Simple living

Rain

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Laura

It has been raining off and on for the past few days since we had the heat wave.  It means that I sit inside of Tiny House Ontario and read.  The rain is great for the garden which is growing great.  I think I should be able to have salad for supper tonight, and so begins the start of the 0 mile diet.

During a lull in the rain, I weed the garden and note that the chicken wire over the part of the garden which had big seeds that the critters dig, is difficult to pull weeds out of.  I have to wait until they are a little bigger and come up through the wire.  That is my story, I am sticking to it.

When I was out checking on the garden I noticed that the dragon flies are using my soffit to hide under.

As for what I have read while I am shut-in and cuddling with the canines.  Shirley Gibson-Langille’s Landscapes and Inscapes which is an utterly charming book which melds her paintings into the history of the Kingston area.  Augustin Burroughs This is How which is LOL funny, but also astute!  The guy tells it the way that it is, and I sort of fear that he is probably right about a lot of issues.  Lastly Anaïs Nin In Favor of the Sensitive Man which is a rather 1970’s look at men and women, but still somehow interesting.  I will begin another tonight.

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

Two Little Showers

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Laura

There was a little rain last night which brought cooler air with it.  The comfy rainy morning sleep made me stay in bed just a little longer.  Rudigrrrr Wolf woke me by barking and jumping on my head.  I knew that he had to go badly to the bathroom, so I pushed my groggy head up and off the pillow.  Pulled myself up, shuffled over to the stairs and leaned to pick him up and carry him downstairs.  When I lifted him up, he started to pee.  He peed over the floor, the stairs, the other dogs and me.  Poor Bad Little Wolf waited a bit to long to wake me up.

So, I had to wash the dogs a little, and because I was already bugging them I decided I would clip their nails and put on their Sentinal since these are things that they hate and I thought I would bug them once large instead of three times small.  I also put my jammies and towels into a laundry bag and bring them to be washed.  I decided to throw them in at Liisa’s.  She is at work.  When I arrived there, two nice juicy piles of cat vomit where there waiting for me, one on the entryway mat and one on the way to the laundry room.  So I cleaned that up.  Well, I picked up the vomit off the door mat and floor and threw the mat outside for Liisa to deal with.

Then I drove to town to get dog food.  I  arrived at 9:30 am to do a bit of on line stuff, check my bank account and found that $400 was taken for a “loan payment” from my account.  FFS!  What a morning!

Visibly freaked out, I ran to the bank only to find that the money that I thought had been stolen was simply a little extra transfer that I had made to the mortgage and they changed the way that they code it.  Nothing missing but my pride, since I went in there at about a billion miles an hour with my freak on – heart pacing…

So what I am saying is that it is not yet noon, and I have been yelled at, jumped on, peed on, vomited for, robbed and humiliated.  I wonder how the rest of the day will unfold?

Too funny to keep to myself.

Here are the rainy lovely morning trees.  Peace out…

Categories: Dogs, Family, Friendship, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Tiny House Ontario | 1 Comment

Lay Down With Dogs…

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Laura

The weather here is unseasonably warm.  Perfect weather for a mid day siesta with the gang.  41 with the humidex.  There is just enough room here for me.  I am taking it for the second day in a row.

Unlike the old adage, I do not fear fleas.  Fur up my nose, that is my biggest concern.

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

The Fall of the Ant Tree

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Laura

The high winds that we had at Tiny House Ontario the other day made it apparent to us the the Ant Tree was about to come down.  It sloped over at least two feet off centre straight toward the house, so my husband and I decided to take a proactive stance and take her down.

I took a notch out on the North West side of the tree and then my husband cut the other side while I pushed it away from the house.  It worked!

It also fell onto the dead apple and took a big chunk of this down too, so my husband also removed this.

It looks a little more open.  I get a lot more light and I think it is nicer without the huge dead tree.  Still  I will miss seeing the woodpeckers.

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

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