buy a gate hitch.

I did not put the flag stone back into place because I did not have the time.  Instead I had a shower at my sister’s home and drove to Kingston for the wake of my friend’s mom.  I am slightly uncomfortable with going to services such as this in my bike because someone made fun of me when I attended one such service last year on the bike.  Nonetheless, I think there are some things that cannot be helped.

Today, both life and death have stumbling blocks and rocky paths.  Still, the sun is shining and  I am taking time to treat myself well.  I have a comfy seat here where the coffee and service is great (at the Mug and Truffle at 350 King East.) and I am having a lovely cuppa with a treat… mmmm.   If you get a chance to pop in for some air-conditioning and perhaps something yummy, tell them that Tiny House Laura sent you.  If I am there, please say hi and please don’t sit at my table, unless you will share it with me.

Categories: Family, Food, Friendship, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario, Writing | Leave a comment

Tiny Bears!

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Laura

Last evening when the dusk was coming on I realized I forgot to eat.  I put the kettle on for a cup of tea and a cup of soup and opened the bread bag but found that the bread had a green spot.  I put the bread out into the composter and  made my tea and a cup of soup, and got a few crackers instead.  I just sat down in the cloth porch to eat, when I heard rustling in the forest almost right in front of me.  It got louder and louder and I started to feel a little bit nervous, so I picked up my tea and soup and went into the tiny house, closed the screen door and watched.  I was relieved within a minute, when a baby racoon came out of the “prickly pear”.  I grabbed my camera and went out to take some photos of the cute little coon and the sibling that I could now see.  I tried to be really quiet when I slid the screen door back open but when I did this the baby coons ran up into the tree which is second in line behind the ancestor tree.  The other thing that happened is that Big Mama Coon ran toward the cloth porch.  She got about three feet away and stood on her hind legs, hands up and claws out.  She growled really loudly at me like a bear from a Hollywood film – she was sort of scary, to tell you the truth.  At the same time as this the other baby coons were climbing the trees and some were running toward the composter.  I counted 6 babies and Mama.

I tried to photograph Mama but the only thing that I got was shiny photos of the fabric.

I left the cloth porch and went out to the dog garden and took a few photos which also all turned out terrible and made me again wish that I had a better camera.  Sigh…

When I came back into the house and had a look at Ted Andrews book Animal Speak to see what some of his thoughts are on racoons.  I was not surprised to read that they are tiny distantly related cousins to bears after seeing Mama ferociously trying to intimidate me so that she could protect her babies.

The little bears worked at the composter until they got in and then the played outside the Tiny House for about two hours while I read from the above mentioned book and tried to watch them through the shadows of night.  Here are the rather Where’s Waldo sort of silly images.  These are the best that I could do with my silly crap camera.  Can you see any racoons?  I know where they are and I have a hard time seeing them.

What a great brush with nature, I wish I could share it better with you.

Categories: Cloth Porch, Food, Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Tiny House Ontario | 1 Comment

Where’s Waldo’s Garden?

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Laura

It is filling in around Tiny House Ontario quite a lot more since we put the garden in.  I guess I will have to pull out some of the surrounding plants.

From just about fifteen feet away one can hardly find the raised garden.

Can you find it?

Categories: Environmentalism, Food, Forest, Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Sustainable living | Leave a comment

The B List

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Laura

The last few hours at Tiny House Ontario have been eventful because of the high winds and rain.  I know that we needed the rain but I am glad that it is over.  I braved the wind on Baby because I had to get to town to deal with my B list.  Bitter, Beef, Blog, Bread -n- Butter

The first two items on the list are for the dogs, while the beef is probably obvious as dog food, the bitter is for the garbage cans because one of the dogs has decided that she really likes to get into the garbage.

Can you guess which one before I show her guilty little face?

Minnie!  Three times in one day with her nose in the muck!  I am hoping a little bitter apple will fix up this problem.  It is funny that she started doing this at 7 years old I think.  Lucky for her she is so cute!

Blog… well this is obvious because here I am…

Bread -n- Butter – I have to go to Glenbernie Grocery so that I can get the bread I like (which is Rudolf’s whole grain Bavarian) and Organic Meadows butter.  When I became vegetarian I gave up all animal products except the organic items from this Ontario dairy.

So, that is the B list.  Just to wreck my B theme though, I might just get some tomatoes too, but only if the greenhouse has fresh ones.

 

 

 

 

Categories: Dog, Food, Forest, Ontario, Open your eyes, Stuff, Tiny House Ontario | 1 Comment