tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29684221663541776002024-03-17T20:03:41.429-07:00Another Tiny House StoryJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-18784835753566112292019-02-26T08:35:00.000-08:002019-02-26T08:36:30.939-08:00Dang 2018! Where did you go?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another year has flown by....it's hard to believe that it's been a full two years since living tiny! Some days I wake up and feel like it was just a week ago that I could reach up and touch that beautiful reclaimed ceiling. Do we miss the Pod? Heck yes! Do we regret moving on, starting a new chapter? Not in the least. Change is growth. And if you're not growing, then you're stagnant and dying.<br />
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I've placed a great deal of focus on that concept this past year. With every moment, life presents us with the choice to either learn and grow from our experiences, or to deny and decay. Back in 2012, I was feeling quite stagnant. I did feel as though my spirit were rotting. It was infiltrating all parts of my being and had become unbearable, suffocating, heart crushing. I desperately wanted more from my life...more from myself. I wanted change and I wanted to grow as a person.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny house we toured at Fuller Craft Museum's Fundraiser</td></tr>
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The tiny house movement was my answer. All of my top concerns and passions seemed to roll neatly into this way of living. We could have our own home, we could build it ourselves, we could afford a project of this size.We didn't have to wait for land, we could get our finances under control, we could live well below our means and still in harmony with the environment at the same time.<br />
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I remember desinging the framing of our tiny house on graph paper. The pencil shaking in my hand as I thought to myself, "Is this really happening? Am I doing this?!" And in each of those moments of intense emotion and self-doubt, a strong voice would come through, reminding me why I wanted this change to begin with. And through every new challenge, and every triumph that followed, that voice grew stronger and stronger. Some would call that voice self-efficacy. It is your belief in your ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speaking to a crowd about our tiny house adventure!</td></tr>
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Our tiny house experience launched me into a incredible trajectory of self-empowerment, self-growth, and ever higher ambitions. Every major accomplishment from this point foward, I owe in part, if not entirely, to the tiny life adventure. It has taught me to be bold, to believe in myself, and to look nowhere else but within, when seeking answers to what I should do next with my life.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy faces, we got to hang out twice with Ethan :)</td></tr>
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I'm excited to share that, later this week, I will be doing a podcast with my good friend, Ethan Waldman, of <a href="https://www.thetinyhouse.net/tiny-house-engage/" target="_blank">Tiny House Engage</a>, and we will be touching upon this very concept. More specifically, we will be chatting about how the tiny life often leads to entrepreneurship, and what that has meant for me. Go check out his page for updates on when the podcast will be posted!<br />
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And now, here's a slew of pictures from the tiny house events we enjoyed in 2018! We may not be living the life (right now), but we are still very much in love with the community and the way of life we created for ourselves during that time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First night at THSC6 around the fire..</td></tr>
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The "Women of Tiny" fundraiser event for the Fuller Craft Museum was a lot of fun. As one of the badass women of tiny, I had a great time speaking to an eager crowd, sharing our best bits of wisdom, and reminiscing about the journey. As always, Deek of <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> put on a great event, chalk full of education, demos, and hands on projects for all levels to learn.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our great little shelter for THSC6, built by campers in previous years!</td></tr>
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Later in the fall, we headed out to our fourth year at Tiny House Summer Camp in the woods of Vermont. This has become one of our traditions that we truly look forward to every year. Not only do we get to spend time with our favorite tiny house friends, we get to meet new people with a fresh dose of zeal for living tiny. It always ends up breathing more passion into what Dan and I share with these great campers, and each year we leave with a renewed sense of just how awesome this journy has been for us. This past year, I got sick while at camp, so I was a bit bummed that I wasn't my best self, and wasn't able to pitch in as much. We still enjoyed morning forage walks, songs by the campfire at night, and yet again, some crazy fun random things too, like making a forge on site and melting beer cans to make bottle openers. Yep, Matt Gabriel, <a href="https://www.animalmansurvivor.com/gallery" target="_blank">The Animal Man Survivor</a>, put on quite a firey show at THSC 6! I recommend you come check it out this year!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was the year of fire! Between flaming arrows, forges, and Palo's blow torches, THSC6 was full of excitement! </td></tr>
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Just a few weeks later, we went to check out the<a href="http://mirandashearth.com/tinyhouse/" target="_blank"> 4th Annual BIG Massachusetts Tiny House Festival</a>, run by the amazingly accomplished Miranda Aisling Hynes. It was a great event, and we had lots of fun seeing many of our tiny house friends yet again! It was so much fun to walk around, checking out more than 10 different tinies, a slew of schoolies, and live music, local food, and many different presentations throughout the three day gathering. If you live in New England, it's an event worth checking out this year!<br />
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So there's the the 2018 tiny stuff in a nutshell. It fits perfectly, heh heh ;)<br />
Thanks for reading!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The schoolies section was so cool! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Box Truck was hoppin the whole time!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our favorite was the Fire House tiny house! </td></tr>
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-41923078876650895652018-05-02T05:32:00.000-07:002018-05-02T05:32:38.182-07:00Life Since Living Tiny: First Full Year<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Box Truck at Tiny House Summer Camp! </td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">It's been a year since my last post, and I'm sure many of you are wondering- what the heck you been up to!?</span></b><br />
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Well- living life! And, once again, quite a bit of change has happened in 365 days. The last time I posted, we were 3 months into living without the Pod. We were staying at a family member's apartment, a perfect little transition place, as they too, embrace small space and minimal possessions. We have since found ourselves an apartment, which is a bit too big for us- HA! But then again, we would say that about most any place we found. Our place is a two bedroom on the top floor with lots of natural light. Perhaps the most important detail: it's minutes away from where I did all my baking. Let me tell you, when you spend all night baking alone, and you finish cleaning up at 1 am- knowing the drive home is only 5 minutes instead of 40- that's a game changer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The near empty room- we could fit 1.5 Pods in here!!</td></tr>
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We told ourselves that we would NOT fall back into that strange need to fill a space with stuff. As a result, we have a whole room that is nearly empty. It's actually our "home gym" room. Just two small shelves, a plant, a chair, and mats on the floor. And you can bet your bottom that I went second-hand, side-of-the-road, and reclaimed all the way when it came to the furnishing. It was strange to move into a place and not have a single stick of furniture! All of our seats, tables, and shelves in the Pod were built right in! So they rolled away with the rest of the tiny house.<br />
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Our chairs may not match, there are scrawled messages in the bottoms of our dresser drawers, and our kitchen table may have a few crayon marks from a kid we will never know, but I love every bit of it. I love that we are not contributing to the demand for "fast, cheap, new, NEW, NEW!!" I can certainly appreciate a beautifully decorated room with accent pillows and sleek chairs, colors and patterns popping as you enter the space, but when I think about what I care about the most, it certainly isn't matching pillows and paints. It's so easy to get swept up these days, remember to come back around to your OWN values.<br />
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<b>"Too many people buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, to impress people they don't know."</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insulating a structure at THSC 5</td></tr>
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So what's been going on in our lives? Not much related to tiny houses, hence the lack of posts- well that's half of the reason. I told myself a long time ago that I only want to contribute genuine and original content. So unless I have something new and original to share, I'll let the rest of the internet do the talking. I'm certainly happy that tiny houses have become a common place idea. It's nice to mention the words "tiny house" and hear three or four people perk up and share what they know versus the sea of blank faces that Dan and I were used to. Although, I have to say, it is a bit of a bummer to see the DIY aspect subside and give way to big companies.<br />
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What's the other half? My baked goods business took off in a big way in 2017. Too big, as it turns out. I had no time for anything or anyone else in my life, let alone keeping up with blog posts. It was a difficult realization, but I decided to close the business at the end of the year. I worked my little buns off, carrying out every single aspect of the business myself, and 90% of the time, I was completely alone. I started to burn out, and when the money started rolling in, but did nothing to lift my spirits, I knew I had my answer. The baker's life just wasn't for me. I barely saw my husband, let alone my family and friends. I missed out on so so many things, and why? So I could kill myself making muffins for strangers? In the long run, I realized that I love making food, and feeding people, but I don't want to do it for the masses....every...single...day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time for a change!</td></tr>
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So I'm changing directions again! And I'm learning to go easy on myself, to be okay with that. I never would have known how I felt about being a baker unless I tried! And life changes constantly, so why can't we? The tiny house adventure gave me this zeal for just going after my passions...all of them. The environment, food, and fitness seem to be my reigning interests, and now, I'm about to see what happens as I dive into the third- fitness. I am currently working towards earning my certifications as a personal trainer! I believe I will find the flexibility and balance I am looking for with this new venture. I will have more control over my schedule, I will be able to travel, and hopefully dip my toes back into tiny life, even if I'm just renting a cool little place for a weekend.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archery at THSC 5! Awesome!</td></tr>
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Anyways, despite the crazy schedule, Dan and I still did a few tiny house related things in 2017. We attended Tiny House Summer Camp in the sticks of VT. It was our third year in a row! And WOW! That summer camp is getting crazy! There were multiple tiny houses, so many awesome activities, 3+ builds going on, demonstrations, and a bunch of cool presenters. One in particular, Zane, is a video blogger, talented photographer, and more. Plus, he's just an all around amazing and worldly dude. He brought a bunch of tech with him and got some insane shots of the activities going on using his cameras and his little camera drone. Check out his videos of 2017 Tiny House Summer Camp and follow his other adventures. Dan and I LOVE this guy. :) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h2zlMnAdX8&t=35s" target="_blank">THSC Part 1 video </a>... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXBsJ5_08RE" target="_blank">THSC Part 2 video</a>... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0rWaurXII" target="_blank">THSC Part 3 video</a>..<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This gypsy wagon style tiny was SWEET!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our cozy quarters - The Robot Treehouse</td></tr>
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Many of the structures are also available for rent while attending the camp. We stayed in the Robot tree house and it was EPIC. Such cool views, and the most inviting morning sunlight I have ever witnessed. If you haven't checked this event out yet- DO IT. Several tiny houses, vardos, wagons! Archery! Survival and foraging classes! Solar oven cooking demonstrations! Multiple builds at different stages to learn different skills! Speakers and more!<br />
I can only imagine the sheer awesomeness of this years camp!<br />
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A couple months after that-- I also helped out our pals, Alex and Deek, with the Box Truck! They were invited to the Green Build Expo in Boston, and I helped man the booth....or the box truck I should say. Alex drove the truck right into the convention center's gigantic main floor. Not only was it a LOT of fun to see so many different green initiative builds, products, organizations, and services, it was great to see people react to the truck. As I have mentioned before, Dan and I have been a peripheral part of this project from the beginning. We donated funds, we told everyone we knew, we invited Alex and Deek to take a look at our place for reuse inspiration, and to film some clips for the documentary. So to finally see it complete and wowing one person after another was priceless. I even snagged a little nap in the very cozy bed nook.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nap time in the box truck :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gigantic windmill that's also solar!</td></tr>
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2017 was a busy first year out of the Pod for sure! But we still managed to stay involved in a couple cool tiny house events. I hope to bring more aspects of our tiny living experience back into the fold this year. I am definitely and project person, and I have a few ideas swirling around my noggin that I would love to make a reality this year. Time will tell!<br />
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But one for sure project in 2018: I will be speaking at a great fundraising event! "The Women of The Tiny House Scene" is a great event in support of the <a href="https://fullercraft.org/" target="_blank">Fuller Craft Museuem</a>. This place is very cool, with some of the most eclectic displays I have ever had the pleasure of taking in. Dan and I also helped our buddy Deek at a workshop he held in the museum last year!<br />
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A handful of badass ladies from the tiny house scene (myself included) will be presenting on a number of different topics this Friday evening at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA! Come on by and say hello to some seriously inspiring people, help raise some money, oogle some art, and then stick around and learn to build tiny structures through the weekend!<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-61722955864035191672017-03-14T18:34:00.000-07:002017-04-03T16:50:43.069-07:00Selective Acclimation- Tiny Habits Carried Forward<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huMLteWbQwA/WMiSEsYnidI/AAAAAAAAAiw/F72YECVwmVAXys5f9pULfa6GQJurqlY6wCLcB/s1600/Tiny%2BHouse%2B11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huMLteWbQwA/WMiSEsYnidI/AAAAAAAAAiw/F72YECVwmVAXys5f9pULfa6GQJurqlY6wCLcB/s400/Tiny%2BHouse%2B11.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Nat Rea Photography</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>It has now been about three months since we have lived in the Pod.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I think that's a pretty solid amount of time to adjust back to more conventional ways of living. I have been incredibly curious and observant of the both of us as we have transitioned. I wanted to know what habits and mindsets would stick with us and what would fade away. One thing I spoke about in length at the very beginning of this journey was the true desire to simply have the experience. No matter what came of it, how long it went on, or even if it didn't totally work out, (but it SOOOO did) we wanted to give it a try and live through what followed. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: gathering experience is what makes life grand. We will all grow older, but if we seek experience over stuff, we grow deeper and richer as individuals. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have heard so many different people remark, "Well I guess living tiny doesn't work," when they hear of someone selling their tiny house and moving on. We were still living in the Pod when I came across that mentality for the first time. The person was commenting on another couple that was leaving the tiny life behind after about three years. I immediately thought, "What an idiotic, narrow response!" By that logic, we really need to rethink apartment living, because those people relocate as often as every year! I guess apartment living doesn't work! -- Oh she had that hair cut for two years, now she's changed it? Guess having hair doesn't work! Shave it off! ......I think you get my drift.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No version of Jess saw this coming!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This person was turning a gigantic blind eye to...let's call it LIFE in general. I think back in five year increments and who I was at 25, NEVER EVER would have seen all the experiences and accomplishments that 30 year old me was bringing. The same goes for 20 year old Jess trying to imagine what 25 year old Jess would be. The point is, the "Decisions Made for Life" list is very short- heck! Even tattoos used to be on the list and now, (with enough money and sessions) those decisions can be reversed too. So to say- at any age really- "Yep! This is it! This is where I want to be for the next 50 years, I won't ever feel differently about this! No sir!" - is just plain ridiculous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I digress. Back to the sociology study- so here is what I have noticed about how we live life now... We are incredibly lucky to be able to stay in a family members' apartment while they winter in Florida. They too, started to recognize the benefits and beauty of minimizing. So we got to transition back to regular spaces with perhaps the most perfect place!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is big news people! For the first time ever, <br />
Dan's side of the closet is bigger!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The apartment is maybe 600 square feet with an open concept. They have just enough dishes, towels, chairs, etc for two people. There aren't stacks of books or shelves full of picture frames. We didn't find 34 different bottles of lotions, peels, scrubs and soaps in the bathroom. It seemed almost hotel-like at first, but the space has a very clean and inviting energy. We only moved in our clothes, computers plus gadgets, and some choice pantry items and kitchen tools. We were incredulous when we saw that we had cluttered up certain areas. We might have lived tiny, but that doesn't automatically make you a minimalist. I found myself overwhelmed with the urge to donate even more things. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the podcast! </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Major discovery number one</u>: My involuntary need to get things just to fill a space, has been eradicated. Huzzah! I look at the simple layout of the kitchen slash living area, and feel no urge to put a big vase in that corner and a little statue on a stool over there, and a bowl of ceramic fruits on the coffee table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Major discovery number two</u>: This one actually came on the heels of the first- my ability to let items go is approaching Jedi Master levels. It was something I really had to work on when we began the journey, and had to keep in constant awareness as we lived in the Pod. But now, suddenly, I am a pro. My theory is that, since my ties to items were often sentimental, and we just let go of our tiny house, our veritable baby -- well....haha, giving away that pair of shoes is nothing now. I have learned that very little of life's material things are really worth the effort it takes to carry them along through all that life will bring...and minimizing is cathartic and energizing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Major discovery number three</u>: My obsession with water use has some how intensified. I am painfully aware of every time I use water, but it's also a little magical too. Knowing I didn't have to carry that water into the apartment is pretty awesome. I am so happy that something as simple as running water is now a source of joy. It should be. This enduring appreciation for water, and keen awareness of my usage, is something that took root thanks to our way of life over the last three years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Major discovery number four</u>: The friendships and community we have gained through living tiny will always be there. We have a pretty sweet group of friends, all impressive and compelling individuals that we are proud to know, let alone know well. We have continued to participate in cool tiny house stuff. If you missed it, check out <a href="http://tinyhousepodcast.com/episodes/e73-riding-along-on-a-reclaimed-adventure-that-leads-to-love-and-buns-with-jess-and-dan-sullivan" target="_blank">the podcast interview</a> we did with Tiny House Podcast! We met Michelle at Deek's tiny house summer camp last fall! (<a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">Relaxshacks.com</a>) It's a more candid conversation that sheds light on our backgrounds and the underlying motivations and desires that took us down the tiny path.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We also recently joined in for one of Ethan Waldman's <a href="http://www.thetinyhouse.net/tiny-house-engage" target="_blank">Tiny House Engage </a>sessions focused on building with salvage and re-claimed materials. It's a great group on FB that is committed to sharing quality information on tiny houses.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chattin' it up with Ethan during a Tiny House Engage<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In my happy, messy place...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u>Major discovery number five</u>: The size of my cooking messes will always be directly proportionate to the size of the kitchen I use....as in, I will fill it all with mess. Ha! I am truly enjoying having a fully-applianced kitchen once again. I did miss that while we lived tiny, but now, I have a reason to especially enjoy that oven, that large deep sink, all that counter space! And much more so than I did before we had those experiences. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In short, I believe that those three years of living tiny "worked" fabulously. The fact that it lasted for three years and not eternity certainly doesn't make it a fail in my eyes. Not only did we save a bunch of money and pay down a good amount of debt, I actually started my own business! </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I went down this path wanting to be more aware and appreciative of the small things in every day life. I craved the empowerment that comes with building your own home, and wondered what all that new found courage and confidence would spur next in life. Let me tell you, the adventure did not disappoint. We are so proud and grateful to have experienced living tiny. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-38119188955614843732017-02-09T08:47:00.000-08:002017-02-09T08:50:08.741-08:00Peas Without Their Pod: What's Next For Us?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GXQmp9LqvLs/WJyaXAEWCHI/AAAAAAAAAh4/Dprjsx_p-1srbrloigWtJvf3rRLDsg_OgCLcB/s1600/IMG_1243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GXQmp9LqvLs/WJyaXAEWCHI/AAAAAAAAAh4/Dprjsx_p-1srbrloigWtJvf3rRLDsg_OgCLcB/s400/IMG_1243.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>I let myself have the month of January to allow everything sink in.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even now, as I sit in our temporary apartment, enjoying tea made from "faucet water" and unlimited electricity, I still somehow feel like we haven't left the Pod. As if we are just house sitting for another weekend, and soon enough we will drive back up to the farm, turn the corner up our old driveway, and there she will be, waiting for us. What that tells me is that I really truly, deeply, and irrevocably adored that home and way of life. I don't remember feeling this way about any home I have ever lived in, and I have moved a lot in my life. I didn't struggle nearly as much even when the traditional home I once owned and slaved over was wrenched from me, as the relationship I was in crumbled. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hMjK7E2Ggg/WJyaqmbB5WI/AAAAAAAAAh8/1l4iaHfP7LYgpnLIe4msNFpQQhRwqwosgCLcB/s1600/IMG_1114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hMjK7E2Ggg/WJyaqmbB5WI/AAAAAAAAAh8/1l4iaHfP7LYgpnLIe4msNFpQQhRwqwosgCLcB/s400/IMG_1114.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before we took the deck apart...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This time around, it was a conscious choice. We were ready to sell the Pod, at least as ready as you can be. We knew our next step and our next chapter would only happen if we parted ways with our beloved abode. On December 30th, I managed to muster a short post, documenting a huge moment: the Pod leaving Rhode Island. It was a quiet moment, no parades or parties. The tiny house that had sat still, kept us safe and warm, and cultivated and curated some of our best characteristics as individuals and as a couple....just quietly rolled away, leaving hardly a mark in it's place. The lasting marks were not made on the ground; that little place has left an indelible mark on our souls.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2AH5vDTF7c/WJybIcY5bNI/AAAAAAAAAiE/4Gr56ATKnf4Eri6f3v7krto-iGYDrTgIgCLcB/s1600/IMG_1258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m2AH5vDTF7c/WJybIcY5bNI/AAAAAAAAAiE/4Gr56ATKnf4Eri6f3v7krto-iGYDrTgIgCLcB/s400/IMG_1258.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Empty... sigh..</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I spend a lot of time in self-reflection. I second guess choices I have made in the past, worry about choices I plan to make in the future, and leading up to the sale of the house, I absolutely wondered if we were doing the right thing. As the entire process began to unfold, I saw one sign after another that assured me we were on the right path. I startled myself with a small chuckle as I began to really think about each "sign" that solidified my resolve...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We knew we had to put together some kind of video, and we wanted it to reach a lot of people, so we chatted with our good friend Deek of <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> about making a sale video. This was mid summer. Schedules got crazy, lines of communication went silent. I worried a bit...ok, A LOT.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7K5P5doBJkY/WJybnOqZRtI/AAAAAAAAAiM/pcJvDUUJk4UKVY2zJP2NKkrlbkM8ESN0QCLcB/s1600/DSC_0102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7K5P5doBJkY/WJybnOqZRtI/AAAAAAAAAiM/pcJvDUUJk4UKVY2zJP2NKkrlbkM8ESN0QCLcB/s320/DSC_0102.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us with Alex- the reuse guy!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> It so happens that we also had agreed to be in a really cool documentary about converting a box truck into a tiny house using completely reused materials. (Check it out: <a href="http://www.boxtruckfilm.com/">www.boxtruckfilm.com</a> ) This project is being carried out by the reuse king: Alex Eaves of <a href="http://stayvocal.com/">stayvocal.com</a> and the mini-build master: Deek! Dates for this kept getting shuffled, until finally a day in early November seemed to work for the hectic schedules of all three parties. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBxpUCOibjM/WJyb5h4OdjI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qaGU6A0LuhQmQA1bIqWvWO4A15Q0BwnmACLcB/s1600/DSC_0114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBxpUCOibjM/WJyb5h4OdjI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qaGU6A0LuhQmQA1bIqWvWO4A15Q0BwnmACLcB/s320/DSC_0114.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deek getting some cool shots for the sale video..</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We spent the afternoon filming interviews and shots of the Pod for the documentary. As the afternoon sun began to wane, the filming wrapped up. Deek had brought his own camera stuff, as we hoped to squeeze in a shoot for the sale video. With about 20 minutes left, we hammered it out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Within a week, Deek had the video up online, and about 5 days after, we had put up posts sharing the official news. Dan and I were both sweating bullets. This was it- we were about to get some real, raw feedback on our house. Would anyone want it? Would anyone else think it was as beautiful and wonderful as we did? Would anyone think our price was reasonable, or ridiculous? Would anyone contact us AT ALL? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn't really want to know at first, so I was thankful that we were slated to go visit family on the West coast for Thanksgiving. I desperately wanted distraction during that time....but wouldn't you know? None of that worrying was necessary. After Deek posted his video, Sarah contacted us THE NEXT DAY. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lSvmceeFQWA/WJycUQL6ioI/AAAAAAAAAiY/zBBXiV9mLNgnLh1GIpT-aFTEU_46TO2_QCLcB/s1600/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD%2Bto%2BSarah.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lSvmceeFQWA/WJycUQL6ioI/AAAAAAAAAiY/zBBXiV9mLNgnLh1GIpT-aFTEU_46TO2_QCLcB/s320/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD%2Bto%2BSarah.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks so much, Sarah! </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We chatted a bit, and I answered a few of her questions, which spurred me to write a post answering many of the common questions we were getting in an avalanche of emails. We planned a day for Sarah to come see the Pod once we returned, and I held off scheduling visits with anyone else until Sarah had already come by. After I wrote the post, Sarah emailed me again, expressing just how interested and motivated she was. It was a great feeling to kick off a week of nice weather! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When we got back, Sarah came to see the place, and as we talked, I grew more and more excited. She mentioned that she loved our house from the very first video Deek posted from over a year ago, and had hoped that maybe someday we would sell it. She pointed out all the details that she knew of, really commending us on our efforts to recycle and reuse materials. She was happy that we had it set up as off grid. She really liked that there was no plumbing, and she already had an outdoor shower on her FARM. She didn't want to worry about the winterizing process in the NH cold. So it was perfect for her. She loved the simplicity and the big feel of the great room. She loved that we chose pine for the walls and not sheet-rock. She loved the colors we chose and the Swedish inspired decor. A fellow Swede! Amazing! Then, as if we needed sprinkles on this already iced cake: she told us her vision for the Pod. She teaches classes on homesteading and sustainable agriculture right on her farm and plans to rent out the Pod for workshops and provide an "Artist In Residence" opportunity for college kids during the school year. She said we were welcome to come attend a workshop and come visit the Pod!! </span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kDW8Y0eMwrg/WJyc3Yg6jkI/AAAAAAAAAig/YVzBLYXzcuYq5e2M2wRzjrwxR9bM5_NlQCLcB/s1600/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kDW8Y0eMwrg/WJyc3Yg6jkI/AAAAAAAAAig/YVzBLYXzcuYq5e2M2wRzjrwxR9bM5_NlQCLcB/s320/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We returned home on a Monday, and the Pod was officially sold that Thursday, December 1st to perhaps the most perfect possible person. So within two weeks of sharing this with the world, our house was sold. Within 20 days of that, all the "paperwork" was done, and the Pod was rolling away. I had worried about so many different things, and the last of my worries was: how long will it take to wrap up the final details and move the Pod out of RI? I wondered if this would follow us into 2017. Nope!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It all was so seamless and easy. Dan and I kept pinching ourselves. We would randomly blurt out to one another, "Is this really happening?! It's sold? It's done!? No tire kickers?! No low ballers?!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The universe seemed to say, "Don't you worry, Jess and Dan, you are doing the right thing. I've got it alllllll covered. I've got this person who happens to find every detail you are worried about- like the no plumbing- to be absolutely perfect. I'll have her contact you within 24 hours. She lives right in New England, she loves all the same things as you, she thinks your price is more than fair, and she will take wonderful care of the Pod. I'll have it all wrapped up before the year's end, so you have a fresh start in 2017. Now roll on to your next adventure!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Indeed, Universe. INDEED. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our new focus will be the business,<a href="http://www.twolittlebuns.com/" target="_blank"> Two Little Buns</a>, but we will still be involved in the tiny house world. We plan to return to tiny one day, and we will live with it in mind until then. We still have a lot of fun things to post about...many plans to visit all the tiny house friends we have gained, and perhaps plans to build a tiny mobile "booth" for the bakery!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks for reading!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-62607626922466905452016-12-01T09:44:00.002-08:002016-12-01T09:44:19.127-08:00The Pod is SOLD! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>We are still in disbelief! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pod has sold! That was very quick! And it might have happened even sooner, had we not been out of town for a week! The very first person to reach out to us, Sarah, saw the For Sale posted by our good friend Deek of <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> and emailed us immediately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She told us she had seen the Pod the year before when we did our first tour with Deek. It had stayed on her mind since, as she loved many of the unique details about our tiny house. I honestly could not be happier with who the Pod will go to and once we learned her plans for the Pod, we were even more excited. She lives on a farm in NH and hosts several workshops surrounding farm practices, permaculture, and all that entails with such a lifestyle. She wants to be able to use the Pod as an artist in residence! For some basic care-taking of the farm property, a student or artist could enjoy a cozy and inspiring place to live and create. And get this-- she has invited us to attend a workshop in the future, with the chance to stay in the Pod! We could come visit our "baby"!! AWESOME!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As she looked around the Pod and we continued talking, we learned that she has a lot of the same values and priorities. She loved the layout, was happy about the lack of plumbing- which makes winterizing much easier! And she also said that all the re-used and reclaimed materials and labor of love that went into this place was just the best frosting on an already lovely cake!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Congratulations to you Sarah, and thank you so much!</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-emNjsWHx8WQ/WEBhIuHciXI/AAAAAAAAAhM/og7rZEzU6KUSQ76krABLG7c8p1Pj7d8FQCLcB/s1600/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-emNjsWHx8WQ/WEBhIuHciXI/AAAAAAAAAhM/og7rZEzU6KUSQ76krABLG7c8p1Pj7d8FQCLcB/s320/Pod%2Bis%2BSOLD.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Needless to say, Dan and I jumped around and did a happy dance or two last night! Then we went out to celebrate with some beverages and dinner! WAHOO!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is by no means the end of our tiny house blog, either. We plan to keep tiny living close to heart as we take on this new chapter of our lives! I have still have some cool things to share about the Pod, and we have a lot of fun plans to visit other tiny houses throughout the coming years!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like Us On Facebook</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-63866144541983243772016-11-23T10:34:00.000-08:002016-11-23T11:55:27.139-08:00The Pod Is For Sale!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I had been hinting about big changes earlier in the year, and now we are confirming those decisions by putting the Pod up for sale. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The choice to give up our wonderful little home of three years certainly was not an easy one. In perfect circumstances, we would have loved to have kept it, even if we decided to move into another place. There was a time when we imagined this would become a cool guest house, or art studio on our own piece of land. But, as I am sure you have all experienced, life rarely goes as planned. That is not always a bad thing either!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I think about all that has come our way because of this tiny house, I am overwhelmed into laughter. The friends we have made, all of which are simply incredible, inspiring people in their own right- and we get to say we know them. We get to call them up and congratulate them on wonderful accomplishments, have lively informative conversations on common passions...this has enriched our lives to a degree I never could have imagined. Then there is the long list of accomplishments that Dan and I can now draw upon for strength, courage, and perseverance in all of our future endeavors. The recognition and reputation we have earned as part of this community. I never thought I would be in a magazine, multiple newspapers, gigantic online presences like Yahoo, AND become a published author myself!! I can say I was once referred to as a "tiny house luminary"... oh lala! Haha! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Perhaps the crowning achievement, however, has been to arrive at a much greater level of self confidence and a considerably healthier financial situation. This in turn gave me the guts to go after a long time dream, starting my own specialty foods business. I can say with absolute certainty that I would NOT be a full time business owner today, if we had not chosen to go tiny. All of it just makes us so damn happy! </span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JtZHV8Npe2A/WDXglOdKlRI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yB5qZaQDSvofmAhX7CmOVO89gXPzg43qQCLcB/s1600/DSC_1031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JtZHV8Npe2A/WDXglOdKlRI/AAAAAAAAAVE/yB5qZaQDSvofmAhX7CmOVO89gXPzg43qQCLcB/s400/DSC_1031.JPG" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But alas, there are two sides to all coins. The business has been growing steadily, and as I am still a one woman operation about 90% of the time, it requires just about all the time I have. The business is also mobile, and farmer's market based, which calls for a lot of travel, most of which is to urban areas. Between the time I spend in the kitchen baking, and then driving out to markets, posting up and selling for the day, then going right back to bake more for the next day, I have found that I come home just to sleep more often than not. Being much closer to the action is becoming a must. Reducing my commute will give me that much more time to put effort into making this venture a success. Dan too, has a busy work schedule and is finishing up classes, so he is gone almost as much. Turns out maintaining an offgrid HOMEstead when are NEVER HOME can be quite difficult. Haha </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We knew the tiny house would be a temporary thing, we wanted that experience of building and living in a small space, and a chance to get our finances in a better place, full well knowing that we had many, many more chapters to write in our life together. We see now, that this chapter is coming to a close, and our new adventure is the baked goods business. We don't know where this thing will lead, but we are certain of a few things: we will return to tiny living when we retire, we will remain active members of the tiny house community, and we will be forever thankful for, and humbled by, the entire experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">That being said, let's get to the facts that most people will have questions about: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Price</b>: $20,000 Firm</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Pictures</b>: Please visit our blog and go to the <a href="http://livinginatinyhouse.blogspot.com/p/professional-photos.html" target="_blank">professional photos tab </a>to see some pictures taken in March of 2015. We have since stained the exterior. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Video Tour</b>: We just did a great little video tour with our good friend Deek Diedricksen of <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> - watch the video here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Deck included</b>: Yes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Solar Power System included</b>: No, but willing to to discuss selling that too.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Size</b>: 128 square feet + 56 square foot loft</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Dimensions</b>: Interior 8 ft x 15.5 with 10 ft ceilings. Exterior 8.5 ft x 16ft x 12.5 ft high. Length does not include trailer tongue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Trailer details</b>: Bought lightly used. Heavy duty dual axle 5 ton trailer. Has a brake lights system, unsure if it still works, may need some basic maintenance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>House weight</b>: Never weighed at a station, kept a spread sheet of materials and did the math, it weighs an estimated 6300 lbs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Road worthy</b>: Yes, but not designed or built for constant towing. We did not use hurricane ties in the framing, we recommend not exceeding 55 mph tow speed. I believe it is a 2 and 15/16th hitch. We moved it from our build site to our current parking space with no issues.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Shower/running water</b>: No indoor shower or running water, we use a super basic outdoor shower stall and camp shower bag. We store water in water bricks which you can keep. And poor it into a water filter and pitchers for everyday uses. Hot water is heated on the stove top and used to wash dishes in a bin, or added to the shower bag for hot showers. The shower stall is very basic, not really worth taking with you, but you can if you want. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Kitchen</b>: We have an RV propane cook top (3 burners) in the kitchen. We have a water filter set up a little higher than the counter and the spigot serves as "running water" when we need to wash our hands, etc. Sink is a stainless steel bin set into the counter. Pops out easily to empty water into outdoor gray water beds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Heat:</b> HomeComfort direct vent propane heater to heat the house, and also an electric eco-heater to serve as some additional zone heating if need be. We have never had to use the second heater and the propane heater has never been put above the second notch. It is plenty big enough to comfortably heat the space. It is designed for a 320 sq ft space. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Bathroom</b>: Super basic composting toilet, a 5 gallon bucket and a place to keep wood shavings. No urine diverter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Electrical</b>: We installed our own electrical. I owned a home once before and performed all the electrical wiring, which met code and passed inspection. The Pod's wiring is very basic. We used basic 120 house wire. One wall of the house is a daisy chain of three outlets, the second wall has two outlets and the three lights: the kitchen, great room, and porch lights. Picture each wall as a big old powerstrip, because two wires come out of the house ending at a three prong plug. We did this so we could plug each one into our inverter. The inverter is equipped with a breaker, so we did not see the need for a breaker panel. A small breaker panel could be installed with ease, and the house could be hooked up to the grid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Insulation</b>: <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">We used foam board insulation in the walls and the roof. The walls have a hardboard insulation reclaimed from a building that held industrial food coolers, so it is a solid board of insulation that is 3.5 inches thick, and fits snugly into the 2x4s of the walls. This foam board is rated at about R-26. We also spray foamed each seam and nook and cranny in the walls, so it mimics a spray foam application, which probably bumps up the R-value a bit more too.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The roof was built with 2x6s and contains one of the 3.5 inch insulation boards and an additional 2 inch blue insulation board, providing roughly 5.5 inches of insulation for the roof with total value of about R-35. We have lived through 3 New England winters just fine. We add a heavy curtain in front of the door to help with drafts during the cold weather too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Roof:</b> Flat shed style roof with minimum pitch, just enough for water to shed. EPDM rubber roofing, one solid sheet, so no large seams across any part of the roof. No leaks and no ice problems in past three years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Storage</b>: Ample storage, one large 9 sq ft closet, pantry shelves and storage spaces, and a small storage loft.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Location</b>: Rhode Island, must tow or ship yourself, we will not deliver.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unique details:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">45% + made from reclaimed and recycled materials.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Completely unique design with high ceilings and an open area at the entrance of the house, giving it a much larger feel.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Barn board ceiling from a barn raised in 1776.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pallet siding on 3 of the 4 sides, with eclectic array of wood species and great character. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4 ft loft allows for easy movement and comfortable sleeping.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">We strived to use the least amount of toxic materials as possible. We used tung oil on the pine walls instead of a stain or chemical seal. We used minimal paint, and skipped noxious nail glue in floors, so yes, there is a squeaky spot here and there. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Recommended maintenance or additions:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Still some minor finish details here and there, like little sections of floor trim.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If we had kept it another summer, we would have extended the roof line on all sides by 6 inches, to give a better overhang and protect the siding. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The door sticks a bit after rainy weather. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An air exchange unit of some kind might be nice, we simply keep windows open or at the very least cracked at all times of the year. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A ceiling fan would be a great summer addition, we used a series of fans, but to save on space, clutter, and energy, a ceiling fan would do much better. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, I'm sure there might be something else you think of too, but I hope that gives a good look at what the Pod has to offer! We truly hope this place can become a wonderful home for someone else, and perhaps even provide them that stepping stone (or launching pad) to fulfilling other dreams!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If interested, please email anothertinyhousestory@gmail.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks for reading!!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-7001354238619235792016-11-02T15:15:00.001-07:002016-11-02T15:15:04.236-07:00Visiting Ethan & Ann's Tiny House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>After a super fun weekend at Tiny House Summer Camp 4 - we had the treat of visiting Ethan and Ann's tiny house!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dan and I met Ethan back in May of 2015 at our first, and soon to be many, presentation as part of the <a href="http://relaxshacks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Diedricksen brothers'</a> hands on tiny house workshops. He had a great slide show of pictures, the lovely little home nestled in the Vermont hills. He was just beginning to put together his book, <a href="http://www.thetinyhouse.net/tiny-house-decisions/" target="_blank">Tiny House Decisions</a>, and since, has become a leading expert in many aspects of tiny living, especially cold climate preparation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At last year's summer camp, Ethan was generous enough to offer up a tour to any and all of the 40 odd people milling about- if they were willing to take an hour road trip to go see it. Dan and I almost went, but since we arrived late that year, we wanted to spend as much time helping out with projects as we could, so we stayed behind. We did however, become quite good friends with Ethan after a couple late nights passing whiskey bottles, strumming guitar, and singing what we could remember (and mumble bumbling through the rest) of some of our favorite classics. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So this year, we made a point to spend some good quality time with Ethan, and his other half, Ann, who also attended the workshop for a day. It was great to finally meet Ann, and hear great stories of their wedding! They had just married the week before, right by their tiny, and they still came to summer camp! When Ethan invited us to come check out the place at the end of the weekend, we just had to go! We were in Vermont, and we simply couldn't pass up a second chance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The place is even more beautiful than the pictures can really show. They have the house parked right in front of a post card worthy scene- a small pond overlooking the blue mountain hills in the distance. I could get used to a view like that! It is always fun to explore another tiny. They are so varied and unique in their layouts. I always enjoy seeing how people choose to use their small spaces, and more often than not, it speaks to what the person is most passionate about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ethan walked us around the property, showing us where the festivities took place, and the little buildings they had collected in preparation for the wedding. They had composting toilets for their event!! I love it! And they used one of Deek's buildings and another tiny building from <a href="http://jamaicacottageshop.com/" target="_blank">Jamaica Cottage Shop</a>, located right in VT. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We spent the last of the evening light relaxing on the picture perfect deck, the four of us chatting about living tiny, our favorite experiences so far, and the silly things we had in common as couples, ie: one being a great cook, and the other being hopeless in the kitchen. ;) We certainly didn't want to go, but the weekend was coming to a close, we had a solid drive ahead of us, and much work to be done with the business when we returned! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We didn't take too many interior photos because wedding aftermath is no joke! haha But you can check out Ethan's book, and his <a href="http://www.thetinyhouse.net/" target="_blank">site</a> to learn more about how they built, and the special things he does to prepare for winter in a tiny house! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading! </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-80070117347317027672016-10-18T11:57:00.000-07:002016-10-18T11:57:10.850-07:00Tiny House Summer Camp 4 - Another Fantastic Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>About a month ago, Dan and I were on the road, all giddy and looking forward to summer camp. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I never thought I would say a sentence like that after the age of 14. Ha! But seriously! SUMMER CAMMP! This awesome event is hosted by Deek Diedriksen (and family and friends) in the woods of Vermont each September, and is officially one of our first yearly traditions as a couple. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We attended last year for the first time, and we had an absolute blast! There was so much to explore, with over 10 micro-shelters (and counting) scattered throughout the site, guest speakers from every walk of life happily having candid chats with attendees, and multiple projects going on at the same time, ensuring that everyone could play as major or minor a part in creating each new tiny building as they desired. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To be around so many people with similar passions and goals is always a rejuvenating experience for me. Dan and I have met some really great friends through these weekends including Ethan Waldman, author of <a href="http://www.thetinyhouse.net/" target="_blank">Tiny House Decisions</a>, Vera Struck of <a href="https://silverbullettinyhouse.com/" target="_blank">Silver Bullet Tiny House</a>, Palo Coleman an <a href="http://www.allspacesinbetween.com/" target="_blank">incredible artist</a> and woodworking extraordinaire, and many others like Roy, Marty, Jeremy and Jen, and of course the Diedricksen brothers! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Each year Deek seems to take things up a notch. Not only were there three different micro shelters being built, campers had the chance to work on an actual tiny house foundation! Jeremy and Jen brought their trailer and began work on the base of their future home. Vera also brought her tiny house this year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The eclectic spread of guest speakers also included someone I particularly enjoyed this year- Matt, also known as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Animalmansurvivor/" target="_blank">Animal Man Survivor</a>. He did several presentations throughout the weekend ranging from how to build basic shelters with nothing but what's laying around the forest floor, to basic fire starter implements, and my favorite, an edibles walk. This guy is an overflowing fountain on information!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Perhaps our favorite part of these weekends is hearing from attendees after we do our talk. Dan and I learned the we are kind of the comic relief slash inspiring and relatable speakers. Fine with us! We both enjoy making people laugh and breaking down intimidating aspects of the tiny house journey into more approachable steps. It also gives us an opportunity to bring light to subjects we are especially passionate about, like the environment and debt free living. I always make a point to address the fact that we live without typical plumbing and share how important it is to be mindful of what's happening with water in this world. It is our most precious resource, and it is being polluted, privatized, and completely overlooked. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Four or five attendees made a point to pull us aside and tell us that they found our talk very inspiring and they were now considering designing their future tiny houses without running water, or at the very least, minimizing features that use running water. I was over the moon! It's wonderful to know that our words, like ripple effects, can spread new perspectives and shed light on important subjects to several very different people, who then share with even more people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Needless to say, Dan and I highly recommend joining in the fun at next year's Tiny House Summer Camp! I know we sure will!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Animal Survivor Man's digs for the weekend..</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-36491353596649141602016-08-16T20:39:00.002-07:002016-08-16T20:39:27.996-07:00Fellow RI Tinies Unite!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>We had the great pleasure of touring Justin and Jenny's nearly completed tiny house!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In late July, Dan and I linked up with our fellow RI tiny house friends, Justin and Jenny, to see how their tiny house has come along. We helped them out for a day last October, <a href="http://livinginatinyhouse.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-nostalgic-saturday-and-seasonal.html" target="_blank">check out the post here</a>. It has certainly been one hell of a year for the pair, better known as Mr & Mrs Tiny- and after over 10 years together as a couple, they made it official and got married! At the same time, they finally moved into their tiny after three years of living in an RV to make the dream a reality. That's a whole lot of awesomeness packed into the first half of 2016. Speaking of awesomeness, you should see this place!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Much like our place, and many others we have seen, their tiny house holds many eclectic, personalized details and stories. My favorite piece was absolutely the showcase of the house, the kitchen counter top. It's hard to notice much else, at first, as the gorgeous live edges and contrasting grains grab the eye immediately.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LOVE ME SOME LIVE EDGES!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tw74TAXUXO8/V7PZgx91R_I/AAAAAAAAARg/M-XZFyDrGTgcjjmqo8Kf8XDTy3-2q7diACLcB/s1600/DSC_0723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tw74TAXUXO8/V7PZgx91R_I/AAAAAAAAARg/M-XZFyDrGTgcjjmqo8Kf8XDTy3-2q7diACLcB/s400/DSC_0723.JPG" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jenny told us the great story behind this lovely piece too! It was a bar built in her grandmother's basement by her father. After several years of no use- and Jenny eyeballing it all along- they snagged the major components and transformed it into a spacious, functional kitchen counter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We got to catch up with Jenny (and their dog that spends way too long staring directly into your soul- aka Benny) at the house - chatting and taking a bunch of great photos. Then we headed on over to Jenny's work, an awesome restaurant called <a href="http://www.chompri.com/" target="_blank">Chomp</a>, and met up with Justin for some booze and good grub. I know we don't see them that often, but I genuinely cherish this pair. They found us, at the beginning of our tiny house journey, and were enthusiastic supporters throughout. Just as we moved into our tiny house, they were moving into their RV. It was really awesome to share similarities and parallels to our story when they came for dinner, <a href="http://livinginatinyhouse.blogspot.com/2015/10/our-thsc-3-experience-and-month-of.html" target="_blank">check out the post here</a>. Not only that, but they have been super supportive of our business venture into gluten free and dairy free baked goods. One or both would show up at farmer's markets each week without fail. That's two damn good people right there. <3 </span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m3w3g1DmZxI/V7PZ-FVzngI/AAAAAAAAARw/e8V1aSmUnP0Dj4jAlUh_npLzLGRLxCbPQCLcB/s1600/DSC_0734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m3w3g1DmZxI/V7PZ-FVzngI/AAAAAAAAARw/e8V1aSmUnP0Dj4jAlUh_npLzLGRLxCbPQCLcB/s400/DSC_0734.JPG" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was so great to catch up with these two. We love their dynamic as a couple- Jenny's contagious, never ending bubbly energy coupled with Justin's steady, even keel and genuine love of building tiny. I've come to realize it truly does a tiny houser good to be around fellow tinies. We needed it more than we realized. We are doubly excited to attend <a href="http://relaxshacks.blogspot.com/2016/03/hell-yeah-tiny-house-summer-camp-4-has.html" target="_blank">Tiny House Summer Camp 4</a>, hosted by Deek Diedricksen and bros, for that very reason. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> We headed home that night with our spirits high, our hearts full, and a completely refreshed appreciation for the life we live. Dan and I wish nothing but the best for these two, and if you'd like to follow along as they near the completion of their tiny home, check out their <a href="https://transitiontotiny.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> or follow them (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/grandmas.canners?fref=ts" target="_blank">Mr and Mrs</a>) on Facebook. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodies from the baked goods biz! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LOVE these two!!! :D</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-48671357448724089792016-07-15T16:25:00.000-07:002016-07-15T16:44:46.436-07:00Mid-Year Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 100% reused outdoor shower/garden!</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The last day of June was a rare day.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hence, the just-as-rare post- ha! Life has been moving along swiftly, tossing a continuous string of challenges and chores our way. My lack of posts is in no way indicative of my level of passion for this way of life. We are on year three of the tiny off-grid life and we have settled into our rhythms nicely. It's to the point where it does not usually occur to us that how we live is any different. Often times, a lively conversation with a new fan of tiny houses gets us to rub our eyes and refocus. After each encounter like that, we find ourselves reveling for a moment in how unique this lifestyle is and how thankful we are that we dove in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So we are still loving this tiny homestead, but life has a way of pulling you in directions you couldn't possibly plan. I have slowly started to master the one-woman-band that keeps TLB rolling. As a result, just about all my energy and focus has gone into this venture. Not much time to play around at the Pod. :/ I'm quickly outgrowing my current production space, and that's a good problem to have! I've got a couple of different ideas on how to get us to the next level, and I'm excited to share them when I know for sure! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Back to the last day of June... It was truly a rare day for me. I had an open morning and afternoon before baking that night. I also had an open mind! Lately it seems that my every thought is somehow related to business needs, but on this day, that voice was silent. I had a break from business brain. I stood on the deck, breathing the fresh air, and memorizing details of our lovely view.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Suddenly, inspiration struck and I felt like building. I knew exactly what to work on: outdoor shower 2.0! Some of you may remember the cool, re-claimed shower stall we made with fallen timbers. Well, our timing really sucked. We completed the shower last September and it promptly got cold outside. Through the winter, we looked at it wistfully, all covered in snow. Finally, spring was upon us! Hooray! Showers at the house! Wrong again. It's been an incredibly windy year- which I will come back to- and an especially fierce wind storm in April thrashed the stall to pieces. I was so peeved that I apparently needed a two month time-out before trying again. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're comin' with me, tomato.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I set up some music and got to work. I certainly wasn't about to pay for materials, so I looked around at what I had to work with. I pulled out the hammer and the drill, going about things lazily, as it was a hot sunny day. Using 100% reused or reclaimed materials, and no measuring tape or saw, I put together our new shower stall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn't plant a garden this spring, which makes me sad. This spurred me to incorporate a living wall to provide privacy....eventually. HA I used our self-watering buckets (also 100% reused) and scouted out some veggies in the farm compost heap. No buying seedlings for this gal! I got three tomatoes, some kind of squash, and a cucumber. It was a bit of a rough transplant, but they all made it, and are growing nicely now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After finishing the shower stall, thoroughly burning my back, and soaking in sweat- I took the first, and oh so glorious, shower outdoors. Let me say- it is freakin' great to shower outdoors....at home! Not having to go elsewhere (gym, etc) to shower is quite a treat after that two month time-out. There's just something about bathing in fresh, open air. The other night, I showered under the stars and went to bed feeling more refreshed and more relaxed than I have in months. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Aside from the outdoor shower, we have been doing little touch ups inside- replacing bunny nibbled trim and refinishing cabinet doors. It's amazing how just a few key details can make the place look super new again. These touch ups were inspired by a very exciting project we will be doing, and I can't wait to share more details! I think you all will be pretty excited! </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Big changes are ahead for these two peas and their pod. It seems like no coincidence that it has been such a windy year already- we are certainly feeling the winds of change swaying our life in new, undreamed of directions. I find myself holding tight to every moment before letting it pass. I understand that change is an inevitable part of life, but it won't stop me from wishing we could stay just like this. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-336047696187550042016-04-19T15:23:00.000-07:002016-04-19T15:23:04.173-07:00Our Tiny House Conference Experience!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Dan and I had an absolute blast at this year's Tiny House Conference held in Asheville, North Carolina!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that I have successfully blacked out the travel both to and from NC, what I have left is a glowing memory of grand ol' times with some super awesome and inspiring people. We got to reconnect with folks we had met through previous events, like our buddy Ethan Waldman, who was there as a speaker, giving great info and tips on a wide variety of topics. Check out his latest e-book <a href="http://www.thetinyhouse.net/tiny-house-decisions/" target="_blank">Tiny House Decisions</a>. Then there was Amy Henion, one of the ring masters of the conference- we met her at the same event as Ethan, a tiny house workshop hosted the previous year by Deek over at <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> Our favorite straw-bale workshop host EVER was also there! Andrew Morrison is also pretty big in the tiny house scene. They created the hOMe house. He and his wife run <a href="http://tinyhousebuild.com/about-us/" target="_blank">Tiny House Build</a> and teach workshops. He, too, did several sessions related to building techniques and safety.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We also had the pleasure of meeting several tiny house folks we have known through the nets, but never chatted with face to face! It was really nice getting to meet those people, like Matt and Laura of <a href="http://120squarefeet.com/">120squarefeet.com</a> - who were a serious source of inspiration for us early in our build! We also finally met, Ryan Mitchell of <a href="http://thetinylife.com/" target="_blank">The Tiny Life</a> - and also the man behind the conference! And it was his book we are featured in! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Houses-Built-Recycled-Materials/dp/144059211X" target="_blank">Tiny Houses Built with Recycled Materials</a> We also got to meet Kristie Wolfe of <a href="http://tinyhouseontheprairie.net/" target="_blank">Tiny House On The Prairie</a> - she has a number of very cool little get-aways available on Air BnB!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Needless to say it was a weekend full of great exchanges, incredible energy and enthusiasm, fantastic and fruitful sessions by many great speakers, and of course LOTS OF TINY HOUSES TO TOUR! There was even the <a href="http://www.justrightbus.com/" target="_blank">JustRightBus</a>, one of my favorite bus conversions- and a couple of box truck conversions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Being a part of the book panel was also a lot of fun and very energizing. The room was packed with people who wanted to hear from all of us and ask their questions and seek advice. I think we all enjoyed that panel as there was a lot of great discussion from practical approaches to reuse to the greater impact a space can create when it is made of so many smaller stories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There was so much going on during the conference that we honestly didn't have time to tour all the THOWs! We did get to see over half of them, so we were pretty happy. My favorite was the<a href="http://tinyhouseconference.com/tiny-houses/blue-ridge-tiny-homes/fitnest-2/" target="_blank"> "FitNest" </a>which was a tiny house centered around a physically active lifestyle. They had a rock wall on the back side, pull up bars, heavy ropes, and more. I'm excited to follow Mike aka Coach Vivo of <a href="http://www.vivotrainingsystems.com/" target="_blank">VIVOtraingingsystems</a>, as they travel around the country inspiring others toward a more active lifestyle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now- a bunch more photos! I will post all of our trip pictures over on our Facebook page. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To see all our photos from the Conference, check out our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank">page</a>!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-25209574086848430592016-02-25T14:44:00.000-08:002016-02-25T14:44:05.410-08:00Another New Year - Another Big Ol' Bag of Opportunities!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Each year seems to top the past when it comes to experiences and opportunities related to living tiny. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There has been SO MUCH brewing below the surface over here! Cool videos, book features, conference invitations, and more! Despite all this awesome news, we have been relatively quiet on the blog front, mainly for lack of time due to the new business- which seems to be doing pretty well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Earlier this month, Dan and I had some fun at the Fuller Craft Museum, as we helped and presented at another of Deek's tiny house hands on workshops. It was pretty neat to build in the nice open space provided at the museum, and then step out for an art exhibit break at any point. There were so many cool things on display, and one of the structures created at the workshop will be on display outside the museum for everyone to explore! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once again, we met some really great people and became better acquainted with friends made before. We got to see Dom of Jamaica Cottage shop once again. We met him at Deek's Tiny House Summer Camp 3 - and they were filming for a little documentary on his work and his business. He owns Jamaica Cottage shop out of Jamaica, VT. He builds great little structures, on wheels or on the ground, and creates a design based on your needs. As a thank you for being a part of the video, we get to snag a weekend getaway in one of their cabins! Walking distance from the slopes and the hiking trails. Sounds like heaven. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To check out the video- which we were featured in- follow<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0kcYClhWQ&noredirect=1" target="_blank"> this link</a>! Full disclosure, it had been a long day, and the drinks were flowing! Haha</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-etFq0QPh5v0/Vs97cnOzg2I/AAAAAAAAANY/EBJsAc-536A/s1600/book%2Bcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-etFq0QPh5v0/Vs97cnOzg2I/AAAAAAAAANY/EBJsAc-536A/s320/book%2Bcover.jpg" width="264" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other news, we are very excited to say that we are also featured in an upcoming book that takes a look at tiny houses made with re-claimed materials! The book will be released on May 1, but is available for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Houses-Built-Recycled-Materials/dp/144059211X" target="_blank">pre-order on Amazon</a>. We hope to get our complementary copy in the mail soon. Yippee!! And another amazing opportunity that blossomed from this was <b>an invitation to be a panel speaker at this year's Tiny House Conference in Ashville, NC!</b> We are SO EXCITED TO GO!</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5-4bbW2gJu8/Vs940iQO2SI/AAAAAAAAANU/FC4Y0NXqoWw/s1600/th%2Bconf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5-4bbW2gJu8/Vs940iQO2SI/AAAAAAAAANU/FC4Y0NXqoWw/s320/th%2Bconf.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to all the travel points and miles from my old job, we were able to get flights and hotels for quite a steal. Plus, how often does an opportunity like this come along! We had always wanted to go, and now, with a chance to speak about reclaimed materials?! Heck yes! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On another note, our good friend, Vera, which we met through Deek's workshops, runs a really cool website called <a href="http://silverbullettinyhouse.com/" target="_blank">Silver Bullet Tiny House</a>. She has been a major advocate and presence, especially in the New England area and knows a lot of the bigger personalities in the tiny house realm. At the beginning of the year, she touched base with us about sending in a recommendation that we be speakers at this year's Tiny House Jamboree! AHH! Now, this is still just in the consideration phase. We won't know if we have been selected for another month or two, I imagine. See what I mean by this year's opportunities being nuts?! And there's more...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, I was also asked to <i>write</i> a contributing piece to an upcoming tiny house book- aiming to be one of the most comprehensive books to date on the subject. The book will address all angles from philosophical (that's my angle), to social, to common considerations in construction. I was beyond honored to be selected, and saw this as a very serious undertaking. I read back through every blog entry and article interview we ever did. I took incessant notes. I wrote and re-wrote from so many angles before finally closing in on what was most important in our story. When I finally finished the piece, I was ready to go buy myself a bottle of bubbly - so what if it was 2pm on a Wednesday? It felt so good, after 3 months of work, to hit save for the final time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> My words will be PUBLISHED IN A BOOK THAT THOUSANDS WILL READ!!! I was excited just to write a few articles for Tiny House Magazine - but this is the BEES KNEES!</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bQ1NCWwNvTY/Vs9-URXRRuI/AAAAAAAAANw/yYvCHAVxJrQ/s1600/DSC_0665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bQ1NCWwNvTY/Vs9-URXRRuI/AAAAAAAAANw/yYvCHAVxJrQ/s320/DSC_0665.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It took a while to wrestle the words out, but I finally did, and I am quite proud of what I have written. Dan absolutely loved it, smiling throughout, and then genuinely melting as he finished the last few paragraphs. It's a deeply personal look into our adventure, but the lessons we learned can provide valuable insight to all. I hope our story resonates with readers and gives them a little food for thought. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so private of a shower...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for the actual tiny house- all is well! We have seen quite a swing in weather over the last couple weeks. One day we are buried in snow, the next, we are back to bare ground and howling winds and rain! Take a look at what happened to our outdoor shower during the most recent storm!! Good to know it's flexible, because that isn't exactly a private space right there. lol It went back into shape just fine, so we won't need to build it again. Thank goodness.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Clha3Y4WKj0/Vs9_-fkD6CI/AAAAAAAAAOA/2t2S5_tSALU/s1600/20160105_090820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Clha3Y4WKj0/Vs9_-fkD6CI/AAAAAAAAAOA/2t2S5_tSALU/s400/20160105_090820.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We did another small re-claimed wood project in January as well. We made my Dad a table for his birthday. Of course, it was made primarily with pallets, and it came out pretty well! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-90167679487215483542015-12-31T15:34:00.001-08:002015-12-31T15:34:16.383-08:00WHAT A YEAR!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>I couldn't go without a single post in December!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dan and I sincerely hope you all have had great holidays shared with loved ones. We certainly have had our share of cheer, as we attended a string of holiday parties from November until now. We house sat during Thanksgiving week and hosted our own "Danksgiving". We attended Ugly Sweater parties (I won, I might add) and annual family Christmas parties. It's always nice to be amongst a bustling and happy group of those close to you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not a whole lot has happened on the Pod, but what little progress was made-- was sweet, succulent visual progress. We finished the recycled pallet siding on three of the sides of the Pod! Thankfully, for my sanity mostly, you cannot see the fourth (still naked) wall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">That third wall, which lived for most of 2015 with about 85% of it done, grew to be a festering eye sore I tried to ignore each time I approached home. The big box store logo against the stark white of the house wrap all but screamed out at you against the otherwise rustic and serene view. I had really started to believe it would be 2016 before that problem would be gone. But, just like last year, we finished the year strong by whipping out one last project. Last year, we put in our deck; we appreciated it exponentially as the snow piled up that season. HOORAH! A new and beautiful experience awaits as you approach our humble home. A wall, completely covered in siding, maybe it's not all stained, but hey, it's not house wrap either. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dan's side of the family has started a lovely tradition, creating a yearly scrap book for their parents, chronicling a year in review for each of the children and their evolving families. This is the third year, and it's wonderful to look back through three editions. I always find it to be an intense self-realization exercise. I am tasked to review the last year in photos, selecting highlights from each month.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What a trip it was to do that this year!! In January, we were prepping for our first professional photoshoot and a feature in RI Monthly magazine. In February, I was finishing up at my job and embarking on a new business venture. In March we were featured in the magazine, we met Deek...which lead to more adventures in May and September. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In April I spoke at a conference, we were interviewed by the Valley Breeze, and by June I was certified, licensed and open for business. In July we had our life altering experience at our honeymoon of choice: the week long Strawbale Workshop. In September, we had another great time in Vermont, as guest speakers at Deek's Tiny House Summer Camp. October meant two solid years living tiny, one solid year of marriage, and acceptance into a large wintertime market- which was pivotal for our business to maintain momentum. Although we are only on once a month, we have had fantastic feed back and enthusiasm from customers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><b>I seriously cannot believe the life I have led since walking away from the desk job.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So at the end of this year, we hope to inspire just one specific thing in all of you- unflinching courage. Take a look at your life, decide what you like and don't like about it- and even yourself. Then, take a deep breath and decide. Decide that you are going to make a change this year. No matter what it is, big or small, start somewhere and <i>change</i>- you will grow stronger, wiser, and more worldly for it. Change is growth....and it can be absolutely, astoundingly, amazing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-12175714612744279592015-11-27T08:04:00.001-08:002015-11-27T08:04:43.816-08:00A Closer Look At Pallet Siding<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>Throughout
our tiny house build, as well as in all aspects of our lives, Jess
and I strive to reuse and recycle as many things as we can. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not
only did this give us a good head-start on saving tons of money
during the build, but it also helped to keep us grounded. Our society
tends to operate on a “use and dispose” ideology which is causing
tons of problems for landfills (pun intended) and the environment in
general. The most labor intensive aspect of our build was our pallet
siding. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">A few weeks ago we resumed work on our siding and almost finished three of the four walls. We are still debating whether or not to use pallet siding for the back wall. We still need to stain what we've put up but it feels good to have more of it done. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve
spent hundreds of man hours working on our siding all in the name of
reclaimed materials and it occurred to me that we hadn’t put up a
post giving in depth detail to our process. (Also, Jess is so busy
with the bakery that I thought I’d take a whack at writing a blog
post or two…and this may be the only thing I’m qualified to speak
on, heh heh).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">FIRST
THINGS FIRST: When choosing your pallets you will encounter two
different types. They are marked by a stamp on one side and these
stamps tell you how that particular pallet was treated. Make sure to
ONLY use pallets marked HT, which indicates that they were heat
treated. The pallets to avoid are marked MB, which stands for methyl
bromide. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
choosing pallets as your siding option (or embarking on any project
utilizing reclaimed materials) you have to be prepared for the best
lesson in opportunity cost you’ll ever receive. If you can’t
remember that economics class from high school, don’t worry… you
will. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By
far, the biggest draw of using recycled pallets for our siding was
the cost. Without counting the cost of the gas I used to wrangle
pallets from every corner of the state, the grand total comes to a
whopping zero dollars. But don’t let that unicorn of a price tag
fool you, after all, your time is worth something.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
you’ve chosen pallets as your siding of choice (and your
significant other has failed sufficiently at changing your mind to an
easier option) your first step is to find some pallets! And, by all
means, DON’T PAY FOR THEM! Craigslist will be your best friend in
finding pallets to start. Make sure, when your cruising Craigslist, to
find several viable options for pallet pickup. Plan a route of at
least two separate places (there is nothing worse than planning your
entire day only to find out that someone snagged all the pallets from
your spot). If you find plenty at the first spot then just keep the
other locations you find in your back pocket for the days when you’re
not the early bird. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
amassing a truckload of pallets you’ll have to disassemble them.
This is not as easy as it seems. Pallets are generally built to hold
several hundred lbs of freight and are built with the sole purpose of
NOT breaking apart. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ll
save you some time and muscle soreness right off the bat, rather than
pry every single nail out of a pallet, grab a skill saw or sawzall
and cut down each side, perpendicular to the boards you want to take
off (not all boards will be usable).</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IEj6UGetsTk/Vlh8jm-RAOI/AAAAAAAAAKE/tYEMg0ZAiuE/s1600/100_7539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IEj6UGetsTk/Vlh8jm-RAOI/AAAAAAAAAKE/tYEMg0ZAiuE/s320/100_7539.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
each side is cut you’re left with an assembly that looks like a
ladder with one brace board running down the middle of 5 or 6 boards.
With a hammer and a pry bar these boards will pop off fairly easily
and the mind numbing repetition of this process will turn you into a
pro by the end of your second truck load. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
choosing your pry bar make sure you have one with a flat edge
(sometimes referred to as a flat-bar). The length of your pry bar is
also important. As with any lever the longer the pry bar, the easier
the prying. However, with some extra long pry bars (AKA deck rippers
or roof rippers) they simple have too much force and end up damaging
the boards in the process. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WpX4nXaanYk/Vlh8r9XWCoI/AAAAAAAAAKM/jM5pv80JC8A/s1600/029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WpX4nXaanYk/Vlh8r9XWCoI/AAAAAAAAAKM/jM5pv80JC8A/s320/029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At
this point the boards that you have ripped from your pallets will be
full of nails. As stated earlier, these pallets are built to last so
there will be up to 5 or 6 nails in each connection point. The nails
used in pallets are usually 2.5 to 3 inch nails with spiraling
towards the point. This design makes it extra hard to pull them out
and their length pretty much guarantees to infuriate due to nail
bending whilst trying to hammer them out of the boards. Your best
option is to use tin-snips to cut the nail down to about ¼ inch
which makes it much easier to pound it through the board, exposing
the head so you can pry them out with your claw hammer or pry bar. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kpTXsaYm6yg/Vlh8z4mWoMI/AAAAAAAAAKU/5u1Ki5XN-3Y/s1600/100_7542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kpTXsaYm6yg/Vlh8z4mWoMI/AAAAAAAAAKU/5u1Ki5XN-3Y/s400/100_7542.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
de-nailing all your planks you'll be left with a pile of boards with
a variety of edges. Remember that pallets are generally made with
wood that has already been used a couple of times and due to their
purpose, they don't need to be very pretty. Your next step is to cut
all these boards down to a uniform width. We chose 3 inches for our
siding width because most of our boards were around that width anyway
and very few were smaller than that.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_xuWvnt6c/Vlh898TMdxI/AAAAAAAAAKc/AM8FVFwLYFg/s1600/100_7545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq_xuWvnt6c/Vlh898TMdxI/AAAAAAAAAKc/AM8FVFwLYFg/s400/100_7545.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> You'll need a table saw to rip
all the boards down to your chosen width. Make sure you look at each
edge to determine which would be more beneficial. In some case it
might make more sense to cut both edges if it is a particularly ugly
piece of wood but some may still have a factory edge making two cuts
a little redundant. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
next step, and my personal favorite, is to plane each board to reveal
the new face of your siding. You will need your surface planer and
depending on the look you want for your siding you may want to
consider planing each board to the same thickness. For our house we
didn't worry about using a common thickness because we liked the idea
of having some texture to our siding. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When
you plane your first board you'll quickly realize why the surface
planer is my favorite tool. You can put some seriously funky looking
wood through that thing and out comes a beautiful and unique piece of
wood on the other side. </span></span></span><br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jl-RaFmCbc/Vlh9G_XDAnI/AAAAAAAAAKk/96N5Jfwj75k/s1600/100_7544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jl-RaFmCbc/Vlh9G_XDAnI/AAAAAAAAAKk/96N5Jfwj75k/s320/100_7544.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While
your planing you will create A LOT of wood shavings. Depending on
what your plumbing situation is for your dwelling you may want to
collect these shavings to use as your carbon additive if your plan is
to have a composting toilet. We were able to collect a huge amount of
wood shavings during this process which came in very handy for our
composting toilet. </span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Your
final step in this process is to take your clean, planed and ripped
pallet boards and bevel or ship-lap them so they fit together
creating an overlap for weather tightness. We chose to ship-lap our
pallets because we felt that would allow for a tighter fit.
“Ship-lap” means to make a cut with a depth equal to
approximately half of the board's thickness. There is an equal and
opposite cut performed on the other edge of the board. A ship-lapped
board will have a shape resembling the letter “Z”, like in the
picture. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BIZcifVPJSg/Vlh9MtSs5rI/AAAAAAAAAKs/XKOYLaZ48lo/s1600/20151109_143640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BIZcifVPJSg/Vlh9MtSs5rI/AAAAAAAAAKs/XKOYLaZ48lo/s320/20151109_143640.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
best way, in my opinion, to make this cut is to use a dado blade. It
can also be done with a router but I found that to be a little less
consistent than a table saw with a dado blade setup. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">There
are two types of dado blades to choose from; a “stacked dado” or
a “wobble blade”. A stacked dado blade set includes two 1/8<sup>th</sup>
inch blades, a number of thicker partial blades called chippers and
some spacers of various thickness. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f0p55VgG09g/Vlh9UZVrZII/AAAAAAAAAK0/4OrHJMtgY_s/s1600/20151109_143907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f0p55VgG09g/Vlh9UZVrZII/AAAAAAAAAK0/4OrHJMtgY_s/s400/20151109_143907.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To use this type of dado you
determine how many chippers and spacers you will need between you
blades to create a blade with a thickness equal to the depth of your
ship-lap cut. A stacked dado blade set comes with a chart that will
tell you exactly how many chippers and spacers you will need to make
up a specific width. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A
wobble blade is a dado blade that can be adjusted to rotate on an
angled axis which creates a wobble in the cutting edge. Because the
blade is wobbling it effectively cuts a swath through the wood at the
depth that you set your wobble blade to.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBS6YZB5Tpo/Vlh9aLJsttI/AAAAAAAAAK8/qdVmpasdXOo/s1600/20151109_143448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBS6YZB5Tpo/Vlh9aLJsttI/AAAAAAAAAK8/qdVmpasdXOo/s320/20151109_143448.jpg" width="180" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
was unable to use my wobble blade on the table saw I was using so I
ended up buying a stacked dado blade and was very happy with the
results. I strongly advise you to find a table saw guard specifically
made for a stacked dado blade. Not all table saws have the room to
safely install the dado blade.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OENoxUSfYco/Vlh9jXi-H9I/AAAAAAAAALE/L9j0bKK-kqY/s1600/100_7546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OENoxUSfYco/Vlh9jXi-H9I/AAAAAAAAALE/L9j0bKK-kqY/s320/100_7546.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
a guestimate, towards the end of our project I could process about 7
or 8 pallets in a day, which includes traveling from our house (where
I ripped apart and de-nailed pallets) to my father's property where I
used his table saw and electricity ( I didn't really feel the need to
see how fast a surface planer and table saw could drain our battery
bank ha). And those 7-8 pallets generally would turn into about 40
square feet of siding. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VT2BAwv1bm4/Vlh9uZJ_W1I/AAAAAAAAALM/0J5KYeDi7fU/s1600/101_1933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VT2BAwv1bm4/Vlh9uZJ_W1I/AAAAAAAAALM/0J5KYeDi7fU/s320/101_1933.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
hope this helps anyone who has a passion for reclaimed materials. I
truly believe that a combined effort to reduce, reuse, recycle,
upcycle ...(you get the point) not only helps our planet but also
adds an element of history to anything built with those materials. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thanks
for reading!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QQ-Pnkf6aAo/Vlh90F52VoI/AAAAAAAAALU/w3UDZgyRjQc/s1600/101_1942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QQ-Pnkf6aAo/Vlh90F52VoI/AAAAAAAAALU/w3UDZgyRjQc/s320/101_1942.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-78005163392732135682015-11-01T15:49:00.000-08:002015-11-01T15:56:05.595-08:00A Nostalgic Saturday And The Seasonal Compost Flip<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Last weekend, we took a break from our own day to </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RrL92g7VIA/Vjag9rQoTrI/AAAAAAAAAHI/jjdbBheaJeY/s1600/101_1901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RrL92g7VIA/Vjag9rQoTrI/AAAAAAAAAHI/jjdbBheaJeY/s400/101_1901.JPG" width="400" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>day hub-bub and helped out some fellow tinies.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It felt really good to build again...to be around a still forming tiny house....to be around a pair absolutely lit afire with excitement, conviction, and determination. Our friends, Justin and Jenny, first found us through our blog. They began following along- avidly- earlier than most. With every post they commented and shared our enthusiasm- helping propel us forward on days we couldn't quite do so by ourselves. Then, we started a totally unrelated business, but they embraced that with the same bright delight as our tiny house journey- nearly every week, one or both would visit us at the farmer's market, buying a smattering of items each time. They even put us in contact with a possible restaurant collaboration! </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sE4nWnGzNL4/VjaiEvRWeTI/AAAAAAAAAHk/UHfvOuXpl4c/s1600/before%2Band%2Bafter%2Bbedroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sE4nWnGzNL4/VjaiEvRWeTI/AAAAAAAAAHk/UHfvOuXpl4c/s640/before%2Band%2Bafter%2Bbedroom.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before and After in the "Bedroom" :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Y48NcL82NQ/VjahZ25xdXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/caYp4XdZD-A/s1600/101_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5Y48NcL82NQ/VjahZ25xdXI/AAAAAAAAAHc/caYp4XdZD-A/s320/101_1892.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They also came over a few weekends back, our first dinner party of any kind! It was a great time, full of enlivened conversation and a genuine desire to learn about one another. We learned that our timelines had certain similarities. In October of 2013, as we moved into our tiny house- still not quite complete- they moved into the small RV they currently call home. It was a strategic step on their part, not only did it help them financially in preparing for the project, it prepared them for living tiny before they even began prepping the trailer. They have faced two hellish winters (for RI anyway) in that small, scantily insulated RV. During the especially bitter days of February, when we couldn't keep the propane coming fast enough, they had to retreat to a family members house. Now that's commitment!! With all that on our minds, Dan and I just really want to see the marvelous couple enjoy this coming winter in the comforts of their new tiny house. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We arranged to come help them out some Saturday. With the markets winding down and the weather closing in, we committed to a weekend. We headed out that morning, all layered up, tools in hand, pencils behind the ears, ready to put in a good days work. We showed up to help at a great point in their build too-- they were beginning the interior finish surfaces. We can SO relate to this couple on a level that is hard to describe to anyone who has not faced this kind of project. I remember the utter joy that pulsed through me as we put up those first few beautiful blonde planks of pine. AT LAST! No more bloody insulating! No more ugly insides of the walls to stare at! This is our finished wall! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We quickly split into teams. Justin and Dan went to work on putting up the rest of the ceiling insulation- up to the bathroom, while Jenny and I worked on installing the first pieces of dry wall in the bedroom area. They have a goose-neck trailer, and like many with that trailer type, decided to put the bed up in that space. I was excited to see a goose-neck design in person. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By the end of the afternoon, Dan and Justin had completed the ceiling insulation, and started putting up the ceiling sheets. Jenny and I completed all drywall in the "bedroom" and the step down area up to the front door. It was so much fun working with them and getting back to a project like this. Don't get me wrong, I love to bake, but it was a welcome change of pace for the day. Follow their story and root them on as they race to move in before the snow slows them down! Checkout their blog <a href="https://transitiontotiny.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just last weekend, we did our semi-annual flip of the compost piles. I was quite amazed to see how quickly the first year's pile shrunk. The compost bay that was mounded over full this April, only had inches of material left! Our second bay was nearing full, and could use a toss and a good infusion of carbon materials, so we flipped it into the first bay. Dan slowly tossed segments of the pile as I tossed in buckets full of leaves. It was a perfect time-- ample leaf piles had collected along the road and driveway. The material had already started to darken and breakdown. A rich earthy smell rose up from every new stab into the pile. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was mounded over the top just 6 months ago!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's amazing in a way- to stand in front of a years worth of your own bio-material. It doesn't add up to as much as I thought. I had my worries about managing the actual mass of our heap when we first began. I don't know why I thought we would produce mountains of the stuff! Turns out that two compost bays measuring roughly four feet by four feet is enough for the two of us. It took us minutes to assemble using recycled (and totally free) pallets.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for another year's worth!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We got lost in the numbers as we worked the heaps, calling out how much water we saved, how much energy saved for water that didn't need to be treated...the amount of chemicals that never got dumped into the water....the rippling waves of benefits seem to extend out into oblivion. All through such a simple, humbling practice. I am glad we chose to do this. I am glad we did not cling with fear to the porcelain bowl. An effect I didn't anticipate is perhaps my favorite: I feel so much more connected to everything around us, now that we are completing the true nutrient cycle...what we cannot use, we put back. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-83471869534248167062015-10-22T10:04:00.000-07:002015-10-22T12:16:01.283-07:00Our THSC 3 Experience and A Month of Milestones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steppin' it up a notch for our Anniversary dinner</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>October just seems to be our month for making things happen!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm flat out amazed that it has been over a month since my last post...it seemed like just last week! I have a very poor sense of the passage of time these days-- which in some cases is good- but in other ways, it's a bit troubling. I hope we find some balance and a steadier pace soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The last we all spoke, Dan and I were headed up to Deek's Tiny House Summer Camp 3 for the weekend. We had another stellar time, and as soon as we returned, the swift currents of my life swept me right back up again. Not to mention, we entered October, a month full of milestones for us. October 1st marked two years of living tiny! I'd say we are fully converted at this point- I rarely ever find myself longing for extra space or wishing I had this or that available at all times. In fact, I find myself wanting to continue paring down my belongings!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three years ago this week! WOW.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm astounded by the versatility and resilience of people all over the world. I see the homes they have, the environment they live in, and I think- "Wow, I couldn't live like that.." But now, that reaction has started to change. I look at the decisions Dan and I deliberately made, how radical of a change it was, and I realize we made the shift in easy strides! We went from a two bedroom apartment with unlimited running water, full bathroom, unlimited electricity, unlimited internet, and excessive spare spaces for junk to crop up to a box on wheels with no plumbing, solar electricity, and mobile hotspot ting through our phones for internet. Some people would consider our way of living to be a lot more work. I disagree- it simply requires a lot more intention and presence here and now...these are practices I am very grateful to have as new habits.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rollerblading! Fun times! (Pre-dog-bite that is..)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just nine days later, we celebrated our first year anniversary as a married couple! We wanted to do a little weekend get away, but simply couldn't get the planning together in time. So- we decided we would take a full weekend "away" from all of life's responsibilities. We did whatever the hell we wanted all weekend long. We hit the pause button on everything- our business, our chores, our projects...and just enjoyed one another. We went rollerblading, biking, walking through the woods so I could take photos, stepped it up a notch and went out for dinner, and plenty of just laying around with good food and good movies. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only picture I thought to take that night!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And one last milestone to note- our first Tinies Double Date! We had our first pair of dinner guests at the tiny house! And they too are tiny housers! Justin and Jenny are in the midst of building their tiny house in Southern RI. We knew of them for quite a while since Justin started following us online. He was always right there with a compliment or comment to boost our morale, and we can't wait to return the favor. Once we started the business, he was also one of our first loyal customers at the Haines Park market! I was super excited to meet them both, and the friendship quickly blossomed from there. If you want to follow along with their progress, check out pics on Justin's facebook page "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/jenandbubbs.fontaine?fref=ts" target="_blank">Transition Tiny</a>" and updates on their <a href="https://transitiontotiny.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As soon as they arrived, they were both like kids in a candy store. Despite working towards this dream for the last two years, they still had not set foot in a tiny house. We were happy to take that V-card from ya, guys! (hehe) It was really great to see how visibly amped they were just to be around our homestead and pick our brains. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We shared a great dinner on the deck as the stars came out, then moved inside to keep warm and keep chatting....or laughing. I honestly think we did more of that! We had a great time with these two- they are funny, humble, generous, and kind individuals. We truly hope they can realize the dream of staying their first winter in the tiny house. For the past two years they lived in an RV...and let me tell you, the winters were not easy. We plan to head over there on Saturday and give them a boost to finish the inside!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now let's back it up to September. We had a market on Friday and Saturday- but we just couldn't afford to miss both markets so we decided to give up Saturday and leave a little early on Friday. We baked late Thursday into Friday morning's wee hours. Loaded up the car, headed home, slept for about 4 hours, then headed to market. We had a pretty busy day which was great, but meant we didn't get going as soon as we wanted. Finally, we packed up our booth, raced back to HQ, unloaded the booth and products, prepped and stored leftovers, then raced home. We had Dan's truck partially packed, but we still had plenty more to do- which we did- in turbo mode. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We hopped on the road around 3:30-4 pm and headed north. I knew we were headed to the boonies of VT so I had the foresight to screen capture all of Deek's very specific directions for finding the site. Boy am I glad we did, because we lost all reception just as we started to enter the gray zone for GPS too. We had only Deek's directions for the last 20 minutes...and the sun had just about set. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fellow tiny houser Ethan Waldman singing some original tunes,</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The directions were spot on- Thank you Deek! - and we arrived at the site just as the last remnants of the sun left the sky. We were surprised to roll up on an impromptu parking lot of almost 30 cars! We had no idea how people were going to be here! And many of them were a part of Deek's ever growing gang of tiny housers that often come along to speak to the group, chat with individuals, and help out with the build. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After quickly setting up our camp site, we headed down to the fire pit area. We simply listened for the commotion and headed that way! We came upon the full group, in the midst of lively conversation, all tucked around a great big fire. Just to the left was one of Deek's larger structures on the property, a cabin that sleeps 6+ people. To the right was one of his smaller structures, serving as a stage for speakers and singers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We jumped in right away- saying our hello's to Deek and the Gang and then plopping down by the fire. We spent that first evening drinking and sharing our story - piecemeal and off the cuff. We answered questions without hesitation or hampering. We were honest, light-hearted, and funny in our approach to building and living tiny- and I think that's just what a lot of those attendees needed. I saw subtle changes in attitude and spirit as we shared stories and answered questions for each of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day was a madhouse of awesomeness. I also got to truly appreciate that magical plot of land he's got. Everywhere you look is something colorful, funky, and quirky whether it be the angry goose crossing, the random turtle statue off the side of one of many winding trails, all leading to one sweet structure after another. Deek had FOUR different projects going at once...and located in different areas all through the woods of his land. By the time the day was through, Dan and I had helped with each and every one of them. I spent most of my time helping out with the super secret tiny tree house. You can't even see it until you are practically right in front of it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had fun, getting back to just brute labor for a day. I helped haul in supplies to the tree house location, helped organize an assembly line for getting boards measured and cut (by hand) and taught some people how to properly use a saw. Toward the end of the day, I met up to see what Dan was working on and helped finish a the second outhouse with him and the others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Experiences like this make me really appreciate my youth. All of these skills that seem like common place knowledge to me, really never even cross the minds of most people. Then again, why would it? If you don't live in the sticks or heat with wood, why would you know much about a saw or a hatchet. We all live extremely different walks of life- and not a one of us can say which is best- so I respect them all. It was really nice, though, to have so many aspects of my "walk" highlighted and even revered during this weekend. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palo, you are a crazy mo'fo! It's not a truck!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By Sunday, we had had two nights full of drinking and conversing, so all of us were moving a little slower. I honestly didn't know how far we would get, but the tree house was pretty much complete- save for some finishing work, the outhouse was completed, the rustic single sleeper was completed, and the mobile structure Deek planned to take to a show in NY was pretty close too. He ended up finishing the thing on his own after the workshop ended.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All in all, it was another great time in the woods of Vermont. We made more great connections with new folks, shared some of our baked goods (which got very positive reviews from all!), learned some amazing life stories, and gathered more inspiration and hope for the future of tiny living. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-75495722302563627952015-09-22T14:32:00.001-07:002015-09-22T14:43:57.043-07:00The 100% Recycled Outdoor Shower - And Other Little Projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q-qiauT5fs/VgHFU_k__YI/AAAAAAAAlpI/7R4c5TJXxD4/s1600/20150802_131821_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q-qiauT5fs/VgHFU_k__YI/AAAAAAAAlpI/7R4c5TJXxD4/s400/20150802_131821_HDR.jpg" width="400" /></a><b style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">This summer's tiny house projects are meager</b><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>compared to the last two years.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But, that is bound to happen as you near the end of that "Must Have" list and start venturing </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">into the "Nice to Have" list, which seems can always be pushed to a later date. Couple that with a new business and generally active/social lifestyle and you don't see the same kind of pace as in years past. C'est la vie! I have learned to embrace the constant juggling of projects rather than the neat, clean chronological completion that the anal retentive side of me so desperately craves. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shower stall wood, ready to go.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last year we spoke often about getting an outdoor shower together, but we had too many other far more pressing needs. This season we had a little help and inspiration. One thing I didn't mention about our week in VT at the <a href="http://www.strawbale.com/">Strawbale workshop with Andrew Morrison</a> was the awesome outdoor shower set up that our hosts, Tyler and Tara, created. I wish I had taken a photo...it was a simple and quick set up. They wrapped tarps around a small circle of trees, filling the ground within that space with small smooth pebbles. A wonderful treat for achey feet! A small cement circle stone stood just below the shower head. A tankless water heater, 20 pound propane tank, huge water tank, and a shower head were all hooked up to provide us bathing capabilities.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love working with fallen trees!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me tell you- after putting in an 8+ hour day of straight busting ass, your body covered in dust and dirt and straw, that shower experience was other worldly. There is just something about being out in the elements as you wash away the grime that brings a level of refreshment unlike any other shower. After that week, Dan and I were determined to get a shower going at home. As with all of our projects lately, we used all recycled and salvaged materials. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dan's Dad was doing some work on his store roof, so more free wood was available to us. We picked the best pieces, organized and chopped them into relative lengths and planed them. Some pieces still have remnants of paint, but I plan to paint a funky mural inside the stall, so we didn't spend excessive amounts of time getting the paint off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next, we headed out into the woods and collected several fallen trees. Dan got his first taste of working with a hatchet and how to properly chop wood. I'm always amused in a special kind of way when I teach someone a skill that any kid in the Northern woods learned by the age of 10. I appreciate my upbringing more and more as the years go by. Isn't that always the way?! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After collecting enough fallen logs, we headed back to the house. We gave each log a clean chop so they would rest flat on the cement. We cleaned out the small section of the dairy barn remains just behind our tiny house. Conveniently, this slab of concrete has a drain right in the middle with a sloping floor.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-knQIQTOTpx8/VgHGrbHMUBI/AAAAAAAAlqI/ry06ts_UOxA/s1600/20150809_113552_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-knQIQTOTpx8/VgHGrbHMUBI/AAAAAAAAlqI/ry06ts_UOxA/s400/20150809_113552_HDR.jpg" width="225" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We held up each small timber and nailed boards one at a time, then we would connect the next timber, then the next set of boards. Given the floor was slanted for drainage, we said to hell with levels and built the stall to work with the floor. This thing isn't meant for a hurricane shelter, just scrubbing stink off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next we searched through the old dairy barn and snagged a few pieces of old metal dairy equipment. One slid perfectly into the wall remnants next to our shower and provided exact placement for our solar shower bag. We dug through our scrap pile and created a little raised platform to stand on while showering. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We both giggled with glee as we used the shower together for the first time, and discovered some of our hilarious design oversights....like the gaps between boards being a little too big....and lining up on all the wrong places of Jess's body. It was too funny to be frustrating. If I stood in the right place, it's like a black bar was placed on all the wrong sections of the body. Good thing I'm not a prude! Flopping my towel over the side of the stall fixed this problem pretty quickly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We still need to add some hooks, a shelf or two, and a door, but we have a way to bathe people! Outdoor showers rock! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shower stall!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In other news- we also managed to sand and stain all of our recycled pallet siding (the stuff that's on the house anyway) so it's looking WAYYY better and behaves much better when it rains. Before, the pine pieces would swell and at times cause some rubbing on the front door. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The perfect hanging point for our shower.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahhh! All stained and protected! Thank goodness!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We also took our home gym up a notch by installing a hang/pull up bar. Again we used part of a fallen timber and some heavy duty rope. We drilled holes in the loft edge and the bar, simply knotting each end of rope to serve as the stopper. This thing has been a lot of fun since the moment we installed it. We are both considerably stronger even just a month later. I can now do 5 full extension pull ups! Not to mention all of the other gravity resistance moves we can do!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next up, I will recap the awesome weekend at Deek's Tiny House Summer Camp 3 this past weekend!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank">Like Us On Facebook</a></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09160191328954761389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-45356977176739881782015-09-15T09:26:00.001-07:002015-09-15T09:26:58.186-07:00Video Tour With Deek Is Up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay0KgVKkSkU/VfhGB-k9OrI/AAAAAAAAloY/RDcPVkZDAOg/s1600/video%2Blisting.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ay0KgVKkSkU/VfhGB-k9OrI/AAAAAAAAloY/RDcPVkZDAOg/s400/video%2Blisting.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>At long last! </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>The tour is up! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of you might remember that I did a tiny house (and homestead) tour of our place with the one and only Deek, in mid June. Deek Diedricksen of <a href="http://relaxshacks.com/">relaxshacks.com</a> is one of the first tiny house personalities I came across and quickly admired. I still remember the days before we even put the first cut in a two by four, combing through youtube videos, collecting ideas and excitement for our build. Deek has been into tiny structures for a long time and has a couple of books, multiple guest appearances on radio, TV, and more... and HGTV shows! It was a silly little dream of mine for him to come tour our house. YAY! He travels all over hosting workshops, taping tiny house tours, and has started to infuse art into all aspects of his endeavors. Check out his videos and his art! Wonderful stuff! And a DOUBLE YAY for us being invited to speak at his upcoming Tiny House Summer Camp 3! We are headed up to Vermont on Friday. Can't wait!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He's a goofball like me, so we had our fun while taking a look around! Enjoy the jokes and the tour! Share away!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MfBU6-CsKL4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MfBU6-CsKL4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for Reading!</span><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Like Us On Facebook</span></a>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-66387267414435705732015-09-13T09:04:00.000-07:002015-09-13T10:15:48.337-07:00Our Strawbale Workshop Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qDsjd7EHmHI/VdzAOLfg4xI/AAAAAAAAlgk/TniBWcIw2kc/s1600/101_1355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qDsjd7EHmHI/VdzAOLfg4xI/AAAAAAAAlgk/TniBWcIw2kc/s320/101_1355.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<b style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; orphans: 1;">This
will undoubtedly go down as one of the best weeks of my life. </b><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />I
have sat down four separate times to write this post. Each time, I
try to think of that week in the woods of Vermont and how I could
possibly fit all that we experienced into one succinct post. I have
realized that it will never happen, there is no neat and easy way to
convey it all- it's much better just to share what I can before the
memories fade even more. </span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Dan
and I headed off for our belated honeymoon the third week of July. We
initially heard about the workshop through tiny house channels.
Continued research and much discussion led us to the conclusion that
if we do build a long term home on the ground, it will be strawbale.
Not only is this form of "alternative" building more
readily accepted by zoning, codes, and towns in general, but it is
very efficient, stable, and - despite popular belief- fire retardant.
I especially loved the depth of the walls and what happens around
doors and windows. It is also very satisfying to know it's 100%
organic (not created with chemicals) material that is keeping us
insulated. I highly recommend some research on strawbale houses if
you like the idea of efficiency, but maybe can't go quite as tiny as
us. </span></span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
think by the end of this rambling post that it would be quite
evident, but I will open with the obvious anyway:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
you have a chance to participate in one of Andrew Morrison's
Strawbale workshops- DO IT!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Re-arrange
your schedule, work to make it happen! It is beyond WORTH IT!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's
too hard to believe, now, that I almost didn't want to go when the
time came. We had paid in full nearly 8 months before, and it had
started to feel like one of those events that would just never get
here. I also felt guilty about leaving the business idle for a week-
so early on in it's development. But, as the days neared and we
reviewed our DVDs, my excitement was renewed. This was our honeymoon,
damnit, so I was going to set the rest of life aside for one little
week and ENJOY it! </span></span></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahhh labels and organization...my favorite!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0MLkDyzbiOk/VfWMazaLx7I/AAAAAAAAli4/zGnJ6faOJJ4/s1600/101_1250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0MLkDyzbiOk/VfWMazaLx7I/AAAAAAAAli4/zGnJ6faOJJ4/s320/101_1250.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
arrived at the newly carved out homestead in the early afternoon.
After enjoying the last hour of absolutely gorgeous green hills and
far off blue mountains, we wound our way down a small road. A little
sign and silver star balloon hung from the mailbox with a cheery
message of “Welcome Straw-Balers!”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
drove slowly up the steep dirt driveway, and I let out an audible
gasp as I caught sight of the building we would be working on. It was
an absolutely stunning exposed timber frame structure, a simple
rectangular shape, and perhaps 600 square feet. The timbers that
served as support pillars were easily 5 feet around or more. Every
massive joint was hand carved and crafted to work in harmony with the
curves and sways of each unique log. The two seasons before, they
had cut and prepped all the timbers right from their own land; they
hosted a timber frame building workshop to get most of the structure
up. Our hosts, Tara and Tyler, actually finished the last of it on
their own. I cannot fathom how mentally challenging (perseverance!)
it must have been, let alone the sheer physical challenges of just
two people moving massive timbers.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CJW2lXjIna4/VfWMvDOQ6gI/AAAAAAAAljA/z3-_JVznDoM/s1600/101_1258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CJW2lXjIna4/VfWMvDOQ6gI/AAAAAAAAljA/z3-_JVznDoM/s400/101_1258.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
continued up the winding drive, squeezing past a large RV and a
second smaller travel camper. We exchanged looks, both thinking the
same thing...are we the only ones who decided to tent out? We soon
learned that the large RV was the permanent home of a pair that had
been traveling the US for years! And the second camper was once the
home of our hosts before they built their first small structure, and
current home, on the land. For this particular week, it would be the
luxurious quarters of our instructor, Andrew. Aside from one last
minute attendee who had lent out her camping gear without knowing a
spot would open up- every last participant tented out on the land.
Our kinda people already!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
climbed to the top of the driveway which made a large loop around a
huge pile of cut logs. Setting up on a steep knoll, over looking the
land, was the cute tiny strawbale house (about 250 sq ft!) that Tyler
and Tara call home. No one appeared to be around, just another car or
two. Then, suddenly, an agile, fast, firey red-head came bounding
down what could scarcely be called a natural stone stair case. Tyler
greeted us with warmth and ease. I liked him right away, he had a
soft spoken way of communicating, but his eyes churned with a fierce
tenacity. He instructed us to tent out wherever we pleased and
reminded us that this first night was still “fend for yourself”. </span></span></span>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5wMleTozYqU/VfWNK5IQmEI/AAAAAAAAljQ/wU7Qw0Vx0Kc/s1600/101_1272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5wMleTozYqU/VfWNK5IQmEI/AAAAAAAAljQ/wU7Qw0Vx0Kc/s400/101_1272.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
chose a spot tucked into the tree line and began setting up. As
people arrived we exchanged our first awkward hellos and basic facts.
We began collecting rocks and building a small fire pit as night
fell. I imagined we would be sitting and watching that little fire
several nights that week, but it was to be the first and last time we
used it. Every night to follow was spent conversing, forging bonds,
drinking and merrily singing along to acoustic covers played by
Andrew...and he took a lot of fun requests too! I really thought this
kind of thing was dead and gone, something only staged in movies, a
group coming together over a fire simply to enjoy one another's
company. </span></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ohYeGYHVTeQ/VfWUgVWUjII/AAAAAAAAllk/4toQjuKtYow/s1600/19651369946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ohYeGYHVTeQ/VfWUgVWUjII/AAAAAAAAllk/4toQjuKtYow/s640/19651369946.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny Straw-bale house dance party! Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKKBIBjtYSk/VfWNWHCCPSI/AAAAAAAAljY/9ZhP2bSUNZI/s1600/101_1274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKKBIBjtYSk/VfWNWHCCPSI/AAAAAAAAljY/9ZhP2bSUNZI/s320/101_1274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
first morning began with a phenomenal breakfast spread; so many
lovely options all excellently prepared by Tara. She took the time to
converse with each of us, via email, in the months leading up to the
workshop. She accommodated vegans, dairy free, gluten free, nut free,
you name it. While Tyler helped and managed the baling with the rest
of us, Tara took on the chore of feeding us every meal that week.
There were 20 of us- and we worked our asses off all day every day- I
mean it. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aNFUaX6KemI/VfWVClkrUrI/AAAAAAAAlls/26Yr4l_zAEo/s1600/19714781740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aNFUaX6KemI/VfWVClkrUrI/AAAAAAAAlls/26Yr4l_zAEo/s400/19714781740.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had a little one come visit and add some art. Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every one of us was soaked with sweat, covered in dust,
straw, and other filth, and absolutely spent at the end of each day.
So there might as well have been about 40 normal people eating. I
can't speak for everyone, but Dan and I ate like machines....king
machines. With every single meal, we were presented a large white
board menu with cute doodles and messages of kindness and thanks,
along with a break down of every last item on the table. I wouldn't
call myself a food snob, but my expectations are high. I've waited
tables at several high end restaurants and everything in between. For
me to lift an eyebrow, let alone exclaim over and over how good
something tastes, is really a rare thing. I think I did it at least
twice every single day that week. BRAVO, TARA!!!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VcFyMErVW8U/VfWT-b_XGuI/AAAAAAAAllc/H-r1Xy_vuxY/s1600/19651457446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VcFyMErVW8U/VfWT-b_XGuI/AAAAAAAAllc/H-r1Xy_vuxY/s400/19651457446.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lovely lady herself! Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0B18iGa5Ca4/VfWNivX9ssI/AAAAAAAAljg/RctRv7Y6FBg/s1600/101_1284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0B18iGa5Ca4/VfWNivX9ssI/AAAAAAAAljg/RctRv7Y6FBg/s320/101_1284.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Hosts placing the first bale!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is
there a word for platonic love of another couple? Because if there
is...after the first day I fell in {insert word here} with Tyler and
Tara. There are so, so many reasons- which I will touch upon- but the
meticulous labeling is what really iced the cake for me. I am an anal
organization freak to the core. My heart fluttered with pure joy as I
entered the work space and saw that they had created a neat storing
place for every last tool we would need, complete with a traced shape
and written label. My favorite way to quietly say- don't eff it up,
people! And we were all tickled pink by the purely honest labels
placed on foods as well...”of unknown strength” was one of my
favorite phrases...I think it might have been everyone's favorite. It
was on a bottle of hot sauce I believe...but I could be wrong- the
days of amazing food became a blur after day three. ;) </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WvtPLob3Nt4/VfWNw6sY84I/AAAAAAAAljo/yHnSWT2rju4/s1600/101_1295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WvtPLob3Nt4/VfWNw6sY84I/AAAAAAAAljo/yHnSWT2rju4/s400/101_1295.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
a wonderful breakfast, we started with an ice breaker exercise to
learn everyone's name. Then we headed up for a quick tour of Tyler
and Tara's current home- the tiny strawbale house. Of course I loved
it immediately. It was two of my favorite things in one: minimal and
mega efficient. After a spontaneous, tiny straw bale house dance
party to the tune of “Brick House” (which we all re-worked to
include the words- she's a STRAW.....bale-HOUSE!) we headed to the
work site.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Andrew
opened up with a brief lecture, covering key points about the framing
and structure as it stood on day one. He then proceeded to tell us
his favorite cautionary tales, some heard, some actually witnessed
through his decades in the construction business, but all gave us the
heebie-jeebies. I found myself involuntarily cringing and clutching
whatever body part he described being mangled. We all had our minds
on safety after that. Day one was spent mostly checking the moisture
level of bales, trimming and shaping them to fit as needed, and
laying the first few courses of bales along the walls. At the end of
that first day, we had about 6 feet of straw bale wall. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7p-Uf02DxBE/VfWODOSodYI/AAAAAAAAljw/GybO4Y38L_M/s1600/101_1338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7p-Uf02DxBE/VfWODOSodYI/AAAAAAAAljw/GybO4Y38L_M/s640/101_1338.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_unQK48d70/VfWOXJnOfOI/AAAAAAAAlj4/9I_tiKo6R2A/s1600/101_1365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_unQK48d70/VfWOXJnOfOI/AAAAAAAAlj4/9I_tiKo6R2A/s400/101_1365.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
days run together in my mind, but what I remember most vividly, and
what will endure is the feeling of camaraderie and team effort. It
was amazing to join forces with a group of like minded people and
watch a common goal be achieved. I have never really enjoyed group
projects. My experience was usually school related, and I was often
quickly pegged as the one that would pick up the slack...because I
wasn't about to get anything less than an “A” just because of
some lazy dead beats. I did not get that feeling here. Everyone
worked with enthusiasm and gumption. There were no cliques, and no
job too low. We made jokes, talked in silly voices, and broke out
into song more times than I could count. For the rest of my life,
when I hear: “YOU CANNOT PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER!” I will
smile and think of that week. Andrew and TK took a timeout from the
work and belted out this song intro with such fervor that I felt I
was almost at the real performance. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qMF3RFFm6dQ/VfWOgZMQCNI/AAAAAAAAlkA/NydSNdrkj8g/s1600/101_1409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qMF3RFFm6dQ/VfWOgZMQCNI/AAAAAAAAlkA/NydSNdrkj8g/s640/101_1409.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-POWqOOp_-ho/VfWOuanWLPI/AAAAAAAAlkI/2dmgDQKOuCs/s1600/101_1378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-POWqOOp_-ho/VfWOuanWLPI/AAAAAAAAlkI/2dmgDQKOuCs/s400/101_1378.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Each
day, Dan and I worked (separately-weird I know- given it was our
honeymoon, haha) with different groups of people on different aspects
of the project. Through this, we really got to know the people we
were working with, and we have forged some incredible friendships
that will last our full lives. It was truly amazing to be with such
an eclectic yet unified group. Our backgrounds and jobs were wildly
diverse, but our interests and passions all converged to create some
incredibly charged and fruitful conversations. I learned so damn much
that week, and not just about how to build with straw bales. I gained
back some of my faded passion, conviction, and hope. Even months
after the workshop has ended, we all continue to exchange emails and
talk about life's greater lessons to us all. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V1Dr6tphlYA/VfWO90Z08iI/AAAAAAAAlkQ/uoGHu1dQq64/s1600/101_1390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V1Dr6tphlYA/VfWO90Z08iI/AAAAAAAAlkQ/uoGHu1dQq64/s400/101_1390.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Each
day was solid progress disguised as loud chaos. I'm sure each of us
had at least one moment where we needed to step away. Mine came about
mid week. We were almost done with all the bales, and getting ready
to “sew” the walls together, but there were certain nooks and
crannies that needed shaping via chainsaw or weed whacker...the noise
pollution of three chainsaws, two nailing guns, skill saws, grinders,
and the scariest weed whacker I've ever seen- finally pushed me to
the edge. I had to step away from the work for a few minutes.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bNsvXmL7GN0/VfWPa73tpbI/AAAAAAAAlkY/lXqwg4p4ssA/s1600/101_1406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bNsvXmL7GN0/VfWPa73tpbI/AAAAAAAAlkY/lXqwg4p4ssA/s640/101_1406.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ohh those massive gorgeous doors!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; orphans: 1;">When I
returned, I witnessed a small exchange between Tyler and Tara that
made my heart swell and my respect grow in folds. In the midst of
this noisy chaos, Tara wrapped her arms around Tyler and they locked
eyes. They sweetly asked each other how they were doing, how the day
was going. They politely and genuinely thanked one another for all
the work each was doing, shared a smile and a kiss, and then moved
along with the day. It became clear that this was a solid couple; a
pair that had faced some seriously trying times together (a two year
bicycle & camping tour overseas to name one) and made it through
to the other side, still holding hands and admiring one another. I
have been through serious relationships that have failed, and the
greatest lesson I walked away with was the absolute need for open and
honest communication. To be strong as a couple, not only is
communication necessary, each must recognize and respect the
abilities and contributions the other has made. It was clear that
Tyler and Tara had embraced and mastered this. Yep, they're grade A
Awesomeness in my book...so much {insert word} love for them! ;)</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dymJaXWmvow/VfWP-GFIT0I/AAAAAAAAlkk/gEK9xhrxXMY/s1600/101_1413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dymJaXWmvow/VfWP-GFIT0I/AAAAAAAAlkk/gEK9xhrxXMY/s400/101_1413.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It just wouldn't be us without a pic like this..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Speaking
of incredible people, I soon learned that every one in the whole damn
group was amazing! There is simply too much to say! So I will mention
just a couple to illustrate the vastly varied group. Ashley brought
the calm open energy and gratitude of a healer, while Christopher the
Compost King, eater of only raw veggies and fruits, proclaimer of
scent free pooh (no one challenged him on this...lol) , brought Tyler
and Tara's cold, sad compost pile to a full a thriving 120 degree
mound of LIFE. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q3RieuNqlZc/VfWQl2mXjrI/AAAAAAAAlks/PZf5SFEbimM/s1600/101_1429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q3RieuNqlZc/VfWQl2mXjrI/AAAAAAAAlks/PZf5SFEbimM/s320/101_1429.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing some Polish horseshoes before dark..</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then
there was Rob, with the infectious laugh and a need to learn from
absolute step zero. He wanted to learn to play guitar so he figured
he would learn to build one first. He brought the guitar he built-
GORGEOUS- and now he is learning to play. Martin brought a variety of
noisemakers including “jaw harps”. It's a strange little
instrument that rests on your teeth and lips to create different
twangs. There is a more refined name, but of course the backwoods
terminology is what sticks. (See what I did there? :p) </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j1BGlFE3eR8/VfWTBtz7MII/AAAAAAAAllM/PTy6poEPmOY/s1600/19706067250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j1BGlFE3eR8/VfWTBtz7MII/AAAAAAAAllM/PTy6poEPmOY/s640/19706067250.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HRiqlt5Lpeo/VfWS_Y65KcI/AAAAAAAAllE/_HjWbh7Az4I/s1600/19706504218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HRiqlt5Lpeo/VfWS_Y65KcI/AAAAAAAAllE/_HjWbh7Az4I/s400/19706504218.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin on the jaw harp. Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
will never forget that spontaneous, entrancing...cosmic collaboration
between Martin, Owen, and Andrew one night by the fire. Owen laid
down a soft unfettered path with his djembe while Andrew's fingers
gently danced in and out of broken chords on the guitar and converged
perfectly with the strange but alluring metallic notes that seemed to
spring forth from Martin's mouth, coiling and bouncing their way up
into the night sky. Every one of us went silent, completely drawn
into that musical moment. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xj6NbmimlwA/VfWTlmaD74I/AAAAAAAAllU/Pa9RqzHkUm0/s1600/19698975122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xj6NbmimlwA/VfWTlmaD74I/AAAAAAAAllU/Pa9RqzHkUm0/s400/19698975122.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
our last full day, something amazing happened at lunch too. Out of
nowhere, one by one, we all took a moment to express our gratitude
toward everyone and everything we had gained that week. It wasn't
scripted or evoked by anyone. It simply started with one of us giving
thanks, and others responding in kind. I wish the whole world felt
this kind of acceptance and comfort to speak as openly as we all did
that day. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GsncDZ3If2o/VfWV6etFLkI/AAAAAAAAlmA/63kGlUtMX6w/s1600/19706508500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GsncDZ3If2o/VfWV6etFLkI/AAAAAAAAlmA/63kGlUtMX6w/s400/19706508500.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan and Martin breaking up the 'mud'. Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpFvKMOPgxY/VfWXMEmwIPI/AAAAAAAAlmI/diDiarRc-_o/s1600/19707765319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpFvKMOPgxY/VfWXMEmwIPI/AAAAAAAAlmI/diDiarRc-_o/s320/19707765319.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Shall
I go on? I certainly could, but then this post would never get
published! Suffice it to say, we had an unbelievable time and did not
want it to end. The last Sunday also happened to be Dan's birthday. I
was really overwhelmed and greatful by how easily everyone jumped on
board to do a little something for him. After much heckling, he
agreed to go be the first to shower that day. Once he left the work
site, I immediately began putting together a card from scraps of the
project. A large piece of tar paper served as the card stock. Tape
and some spray paint made the stenciled letters and pieces of
materials were used to create funky patterns. Everyone gathered
round to watch, help, and admire. Then everyone took a moment to
write a nice message. Tara took her dessert option for that night and
added candles for Dan. She also bought some balloons! She is such a
sweet person!</span></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S8VlpVaCFLs/VfWXnCt17TI/AAAAAAAAlmQ/MyCck8x-ogg/s1600/19271761694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S8VlpVaCFLs/VfWXnCt17TI/AAAAAAAAlmQ/MyCck8x-ogg/s320/19271761694.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
also fashioned him a crown from scraps and empty cider cans. Once
dark fell, we emerged from behind the solar shed singing and
presenting him with his card, crown, and candles. What I didn't
expect was how so many of the group came up and genuinely wished him
a great birthday, and a few even gave him gifts- Martin, he will
cherish that jaw harp forever! It felt like a family gathering, and
as I stood there looking around at us all laughing, smiling,
exchanging jokes and hugs- I couldn't believe the contrast to the
previous Sunday. How could all of this happened in just seven days?! </span></span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8p_Qodh9GDE/VfWYe71QJbI/AAAAAAAAlmc/bjtizlZ3ImM/s1600/19706453548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8p_Qodh9GDE/VfWYe71QJbI/AAAAAAAAlmc/bjtizlZ3ImM/s640/19706453548.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Cred: Tyler Kellen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That
last Sunday afternoon we stayed a little later to help clean up. A
lot of us did. I don't think we were the only ones wishing it wasn't
over. We said goodbye to Tyler and Tara last. They were still
working- feeling renewed by how damn much got done in 7 days I
imagine. They came bounding out of the shop, covered in mud, smiles
beaming just as bright as the first day. We exchanged big hugs and
promises to visit each other in the near future. </span></span></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muddin' time</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EWH78WYUzHs/VfWcPnEsw1I/AAAAAAAAlng/Oqop1v21quQ/s1600/101_1520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EWH78WYUzHs/VfWcPnEsw1I/AAAAAAAAlng/Oqop1v21quQ/s320/101_1520.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
way Tara blew kisses more from her eyes than her mouth, and the
genuine warm squeeze from Tyler lingered as we headed home. Within
moments of leaving, tears began to fall. I honestly think I am still
processing what happened to me. I felt so fulfilled, renewed, happy,
hopeful. Each day the news and media mows us down with the stories
of how awful people can be toward one another, other creatures, or
the planet. Yet, people can also be so very amazing, compassionate,
generous... and I can't believe I can call more than a few of them my
good friends. To the members of the Arlington Vermont strawbale
workshop: Thank you for all you inspired, taught, and gave to Dan and
I. We will never forget that week and we miss you all!!!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thanks
for reading!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank">LikeUs On Facebook</a></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmgtLNzkjB0/VfWcI7zP6nI/AAAAAAAAlnc/P17SprtVIyk/s1600/101_1515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xmgtLNzkjB0/VfWcI7zP6nI/AAAAAAAAlnc/P17SprtVIyk/s400/101_1515.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lot of booze went into the making of this straw-bale structure.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And many a good shoe had it's last run...</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">BEST. HONEYMOON. EVER.</span></b></div>
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-70620499375183703882015-07-12T05:00:00.004-07:002015-07-12T05:03:38.229-07:00Headed Off To Build and Bale!!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0Now2C-Q7M/VaJU_rTwulI/AAAAAAAAldg/olJ4rjeOYaM/s1600/101_1213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h0Now2C-Q7M/VaJU_rTwulI/AAAAAAAAldg/olJ4rjeOYaM/s400/101_1213.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our deck all lit up and ready for some 4th of July fun<br />
with friends! Hard to believe just a year ago we had<br />
relocated the Pod to this beautiful place!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Things have been pretty quiet on the tiny house front here in our little corner of the world.</span> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hate to sound like a broken record, but all energy and efforts have been going towards getting the new gluten and dairy free baked goods business off the ground. I have had my ups and downs, my set backs and my little victories, I've been tired and exhilarated, inspired and overwhelmed, you name it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I remember how I felt at the beginning of our tiny house build, and it's hard to believe that anything could trump those first feelings of awe, intimidation, and hope....but here we are again, embarking on another less traveled path. Most days, I still can't believe I made the decision, executed the plan I've only been dreaming of for YEARS now, and low and behold it seems to be working!!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRLfGumcUcA/VaJVe4lCZ4I/AAAAAAAAldo/xEFYpaMZevI/s1600/20150703_092201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cRLfGumcUcA/VaJVe4lCZ4I/AAAAAAAAldo/xEFYpaMZevI/s640/20150703_092201.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where baking and building collide! I've had so much fun creating everything I have needed from the logo and name to the banners, the four tier bread display, cash box cubby, and more! </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to thank everyone in the tiny house community who has shown us support and enthusiasm, not only for our tiny house, but also as we started this new challenge. Heck- while I have you here- take a moment to like our new business on Facebook! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/twolittlebuns" target="_blank">Two Little Buns</a>! We will keep you up today on new developments, markets we attend, and new items I bring to the menu.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4PCbUBATFgQ/VaJWQW4Et2I/AAAAAAAAldw/vlj184S_-Cs/s1600/101_1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4PCbUBATFgQ/VaJWQW4Et2I/AAAAAAAAldw/vlj184S_-Cs/s400/101_1218.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Meanwhile, things at the house are getting a little behind. I still need to provide some kind of trellis or crawling apparatus for my tomatoes on the utility closet and my cukes on the roof. The cucumbers are not doing as great as I had hoped, time will tell what they actually produce. They have some small cukes started, but the leaves and vines aren't spreading like I'm used to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The peas and beans are doing great! I picked a nice batch of beans to cook up with dinner and there are a TON of pea pods to be picked too! There is no satisfaction to match growing your own food. Give it a shot next season if you can! Heck, there is even still time now to plant tomatoes, squash, or even beets and radishes. GROW FOOD PEOPLE!! </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBpWQ2I1E9k/VaJWZUPE6PI/AAAAAAAAld8/5gHM0E7kHKk/s1600/101_1219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SBpWQ2I1E9k/VaJWZUPE6PI/AAAAAAAAld8/5gHM0E7kHKk/s400/101_1219.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyways- something cool that is happening on the tiny house front- or at least related- is that we are headed off on our "honeymoon" this week! We are going to Arlington, VT to participate in a week long workshop, learning and<a href="http://www.strawbale.com/" target="_blank"> building a straw bale house!</a> We booked this last year, not long before our wedding. The thought of planning a trip or vacation right on the heels of our wedding was just too much at the time, so we opted to do something later. I highly recommend this by the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I find myself so excited for this fun little vacation, and it feels as if our wedding was just days ago once again. Second, we know that the tiny house is not our forever home. We want something a bit bigger and on solid ground.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SO EXCITED!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am always amazed by families of four living in THOWs, but that's simply not an experience I am interested in. I lived in all manner of housing with my family growing up, including an RV and a hunting shack. While my memories of those places are fond and I never felt hindered by the type of home it was, as an adult, I'm going to consider that an experience that is permanently checked off the list. We have two rabbits that don't want to do what they are told on occasion- and they have learned to "scatter and disorient" when they don't feel like cooperating. Can you imagine two much larger, loud, smart, taciturn animals (kids) deciding to scatter and disorient in this place?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure, it's definitely possible, but so is putting my arm in a meat grinder. Doesn't mean I feel the need to do it. haha</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm sure I will have lots of pictures and fun stories to tell when we return! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/anothertinyhousestory" target="_blank">Like Us On Facebook</a></span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-31801593045244553052015-06-12T13:40:00.003-07:002015-06-12T13:43:02.239-07:00Hammering Through The Days...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time to build up!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Hey people! I've been awash in small business work and life itself. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But- considering I just did a video tour with Deek- YEP DEEK! WOOP WOOP! I'm all jazzed and thought- "yeah I'll bang out a blog post before heading out to bake until 1am!" This was only possible thanks to the fun tour and rounds and rounds of compliments from Deek....which means quite a lot to Dan and I. We watched his videos early on, he's seen it all - from the pimped out tiny houses to rickety shacks in the sticks. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun times with Deek! :)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The video tour should be out sometime soon-- fair warning all- it is abundant in off-color jokes. We are both goof balls- and once the back and forth gets started......haha Needless to say it was a good time. I'll be sure to post when it comes out!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cemHWQRnJHM/VXtBbbpDg9I/AAAAAAAAlcE/eu-M_hrGhyg/s1600/20150606_103824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cemHWQRnJHM/VXtBbbpDg9I/AAAAAAAAlcE/eu-M_hrGhyg/s320/20150606_103824.jpg" width="180" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other than that, I have been putting all energy and effort into the baked goods business. I named it after our real life pets Wendy and Walter, and designed the logo after them as well. It's been a blur, but a wonderful blur. The first market went really well- sold out my breads! So I'm ready to double my offering for tomorrow and hopefully show up at another market somewhere in the state very soon! I specialize in gluten and dairy free breads, cookies, crackers, and more! <a href="http://www.facebook.com/twolittlebuns" target="_blank">Check it out people! </a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racing to make my first display<br />
for the market! I used wood from<br />
the favor display from our wedding.<br />
TRIPLE LIFE for this pallet wood.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The plants are finally getting into full swing and I picked my first bowl of strawberries from the roof. I can't wait to see what yields come from each method- I hope the WHOLE ROOF gets smothered in cucumber leaves too! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll check in again soon!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broc and peppers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawberries, cukes, leeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YUM!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wish everyone could smell this photo!!!</td></tr>
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-26482463062018039882015-05-26T08:58:00.000-07:002015-05-26T08:59:36.469-07:00A Makeover For The Pod<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weathered gray...not for long!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>We've been just as busy as we have been silent! Sorry!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dan and I have been working like mad on a variety of things- mainly items related to my new business and getting the outdoor area into shape. One of the big undertakings of this spring/summer was to sand and stain the siding. I still pout as I think back to that beautiful blonde smattering of colors. Alas, unprotected wood does not stay so bright. Over the last year, as it sat in the beating sun, the Pod has taken on a gray weathered look. Don't get me wrong, there is a certain charm to weathered gray, but to me, it belongs at the beach- and it certainly isn't the color for us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As daunting and tedious as it seemed, this particular project isn't taking nearly as long as we expected. I credit that to having a lot more free time. I can only imagine how long this would have taken, on top of everything else we have accomplished since March, if I was still working 40+ hours a week. Makes me cringe actually. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyways! My arms are getting quite defined and the house is looking fine! Over a few different days we have managed to complete the end wall, utility closet, and about 85% of the front wall. The new stained color looks AMAZING, especially after looking at the ratty old gray for so long. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have also been working away at making the space around the Pod more "human putter" friendly. I am not a fan of lots of clothes and footwear. Every summer as a kid- I wore as little as possible. If only I could run around naked like I once did- too bad it's only acceptable until about age 5. Ha! I prefer to let my skin and feet breathe. So as soon as it gets warm enough, I move to shorts, tanks, and flip flops. That has not been working to my favor here. I already have dealt with poison ivy this year. My butt of all places. I think it happened while I was resting on my heels and my shoes must have had some of the oil. Needless to say I was very aggravated and after a couple days of dealing with an itchy fess, I clothed myself from head to toe, put on rubber gloves and went hunting and yanking. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have learned that we do not have "a patch here and a patch over there"...we have poison ivy EVERYWHERE within our area. ALL OF IT. Some places are more dense than others, but I was not happy to discover this fun little fact. Once I had ripped up as much as I could, I started laying cardboard. I want to be able to have a space to walk around and wear my sandals without checking every little step I take. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had to lay on the roof to stain the top 2<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This past weekend, we took advantage of that nice low 60s weather we got and did a bunch of shoveling, hauling, and spreading of chips. Hard work on hots days is the worst! Cooler weather made is somewhat enjoyable! I also weed-wacked. Things are looking much cleaner and sandal friendly now. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a contrast eh?!?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The roof containers are exploding, the trellis plants are starting their first little grasps up the vertical surface, and the straw bales....well they are doing alright. They actually require the most attention from me as they need watering and weeding most often. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-86910030665143577862015-05-12T07:53:00.000-07:002015-05-12T07:53:25.661-07:00Vertical and Stawbale Gardening- Our 100% FREE & RECYCLED Vertical Trellis<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forget flowers! My stair beds have kale and chives!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>It feels like quite the juggling act right now, and all I am trying to manage are some slowly growing plants.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The difficulty of a task can rise exponentially if all actions boil down to a handful of pre-requisite decisions you are simply incapable of making. That was me over the last week or so. I have all these ideas and gardening techniques I would like to try and about 25 different types of seeds to choose from, I also had that pile of seedlings I started WAY too soon, just looking like a bunch of gangly trapped teenagers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not used to gardening at a smaller scale I guess. I even restrained myself when planting the seedlings back in March, but still ended up with too many of certain things without any real plan of where to put them. </span><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Vertical Trellis</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We created a vertical trellis just in front of our house. Partly because of all the great things I read about vertical gardening in this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Vegetables-Fruit-Gardening-Techniques/dp/1603429980/ref=pd_sim_14_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QQFB14WF0NA4XCE495G" target="_blank">book</a>. I didn't want to give it back to the library! So much knowledge!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once again, my new mission is to create as much as we need from things that are already laying around or found for free. I'm beginning to re ally love the pile of old deck wood behind Dan's Dad's store. He kept it without really knowing what purpose it may, if ever, serve. It wasn't the pretty pristine looking stuff it used to be, but it was still good solid wood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I made my small bed for the trellis out of left over deck wood. We then took apart the two extra solar racking posts we had made last summer. Seeing all of these things lying around here get a second life is giving me a new sense of appreciation for what can happen when you mash together creativity, tenacity, and recycling. We took the longer pieces we retrieved and created a simple frame. This was where we would mount our trellis of sorts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We thought of a lot of things, maybe bamboo? Maybe thin strips of scrap wood? And at one point, I even thought, "Okay, every other part was free, maybe I'll just grab some lattice at the big store." I went and checked the prices- for the type of weave we would have wanted, it would have run us about $28/sheet and I guessed we would need two. I decided to put a pin in it, not letting my excitement and OCD level need to just complete it already. </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xbH1H03jnlU/VVINGlDwgTI/AAAAAAAAi7Q/EQlih3aqXqk/s1600/101_0841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xbH1H03jnlU/VVINGlDwgTI/AAAAAAAAi7Q/EQlih3aqXqk/s320/101_0841.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just a day later, we were driving home, not even 2 miles from home, and we spotted two pieces of lattice work, propped against a tree with other miscellaneous items. I squealed with joy- what a find! I felt as if I was being rewarded in some way for sticking to my own rule of no spending. We tried every which way to get them in the car, but with screws still poking out, it made it difficult to do without damage. Finally, I said to hell with it- I started walking with them over my head while Dan went and got his truck. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We brought them home, and used the very screws still in the lattice to attach it all. Free lattice and free hardware! Nice! We have planted peas, beans, peppers, and leeks in this box. Time will tell if I crowded them too much, but if half of it is going to grow upward, I think it will work out great. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another major reason for wanting to try vertical gardening and choosing that particular location, was not only to conserve ground space, but to provide some shade to our utility closet. Last summer we did not have our solar power set up, but this year, that cabinet needs to stay as cool as we can manage. Overheating that equipment would be dreadful and oh so costly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After a few days of watching the shadows, I was a bit peeved to find that the shadows fell just a few inches short of the utility closet. By the time we scooched the trellis close enough to make proper shade, it would be practically on top of the house and we wouldn't be able to access the closet. SO- our next gardening project is now to set up a few containers on that closet roof and have some sort of lattice or netting reach from there to the top of the trellis. That will do the trick! We are going to have one interesting looking place in another month or so! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BOOM- Free and Full of Awesome</td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Straw Bales</span></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I went to the local hardware/gardening store and picked up 4 bales of hay. I jammed them all into my car which was quite a sight, and quite a mess afterwards. I liked the idea of straw bales because not only do they need minimal to no soil, they can be plopped down anywhere. We have a lot of overgrown, rocky, and root filled soil here, so rather than trying to till or clear away those plants, I opted for bales to sit right on top. Plus, I just want to see how well it all works! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For a better understanding of how straw bales work and how to prep them, check out this <a href="http://modernfarmer.com/2013/07/straw-bale-gardening/" target="_blank">article</a>. We laid down some cardboard (free and abundant at Dan's Dad's store - no purchasing black mesh for us!) watered them well, then covered it with chips. Just a note- always use bare, non-coated cardboard with minimal labels or printing- and be sure to remove all the tape!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> I followed the steps in the article, but things got a little loose towards the end. I was using water directly from the little pond near us, so I think that helped speed up the process. The pond is "live" water packed with nutrients like fish, duck, and turtle poop and teeming with microorganisms that all help set the stage for some great growing medium. Much better than the treated and sanitized water coming from your average garden hose. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not very pretty, but the paper will keep<br />the grass at bay.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well- all the plants are in, but grass has told me that this stuff is just perfect for it. It's sprouting everywhere. I was quite peeved, as I asked numerous times for the hay with no seed. Either the guy didn't know or didn't care I guess. Make sure you get your bales from a reputable source, or be prepared to battle grass all summer as I will have to do. BLERG. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the strawbales, I have some brocolli, leeks, peppers, and dragon carrots. I was going to do some vertical stuff on these beds too, but thought maybe I should give Dan and I a break and focus on just getting our food in the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aside from the gardening, we have been slowly working on improving the space around us-- well making it less tantalizing to goats would be more accurate. It's beautiful as is! But- the last thing I want is to have a pack of goats munching all of our garden food- so we are trying to make our area look less tempting. How? Wood chips and cardboard. Lots and lots of wood chips and cardboard. Luckily the wood chips were free too! Our landlords were very generous to let us use a bunch. They get it delivered by the truckload from local utility companies that are always looking to get rid of huge piles of the stuff. So, if you have the space to dump it and the interest in using it- contact your local utility company and ask if they need places to get rid of their wood chips it works great as ground cover and mulch. Plus you can't beat free! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An update on our self-watering containers on the roof- they are doing GREAT! Even in the beating sun, I only have to go up and fill the water reservoirs every 4 days or so. The soil has stayed perfectly moist and the plants are LOVING IT. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next up, either sanding and sealing the siding, or starting work on our outdoor shower. We hope to use all the leftover bamboo the goats ate through the winter. Should be fun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-54723381989459984972015-05-05T09:03:00.000-07:002015-05-12T08:04:51.911-07:00GOOD TIMES HAD BY ALL: Deek's Putnam Workshop<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>This past Saturday, Dan and I had the pleasure of speaking at, and mingling about Deek's tiny house workshop in Putnam, CT. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We arrived toward the end of the day at the <a href="http://www.theemptyspacesproject.org/" target="_blank">Empty Spaces Project</a>, a cute little art gallery in downtown Putnam. The place was alive, not only with vivid colors (gorgeous art there!), but the energetic bustle of a group raising a small abode right in the center of gallery's main showroom. Once complete, the tiny house will serve as an art exhibit in and of itself, while also displaying other pieces of art. So cool! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image borrowed from Deek's site</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dan was quickly scooped up to help, while I had the pleasure of taking photos of one of the most fun parts- raising the final wall, which had an awesome punk rock inspired mural- painted from corner to corner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Later on in the night, after all the banging and drilling was put to rest, everyone scattered to various little taverns and eateries peppered along the downtown area. This part of Putnam has really sprung back to life, and it's bringing a lot of funky, eclectic arts and other businesses back to the area. I always love seeing the revival of a town.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A piece of Deek's art! Love it!<br />
Especially the cell phone 'stache!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After grabbing grub, we all returned to hear a handful of speakers ranging from tiny house dwellers to tiny house dreamers. Dan and I were up first and received a really awesome response to our story. Just minutes before we left for the event, I threw a bunch of photos on my tablet to be able to show. Probably the best move I made all week. It was pretty amazing to see people oooh and ahh at our little house, made by little ol' novice Nellys-- us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other speakers were a delight as well, especially to us! We love hearing about other tiny house dwellers and their story. Ethan came all the way from Vermont to share his house, which is amazing. Miranda of <a href="http://mirandashearth.com/" target="_blank">Miranda's Hearth</a>, and <a href="http://amyannettehenion.com/" target="_blank">Amy Annette Henion</a> (who did an awesome Ted X talk!) were also sharing. Amy provided some great tips and inspiration to fellow dreamers who are pinching pennies and paring down belongings as they dream of a tiny space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Miranda shared her engaging vision of a tiny house hotel of sorts, where each house along with every last item in it, would be hand made by a community of artists. Guests could come and enjoy a stay in a tiny house and would be able to purchase any item they saw or used while visiting. She is also going to kick start this vision off by building the very first tiny house right out in public- as an evolving art display. Check out more details <a href="http://theumbrellaarts.org/arts-gallery/big-art-tiny-house" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Needless to say, we had a wonderful time, made some great connections, and gained a renewed enthusiasm and appreciation for what we have done and encourage others to do as well! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2968422166354177600.post-60922848214046991212015-05-03T16:44:00.000-07:002015-05-03T16:44:25.307-07:00Gardening with Self Watering Containers- 100% recycled, 100% FREE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>We have been juggling about fourteen different little gardening or yard related projects over the last couple of weeks.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rather than try to report progress as it happens on a daily basis (which can be quite chaotic) I will focus on reviewing one project at a time. Today- our self watering containers. As I mentioned in earlier posts, we are experimenting with a few different gardening techniques this season. I will be gardening out of containers, using the vertical gardening concept, and straw bale gardening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The allure of container gardens (especially when vertical too)- to me- and I think to many tiny house people or renters for that matter-- is that space is completely maximized. I see so many tiny houses tucked neatly into a backyard space with little room for much else. I have also lived in an apartment and experienced the woes of not having a yard of my own at all. But! With container gardens, all you need is space enough for a 5 gallon bucket in a sunny spot, and some simple fencing or lattice for the plant to grow upward. A small balcony, a bay window, or a little walkway area can be turned into a lush and fruitful space. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdggU08J7HM/VUawPF0-q2I/AAAAAAAAi3o/-d4ur8DXuds/s1600/self-watering-container.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WdggU08J7HM/VUawPF0-q2I/AAAAAAAAi3o/-d4ur8DXuds/s1600/self-watering-container.jpg" height="320" width="128" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Self watering containers are very simple, requiring a couple of five gallon buckets, some pvc piping, rocks, soil, and then a few plants of your choice. <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/self-watering-container-ze0z11zhir.aspx" target="_blank">Here is an article</a> explaining in more detail. I snagged the image right here from that article as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once again, I was able to complete this project at no cost to me. We have family and friends in the food prep business (hospital kitchen, a market, a sub shop) and many food items come in 5 gallon buckets before they are further prepped at the location, so they have plenty on a regular basis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We collected buckets for free, and also perused behind Dan's Dad's store, where we found several lengths of used PVC pipe that would be perfect. Once the materials were collected it was straightforward work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We paired up buckets and, using a jig saw, cut holes in the top buckets for the PVC piping. One for the soil "wick" and one for adding more water. We used a drill to add plenty of holes to the bucket and perforate the PVC piping to ensure good water flow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for rocks, I simply walked around the yard and picked up whatever looked good. When it came to soil for the plant, I happened to have a large bin full of the richest soil around. Last fall when we decided to clean up around the cement foundation, we scraped an area clean that used to be an indoor floor. Everything we shoveled off was years and years of leaves, branches, animal droppings, and a lot of other plant matter that had turned to a rich black soil. As we were shoveling it away, I thought to myself, this is nice stuff, let's throw it in that empty bin over there. At the time, I had no idea what I would use it for, but figured it would come in handy for the next season. It sure did!! The only thing I had to buy were my seeds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, we have four containers that we placed up on the roof to take advantage of a perfectly good growing space and provide organic matter and shade to the roof area, further helping to keep us cool inside. In each bucket I have planted a strawberry (thanks, Adam!) a leek, and a cucumber plant. We will be building some basic lattice for the cucumber to crawl across, that way it won't be laying right on the black rubber of the roof. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vining plants work especially great with this container concept. The root system of the plant is the only part that needs soil, and that uses fairly little in comparison to the sprawling greens is produces. If those vines are guided up a lattice or other vertical route, you can pull it quite a bit of produce for very few square feet of your ground space. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm excited to watch our roof get overtaken with the big bright green leaves of cucumber plants! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next up, I will be talking about our 100% recycled trellis and garden bed, and also the straw bale gardening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<br />Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06813996944930712618noreply@blogger.com9