Ontario

TOO MUCH STUFF!

On the eve of writing an article for Tiny House Listings on the topic of being happy with less I thought I would show you what it looks like when you have too much stuff in a tiny house.

I am preparing for the Women’s Art Festival which is happening in Kingston Ontario on Sunday in City Park so I have a lot of work on the go!  My car is full to the roof too…

It is AWFUL to have so much stuff in this tiny space!!

My kitchen is filled and three of the paintings are wet so you can’t even move!  It is an obstacle course.  Hopefully I won’t need to eat between now and Sunday!

Paints and supplies on the window shelf Tiny Table with painting drying Hidden kitchen

Categories: Art, Ontario, Open your eyes, Original Art work of Laura Moreland, Tiny House Ontario | 12 Comments

Again with the stone…

I laid out the stone to measure it for the garden path.  It turns out that I have enough stone to take care of the plan.  It is not good to walk on.  This is actually a job for next spring so I did not yet prepare the job properly, I just wanted to measure before the truck dissolves.  The stone dust I laid will have to settle then every stone will have to be removed and levelled to its neighbour.  Because it is away from the house, I am not too worried about the drainage.  Basically it is just a footpath to the vegetable garden.

IMG_0609

This said, I decided that I need a little more stone anyway.  I want to join the patio with the path so I need a few more square feet.  I guess one or one and a half truckloads will do it.  I guess I need about 40 square feet of stone.  Fortunately this part is already compressed so I can finish the joining section as I have the patio.  Only the path must wait for 2014.

FYI: So far, I have made 13 trips to the quarry for stone at $20/trip.  Why not expand?

Categories: Forest, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario | 11 Comments

Sanford and Sons

S&S Rock version

Yesterday I hauled in a couple of loads of rocks.  I think I have all that is required to finish the job.  It does however look a little like Sanford and Sons… the quarry version.  There is so much work to this job!  I have a new found respect for the persons who do this work for a living.

I imagine I still have about four more days of work to do just to get the rest of the patio level.  One of these will be unhooking the solar connection to the house at the battery, laying the stone and then hooking it all up again.

It is a lot of work, but it is worth it.  I think it gives THO a very enchanting appearance despite the mess of extra stones.

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario, View | 9 Comments

Updated Image

I am back to work after a bit of a hiatus.  The cloth porch is looking better bit by bit.  I guess it is about 2/5ths level now after spending a few more hours on it.  I still need to get a little more rock but have not been able to do this because of work being done at the quarry.  I can’t gain access.  Thankfully my brother-in-law is willing to keep the truck on the road for a little while longer so I can get this done (I am paying for the insurance).  Thanks B.I.L!  You are awesome!  Patio as of  July 31, 2013

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario, View | 3 Comments

Getting More Stoned

I was at the quarry again today with my little sister T-rex.  When I arrived Dan had three piles of shale all ready to go so T-rex and I loaded the truck in a flash.

At THO there is now enough stone to finish the patio as well as the path down the West side of the house.  There is more than I need this year as well.  I am planning on 3 or four more trips to the quarry to get all the stone I need to finish the planned work for next year too.  This is because my brother in law is retiring his truck at the end of this month, so getting all the stone now is sensible and inexpensive.  Grandma used to call this sort of planning “a stitch in time”, you may already know the adage.

The temperatures here have climbed with the humidity so the job gets more difficult and uncomfortable.  Hopefully next week the temperatures will drop a little so that the levelling job will not be so miserable.  

This is the stone for the path to the garden (for next year)Stone for next yearThis is the edge of the house all level and settling while I finish the rest.

Edge of the house all set in stoneThis is the majority of the planned patio all laid out but most still needs levelling.

most of the stone is laid for the planned patio.

 

This is taking a long time because it is the first experience I have with this sort of work.

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 12 Comments