Ontario

Lush

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Laura

It is warm and beautiful today in the Kingston Area.  I woke up late at Tiny House Ontario sat and had a quiet cuppa and a granola bar then I did some work around the house.  Before I did this, I took a moment to notice the woods around me.

The outdoor kitchen in the cloth porch is much too high so I took it apart and shortened it 8 inches.

I also moved the left over lumber pile.  I only have about 10 boards there now so I no longer required the huge tarps and I also wanted to move it behind the house so that one does not see them when you drive up.  It helps to make it look tidy.

I also picked up a lot of bits of tiny lumber ends and put them into the former home for the privy.  I taped this closed so that they will not fall our the door and it held a surprising amount.

My husband put some boards up inside of the cloth porch and this makes the interior of the cloth porch much tidier and complete looking.

It has been a busy spring and because there are so many small things to do, I still have not been painting or writing much.

I am so busy that I have hardly noticed the big changes in the forest.

It is lush now… only the prickly canes have yet to fill in.

I still do not know what these are, knowing them only by the local name of prickly pear.  If you happen to be a botanist, I would really like to know the real name of these ferocious, non-blooming canes that look somewhere between rose and blackberry plants.

I am still waiting for my soil delivery so that I can plant my garden and I have a lot still to do, but even so, if Baby does not get back from the shop, I will be forced to go back to Hamilton again for the week.  I simply cannot stay at  Tiny House Ontario without wheels.

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

Siding

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Laura

The local saw mill has still not been able to get its hands on 16 foot cedars to cover Tiny House Ontario.  Sadly, without any covering she had a little leak this past winter and the interior boards on the North East wall sustained a little bit of damage.  This damage is behind the kitchen cupboards so it does not show… still it bugs me.

Even with this, I still think I want to wait for local cedar (and don’t have any of my own) but I also want to keep Tiny House Ontario safe from the weather.  So… I decided to flash the whole house.  I figure that this can stay on forever and will act as a great barrier against everything Mother Nature throws at a home.

It should cost about $400 to do the whole house.  24 inch wide rolls of flashing that are 100 feet long can be purchased at Home Hardware for a little over $200/roll.  I had used about 35 feet which I bought last year at the base of Tiny House Ontario to keep and rain water away from her at ground level, and also to keep ants out.  So this is what the brown line at the bottom of the house that comes up about a foot from the cement pad is.  This year I bought one whole roll of it and started the process of nailing it on.  I don’t have a bender or anything but since it is not meant to be a final cover just a protection for now, it does not matter if it is a wee bit wobbly.

I have used about a third the roll now and this is where I am so far.  I think it looks better than the Typar, but soon I am going to have to look up Gananoque Home Hardware in the phonebook instead of just looking at the outside of the house.  The top of the house does not have the number because it is a left over and donated bit from Leo.

I think I have enough to get up to the second floor windows.  Not exactly a fairy tale look, but it will do the trick!

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

Rainy Day Coffee and Paint

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Laura

Tiny House Ontario does not yet have a propane cooktop.  I know which one I want.  A two burner by Atwood.  It is not expensive or difficult to install.  It is also significantly more convenient and cheap to run than this rig as well as being more safe.

Seriously… cooking atop of a giraffe’s head with a butane torch while spitting out Toonies might be a better idea.  These little stoves are not very practical (even though this has been handy).  The problem is that I have not found a sink, or a fridge that I like (and can afford) and until I have these, I cannot decide where the propane cooktop goes in the kitchen counter top and I do not want a hole in it until I know where every little bit is going.

Still rain comes and I have no intention of standing there in the cold spring rain while my water slowly boils.  So the little camp cooker is the best I can do.

Who can complain when one has some really good coffee from Hatter’s Bay?

While I had my rainy day coffee – I put a base coat of (artist quality) paint on my mismatched cupboards.  Not really an improvement but still, the knobs work!

Too, I won a free decorating consultation from Kingston Paint and Decorating while at an event to raise funds for the Special Olympics, so perhaps I will have them come to look at the Tiny House cupboard colour?  I suspect that they may find this somewhat weird, but I know someone who works there – so she might pre-warn them!  Still, I love the little ladder that came with it and I am happy to support a small business.  Particularly those who support their community through donating to good causes!

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 7 Comments

Somewhere Between Hard Knocks and Sloths

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Laura

An old friend Steve, wrote to me a while ago and said, “no offence meant here, but Tiny House Ontario is practically a hotel when compared to a hunting camp”.  “Yes, this is the point”, was my answer.  I have thought a lot about what Steve said and you know, he is not the only one either who puts these questions to me.  My cousin Irene says that she wonders about me (she thinks I have gone mad).  She has said to me more than once, “I lived that life for many years and I don’t understand why you want to go back to that!”

It is not about giving up on myself like men do in a hunting camp.  It is also not about doing without, or making due, like it was for my cousin Irene.  I simply don’t have five children to take care of in a home with no conveniences – I really do not know how women survived those hard times!  I do not idealize these times.  I do however idealize the less consumeristic life that people lead before all this advertising mania took over our lives.

There is a point to Tiny House Ontario and there are also several lines that I am not comfortable crossing.   Still, the lines are fuzzy when it comes to the way that I live.  I found this year when I was moving in, that I was not worried at all about plumbing, running water, electricity, but I did worry about two things.  Firstly, I needed to get the in-house built because of the weirdo that I picked up on here and secondly, how would I paint without a studio?  Now I have a bathroom – but I have not yet painted – but this may be just an issue of being so busy!  Time will tell me.

The Tiny House objective is NOT to lead a hard life.  I don’t always intend to live with no heat, plumbing, water, lights… so why do it now?   It is hard to explain even to myself, what I am trying to do.

Here is what I mean, with water as an example.

It is great to have running water and taps.  I get that!  Really I do!  Turn the tap or flush the toilet and presto snapo, there it is to take care of your needs.  Why would I want to give that up?  I mean, we need to have water to live.  We drink, cook, and wash up after cooking with it; we also need it for personal bathing, and cleaning house.  All of these needs are equally important for normal living (not for survival).  Why would I want to live without water?  I cannot live without water but I can, I found, easily live without running water.  Simply put, until I have a well installed, I have do my own running for water.  Fortunately, I have multiple sources of water within walking (or short driving) distance.  I have a few jugs that I can carry from my friend’s homes without having a vehicle to get them.  I have found that I can comfortably live with about 10 litres of water a day.  It is not difficult or even a hardship to plan through this requirement.  Still, if I did not have friends or family there, even this would become impossible, so I am grateful to them for allowing me to be a sponge (BAHAHAHA).

Along with cooking and cleaning with this 10 litres of water, I sponge bathe daily, wash my hair every third day, but even so, I need to shower weekly.  Thankfully, Liisa allows me to do this at her house, still, I think that the rain water shower will be great once it is fully hooked up.  I think, that with this connected that I will be able to reduce my dependence on gasoline because I drive to and from Liisa’s home for my weekly wash up.  Laundry, I bring to town – I do not pull out the scrub board much.

I guess, what I am saying is that my objective is not to live in a hunting camp.  I like things nice and I do also like to bathe and keep my hair looking fresh.  Tiny House Ontario is not about living a life of total hardship (or isolation).  I will in fact, put in a well with a hand pump as soon as money allows me to do this with cash.  My objective is to have a property without having a mortgage on it.  I don’t want any more debt than the mortgage on my Hamilton home (OK… I don’t want that either – but you know what I mean.  I hope.).

My objective is to build the most comfortable and ecologically sustainable life that I can with the least amount of money.  It is not an exercise in hardship.  It is an exercise in self sustainability and kinship with those around me.  As time and money dictate improvements will come.  A little at a time.  Tiny House Ontario is a work in progress.  I am not sweating the things that I could use there.  Still, if you know anyone who digs wells, donates solar arrays,  donates and installs septic systems, donates and puts on siding, has a tiny 12 watt fridge or a two burner interior propane cooker… all for free… let me know.  I am happy to bring on the conveniences.

Just because it is Tiny… does not mean that it is all free – but it also does not mean that it has to be awful either.   If only I had a money tree…

Really, honestly, I am totally happy with the model below.  A few cents at a time and with this, I grow a beautiful green life

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

Waiting and Going Green

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Laura

It has been 15 days since I arrived at Tiny House Ontario.  The forest changes so much every single day; I can’t capture it’s move from brown to green.  A slow motion camera would be fantastic  – or even a shot of photos taken three times a day, every day would have been great too.  Next year, perhaps I will remember to do this?

Now the canopy covers me and Tiny House Ontario disappears into deep forest.

Here is Leo packing up after the build a few days ago… see how green?

These days, the trees are so dense that the dogs hear people arriving before I can see them coming down the half kilometre lane.  Still, they keep me aware of what is going on.  This is Minnie standing guard.

It is so warm now that these plants that I initially had in my window are moved outside.

I start the little 10×10 raised garden too.  At dusk… another day until the soil arrives to the rock.

Categories: Dogs, Erazim Kohák, Forest, Nature, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment