Kingston

Winter End Check up

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Laura
The sky is crying because it knows that THO is sad to see me go

The sky is crying because it knows that THO is sad to see me go

I was at Tiny House Ontario last week, but had a medical crisis and thus headed back early to Hamilton.  We had intended to stay until Wednesday afternoon, but due to my health, my husband had to pack everything up on Monday evening for us to rush back.  It was raining like crazy when Hj, the dogs and I pulled out.  Unfortunately, the medical stuff was serious enough that I was unable to fly to Memphis; but fortunately it is nothing terminal – just painful and annoying.  More than that though, it was a sad disappointment for me to miss my first ever tiny house event.  I strongly hope that any of you who had tickets were not even slightly disappointed by my absence.  The nice thing is that Deek (http://relaxshacks.blogspot.ca) has another iron in the fire, so hopefully I will be able to meet the community later this year and perhaps some of you as well.

I am sure that there won’t be a bit of snow left when I return but of course, there should not be anyway.  The area where the house is is under flood threat and a few people have asked me if the house is at risk, but it is not.  I am way up on a hill and because I am on well faulted limestone bedrock, the drainage is excellent.  I am 100% sure that THO is a dry.  The only weather condition that ever gives me any pause is wind.  This is because I have so many trees large surrounding me there and the ground is shallow above the rocks.

Now that I am feeling slightly better, I will head back up on Easter Saturday and stay there for ten days until my next medical appointment.  I really want to spend the Spring Equinox, Ostara, and Earth Day there in my woods.

Here is a painting that invites me to enjoy this season, I look it up at this time, year after year.

 

Also, I do have an other little update… During the three days I had at the house, I noticed that there were a couple of tiny problems that happened this winter.  You can read about this at Tiny House Listings.

 

 

 

Categories: Art, Forest, Kingston, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , | 7 Comments

3 Legged Joe, A Show and Snowshoes

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Laura

I will leave for Tiny House Ontario tomorrow morning after rush hour.  I am going for a few reasons this time.  Firstly, I am picking up Joe the three legged street cat in downtown Toronto and driving him to his Foster Home in Kingston Ontario.  Poor old Joe was one of the disposable pets out on the street, due to his injury it was extra hard for him to survive.  He was rescued in cooperation with Annex Cat Rescue, Project Pet Rescue, and Kingston Animal Rescue.  He has been vetted, neutered and will be up for adoption once he is rehabilitated.  You can read more about Joe here, or if you are interested in making a donation to help with Joe’s vet bills or his care please do so with one or all of the agencies listed and linked above.  Perhaps you would like to adopt him or another homeless animal?

3 legged Joe

I am also heading to Kingston because I have a show in Battersea Ontario at the United Church.  They have invited local talent to come to show and sell their items.  The show will be on November 30 from 9-5.  I am excited to do this show because there is a lot of free and close parking so I expect a lot of my friends and family to be there.  For a lot of people getting into the downtown for market days is just too difficult and stressful, so it will give me an opportunity to show my work to members of my family, and friends who have not yet seen it live!  Art work is so much better in person!

Please do come to the show to see the local talent if you are anywhere nearby.  Admission is just $5 and I bet you will be able to find wonderful unique gifts for a reasonable cost there.

My most recent work Grandma’s Gift will be shown for the first time.

DSCF5472

I am also of course visiting my house and I am very excited about this!  We have snow in Kingston now so I will bring along my snowshoes!  My cousin Tracey took this photo this morning and allowed me to share it.  I look forward to getting out into the magical forest and seeing the changes that Mother Earth has undergone!

Tracey's photo

Categories: Art, Family, Forest, Friendship, Kingston, Laura Moreland, Magical, Nature, Ontario, Open your eyes, Original Art work of Laura Moreland, Stuff, Tiny House Ontario, View | Tags: , , , , | 8 Comments

Live on CJAI

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Laura

Tiny House Ontario (Laura) will be the guest of CJAI Radio’s show Shannon’s Mixed Tape from 7-9 pm tonight.  CJAI is Canada’s smallest radio station, therefore I think they make a very fitting host for Ontario’s tiniest house dweller.

The station is a little tough to connect to (if you have a Mac) you might need some technical assistance, so if you plan on listening in check in advance for your connection.  If you miss it, don’t worry, it will be a podcast later.  After the show airs and the pod cast is ready I will be sure to post the link.

I already picked out a few tunes… But you will all have to wait and listen for yourselves!

Awesome kids visiting Laura at the Sunday MarketIt has been a busy week!  Here is a photo of some great kids who stopped to watch me paint at the Sunday Antique Market, at Springer Market Square.  It was my fist Sunday market and I really enjoyed it.  When I have not been working the market, I have been visiting with my sister who leaves in two weeks to make her home in Saskatoon.  I have also moved 1.5 tons of limestone shale.

Categories: Art, Family, Kingston, Laura Moreland, Ontario, Original Art work of Laura Moreland, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Tiny r(E)volution and the Giant Hoax

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Laura

Tiny me has the pleasure of being interviewed by the charming and hilarious Drew (Andrew Odom) and my wonderful and inspiring twin Laura (LaVoie) of Tiny r(E)evolution.  Their funny and vastly entertaining Episode 37 interview with yours truly is here.

The unanswered question after the interview… is it too wild to live there full time?  Made me laugh a little (okay… a lot).

It is not all the fault of our American friends that this “WILD UNTOUCHED FREEZING NATION” is the understanding you have of Canada.  It is in movies, TV, books and truthfully from a Canadian perspective we like to emulate that we are all Bob McKenzie’s living in igloos to our American neighbours.  We can’t help ourselves!  We find it funny to keep this joke running.  So I vacillate between answering truthfully or taking the Canadian stance and to pull your legs.

Not that Canadians are liars, but we do enjoy telling a fish tale and afterward giggling… I am no exception.

So there are two equally good response questions…

1. Do I have to build THO a customary igloo covering in order to protect it from the elements and use sled dogs to get around 10 months of the year?

Or…

2. Do I live less than 50 km from the US border and have the same weather as New York?

I won’t answer rather I will show you the map of weather zones (for planting) and let you know that THO sits in the yellow zone that is right above Lake Ontario.

Planting zones in North America

The map will tell you that at THO we can expect similar winters to people who live in parts of Kansas and New Mexico.  It can also expect easier winters than those who live in North Dakota and significantly better than Minnesota.  We really don’t experience very hard winters in the most populated areas of Canada.  In fact, is is not until you get North of the 60’th parallel… beyond the tree line… where actually people once did (a hundred years ago) live in igloos.

This said, if you want to sleep in an ice house, in Montreal they build an ice hotel in the winter and you can rent a room there if this is your kind of thing.

THO is roughly 25 km (15 miles) of paved roads from Kingston.  The city itself has a population of 125,000 people.  Kingston is a foodie town with lots of creative people and amenities.  It is also the home of the Ivy League, Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College which makes it a very vibrant intellectually rich city for it’s size.  It has a lot of tourism not just because it is pretty, but because it sits at the Thousand Islands and the tri-county region is not only the home of these islands it also has over 1000 lakes so there are cottages everywhere.  It is also where the Rideau Canal starts and goes up to Ottawa.

I invite you to visit the city and partake of its culture and sites.

kingston1

Honestly, there is nothing dangerous that is keeping me from living in THO… it is just a matter of having the money to install a well, a pump, getting running water going, having regular heat, a septic bed to put waste water in and of course, a shed to store my igloo building kit in.

I am getting there a little at a time.  For now… I stay there a lot of the year and paint the town.

IMG_0227

Thank you Drew and Laura for having me on!  It was a pleasure and an honour to speak with both of you.  I hope you will get up for a visit sometime!  Don’t forget to pack your snow suit!

Categories: Kingston, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario, View, Winter | Tags: , , , , , | 13 Comments

No One Here But Us Turkeys!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Laura

This morning when I woke up the rain had just begun to fall. I flew out of bed to uncover the garden and headed back into Tiny House Ontario to get dressed and organize my day.  My cousin Tracey and I planned on a slumbie at her place in the city tonight, so I had a few things to pack into the car.

I was just about to put them there when I noticed there was a HUGE turkey just beside my door.  Instead of going out, I grabbed the camera and took a couple of photos.  Unfortunately, he got a few feet from the house… and through the glass the photos are not terrifically clear.  Even so, they are better than nothing and I did not want to scare turkey off.  These wild turkeys run fast and fly quite well so I am lucky to get a photo from 20 feet.

The turkey was alone as far as I could see.  Probably attracted by the mix I put out for the birds and chipmunks.  It certainly looked well fed and mature.  I would guess that this turkey was well in excess of 20 pounds.

I knew that there were turkeys here on our historical land because I often see their tracks in the snow; large arrows pointing in direction that they left behind.  It is the first I have seen one come so close so I am thrilled and hoping for more!

The wild turkey is really making a comeback in Eastern Ontario.  I understand from my grandparents that they were once very plentiful; however, as a child I do not recall ever seeing one nor do I recall ever hearing of anyone who hunts ever killing one.  Yet, in the last decade they seem to be thriving.  I also understand that these turkeys were reintroduced to the area from the United States.  Apparently 274 birds were brought in a couple of decades ago and now there are some 35,000 of them in the area.

No matter the details, it was thrilling to have a turkey visit THO this morning!  Now I am signing off because I am going to gobble down some lunch… turkey free, of course!

Tom Turkey

Categories: Environmentalism, Forest, Kingston, Magical, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: , , , | 6 Comments