Baby Got Back!

I got Baby back.  Turns out that I had both a blocked carb and a bad stator.  I don’t know what a carb is – unless it is the thing that comes in pasta and bread.  I also do not know what a stator is.  Apparently if your stator is bad then your bike will randomly turn off and misbehave.  It becomes erratic in reliability – behaving a bit like a person with an uncontrolled mental illness.

It is also difficult to diagnose.  The bike mechanic was very frustrated!

The bill for fixing Baby’s carb, replacing her stator and also fixing her kickstand (just a little spring) was just over $400.

The only part which I know the function of, is the kick stand.  I would like to take a basic bike mechanics course, but don’t know if courses like this are available any more.

Nice to have my wheels on the road again!

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

Keep on Rockin’ at Tiny House

It stopped raining this afternoon so HJ and I decided to do a little outside work instead of building the little W/C units.  We started to close in the base of the W/C so that it can be used to hide items that we want to hang onto, such as bits of pipe.

While we worked in that area we also decided to put in a few of the large rocks that we collected into place so that we have stairs leading East from the front of the Tiny House instead of a slope.

Since I was handling some rocks, I also put a few more rocks at the West side of the house and Cloth Porch.  I really love the flat stones because I can run outside with my bare feet to tend to the dogs or the BBQ.  The flat stones make it a little bit more convenient and therefore comfortable.  It is really hard work to dig them up and to get them level, but I think it is worth the effort.

I imagine that this will not be my last update on rockin’ because I imagine that we need to find and put in another 200 or so before the plans are fully realized.

 

 

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Something New

I have been looking all over for a unit to go into the little WC.  I have about a 1 foot wide by 6 inch deep space to put the trash bin, coconut husk bin and as well I wanted a little surface to put things on as well as a small drawer for personal products.  For the last month I have stopped at as many of the second hand places as I could think of and could never find anything of these particular dimensions which suited my needs.

Today I left the Tiny House because of the rain with the idea that I would do a blog post and also stop and get a little box to put the toiletries in.  We are over near the town centre in the Home Depot plaza and we found a nice little stand at JYSK.  They are tiny and not too expensive and today the tax is included, so the unit was under $25.  I also bought a $2. piece of oil cloth for my table (mine is ripped).  Next door at the Dollarama I got two little plastic bins for 1.50 each, white for garbage and black for coconut husks.  It was a $30 shopping extravaganza!

I am looking forward to getting them set up.  It is too rainy to get the eves trough up/rain barrel working, but even getting a little small stuff accomplished feels good.  

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Laughing Wire Water Garden

My cousin Vernie, one of my favourite people, let me know that he had some chicken wire to put over my garden to keep out the rodents.  So I went over to his place to pick it up and he shared a few hilarious anecdotes from the past.  He just slays me!  His daughter Tracey has also inherited his wicked sense of humour so we laugh a lot when we are together.  I love that my life is filled with hilarity!

Vern also shared one of his new inventions with us, a very cool corn planting machine.  The man is a genius!

With chicken wire in hand and though it was raining cats and chihuahuas we braved the rain to reseed and also to put the chicken wire down.  It looks pretty nifty and will be interesting to see how the plants can come though it.  Hopefully they will not all be gnawed off.

This morning it was still pouring but the seeds seem to one totally in place.  I hope it keeps on raining for another day or two since everything is dry as bone here and water is needed to get the food growing.

I left a small rubber container out on the cloth porch last night and it was about 2 inches deep this morning.  Thus it was a good rain.

My mom used to sing… “oh Lord don’t let the rain come down, because my roof has got a hole in it and I might drown”, but we are dry in Tiny House Ontario as well as in town doing a blog post.

I think I will sing… “oh lord how I wish it would rain down on me” to keep that water coming for a bit and get my garden going.

Categories: Environmentalism, Forest, Friendship, Off Grid, Ontario, Simple living, Sustainable living, Tiny House Ontario | 1 Comment

Cuddling Corner

I rearranged the furniture at Tiny House and have found that I really like to sit in this little corner.  It is particularly nice if one of the dogs cuddle in with me while I read or write.

The photo of Honey is not too flattering, but she does not get on line much and I won’t tell her about it, so please don’t tell her about it either.

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