Bear the Tinker

“People who have no dreams, are poor”  ~ Bear the Tinker


It is two years since I met Bear the Tinker at my cousin’s organic farm.  A Tinker is an travelling tinsmith for those of you who don’t know (I did not).  The Tiny House where he lived and worked out of for many years, and still for much of the year is a Caravan which is drawn from place to place by his lovely horse and companion, Callum.

Meeting Bear stands out in my life as one of the great experiences.  It is hard to describe him, his storytelling, his music his wit and his peace.  The strength of presence of this man, and his connection to the past is something that one must experience to believe.

This is a clip from a great old TV show out of Canada.  Bear the Tinker lives near Kingston Ontario.

If you see him on the road, stop!  Ask him where he is heading next to tell stories and sharpen knifes, I am urging you, make Bear a part of your plan, even if you have to travel far to meet him.  If you must work to arrange it, or travel to be where he is, please do so, treat yourself to this experience.

Here are the links so that you may find him….

Bear the Tinker

Facebook

News clipping

Here is a tip (just in from Bear).  If you want to meet him, he will be at the Delta Fair for 3 days, and events at Murphy’s Point Park on July 20 and August 3. Also FYI… he offers Yurt Building courses for small groups of 10-12 people. 😀

Categories: Bear the Tinker, Kingston, Magical, Ontario, Open your eyes, Simple living, Sustainable living, Time, Tiny house, View | 5 Comments

My Grandparent’s Tiny House

These are photos of my grandmother Violet and my grandfather Bob at thier Tiny House.  These photos are about 25 years old, 1987 is my guess.  I believe that she is about 65 years old and he is two years older here.  The other people in the photos are an unknown neighbour and my Daddy, Richard.  Mom was there too, but not shown because she took the photos with her then new 35 mm Olympus Trip camera.

Grandma and Grandpa did not live here, but bought this Tiny House on the Mississippi River in Ontario as a get-away.   Tiny living as a full time thing would be out of the question for them because there are 19 of us in the immediate family and we all came for Sunday dinner; EVERY SUNDAY.  Nineteen was not how many they had for Sunday dinners, because there were spouses and partners, we also brought others along, plus there was extended family and neighbours who also came by.  They were people who really loved their family and unlike the people of today who ramble in their big mcmansions alone, they needed the big house with the HUGE table to fit us all!  It was expected that they would have between 25 and 35 every week to dinner and they loved these get togethers.

Even so, I suspect that they enjoyed a little solitude from time to time.  Grandma often spoke about their Tiny House haven in the wilderness, particularly after I told her about my Tiny House plans.  Even though she was failing in health she came out to see what I built and when she came to visit she said ” I thought that you were building a Tiny House?”  She was grinning from ear to ear.

Grandma worried that I might not like the Tiny House in the forest once I had it built because I am like her in the way that I love being around people.  I told her that I would get visitors and that I would go out and see people too.  I try to do this but as always she was right, I often feel lonely and wish more people would come.

I think it is interesting that Tiny Housers run in my family.

Categories: Family, Friendship, Simple living, Tiny house, View | 1 Comment

Land Claim

I wonder if we all moved off of Turtle Island how long it would take for nature to swallow up all signs of human life?

I think it would not take very long, at all, for all signs of Tiny House Ontario to totally disappear.

The driveway, is just a little over a year old.  It was a lot of work to get it in but even so, in just a year nature already fights back against settlement.  HJ and I spent an hour yesterday recovering the West edge of the driveway back from the forest because Mother Nature is trying to reclaim it from us.  This is the third time that we have had to do the job in the calendar year.  It is not a horrible job, but had to be done because driving in in a car was somewhat like going through a car wash; there was always something rubbing up against the vehicle.  Admittedly, Baby does not do much to keep it back and I suppose if we were driving in and out more with a large vehicle that the drive would be more permanent. Even so, back to the wondering of how long it would take for all signs of us to disappear?

Categories: Environmentalism, Forest, Nature, Off Grid, Ontario, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment

Gaining Comforts

Tiny House Ontario has become a lot more comfortable this year.  A little bit of rearranging, turning the cupboard door, the W/C (non addition) through the side window have all made things feel a bit bigger and easier to access.  It all helps to make the space feel better even though it is not yet completed.

Here is what it looks like now.

Due to the fact that we pay as we go with her, THO is very much a project that is still underway.  The major ones to do here are (in order of operation) the flooring ($1500 and time), the kitchen (drawers, 12 volt fridge and 2 burner cooker – $2000), the furnace ($1500), the well (plus solar and hand pumps -$7000).  None will be done this year unless we fall into a little bit of money and if this happens the furnace will jump que so that we can use THO more comfortably and with more safety this winter.

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

Gardening 101

Here Papa Wolf is teaching Little Bad Wolf to garden.  The garden is 100 square feet, the interior of THO is 97… 😀  Can you find the Imp?

Categories: Dogs, Food, Friendship, Off Grid, Tiny House Ontario | Leave a comment