Simple living

The Lightbulb Above My Head

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Laura

So, I finally started the hooking up of the solar system.  The battery is hooked up to the panels and hopefully charging/charged. After reading about solar systems a quite a bit, I decided to put in a full 12 volt system into THO and use 12V LED lights and install only a single outlet for the inverter which I can use when I wish to charge my phone, computer, or run a small vacuum – whatever.  I decided to go this way because then I do not waste energy on adapting to a different form unless it is in use.  This, I decided on a long time ago but I found that finding LED lights was something that was nearly impossible to do.  The on line companies that I looked at seem confusing and really meant more for cars than off grid situations.

Yesterday when I was putting the battery into the yacht battery box (to keep it dry) the lightbulb went off in my little head!  Marine supply!  Of course!

I promptly called the good people at Vandervoort Hardware in Kingston because they carry a good deal of marine supply and spoke to the man who runs this section.  He said, yes, we have them.  We carry lots of LED lightbulbs, and a couple of lights, basically you come in and order what you want and in three or four business days they arrive.

This morning I arrived at Vandervoort’s just as they opened and he pulled out the catalogue.  Turns out that THE marine supply store in Canada is called Brewer’s, and they are located near one of my favourite cafe’s on Guise Street in Hamilton, Ontario.  Oh the irony!  This is just a few blocks from my house there.  The guy said, you might as well go there because there you can touch them, look at them and also see the price tag.  Gotta love a small business man who sends you somewhere else when they know you can do better there.  He also said that there are three distinctive types of LED lights so I should be mindful when I select them because it will make installation easier.   So, I guess I will take a trip to Hamilton next week!   It will also give me the opportunity to look a the Dickenson marine stoves too and since I want to see my niece and nephew off to Germany, it works well.

 

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

Balance

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Laura

I was up around Toronto yesterday morning and I am happy to report that the vegetation in that area is looking downright lush again.  Here in the Kingston area, I think we must have had significantly  less precipitation to carry us through.  There has been rain, as a matter of fact, it is raining today.  Even so, I think this is too late, we have lost a lot of forest here and I also think that it is way too late for most farmers because the root system is dead on so much.  The balance of need was not met.

We have a few red tomatoes in the THO garden but sadly this is because they are dry rotted on the bottom.  The Zero mile diet has been 99% flop.  I know I will find that the balance here was also thrown off, it will have been an expensive year at THO when I finally do the books this fall.

I am lucky that I have more than one option still and am really pretty happy that I put in a back up garden in Hamilton and this is doing really well.  I have had a number of meals from there already and also I have frozen one huge bag of tomatoes and my potatoes and herbs look really great.  While I was there I put away some Niagara freestone peaches too.  I think I will reap a lot of food from Hamilton considering particularly that I have only about 30 square feet of space to grow in at the house.  Still, I feel terrible for my farming friends in this area whose books will be red with the loss.

Back here at THO, here is some rain on what is left of the ant tree.  I would like to put a bird bath up on that post, one with a drain, so I am hoping I can find something which fits here easily. I am in town now to post this and also to get two 2×4 boards for a small project.  I will write about what I am doing when it is accomplished.

Categories: Drought, Forest, Gnome, Magical, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

King of the Road

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Laura

While sitting in my favourite cafe in Kingston (Mug and Truffle), when this brilliant old song came on the stereo.  This time, I was working on a blog post and I heard the lyrics again, in a different way, for the first time.

“two hours of pushing broom
Buys a eight by twelve four bit room
I’m a man of means by no means
King of the road”

THO is similar in size at ~8.5×11.5.  Of course, I don’t rent it, but own it… and my process is not one of necessity but choice… too unlike many Tiny Housers, I did not build mine to go on the road but I attached it to a foundation.  Even though there are clear differences, these lyrics made me think.

Last night, I had a wonderful chat with my almost cousin Jenny who is in the military.  She shared a story about winter camping with a deflating mattress.  It was no ride in the park!  She woke up with her bottom side frozen into the ground.  She spoke about lighting a small naphtha stove, with thick mittened fingers, while she was on watch.  She explained to me how an act as seemingly trivial as this become the matter of significant importance and how this outweighed whatever was going on in the world around her.  This along with other experiences she has lived make her full well understand that we humans can deal with loss of convenience quite easily.  We simply get on with the smallest details of survival, we adapt.  I am not supposing that my life at THO mirrors the hardship that soldiers face.  As a matter of fact, a while back a friend said that THO was practically palatial when compared to his hunting camp.  I have to say, as a person who has travelled and seen some pretty seedy hotels, I also realize that it is this too when compared to a two-bit room.

Still, THO does not have a lot in the way of amenities.  This required me to make many adaptations in the way that I live my life.  As this house of mine comes closer to completion, I hope that I have what it takes to make the steps to permanently adapt to this “less is more” life.

The great Townes Van Zandt wrote an ode to Janis Joplin and in this he said:

“If I thought about it long enough
I just might make some kind of move
watchful eyes are too hard on the soul”

To tell you the truth, I can’t explain how all this music and these thoughts are connected except inside me, somewhere deep and buried in my own personal set of meanings.  They are part of the process of downsizing and giving up on the extras that at one time I felt were needed in order for me to be happy.  Now, I think happiness is not a big pile of stuff, but rather it is something internal, gained by having experiences which make my life full.

Categories: Materialism, Money, Off Grid, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 2 Comments

Tiny House Nuisance

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Laura

There is one thing about living in a Tiny House that I never once considered.  Absurd as it is, it is something that drives me bonkers!  The source of this nuisance is a common house fly. It is not as trivial as it might sound because in a small space they sound significantly louder than in a large one and there are plentiful places to hide at THO.  The fly here has evaded me for two days and is as loud as a B6 bomber… Okay, I am exaggerating a lot, I admit it, but the silly thing is getting to me with all its flitting and flying and buzzing about!  Perhaps another reason that it is so loud is that there are no other sounds at THO, such as a television, radio or even white noise from a fridge.  When the windows are closed to the weather as they are today (rain Woot!) this fly and my breathing are the only sounds.

Further annoying is that it let me photograph it several times but then hid again when I set down the camera and got the fly swatter.  I am not sure how flies know that you intend to squish them to death with a fly swatter, but they seem to always hide when ever I pull one out.  Has anyone ever noticed this?  Perhaps they have some sort of ESP?  

This photo also tells me that it is certainly time to dust THO.  I really hate dusting, so I am thrilled that THO is so Tiny!   I am also happy to announce the fly’s passing.  I finally found success!

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

Green Man

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Laura

When I look into the forest I very often see faces in the trees.  Some people refer to these as green man.

Here is a nice depiction by the artist Lauri Alexander.

In the evening there is a green man in the forest who can be seen clearly looking at me whilst I sit on the cloth porch.  Unfortunately, my camera is not of the quality that I can catch him when the light is behind him is perfect and he shows himself to me really clearly.  This is my Southern green man in the day.  Do you see him?  I am happy that he is still there, and still green…

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