Tiny House Ontario

Stones, Slope and Fabulous Farmers

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Laura

We got a little rain this morning so the stone dust got packed in a little bit better.  This allowed us to add another layer of stone dust to it.  The neighbour kids stopped by and wanted to help so I suggested that they stamp the stones in.  They happily stomped away.  Thanks kids!

The stone is at about the height that want it now, so I think I need to add a little more to it still because it will compress more over the winter.  It is just about level so I am thinking that I have to add a small slope away from the building in order to keep the water away.  I am not sure how to do this as entire property slopes toward the other side of the house so the natural way is for it to go toward this side of the house.  I have to think about this, but I think that I will have to slope it to the East.  Also, I am accepting any advice you might have on the subject.

After working at this for a couple of hours I went with the kids over to a wonderful organic farm in Inverary, Ontario.  We were reminded that the drought is not just something that effects farmers, it effects eaters.  How true.

Her garden looks about a million times better than mine.  She is producing all sorts of food for a CSA as well as baking bread and producing eggs for these baskets.  Plus the animals… they all need care and attention at all times.  Then the crops and the … it really never ends on a bio-diverse organic farm.  The entire family seems only willing to stop for in order to have a short food break and then they are back to work.

Categories: Art, Drought, Environmentalism, Food, Nature, Ontario, Simple living, Sustainable living | Leave a comment

THO and International Relations

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Laura

THO hosted a Tiny international gathering last night.  Three members of our family from Germany and three from Canada along with Hj, me and the four dogs.  It has been a long time coming… my sister was totally surprised, as was I (last week) to see how tall Michael is now.  We both, had not seen him since he was just 9 years old in 2003.  These big distances make for big gaps in our understanding of one another.  It is good to be in touch.

Our dogs were in heaven with all the hands there to pet them.  As well as the possibility of catching a salty potato chip was very exciting to them because this is something which we do not often have.

Unusually, the coyotes were very quiet last night. Perhaps it was the number of people that kept them away?  Or perhaps they had to listen more quietly to understand the language in the cloth porch?

Categories: Cloth Porch, Dogs, Family, Friendship, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

Getting Stoned

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Laura

We got so stoned yesterday at Tiny House Ontario!  We had expected this to come but were really surprised at how much we got for $175!

My cousin Andrea put in a flag stone patio last summer and it looks really great, so I thought using the same inexpensive and practical system as she did was the most sensible.  Basically, she explained, that they bought and put in stone dust, making the layer thicker than they wanted (because it settles a lot).  They levelled the stone dust, and then waited until the next summer to put the flag stones on in order so that the stuff settles.  Then they used only a little bit of stone dust to make sure that the stones all lined up and levelled well.  They let this sit too for a couple of weeks then when everything was well settled, they mixed Portland cement and put this into the spaces between.

It is heavy work, moving stone dust, then moving stone, but I love this effect and I am happy to do it. Thankfully my husband came down and we always do stuff together when he is around.  Yesterday it was charging the phones and computers while we got the stone dust in place.  He did the heavy work of shovelling, bringing and dumping the loads and I levelled and stomped on the dust to compress it with my feet.  We have quite a bit of it in place now.

It is a dirty job!  Both of us were coated with limestone dust so we made a trade.  We went in and had showers at my cousin Tracey’s place then we drove her out to her parent’s place because she needed to get there.  We also stayed and had a beer with them.

Her dad, is Vernie, who I have mentioned here before because he is the artist who made the cabinets in THO and her mom Irene is the person who gifts me with all the chipmunks!  They do not like them digging in their garden so they catch and then release them up in the forest at my place.  They and their kids too, are people who have a great sense of humour.  We all sat around laughing for a couple of hours.  What a great way to end a day of hard work!  Clean, fed and laughing with people who you love!

Categories: Art, Tiny House Ontario, Trade | 2 Comments

THO In Charge!

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Laura

The battery is charged.  The lights are all in a state of go so I plugged in the inverter and got a green light!

Then I plugged in my cell and charged it.  It worked, interestingly, the draw was not large enough to be noted as a charge being needed in the big marine battery of the solar system.

Then I plugged in two computers to charge, this made the fan of the inverter turn on intermittently and it also allowed the solar panel to give more energy to the system.

The last photo shows the solar panel with the cloth porch in the background.  The wiring will need to go about 100 feet to gain access to THO.  For this to be up to code the wires need to be buried but in the stones this would be very difficult work indeed!  Also this would make the job of moving the panels so that they can catch better light depending on the season, darned near impossible.  The battery expert told me that rodents love to chew wires that are left outside and suggested that we encase the wires in plumbing tubes – but this is ugly stuff and also pretty awkward to move. I wonder if the wire which is encased in metal might work?

If anyone knows, I would very much appreciate feedback!

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

KBOO.fm

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Laura

I just got a note from the wonderful Rabia who interviewed me for her radio show on KBOO.fm in Portland.

It was a very cool experience and the opportunity to share was pretty awesome.   Rabia made this really easy on me so despite my nerves I don’t believe that I sound like a total idiot.  Thanks Rabia!  Too, I have to say that I totally agree with you when you say that this interview adds so much.   You give Tiny House Ontario a voice!  Thank you!

I decided just to copy and paste her email to me so that you can check out not just my interview but also her other links because she is an interesting person and I am sure that her shows are great.  I hope that I can catch a bit when I am on grid for more than a few minutes at a time.

A Tiny heads up: The interview is about 45 minutes in length so don’t start listening until you get comfy.

>>>>>>>

Hi Laura,

I think I sent this but I didn’t see it on your blog so here is the link to the audio interview.

http://www.kboo.com/node/48967

I’m certain your readers will love hearing your voice and the story. It adds so much.

Also here is a link for your ears to the show I do every Sunday night at Midnight called The Confessional. I’m pretty sure you will enjoy it. People listen around the world, even to the archive?? It’s the MOST fun thing I do. Happy Tuesday!

http://snd.sc/OrywQH, or try this if the link doesn’t work, both “should.”

http://soundcloud.com/contessa-1/confessional-august-13-2012

Categories: Building code, Environmentalism, Magical, Materialism, Readers, Tiny House Ontario, View | Leave a comment