Off Grid

Errands

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Laura

Today is errand day, much to the chagrin of the dog pack who stay at home alone while we run around.  My husband is here so we use the car to do some things that simply cannot be done (or could only be done in several trips) on my bike Baby.

It is not a very exciting topic, none the less, like every house Tiny Houses also require this rather boring but required stuff done.  I think that ignoring this, would be not just inaccurate but also negligent because in my blog I am trying to share what it is like for a woman/writer/artist to build, make livable and live in a Tiny House.

So, here goes!

The steel bits had to be brought to the Kimco free metal drop of on concession.  The recycling too had to come to town and be dropped off similarly, just off of concession at the depot.  I had one small shopping bag of garbage which I dropped into a city can on one of the street corners.  I had to get raw dog food at the specialty store.  I had to do two loads of laundry to wash which I will hang up when I get back to THO.  I also wanted to update my blog and to connect with a friend of a friend who I spoke to yesterday because he is in contact with my late neighbour Dan’s children who are very dear to me and with whom I lost contact when I moved a few years ago.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to connect with them again!  Thank you Ian!

Relatively speaking this is a small list but as always when one has errands it takes a good deal of the day to get them accomplished.

A lot of details.  A little bit to look forward to.  That is about it for the day.

I hope your day goes great!

Categories: Family, Forest, Off Grid, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

Looking North

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Laura

There are a lot of ravens around Tiny House Ontario this year.  I am beginning to believe that they are there for a reason.  I think that one of the messages that ravens give is to look North.  They are also bearers of fortune and magic according the book Animal Speak.

Funny thing is, that I just love to look out this window to the North.  I don’t recall doing this so much last year as I do this.

This is taken in the morning while I had a coffee.

Do you find it interesting, or is it just me?

 

Categories: Forest, Magical, Nature, Off Grid, Simple living, Sustainable living, Time, Tiny House Ontario | 1 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

Chocolate Coating

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Laura

Leo and Kyle were back at work again early this morning.

First they got the West wall done.

Then they finished up the East wall.

They did not do the South wall over the cloth porch for two reasons, firstly, I neglected to order enough J-trim and secondly I did not buy fabric to recover the cloth porch which will need to have the ceiling cut out so that they can work.  Kyle is going to bend a piece of J trim, eves trough and facia panels for the in-house.  They will be back to finish the week after next and I will update you then.

These men never stopped all day.  Finally at the end of the work day in the heat and humidity, the father and son team cracked a well deserved cold one.  I hope it was yummy!

After the men left, I took a photo, as you can see Tiny House Ontario is brown and lovely like a big brick of Cadbury chocolate, perhaps I should paint candy canes on the corner and have my chainsaw artist friend Steven Kenzora (from Peterborough) carve me some large gumdrops for corner cornices so it looks a little like the witch’s house in the famous German fairy tale?

I am happy that it is done on three sides and also that everything is tidy!  If you visit after the rain, the blue chalk lines will be already washed away.

A huge thanks to Leo and Kyle for their great work!

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

Steeling Chocolate!

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Laura

My childhood friend Allan calls Tiny House Ontario “The Chocolate Shed”.  For those of you who don’t know me… this is owing to my huge addiction to Cadbury chocolate.  When I looked at the photos for the first time, it suddenly dawned on me that I picked steel that is the same colour as my favourite food group.  I think that Allan will like this!

It was raining the morning; even so the men arrived to put the steel up on Tiny House.  They said better a little rain then the horrible heat we have been having and got right to work!

Getting the corner and J-trim on took quite some time, but by 11:00 they were getting the first big sheet on.

Tiny House looks TINY against these big lads!  By the way, ladies, the young lad in blue (Kyle) is quiet, fit, handsome, handy, 28 and SINGLE.

The front of the house was the first side which was finished.

Then Leo and Kyle worked on the East Side of Tiny House Ontario but it is 5:00 pm so they packed up for the day and may come back tomorrow to get the rest up.  It won’t take as long because the trim and corners are already cut so it is just the sheets that need to be put up.

It changes the look of the place as you come down the driveway, that is for sure!

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario | 4 Comments