Sunday, April 24, 2016
(Apr 24) Tiny House Village at Earth Day Texas 2016
EarthDay Texas 2016. Huge crowds to see the 9 tiny houses on display. BA Norgard with her home A Bed Over My Head, organized a Tiny Village for the event. Come back tomorrow. I'll add links to their websites. Rushing off for the final day of volunteering for crowd control! :) - Jay and Kim
Monday, April 18, 2016
(Apr 18) Busy Spring - Siding, Interior Trim and Solar Inverters
Sorry it's been a while since I've updated everyone. We've had a crazy busy Spring so far. There was an onslaught of window tint jobs (Kim and I do architectural window tinting on the side. It really helps fund our Tiny House build.) that filled our weekends for the last couple of months. Last year, our first job of the season wasn't until May. People typically wait until it starts getting really hot before they break down and spend the money. Not the case this year. The economy is better than we've seen in a long time. Lots of new businesses opening and lots of businesses renovating businesses. Unemployment at an all time low and people are spending money again. Things just keep moving up year after year. Good to see!
We've also had a lot of family "experiences" over the last couple of months. One daughter broke her foot in multiple places and had to have surgery. She missed 2 months of work but is back on her feet now a little at a time 4 months later. At the same time, another daughter was hospitalized for seizures and was unable to keep any food or drink down. Turns out she has multiple ulcers. She had lost 70 lbs over the past 6 months while multiple doctors kept telling her she just needed to eat more. Grrrr. She's doing much better and is actually able to eat regularly. She had one spell when she was hospitalized that she had not eaten a meal in 13 days.
My parents and my sister came up from the coast and stayed about a week with us. It was so good to see them all and have most of the family over. Their radiator had cracked on the trip up and I drove about 250 miles south to help them limp it up here. Thanks to my younger sister for helping me change the radiator on dad's Dodge/Cummins truck. She had lost her husband this winter to Hep C. :( They had been separated for some time but were still close.) I think the trip out of town did her some good.
It was raining one weekend so we decided not to go work on the Tiny. We got bored and decided to start remodeling my youngest daughter's bathroom. She still lives at home while going to college for the next couple of years. She did a great job at demoing the room down to the studs although she was a bit nervous having to use a cut-off tool to get the bathtub out.
We have managed to squeeze in some work days on our Tiny. For the first time, I'm actually pretty excited about our punch list to get the house finished. We've gotten trim put up inside as well as some baseboards. We've also finished all of the Hardi siding and battens on the outside as well as most of the exterior window trim. We still have a some roof trim and gutters to install as well as painting the exterior. On the inside, we need to trim the door and the rest of the windows. We're also trying to finalize our choice for kitchen backsplash. The bottom line though, we're down to a manageable list. For the past year, it hasn't seemed like we were ever going to finish. Now, our target is the end of next month. :) It's a great feeling! I'm still in awe sometimes when we stop to take a break and take in all that we've accomplished. Not perfect but not bad for a couple of old people that had never even built a doghouse.
We realized the broom closet we installed this winter had been put flush against the wall without a baseboard down. This meant that once the baseboard went down, we would not be able to open the door. So, we build a small base for it so the door will now clear. Just one of those times that you get so excited to make some progress that you really don't think it through. We were short on time when we installed the base so we'll end up having to paint it in place another day. Another reason I love the vinyl flooring! If you make a mistake (ie spill a gallon of paint on it!), it cleans right up. Good stuff!
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| Teriyaki Salmon from Hashi, a Japanese restaurant we tinted earlier this Spring. Great food!! |
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| Great eel and shrimp rolls, covered in Panko and sesame. Truly some of the best sushi we've ever had. |
We've also had a lot of family "experiences" over the last couple of months. One daughter broke her foot in multiple places and had to have surgery. She missed 2 months of work but is back on her feet now a little at a time 4 months later. At the same time, another daughter was hospitalized for seizures and was unable to keep any food or drink down. Turns out she has multiple ulcers. She had lost 70 lbs over the past 6 months while multiple doctors kept telling her she just needed to eat more. Grrrr. She's doing much better and is actually able to eat regularly. She had one spell when she was hospitalized that she had not eaten a meal in 13 days.
My parents and my sister came up from the coast and stayed about a week with us. It was so good to see them all and have most of the family over. Their radiator had cracked on the trip up and I drove about 250 miles south to help them limp it up here. Thanks to my younger sister for helping me change the radiator on dad's Dodge/Cummins truck. She had lost her husband this winter to Hep C. :( They had been separated for some time but were still close.) I think the trip out of town did her some good.
It was raining one weekend so we decided not to go work on the Tiny. We got bored and decided to start remodeling my youngest daughter's bathroom. She still lives at home while going to college for the next couple of years. She did a great job at demoing the room down to the studs although she was a bit nervous having to use a cut-off tool to get the bathtub out.
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| Stripped the bathroom down to the studs. Tub was stuck so we had to cut it out! That was a fun day. |
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| Got the new tub and new toilet installed. |
I also helped her change the struts on her car one day. I'm really proud of her in that she's pretty fearless at taking on new challenges.
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| Sabrina, changing struts on her Mazda, something most 18 year old girls haven't experienced! |
We have managed to squeeze in some work days on our Tiny. For the first time, I'm actually pretty excited about our punch list to get the house finished. We've gotten trim put up inside as well as some baseboards. We've also finished all of the Hardi siding and battens on the outside as well as most of the exterior window trim. We still have a some roof trim and gutters to install as well as painting the exterior. On the inside, we need to trim the door and the rest of the windows. We're also trying to finalize our choice for kitchen backsplash. The bottom line though, we're down to a manageable list. For the past year, it hasn't seemed like we were ever going to finish. Now, our target is the end of next month. :) It's a great feeling! I'm still in awe sometimes when we stop to take a break and take in all that we've accomplished. Not perfect but not bad for a couple of old people that had never even built a doghouse.
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| Broom/Vacuum closet we installed earlier this winter |
We realized the broom closet we installed this winter had been put flush against the wall without a baseboard down. This meant that once the baseboard went down, we would not be able to open the door. So, we build a small base for it so the door will now clear. Just one of those times that you get so excited to make some progress that you really don't think it through. We were short on time when we installed the base so we'll end up having to paint it in place another day. Another reason I love the vinyl flooring! If you make a mistake (ie spill a gallon of paint on it!), it cleans right up. Good stuff!
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| Broom Closet on footing with baseboard installed |
We got stuck inside this past weekend due to rain so we made some progress in finishing up some trim that had been on the list for a long time. We also bought the lumber to trim the door but we couldn't get a break in the rain long enough to carry it down the 700 feet of driveway. I really didn't want it getting soaked and then warping. It'll hold until next time. Still on the list - finish the soffit on North side, put up remaining trim on the roof, paint the exterior. It'll be a busy couple of weeks.
We got our inverters in and installed on our solar array. I finally decided to go with Enphase micro-inverters. I couldn't find a single large inverter that I was happy with that I could afford. The Enphase units were $150 ea while a single large inverter was in the $1,500 range. I didn't like the idea of putting all of our investment into one piece of equipment that only carried a 2-year warranty. The Enphase units have a 25-year warranty, same as the solar panels. They also allow for MPPT management which will keep the array pumping out the maximum power available through shady conditions. I used a Midnite Solar AC Disconnect box. This lets me shut down the whole system with one easy switch and offers combining features if I install another array. Basically, each panel feeds into it's own inverter. There's a proprietary cable that Enphase makes that ties all of the AC lines coming out of the inverters into one trunk cable which you feed to a breaker in the disconnect box. Then, you have a simple 240v connection that you can wire back to your bi-directional meter. Connection for all of this was really simple. The panels plug straight into the inverters. The inverters plug into the trunk cable. You terminate the trunk cable on one end for safety and wire the other into the breaker on the disconnect. I really want to thank Daniel at EcoDirect for taking the time to help me put the order for our equipment together. He was very patient and thorough.
Here are some links that will be helpful for those looking to put up their own solar arrays:
Enphase Microinverter https://enphase.com/microinverters
Enphase Trunk Cable https://enphase.com/trunkcable
Midnite Solar AC Disconnect http://www.midnitesolar.com/
I will also be adding a Kilowatt Meter inline. This will allow me to measure the output of the array. It won't be as fancy as the Enphase control module that monitors each inverter's performance, but it also only costs $60 instead of $500. When you're only making $15-$20 worth of electricity per month, it doesn't make sense to buy something that's going to eat up an additional 2 years worth of production. I need to have the electric company change out our meter for one that accepts incoming electricity. After that, we should be ready to wire the system to the grid. It'll be really cool watching my meter run backwards! Being a grid-tie system, the inverters don't produce any AC electricity unless they sense live electricity from the grid. That way, you don't send juice down the line while someone is working on a transformer. Otherwise, they're pumping clean, free power (after I paid for all of the equipment) into the grid for the next 25-30 years. Good to be part of the solution!
We've started doing some rose gardening. Just 4 bushes to start off with. So far, we've had some beautiful flowers come off. Can't wait for them to mature completely. I'll be so excited when we have enough water at Point to start doing some gardening on a large scale out there!
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| Trim put up along the ceiling/wall line |
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| South Wall soffit, siding and battens |
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| North siding and battens. Still need to finish the soffit. |
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| East wall soffit, siding and battens installed |
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| West wall complete with soffit, siding and battens. Yes, we need to take down the Christmas lights! |
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| Planted some flowers and herbs. Hope the animals leave them alone for a while! :) |
We got our inverters in and installed on our solar array. I finally decided to go with Enphase micro-inverters. I couldn't find a single large inverter that I was happy with that I could afford. The Enphase units were $150 ea while a single large inverter was in the $1,500 range. I didn't like the idea of putting all of our investment into one piece of equipment that only carried a 2-year warranty. The Enphase units have a 25-year warranty, same as the solar panels. They also allow for MPPT management which will keep the array pumping out the maximum power available through shady conditions. I used a Midnite Solar AC Disconnect box. This lets me shut down the whole system with one easy switch and offers combining features if I install another array. Basically, each panel feeds into it's own inverter. There's a proprietary cable that Enphase makes that ties all of the AC lines coming out of the inverters into one trunk cable which you feed to a breaker in the disconnect box. Then, you have a simple 240v connection that you can wire back to your bi-directional meter. Connection for all of this was really simple. The panels plug straight into the inverters. The inverters plug into the trunk cable. You terminate the trunk cable on one end for safety and wire the other into the breaker on the disconnect. I really want to thank Daniel at EcoDirect for taking the time to help me put the order for our equipment together. He was very patient and thorough.
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| Solar array with inverters installed |
Here are some links that will be helpful for those looking to put up their own solar arrays:
Enphase Microinverter https://enphase.com/microinverters
Enphase Trunk Cable https://enphase.com/trunkcable
Midnite Solar AC Disconnect http://www.midnitesolar.com/
I will also be adding a Kilowatt Meter inline. This will allow me to measure the output of the array. It won't be as fancy as the Enphase control module that monitors each inverter's performance, but it also only costs $60 instead of $500. When you're only making $15-$20 worth of electricity per month, it doesn't make sense to buy something that's going to eat up an additional 2 years worth of production. I need to have the electric company change out our meter for one that accepts incoming electricity. After that, we should be ready to wire the system to the grid. It'll be really cool watching my meter run backwards! Being a grid-tie system, the inverters don't produce any AC electricity unless they sense live electricity from the grid. That way, you don't send juice down the line while someone is working on a transformer. Otherwise, they're pumping clean, free power (after I paid for all of the equipment) into the grid for the next 25-30 years. Good to be part of the solution!
We've started doing some rose gardening. Just 4 bushes to start off with. So far, we've had some beautiful flowers come off. Can't wait for them to mature completely. I'll be so excited when we have enough water at Point to start doing some gardening on a large scale out there!
In the middle of all of this, I damaged my spine. (Couldn't have been from all of the work!) Just below the 5th Lumbar, you can see where the discs separated. I was pretty miserable for a while but some good chiropractic work had me back up and going after a couple of weeks. Luckily no surgery needed and no long-term damage that we know of. I'm being much more careful about how I lift things that I shouldn't now. LOL
Wild pigs out at Point are getting braver and braver. We are now seeing evidence of rooting in the yard around the house and this weekend, for the first time, we saw them out in the middle of the day, less than 100' from the house. About 20 pigs in this sounder. For the most part, they're really skittish and ran off as soon as they spotted us. On the other hand, there were several times that we were walking through the woods where we could hear one (sounded large but don't they all when you can't see them!) growling and grunting at us. They just seem to be getting braver. Maybe it's just the mating season that's got them a little riled. I'll definitely be carrying a rifle or pistol when I make treks to the back half of the property from now on. Don't want to get caught too far from the house with no protection.
Hope to see many of you out at EarthDay in Dallas this weekend. We'll have 10 Tiny Houses (on wheels) on display there from across the country. My wife and I will be there as well as many from the Dallas/Fort Worth Tiny House Enthusiasts group. We hope to see you there! If you're not from the DFW area, please look for events in your local towns. Together, we can all make a difference!
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Wild pigs out at Point are getting braver and braver. We are now seeing evidence of rooting in the yard around the house and this weekend, for the first time, we saw them out in the middle of the day, less than 100' from the house. About 20 pigs in this sounder. For the most part, they're really skittish and ran off as soon as they spotted us. On the other hand, there were several times that we were walking through the woods where we could hear one (sounded large but don't they all when you can't see them!) growling and grunting at us. They just seem to be getting braver. Maybe it's just the mating season that's got them a little riled. I'll definitely be carrying a rifle or pistol when I make treks to the back half of the property from now on. Don't want to get caught too far from the house with no protection.
Hope to see many of you out at EarthDay in Dallas this weekend. We'll have 10 Tiny Houses (on wheels) on display there from across the country. My wife and I will be there as well as many from the Dallas/Fort Worth Tiny House Enthusiasts group. We hope to see you there! If you're not from the DFW area, please look for events in your local towns. Together, we can all make a difference!
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| BA Norgard at EarthDay Texas 2015. She'll be joined by 10 other Tiny's this year to make a Tiny Village! :) |
Monday, January 25, 2016
(Jan 24) Some Progress On Siding
Over the past week or so we've accomplished a few small project. They all add up, right?
First of all, we got the framing done around the air conditioner. More obvious difference now that winter has sort of arrived. (It's supposed to be in the 70s this next weekend!) Still, there were some pretty big gaps before that were letting in cold air and critters (scorpions and spiders namely). We'll get around to painting it soon. Nothing fancy until then. :) We just ripped down some of the leftover beetle-kill pine that we put on the north wall.
We had our grandson with us and also had a visit on Saturday from our good friends Cory & Rob. They brought some great turkey burgers to grill. We spent some time assembling our new IKEA broom closet and then worked on a woodworking project for Cory. Great to have friends out and share our Tiny! :)
We put it in the corner of the living area kind of tucked behind our hanging drawers. I'm not thrilled with the walnut color of the cabinet itself so we'll be looking into painting it at some point to match the door more closely. It's 90" tall. We put in a divider shelf at 60" and will use the taller bottom partition to store the vacuum, broom, mop, etc. The upper section got a couple of shelves and will store some kitchen appliances and such. Had to make space for the blender! Wasn't about to leave it behind.
The next day, we set our efforts at using up some of the Hardi board we had laying around. The weather was perfect and it seemed like the time! :) We started by ripping down a piece of soffit to fit under the roof. Went up nicely. It took us a while to get all of the air gun equipment out and get the compressor outfitted with the high volume hose. Made all of the difference in the world when we were shooting the 2" pins through the concrete board into steel roof joists.
Like all of the other projects this week, we'll end up painting everything later. Especially the Hardi. We had originally painted it before we installed it. Too much trouble. Hang it. Paint it all at once. Done. :) We finished installing the planks on the South wall. Now it just needs battens and window trim.
We came up just 3' shy of getting about 1/2 of the North side done. Some stains on it but that's the beauty of concrete board, it'll clean up and paint like new.
Really glad to make some progress on the walls. We got wrapped up in working on the interior through the summer and just never got back to it. We'll take some more soffit out next week as well as some planks to finish the North wall. Then we can start on the window trim. Hope the weather holds. It was so nice working outside in the 60° temps.
Just a brief word on safety. I had left a hammer on top of the 8' ladder pictured above. After lunch, I forgot it was up there and went to move the ladder. Nearly got beaned by it. Not tall enough for a fatal blow but it could have been a nasty cut. Not the way you want to spend what's left of your weekend, sitting in an ER room leaking bodily fluids. Slow down and keep safety in mind, ALWAYS!
Have a great week! I look forward to your comments. :)
First of all, we got the framing done around the air conditioner. More obvious difference now that winter has sort of arrived. (It's supposed to be in the 70s this next weekend!) Still, there were some pretty big gaps before that were letting in cold air and critters (scorpions and spiders namely). We'll get around to painting it soon. Nothing fancy until then. :) We just ripped down some of the leftover beetle-kill pine that we put on the north wall.
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| 8,000 BTU AC window unit mounted over the fridge |
We had our grandson with us and also had a visit on Saturday from our good friends Cory & Rob. They brought some great turkey burgers to grill. We spent some time assembling our new IKEA broom closet and then worked on a woodworking project for Cory. Great to have friends out and share our Tiny! :)
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| Storage Closet in living area |
The next day, we set our efforts at using up some of the Hardi board we had laying around. The weather was perfect and it seemed like the time! :) We started by ripping down a piece of soffit to fit under the roof. Went up nicely. It took us a while to get all of the air gun equipment out and get the compressor outfitted with the high volume hose. Made all of the difference in the world when we were shooting the 2" pins through the concrete board into steel roof joists.
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| Undreside of soffit on South wall. |
Like all of the other projects this week, we'll end up painting everything later. Especially the Hardi. We had originally painted it before we installed it. Too much trouble. Hang it. Paint it all at once. Done. :) We finished installing the planks on the South wall. Now it just needs battens and window trim.
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| Hardi board on South side. |
We came up just 3' shy of getting about 1/2 of the North side done. Some stains on it but that's the beauty of concrete board, it'll clean up and paint like new.
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| Hardi board on North side. |
Really glad to make some progress on the walls. We got wrapped up in working on the interior through the summer and just never got back to it. We'll take some more soffit out next week as well as some planks to finish the North wall. Then we can start on the window trim. Hope the weather holds. It was so nice working outside in the 60° temps.
Just a brief word on safety. I had left a hammer on top of the 8' ladder pictured above. After lunch, I forgot it was up there and went to move the ladder. Nearly got beaned by it. Not tall enough for a fatal blow but it could have been a nasty cut. Not the way you want to spend what's left of your weekend, sitting in an ER room leaking bodily fluids. Slow down and keep safety in mind, ALWAYS!
Have a great week! I look forward to your comments. :)
Monday, January 11, 2016
(Jan 10) Bathroom Window
It's been a long time coming. I finally got motivated and got the bathroom window framed in. We picked up some Cedar boards and it gave us a good excuse to use our new band saw. :) Happy to report it works like a champ. Gave me nice clean cuts at 90°. Much easier than trying to wield a reciprocal saw and much quicker than the jig saw we were using.
We'll stain it next week when we come back out. Hopefully right before we leave. Tung Oil finish puts off a lot of fumes while drying and I'd rather not be here. We're closing in on being finished with the bathroom completely. It will be so nice to check it off!
We also found evidence of wild pigs in the camp for the first time. We had seen signs of them on the other side of the creek but never right next to the house. Our wildlife camera caught 20+ last week feeding on the back part of the property. I'm assuming this is the same group as that was. Several options. 1) Put our head in the sand - stop feeding the deer and hope the pigs go away. Good luck with that! 2) Varmint control - Texas allows you to kill "wild animals" for protection of your property without any license or permit. 3) Breakfast - If you are going to take an animal in Texas to eat it, you need to purchase a state hunting license. There is no season and no bag limit, so you can take them throughout the year. Many people swear that wild pig meat is excellent - much leaner than farm raised. 4) Christmas money - you can trap wild pigs and sell them to processing stations across the state. They don't pay lots per pig (about $10-$100, depending on the size) but if you trap enough of them, you could fund a small trip to a 3rd world country.
We'll stain it next week when we come back out. Hopefully right before we leave. Tung Oil finish puts off a lot of fumes while drying and I'd rather not be here. We're closing in on being finished with the bathroom completely. It will be so nice to check it off!
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| Bathroom window framed in |
We also found evidence of wild pigs in the camp for the first time. We had seen signs of them on the other side of the creek but never right next to the house. Our wildlife camera caught 20+ last week feeding on the back part of the property. I'm assuming this is the same group as that was. Several options. 1) Put our head in the sand - stop feeding the deer and hope the pigs go away. Good luck with that! 2) Varmint control - Texas allows you to kill "wild animals" for protection of your property without any license or permit. 3) Breakfast - If you are going to take an animal in Texas to eat it, you need to purchase a state hunting license. There is no season and no bag limit, so you can take them throughout the year. Many people swear that wild pig meat is excellent - much leaner than farm raised. 4) Christmas money - you can trap wild pigs and sell them to processing stations across the state. They don't pay lots per pig (about $10-$100, depending on the size) but if you trap enough of them, you could fund a small trip to a 3rd world country.
If you are going to pen them for more than 7 days before transporting them to a processing station or hunting ranch, you'll need a permit. Luckily, there's a station less than 10 miles away. Not sure you'll be ahead on money after you've fed and watered them for a while but at least they won't be tearing up your land.
We're looking into finding someone that is already in the business of trapping them who just needs a fresh place to catch them. I would gladly forfeit any funds to not have to mess with them. In the mean time, we've stopped feeding the deer and we'll wait and see. I would have to have a really clean shot to take one with my .22 rifle. Might be an excuse to pick up that Ruger Mini 30 I've been dreaming about. :)
I'll brag again on Ruger Firearms. I have a Ruger target pistol that I've been shooting for nearly 30 years. It developed a problem in that it would on rare occasion fire with the bolt partially open. Scared the crap out of me 1st time it did it as it blew part of the brass casing out the side of the receiver. I got a service authorization and shipped it off to Ruger for diagnosis. About a week later, I get the pistol back with a note explaining that they replaced just about everything on the gun except the barrel and the trigger, apologizing that I had experienced the problem and that there was no charge for the service. Are you kidding! A 30 year old gun that I had worn out by shooting 1000s and 1000s of rounds through. That's customer service and a company committed to standing behind what they build.
I'll brag again on Ruger Firearms. I have a Ruger target pistol that I've been shooting for nearly 30 years. It developed a problem in that it would on rare occasion fire with the bolt partially open. Scared the crap out of me 1st time it did it as it blew part of the brass casing out the side of the receiver. I got a service authorization and shipped it off to Ruger for diagnosis. About a week later, I get the pistol back with a note explaining that they replaced just about everything on the gun except the barrel and the trigger, apologizing that I had experienced the problem and that there was no charge for the service. Are you kidding! A 30 year old gun that I had worn out by shooting 1000s and 1000s of rounds through. That's customer service and a company committed to standing behind what they build.
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| Ruger Mini 30 (7.62mm) - 20 round magazine, 18.5" stainless steel barrel |
The cold weather (in the 20s several nights this week) has taken it's toll on our couple of 12v batteries that were running our sink and shower pumps. We'll likely deal with it for a bit longer until we can put in a pressure tank and a 110v pump. Again, a good excuse to build something. I think a cute little pump house (about 6'-8' square) would do the trick. Insulate the heck out of it and I wouldn't have to heat it except in the most extreme cases. We'll put it right next to the cistern at the back corner of the house. That'll let me bury the incoming lines to to the pump and keep them out of harm's way.
Thanks for reading! Comments are alway welcome! :)
Thanks for reading! Comments are alway welcome! :)
Monday, January 4, 2016
(Jan 3) Starting the New Year
Wow! Can't believe it's 2016! Another year has sped by. At least we've got something to show for it.
Going into January last year we had just started getting sheetrock on the walls, had no flooring down and nothing on the ceiling.
This year, we're starting off with electricity, a floor, furniture and and full kitchen. It's been very exciting. :)
I forget why I'm so tired until I look at the progress we've made in the past year. We've still got lots of work to get it finished, but it come a long way.
I got to spend the last 18 days of the year out at the Tiny House. Kim got a couple of days off for Christmas and New Years but worked the rest and stayed in Arlington. I tried to use the time to get a feel for truly living out here. We swoop in on the weekends, get some work done and hurry back to our other lives. Moments to slow down and enjoy a simpler life are typically measured in hours. This couple of weeks was eye opening. I have come to think of this new property as my home and the other house as just something I have to do for the time being.
If retirement is anything like what I just went through, I don't think I'm going to have any problem getting used to it. :) It's a good thing I don't require much sleep though since sleeping in late never really happens. One of the things we cherish about our little spot in the woods is the abundant wild life and let me tell you, their appetites kick in before the sun comes up every day. We can hear the birds and squirrels hitting the feeders by 5:30a - 6:00a every day and by sun up, there's usually a woodpecker pecking away on something. :)
Here's a little guy that flew into the house and couldn't find his way out this weekend.
The week before, there was a sparrow that hit a window and knocked himself silly. I couldn't bare to let him lay out there and risk the ants getting him. He took the better part of 20 minutes to regain his senses. Wouldn't fly even when I walked outside with him just standing on my open palm. LOL
We had a very peaceful Christmas. I can't wait until we get snow while we're out here on an extended stay. Speaking of weather, we're still having to park out at the street and walk in due to all of the rain from the last month. Not too bad except for the water jugs and the building materials. Hopefully, we'll have our cistern plumbed and running soon. That is our biggest daily challenge at this point (hauling and conserving water) now that we have electricity.
With the help of my son-in-law, David, we did some work on the shelves in the bathroom this weekend. We had hoped to replace our 2x6 shelves with some 1x Oak but it was going to cost way too much at this time. That will have to wait. I loved the brick paneling we put on the outside of the bathroom so decided to put it on the inside also. We also painted the shelves and frames. I really think it completes the effect.
Here was the before shot:
Here's the after:
We decided to take the backing off of the medicine cabinet and let the brick show through when you open the door. It didn't need the support anymore since it was sitting on a shelf. Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with it for now!
I hope everyone has a great week back from the holidays. Stay safe and warm! :)
Going into January last year we had just started getting sheetrock on the walls, had no flooring down and nothing on the ceiling.
This year, we're starting off with electricity, a floor, furniture and and full kitchen. It's been very exciting. :)
I got to spend the last 18 days of the year out at the Tiny House. Kim got a couple of days off for Christmas and New Years but worked the rest and stayed in Arlington. I tried to use the time to get a feel for truly living out here. We swoop in on the weekends, get some work done and hurry back to our other lives. Moments to slow down and enjoy a simpler life are typically measured in hours. This couple of weeks was eye opening. I have come to think of this new property as my home and the other house as just something I have to do for the time being.
If retirement is anything like what I just went through, I don't think I'm going to have any problem getting used to it. :) It's a good thing I don't require much sleep though since sleeping in late never really happens. One of the things we cherish about our little spot in the woods is the abundant wild life and let me tell you, their appetites kick in before the sun comes up every day. We can hear the birds and squirrels hitting the feeders by 5:30a - 6:00a every day and by sun up, there's usually a woodpecker pecking away on something. :)
Here's a little guy that flew into the house and couldn't find his way out this weekend.
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| Carolina Chickadee |
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| White Throated Sparrow |
We had a very peaceful Christmas. I can't wait until we get snow while we're out here on an extended stay. Speaking of weather, we're still having to park out at the street and walk in due to all of the rain from the last month. Not too bad except for the water jugs and the building materials. Hopefully, we'll have our cistern plumbed and running soon. That is our biggest daily challenge at this point (hauling and conserving water) now that we have electricity.
With the help of my son-in-law, David, we did some work on the shelves in the bathroom this weekend. We had hoped to replace our 2x6 shelves with some 1x Oak but it was going to cost way too much at this time. That will have to wait. I loved the brick paneling we put on the outside of the bathroom so decided to put it on the inside also. We also painted the shelves and frames. I really think it completes the effect.
Here was the before shot:
We decided to take the backing off of the medicine cabinet and let the brick show through when you open the door. It didn't need the support anymore since it was sitting on a shelf. Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with it for now!
I hope everyone has a great week back from the holidays. Stay safe and warm! :)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
(Dec 22) Christmas
Our 1st real Christmas in our Tiny House. :) Very exciting. Kim was a bit disappointed that we hadn't had time to decorate our house at Arlington and we'd been busy working every day we were at the Cabin so I took some time to decorate when I came out this week by myself. She was coming the next day with the grandson and I knew it would make her day. I hung some lights, put up a tree, stocking and some decoration. My cell phone had died that day so she couldn't call me to let me know she was on her way or had arrived. Since our driveway is no longer a driveway, more like a swamp, she would have to park up at the road (600 ft away) and walk down to the house in the dark by themselves. As they got closer and closer to the house, she kept mentioning to the grandson how bright the house looked tonight. As they cleared the trees, she could see that it was lit up with christmas lights. There was also the tree sitting in the window, all lit up. They both started squealing. I stepped out when I saw them with a big "HO! HO! HO!" After they got settled in, we just sat around for a while soaking it all in. Christmas in the woods in our own Tiny House. What could be better!
Happy Holidays to all. May your dreams be filled with Tiny Houses, friends and family. We wish you the best!!
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| House as you approach from the road |
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| Gotta have a tiny tree in a tiny house! :) Included as ornaments are a deer, hummingbird, owl, fox, squirrel, butterflies, dove and chickadee. |
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| Pick your favorite decorations and rotate them out each year. |
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| Couldn't resist the woodland stocking! |
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| Nativity scene Kim had given her to her mother a couple of years before she passed away. Great to find a place for it here so that she's with us. |
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| The wreath seemed to beg to be put on the bathroom door. LOL It actually looks great with the iron hardware. I hung it with some fishing line and a tack as I didn't want to put a nail into it. |
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