Ontario

Confusion and Battery

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Laura

I have to get a battery (or two) for my new solar panel and fridge to operate.  It is a little bit embarrassing to admit this, but the books and internet information on the subject is about as interesting as the teacher is to the Peanuts characters.  I begin reading on the subject and before long the words all blend together and all I read is wawawawawawawa…  I find the subject nearly totally without interest for me.  The only parts that I find captivating are, produce your own power, so that you are not depending on the shady power companies.  It is the same with telecommunications companies – always ripping people off… so if I could talk my friends into operating HAM systems then I would try to dump those bastards too.

Back on topic… I have to get batteries and because basically all articles are BORING and user manual TECHNICAL… I really don’t know what to do.  I found one article which at least starts off interesting enough to read.  The thing is that I want to run the fridge and perhaps a few lights too since the pot-lights that I bought are VERY battery intensive.  For now I have access to free batteries but this may dry up and besides I don’t like to fill the land fill with a hundred batteries.

There is a battery store in Kingston which I think I will visit today.  Hopefully, I can talk to someone who speaks English… I don’t mean this in a racist sort of way at all.  What I mean is that I would like to go in and say, “I have a little 12 volt fridge and a 97 square foot house.  I need a battery that will make the fridge work and maybe two or three lights that are bright enough to read by”.

I would like an answer like this.  “Yes, this is what you need.  It is X dollars for this.  Would you like that today mam?”

What I am expecting is this.  “8 – 410Ah L16Ss in 2 banks is 20 RE500s wawawawawawawawa”.

Why is there not a simple solution to this task?

Categories: Money, Off Grid, Ontario, Sustainable living, Tiny House Ontario | 3 Comments

Good Morning!

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Laura

Hj, will you take a photo of the dog pile, please?

He responds, I am not very good at taking photos of people.

My famous last words are, you can’t go wrong when you take a photo of the dog pile, it always looks cute!

Well… true that they are all cute!

As for me…

I think that I look like  someone shit on my Wheaties and the culprit might just be the photographer!

Poor Hj!

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

Pet Emergency

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Laura

I got a notification on Facebook the other day about what to do in case of a pet emergency.

I thought that it was very useful, but I also thought I really better get the dogs familiarized with riding a motorcycle because this is my only means of transportation.  I am about a year late with this.  Honey is a no go, so too is Imp; both of them are far too nervous even to be put in the carry bag.  So, I hope that friends and neighbours will be able to assist me, as Liisa did last year when Phyllis died from her long ago abuse (she was rescued from a crack house and had severe injuries).

Minnie and Rudigrrr Wolf are A-OK with the bike.  The neighbours and friends who saw her  and the Wolf had a good laugh.

This is what a Emergency Preparedness for pets looks like at Tiny House Ontario.

Categories: Dogs, Family, Friendship, Off Grid, Ontario | 1 Comment

Happy Canada Day!

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Laura

It is Canada Day here, which is the National Holiday.  The Saint John’s Wort is blooming now too.  I did not make any specific plans because I thought I would be putting up siding… Oops!

With nothing planned instead I weeded the garden, organized the bedroom and the bathroom and went to have a shower.  I also put on some half decent clothes for a change and drove to town with my husband.  We are at Wendy’s now having a baked potato.  Nothing fancy!

Quiet holidays like this always make me feel like I should be doing something.  They also make me think about people who mean a lot to me.  I am going to see if I can talk Hj into seeing the movie, Rock of Ages at the Cineplex, because I heard that it is hilarious from my cousin Tracey, who laughs at similar things to me.  She, Liisa and Hj are the people who I laugh with the most.  Kirk also makes me laugh but I don’t see him often enough.

For me, laughter is not a prerequisite for friendship.  Generally speaking, kindness is about the only absolute that must exist in the people who I love.

Anyway… I am off on another topic now when basically I wanted to just pop in and wish you all a happy day and to let my readers from other locations know why we are all red and white here today.

I am not really a nationalist, but rather I appreciate that I live in a country that has seen a lot of priviledge.  Just should you never have had the chance to visit us here in Ontario Canada, below is a photo of our parliament and the peace tower.  I chose to show you this because my great great great grandpa James, drew the stone up the Rideau Canal in his ship to build this.  My people have been here an awfully long time.

Have a safe and wonderful day!

Update: I have seen the film now.  I did not find it particularly funny, but I did think it was entertaining and worth seeing.  I left the cinema feeling like I did not waste my money and that I saw a film.  I think that the actors did a good job.  I would say that this is the best role that Tom Cruise has had, since Risky Business and I might be a little in love with him again.  ;-P

 

 

Categories: Family, Friendship, Ontario, View | Leave a comment

SPLURGE!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by Laura

All of you who are keeping track of the progress at Tiny House Ontario know that she is very much a project who is still underway.

Today I hoped to get the siding on but without the tools basically my husband and I had the day off to look around and while doing so we stopped at Canadian Tire because it was on our route.  It turns out that the off grid stuff was on sale, so we sort of borrowed from Peter to pay Paul and made a couple of big ticket purchases.

It seems to me that with a little 12 volt (18 litre) fridge and a few solar panels that Tiny House Ontario will not feel so off grid anymore.  The two items together cost $474. plus tax, with the sale it was as though the fridge got thrown in and so too did the tax.  Now we have another job to do because we have to figure out how the system works, and actually connect the fridge to power.  I also need to get a battery…

The great thing is that now that I have the little fridge I can actually start to plan in earnest what the end result kitchen will look like.

 

UPDATE: July 7 2012… I was informed by a couple of people in the know that these sort of solar panels are not great because they are encased in plastic.  I understand that it would have been the same cost to by aluminium and they last at least twice as long.

Categories: Environmentalism, Materialism, Money, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Sustainable living, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment