Simple living

Wichtelhütte

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Laura

Wichtelhütten Ontario

A message came through via email yesterday.  Richard, a friend from Germany, was hoping to get a photo from Canada.  The photo is for some sort of a competition.  Although it is not clear exactly what it is about he needed an image from as far away geographically from Germany as possible and the photo has to have the word Wichtelhütte in it.

Wichtelhütte means gnome house or little people house.  The irony that I live (~half the year) in a Tiny House with a bunch of Gnomes placed in the surrounding forest was not lost on me.  How could I resist?

I enjoyed a wonderful Solstice at my Wichtelhütte, a Norse Yule with friends in Kingston, Christmas with my sister and her family in the countryside, and today a smooth trip back to Hamilton to have a further holiday celebration with family here.

My days are currently filled with fun stuff to do with people who hold great meaning to me, and lots of wonderful things to eat too.  Life is great!

No matter how you choose to spend the last days of December 2012 I hope that you have enjoyed days as wonderful as those I have shared with my loved ones.

Wichtelhütten

Categories: Off Grid, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario, View | Tags: , | 12 Comments

Winter Blankets

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Laura

I arrived at THO yesterday at about 3:00 pm it was below freezing in the house but with no thermometer I can only guess that the temperature inside the house was exactly the same as the car told me -3 degrees.

I turned on the propane camp heater and also lit a gel fireplace can that I placed on a sheet of salvaged marble.  These are about $5. (Canadian funds) and work very well to heat a space fast… as long as you are very careful with the 6 inch high flames.  In an all wooden house I keep mine a couple of feet away  from the wall unless I am right beside it.

Canned heat

After everything was turned on, I left the house to let it heat while I went to the city to pick up a few items and join my friend G for dinner.

When we left I found that it had been snowing so the drive home on the rural roads was treacherous.  When I arrived the canned heat was empty and the propane cylinder had run out but the place was significantly warmer… see this on the new thermometer.

51 degrees! Woot!

When I woke the propane was still working and the temperature was exactly the same.  Outside there was a clear change from the night of snow.  See?

Snow at Tiny House Ontario

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

Georgia Solo

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Laura

Red Solo Cup

I recently wrote a column on Tiny House Entertainment for Tiny House Listings.  In this article I suggested that one consider carefully what space they will allow for entertainment.  What I had not considered is that there are people all over the world who can find and make their own entertainment.  Some people can even provide entertainment to others with virtually nothing but their own talent.

I knew I missed the boat when I saw this video come up on my Facebook thread!

This is my cousin Georgia, her red solo cup and her angelic vocal cords.  Clearly she has offered a great instrument for the Tiny House community… A whole band can be set up for $1.69 and then they stack away neatly or can be filled and used when you are doing playing.

Maybe I will have better luck with this than with the strumstick?  Or perhaps Hj can play the strumstick, Georgia the solo cup and it is back to the spoons for me.  Georgia can do the singing; maybe her mom too?  Marnie also has great vocal cords and she also plays the uke!  How does that sound for a Tiny House band?

Categories: Art, Open your eyes, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario, View | Tags: | 3 Comments

Sew Nice!

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Laura

Okay, so the truth is, I have been holding back on you.  I can sew.  Please don’t tell anyone!  It is a secret because I find that if you tell people that you sew, they always want you to do their mending and hem their pants.  Truthfully, this is not the sort of stuff I like / want to sew and I have a hard time saying no because it really is simple for me… It is just that don’t enjoy it.

What I love to do is projects!  I like picking out fabric, making a pattern and sewing up something from my own imagination when the mood strikes me.

When I was first out of school I worked in a dry cleaner’s as a seamstress, so I was a professional seamstress at one time.  More than this, I can draft patterns,  tailor a man’s suit jacket and sew things as complex as a wedding dress.  I had very accomplished teachers!

Anyway, a while ago, my friend D mentioned that she needed a crate for her dog and on Sunday a rescuer friend L gave me a heads up about a crate for $10 at the Salvation Army, so I skipped down and picked it up.  I decided to pretty it up as a Christmas gift.  I made a cover, a cushion and two matching little blankets.

I think this beats a Christmas gift from the mall, hands down!

———-

As things turned out D did not need it after all, but there was a terrible fire on King Street and a woman named Jen lost everything including her dog crate.  Synchronicity?

I brought it over for her dog Riley.  On the way I stopped at Pet Value on Wilson Street in Hamilton to get a few other things too.  I told them what I was shopping for and they handed me a nice big bag full of treats and food!  Yeah Pet Value!  You really rocked the day for Riley and his mom!

March... Riley is enjoying his grate!

Categories: Dogs, Simple living, Sustainable living | Tags: , , , | 5 Comments

Feeding the Birds

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Laura

Last year I purchased two bird feeders that were on sale for $5.  The first time it rained, I realized why they were so cheap.  The bases filled with water and the food on the bottom absorbed the water and turned into sticky goo which I had to dig out.  Gross!  Sadly too, pretty useless unless you have a covered patio, which I don’t… you know… rain happens.

This year because of the earlier drought I know that the birds suffer and will continue to suffer unless there is food put out for them because not enough stuff germinated and created seeds.  I had been thinking about buying a different feeder because I hate to throw the seeds out on the ground when we live so close to a feral colony here in Hamilton.  A while back, my friend O and I were at a greenhouse where I was admiring the practicality of $90 bird feeders and telling her about my terrible feeders.  She suggested that I buy a plastic bowl from the dollar store to cover them and drill a hole in the top (they have to be flexible plastic).  Yesterday, I finally got around to buying and preparing them and I already have a hundred sparrows chattering happily outside.  I am not sure if the bowls are large enough but  rain is coming so, I guess I will know soon enough if their food will stay dry.

DIY Covered bird feeders

Categories: Nature, Open your eyes, Simple living | Tags: , , | 7 Comments