Tiny house

Creative Trades

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Laura

I had just moved into Tiny House Ontario when my cousin Vernie, who is also a neighbour, called and asked if I could babysit his dog while they went to Maine.  I love dogs so of course this was not a problem for me.  He offered to sweeten the deal which was not necessary at all, I told him, I would take care of the dog without anything.  Still he said he would make me a recycled wood bedside table for Tiny House Ontario.  A pretty good trade; of course I said yes.

Vernie along with being one of the smartest and most interesting people I have ever known, is a carpenter.  Really more than that, he is a comedian and an artist with a capital A.  He probably never had a lot of money to explore his creative side, so he created art out of things that people left behind, way before this recycled art became hype or trend.  I am a huge fan of everything Vernie does.  Really, if I had an unlimited amount of money I would love to have a big space to have an artist’s collective and I would most certainly want Vernie to be a part of this.  Not just for his talent but also for his amazing ability to recall history, family background and make me laugh my head off.  The man knows how to do about everything, except for how to train a dog, that is.

So, a couple of days later he and his wife left, a few times a day I hopped on my trusty little steed, and I went to take care of Andy Capp. When I pulled up on my little bike, there the dog would be, large as life, a muscle bound fool, with his tongue hanging out, happily waiting for me to bring him out for a walk.  It was not really like that, because every time the fool of a dog brought me on a walk (to remember).  Ok, so I am still not telling you the whole truth.  Actually, it was more that he brought me for a drag, all over the place, and often it was right down on the ground where Andy brought me and then he would jump on me a few times for fun too.  I spent the week sore and filthy from the multiple dragging incidents.  Despite the fact that Andy is about half my size he is about 10 times my fitness level and thus he knocked me off my feet into dust, grass, mud.  He pulled me into the ditch face first and also escaped my grasp more than once.

On the second visit before I knew better, I brought him into Vernie’s house and he tore the mattresses and bedding right off the beds.  He peed on my handbag too, that day, just for good measure.  It was a week of tomfoolery and chaos and I was mighty glad to see Vernie arrive home!  I have actually never met a dog as busy as Andy;  it is a good thing that he is such a beautiful animal.  Part Akita with all this gorgeous fur colouring, eyes and confirmation.  A stunning, and stunningly stupid, dog for sure.

Turns out that Andy hurt Vernie’s wife more than once.  She says that they are ‘not friends’ and I am sure that she means it.  She is older than me and he was able to hurt me too.  He does not mean to; despite the pee on my purse, he is not a mean spirited creature at all, but rather just an excited and very strong, goofy puppy.  I suspect that he is not the right dog for retired people.

Anyway, as for the bedside table, Vernie carved the door and built this gorgeous little cabinet.  I asked him to stamp his name on the back of it.  Since I am a huge fan of Vernie, I could not be more thrilled with this fantastically whimsical and creative piece.  Then who would not love to own this gorgeous creation?  Honestly, every time I go up the ladder stairs, I admire it.  I think this lovely little cupboard is totally and absolutely worth the week with Andy Capp.

Still, I have to admit, I will hold my breath for a moment if they ask me this summer to babysit Andy.  Before I agree,  I will of course hope that Andy will have calmed down a little with age; or at least that I got a little smarter and more prepared over the winter.

Categories: Art, Dog, Environmentalism, Sustainable living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario, Trade | 7 Comments

Moussaka

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Laura

I make moussaka a lot but only the vegetarian variety.  Still, on the last two visits to Tiny House Ontario I found that a family of mice moved into the gas BBQ.

In the early fall, a little mama mouse with five (about one day old) suckling babies ran out totally terrified.  Her little pink furless babes were (surprisingly) firmly attached on to her teats and stayed there whilst she she ran out of the base of the BBQ and about 15 feet away.  The poor terrified girl frantically squeezed into a crack by the Indian tree.

I wanted to use the BBQ.  Still,  I did not know about her and I certainly did not want to harm her or her babies; nor did I wish to see them out in the cold with no home!  This is when I put on a silicon mitt and carefully relocated the home right above the crack where she had squeezed.  I took the gorp out of a squash, and put this next to her newly relocated home and then took a pot and put this as a cover right on top of her nest (don’t worry there was a crack in the rocks for her to get out).  Then I placed a heavy rock on top of the pot and covered this with some leaves.  I thought that this might just be a great hidden and safe spot for a wild woods mama mouse.  Certainly safer than a gas oven!

On the December visit, after a few weeks away I opened up the BBQ again, this time and found that they had moved right back into the BBQ.  It was so cold that I could not stand to move them, so we simply used the small propane cooker and had tea and soup instead of roasting anything – particularly the little moussaka!  I left them put except to take a couple of photos because little genius found a small bag of mineral insulation and then built quite a little fort!  Here is the fort.  The baby photos are from the internet and not our woods mice.

Hopefully the BBQ keeps them warm this winter and they do not move into the Tiny House!

Categories: Environmentalism, Sustainable living, Tiny house | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Building Code Ontario and Tiny House Ontario

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Laura

OK you caught me, I am an artist and writer and some things simply don’t interest me that much, or hardly at all.  Also I like to think outside of the box, which is probably what lead me to the Tiny House Movement to begin with.

For example, my take on it is that the Ontario Building Code, is not very different from any other rule book.  Kinda boring.  Started originally with good intentions, like keeping people from burning to death, then it got signed on to by ever more groups, added onto over and over and over. Intuitiveness and sensible stuff gets shoved aside somewhere along the line and this rule book becomes as stagnant as the water in an old tire.  Inevitably, to make any changes to this or any other rule book you have to fight like a warrior and often times with no hope.

If you clicked on the OBC link above, or if you are one of those sorts who read the rules, then you will know that the OBC book is absolutely HUGE.  I have not read it.  GASP!  What I have done is that I have consulted with a few builder friends and relatives because chatting and planning are more fun and interesting for me.  I let the people in the know tell me what I need to.

There were some steadfast things that I learned, by osmosis and through these chats, and when I was pretty sure I knew what I was talking about was pretty firm, then I called the Township office and spoke to the building inspector in February of 2011.  I fortunately reached this inspector directly.  I gave the inspector my address and name and began to speak.

I told the inspector that I don’t live close and that I wanted to build a 108 foot structure (on my land) for me and my dogs to stay in when I visited home.  I also said that I might want to use this when and if I eventually build a home there.  I was told that I can do that.

I then told the inspector that I wanted to do it in straw bale and the inspector said that 108 square feet is the maximum for the exterior measure (new news), so if I build with straw I would have only about 40 square feet left on the inside.  I asked the inspector if there were any exceptions, I was told no exceptions.  This is when I knew that I would have to use 2×4’s so that I would have some interior space.  Oh well.

I told the inspector that I was planning on building a place which was insulated, 15 feet high and with lots of windows.  The inspector said that the details like this do not matter as long as it is up to code in terms of safety and that it could not be over 15.5 feet.  Good to know.

Thus Tiny House Ontario is a stick built house on a cement pad with a sort of verbal clearance from the inspector there.  As far as I know this inspector has not been in but the Road’s inspector has been in and seen Tiny House Ontario because this inspector has to approve (hopefully next time around) my damn culvert.  Two unsuccessful visits to date.  UGH!

A recent query on here makes me worried that someone in a government suit will pull in to my land and insist that I tear down Tiny House Ontario.  I truly hope that this is not the case.  With nothing in writing I guess you are always vulnerable.  Still I think that I did everything that I am supposed to.

Categories: Building code, Environmentalism, Materialism, Rules, Sustainable living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: | 69 Comments

Surviving, The Artist’s Way

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Laura

In my real life, I made my living (mostly) in the academic world as a writer and a magician of sorts for contract after contract.  I am a creative, conscientious and organized person, which is why I was good at the work that I did.  Still, I found that once each of my jobs was done, that I often felt less than comfortable with the outcome; further, I always felt that I had sold my creative side for nothing and that I was only ever really being paid and recognized for the organized side.  Sadly, my creative self’s stuff was always being claimed by the people who I worked for; their idea, their process, their stuff.  Most creative people who work for others find this and I can tell you that this was not easy on me.

The consequence of all of this is that my creativity has a very difficult time letting itself out.  I am not just a blocked creative, I am a stomped on, squashed up, used badly, and dried up creative.

I belong to a writing group in Hamilton, Ontario and I spoke to the group about how painful it is for me to write and three of them suggested that I try The Artist’s Way program.  Sort of a 12 step – and 12 week program for blocked creatives.

I knew, before I built Tiny House Ontario that this was both an expression of creativity as well as a place for me to open up to creativity, both in myself and in others.  I worked The Artist’s Way program all summer and found that I accomplished a big boost in my creativity.  Still, I earned nothing at all, which is not so excellent!  So, how do I live creatively and make money too?  I learned this summer that eventually, Tiny House Ontario would allow me to live very inexpensively.  The question is, I could live an off grid life there without depending on the economy, or any real 9-5 or even part time gig?

I suspect that once everything is bought and paid for, (I still have credit line debt on my land) I could live well at Tiny House Ontario for $5,000 a year, but realistically I think that $8,000 a year would allow me to have a little wiggle room, for art supplies, travel, vet bills, clothing and extravagancies.

My aim is to figure out exactly how to make this $8,000 without actually having a job.  Paintings are difficult to sell.  There is no guarantee that someone will actually publish my novels, or my Tiny House Ontario book; even if they do publish me, will my books sell?

I intend to start a small bee colony, but who knows if this will make any money or if it will simply be another fun little creative hobby for me?

I am a wicked good seamstress, but I actually hate to sew and with no electricity as well as very little space, a treadle, seems both huge and dreadful!

I plan to put in a few hundred asparagus roots, which is a good crop, but I am also not sure if this is feasible in the forest, or if I can actually produce enough crop to make this investment pay for itself, let alone pay for future living costs.

I have great administrative, computer and organizational skills, as I already mentioned, but this stuff typically means job, transportation, clothes, heels, make-up, being away from home.  I don’t mind getting all gussied up but the idea of a job; simply put, I would really rather not.

So, here it sits!  I am person with many talents and many skills.  Still, I have not figured out if I can make $8,000 by either earnings or trade, and live without a job.

I strongly hope that time will tell me more!

Categories: Art, Dog, Environmentalism, Materialism, Money, Off Grid, Sustainable living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario | 8 Comments

Small House Society Video

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Laura

This explains some things about the small house movement very well in 10 minutes.

Categories: Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment