Ontario

Did You Hear Me Squeal From There?

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Laura

OK… you already know that I am irrationally afraid of giant spiders.  It is embarrassing how many things I am afraid of because I am from a farm and should be desensitized.  I also never got used to eating meat, so I guess my family did a pretty good job of NOT desensitizing me to stuff.

Now you know the truth about me.  I am a bleeding-heart sissy!

Another one of my (many) phobias is giant garden slugs.  THIS was on my compost bucket when I went to pick it up.  Now you know what that noise was.  Actually, I did not really scream, but I did make the face from the Edvard Munch painting and the sky did turn colour.  OK, not really, that last part was just how I felt.  They are so slimy that I also wanted to throw up.

Really?

Yes, unfortunately.

Similar ones were all over Germany and Switzerland when I lived there, so I learned to always look before I touched and also not to step anywhere without having my eyes on the ground.  In Ontario these don’t actually exist.  They are invasive species that have been accidentally introduced from Europe.  I guess, now that they are here, I will have to keep my eyes on the ground again.

If you like this sort of thing, you can look it up.

If I was not so scared and grossed out by it, I might have murdered it.  It is an invasive species and much the same as purple loosestrife and trees of heaven they are not supposed to be here.  I just can’t do it.  Hopefully it does not carry away one of my dogs.

Categories: Nature, Ontario, Open your eyes | 2 Comments

Rubbish Books Re-use

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Laura

While in Gananoque a few days ago I stopped in at a cafe called The Socialist Pig.  I won’t go again even though they have internet and the coffee was good.  The reason, I did not enjoy it is because the smell of bacon from the place next door was overwhelming.  I was with a person who eats meat and even for them it was “too much of a good thing”.  I wanted to use my computer so I stayed for a quick coffee and while I was there I witnessed four other people pivot out instead of sitting down, for just this reason.  I don’t know if anyone else finds that the chemical used curing bacon takes your breath away while it cooks?  I really cannot breathe at all when I smell this.  Perhaps it is another in my long and dragged out list of chemical allergies?

While I was not a fan of the smell of the cafe, I thought that they had an interesting idea for dealing with old unwanted books (instead of sending them to the land fill).

Of course, Tiny House Ontario has no use for a bar that would hang out of the ends of the house because is is so huge, but I think, if I ever have the opportunity to build that 380 square foot straw bale “green” home that I am always dreaming of, I may very well use this idea as the dividing wall (or part of one) between the living room and bedroom.

Categories: Environmentalism, Materialism, Ontario, Re-Use, Simple living, Stuff | Leave a comment

Clean & Tiny

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Laura

Doing laundry off grid when there is no nearby river or lake is something that has to be planned because all water has to be caught or brought.  I have a few techniques for dealing with this.

I do a little bit of wash on the old glass scrub board if, for example, there is something that might stain. Otherwise I put it in my Chicken Little backpack and drive to town to throw it in the wash at Lavergne’s on Montreal Street in Kingston.  I only want to do one load at a time because I bring it back to dry and have only so much fence to hang it on.  In wanting to allow only let one load get dirty, I have to decide what to wear by the week.   What I mean, is if I choose to wear red then I stick to red/pink/yellow all week, like wise, blue/purple/green and black/grey/brown… in order to keep my clothing from being dull and yucky from mixing them all in together in a load.  In other words, my laundry dictates my weekly wardrobe.  When it is time to wash the bedding, I remove my spare helmet put this under Baby’s seat, I don’t like to do this because one never knows if they will need to take an extra rider, but I also don’t want to have to take two trips to the city.   It makes it a bit squishy with two loads, because I only have so much fence to dry things on.  Maybe I will put in a clothes line?

To save money, I bring my soap with me and when the wash is done, I bring it home and hang it out to dry.  I like to be back with it by noon so that it can dry in the afternoon sun.

Categories: Forest, Money, Off Grid, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario | 2 Comments

Tiny House Listings

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Laura

Recently, the good people at Tiny House Listings asked me to write a guest post for their on line magazine.  They wanted me to write about what it is like to live in a Tiny House.  I chose to write more about what it is like to live inside of the ongoing Tiny House Ontario project.

I feel really happy about this opportunity.  They are a very well known site in the Tiny House Community.  I would guess that they are among the top three or four of well known Tiny House websites.  It was exciting to be asked to write for them, so exciting in fact that I made a couple of grammar errors because I did not proof read well in my excitement!  Oops!

Tiny House Listings have a website that allows people who are seeking a Tiny House of their own to shop specifically for property under 400 square feet.  They also feature other Tiny Housers and Tiny House builders on their site.

They are also on Facebook and have a load of fans!

It was nice to be asked over!

Categories: Forest, Money, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario, Writing | Leave a comment

Breakfast Music

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Laura

I finally figured out how to upload video so here is a sound clip from Tiny House Ontario.  The grinding sound is me moving the computer on the BBQ.  Sorry!  I needed a level spot.

The video should tell you what it is like to sit here over a tea.

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