Peas Without Their Pod: What's Next For Us?

I let myself have the month of January to allow everything sink in.

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. 

Before we took the deck apart...

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.

Empty... sigh..

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...

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 relaxshacks.com about making a sale video. This was mid summer. Schedules got crazy, lines of communication went silent. I worried a bit...ok, A LOT.

Us with Alex- the reuse guy!

 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: www.boxtruckfilm.com ) This project is being carried out by the reuse king: Alex Eaves of stayvocal.com 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. 

Deek getting some cool shots for the sale video..

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. 

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? 

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.  

Thanks so much, Sarah! 

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! 

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!! 

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!

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?!"

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!"

Indeed, Universe. INDEED. 

Our new focus will be the business, Two Little Buns, 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!

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Our THSC 3 Experience and A Month of Milestones

Steppin' it up a notch for our Anniversary dinner

October just seems to be our month for making things happen!



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. 

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!

Three years ago this week! WOW.

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.

Rollerblading! Fun times! (Pre-dog-bite that is..)

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. 

The only picture I thought to take that night!
I guess I was enjoying myself thoroughly :)

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 "Transition Tiny" and updates on their blog.

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. 

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!

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. 

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. 

Fellow tiny houser Ethan Waldman singing some original tunes,

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. 

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. 

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. 

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! 

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.

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. 

Palo, you are a crazy mo'fo! It's not a truck!

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.

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. 

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The 100% Recycled Outdoor Shower - And Other Little Projects

This summer's tiny house projects are meager
compared to the last two years.

But, that is bound to happen as you near the end of that "Must Have" list and start venturing

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. 

Shower stall wood, ready to go.

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 Strawbale workshop with Andrew Morrison 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.

Love working with fallen trees!

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. 

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. 





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?! 

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.





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.

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. 

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. 

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! 

Shower stall!

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. 

The perfect hanging point for our shower.

Ahhh! All stained and protected! Thank goodness!

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!

Next up, I will recap the awesome weekend at Deek's Tiny House Summer Camp 3 this past weekend!

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Vertical and Stawbale Gardening- Our 100% FREE & RECYCLED Vertical Trellis

Forget flowers! My stair beds have kale and chives!

It feels like quite the juggling act right now, and all I am trying to manage are some slowly growing plants.

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. 

Recycled deck wood!

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. 

The Vertical Trellis

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 book. I didn't want to give it back to the library! So much knowledge!

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. 

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.

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. 


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. 


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. 

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. 

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! 

BOOM- Free and Full of Awesome

The Straw Bales

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! 

For a better understanding of how straw bales work and how to prep them, check out this article. 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!


 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. 

Not very pretty, but the paper will keep
the grass at bay.

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. 

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.

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! 

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. 

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!

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