Persistence pays off

Over a year of searching and waiting and 3+ years in < 20ft and we finally found a bigger home for our family! It's amazing and unbelievable what we fit in our tiny home!! Still a weird feeling not having to step outside for the fridge or pantry tote... Seeing how our fridge was quite small and we had almost no counter/pantry space inside... We had a tote for additional pantry space and a mini fridge as well as an actual freezer outside next to the outdoor washroom... Which houses an outdoor shower and sink aside the washer and dryer... All heated by propane :) Sure helps to have an engineer electrician plumber McGyver for a husband ;) Helps too when you have a covered patio for storing said tote and art supplies that don't have a home inside for their size... teehee

Neglected Not Forgotten

I have been quite neglectful here but for good reason... This happened! The months leading up to and following have kept us quite busy :) *Wedding planning in the mountains means limited service/communication!* Thankfully Christmas came early and will bring many new projects and adventures with it! Get ready for a new dose of Reality in 2019!

Sidebar

Things have been busy 'round these parts... dawned on me this post from March 30th would be a nice little side bar to tiny home livin... occasionally there are days like this... Well I've been on my mama's farm since Wednesday and there has been hardly a moments rest... yesterday caught some rays with Snickers and in the evening since the goats kept getting out of one field I trapped em in another! So I'm managing an attention hogging puppy an old beagle who needs meds twice a day a lizard/dragon and goats who won't stay in the fields they're spose to :-/ Then there's waking up this morning to two new baby goats! Since the others gave birth 2-3 weeks ago I spent 2 hours this morning shuffling straw for bedding from one stall to another... shovel full by shovel full... while ensuring stall doors were latched behind me as I went so the donkeys wouldn't get to either the stall with the hay or the new babies... setting up a heat lamp and securing field gates so the douche alpha male will stop escaping! O to top it off... Aunt Flo kicked it into high gear while I had new mama goat in a headlock with one arm and the other arm helping the babies find their milk source! She's a first time mom but she's figuring it out :) 3 hours later and I'm just bout ready to clean myself up... but hey that's life on a farm... plus I get to name the baby goats! #farmlife #whoorderedmoregoats #ithoughthiswasapuppysittinggig #lovemylife #twomoredays #isitmondayyet *My S.O and I live on a bison ranch... seems like cake compared... I now know for future reference when we get our own... no male goats for me and only 2/3!*

Sickly Can Be Sweet

Now I had a time deciding what to write

As I am currently laid up in bed
Snifflinf and zneazing
Feeling remarkably shitty

Whilstmy current technological difficulty pl a ys with my patience 

* ie; I cannot see what I am writings 

It is remarkable how often technology and patience play together

So in light of my lightheadedness and body sweats
This will be a glimpse into the joys of tiny home livin
When one is sick

As I lie in my red flannel sheets alternative down comforter and deer fleece throw
I am feeling quite cozy as the thermostat reads
77°
Perfect for this island queen

The flat screen is mounted on a board
Which covers part of the window at the foot of the bed
The blu ray is hung from the ceiling
With paracord and eye screws
Above my head attached by velcro are the tv/player remotes

So with but a lift of my arm
Voila
Netflix

My significant other is a climber
And a Builder and mechanicanic and electrical engineer/Mcgyver
So he is constantly improving storage possibilities

With the stove just a sit up away

I can reach and grab the lighter from the hood clingin on to two magnets
And bam

Stove/oven can be lit so quick

All I need is my honey sitting on the bench across from the fridge and no one need even get up off their seat

Juice at the ready and snacks within reach

Yea

Tiny livin is the life for us

* Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside ;)

** as i try amd post this forwhatever reason the sizing just keeps changing hkwever it sees fit... and my give a damn is bu st ed

Cupboards... Closets... & Quarantine

One homemade shelf... above our kitchen sink window... has a teapot that belonged to my grandmother... along with a variety of teas 
Mid-way live the vitamins and homemade master tonic... things vital to the morning routine
Closer towards the stove I put additional baking ingredients

Herbs spices and seasonings have their own small shelf on the stove wall and in a caddy mounted to the outside of the cupboard above the stove

Our additional shelving has opened up so many possibilities

Allowing for the cupboard space to be free for dishes and assorted baking pans

Across are two cupboards mirroring the two above the sink/stove

They serve as a pantry since the mice seem to not be able to get up there

* ever since our move a few hours south and a few thousand feet lower our rodent problem is no more
** Tom's Strawberry toothpaste is great bate in a trap

Got my noodles... syrups... canned things and pasta sauce on one side and my bigger baking items like flours and sugars alongside my sauces/dressings for grilling/cooking

Granted there was some experimentation and the addition of wire shelves in the cupboards to find what works

Along with rodent repellant that plugs into an outlet 

I find purposeful placement goes a long way toward convenience and in turn peaceful sleep

~

Things like books that... when not readily available... get lost or covered in dust... can occupy a homemade shelf space

An unused wall... say... just above a window frame... may be perfect for mounting said shelf... made with 1"× 5" boards of varying lengths... adding feet of additional shelving

* be sure to measure twice ;-)

Which could be used as a bit of decorative space for say the right size picture frame.... a few art pieces your child made... room for a memento or two... or things daily used like post it's and pens

* Can never stress enough
Unused items are a waste of already limited space

If you don't need it... store... gift... sell... or on the occasion... burn it
** I am a bit of a sentimist so things I make space for have a good enough reason for me to occupy where I deem available ;-)

~

The upper closet floor is where some tools... rifles... and some of the child's activities were stored

Plus a ton of jackets... which have since been relocated

There had been a whole lot more random items stuffed down there but as I said before... if you don't use it... lose it

The very bottom of our closet had a cubby space with a hatch leading out the back

So when our dear Cleo was expecting this became a doggy door

When living the tiny life you get creative

Thankfully... like with most travel trailers... the kitchen table detached to fold down into the munchkins bed every other weekend

When it came time for puppies to be born we fashioned in a crate/den between the benches... that still allowed for table use and the munchkin to have a place to sleep

Once they outgrew the crate we fashioned a kiddie pool that could be easily moved as needed 

When they got a bit bigger we were in need of a quarantine area... so they wouldn't wreck the house when we were gone and would allow for them to go outside to potty

* They would eventually wreck the house... once they could jump over the bench/wall

So my handyman built a sliding door... of sorts... on the inside of the bathroom door... that would latch to part of the bench/wall
Allowing for a decent sized space... minus a three-tier shoe rack... 

The fender offered the perfect home for their water jug

Along with a dump truck mud flap... that hung over the open cubby that led out the doggy door... we hung a hello kitty blanket over the front door... for additional draft protection

* for the windows we used plastic indoor window insulation and a heat gun
** hair dryer works fine

There were additional coat hooks hung next to the front door... to which I hung a hanger that has at least 15 holes... in a variety of sizes... to hold all my scarves and belts 

We would eventually add a couple plastic totes... that would hang from the ceiling... to hold hats and beanies... along with a Christmas gift meant for dog leashes and the like which hung next to the closet

Pretty much... if there is available space... we'll find a way to utilize it

Believe you me... when you live in a place that could become a dust bowl from your mutts running circles... or what once maybe had grass has become a mud moat... you don't want to see a speck out of quarantine

Create Space Creatively

Not one to hesitate when presented with exciting life changing choices
 I jumped at the opportunity of being reunited with my long lost love

Be he in -4° and me chock full of aloha from the middle of the Pacific... I dove in... right into one of the craziest winters in over 20 years and tiny home livin

So this is where it begins
 As I recount to the best of my ability the many challenges met & how we overcame debilitating effects like running out of space

I kicked off the start of my new life in the last week of 2015... I know... middle of winter... but the heart doesn't know the difference between 32° and 80°

So there I am... walking in almost 3 ft of snow up to my new front door...

 • Tiny Home Living Tip (a.k.a Tiny Tip) #1: When leaving your home in cold weather be sure to leave an oil heater on low else pipes will freeze/burst and you swear it feels warmer outside
   *for extended trips blow out water system including h20 pump, h2o heater & h2o faucets

...Mind you I left my luggage in the back of the car
 Not knowing yet how much room I'd have to work with

Turns out I'd end up living out of a trunk once again
 Most of my clothes... being meant for warmer weather... were not essential and placed in a storage unit
  While only necessary items to keep me from freezing were brought in

What did make it inside occupied totes
 Each a specific style/item intended

Where once upon a time was a bunk bed above the Queen bed... which had replaced a couch/pullout space... became an unconventional closet

One tote for socks and undies... one for shirts... one for pants... one for leggings and one for long sleeves/thermals

In turn the lack of closet space required some ingenuity

Once a new shower curtain had been aquired... the old shower curtain was strung upon the shower wall with paracord... six command hooks set in very strategic places allowed for at least 12 items to be hung

So along with all my man's shirts and sweaters I hung a few dresses in the tiny closet by the front door
 My select few sweaters/flannels I hung by two's in the shower... behind its protective wall

The munchkins clothes being stored in a drawer under one of the benches... that served as both seat and bed end

The other bench being more a cupboard... storing miscellaneous items... jenga, grocery bags, waffle maker, potatoes, rubber gloves etc.

Under the queen bed we stored things like excess t.p and cleaners, sewing box, a sleeping bag and eventually a crate full of shoes

 • Tiny Tip #2: If you think there's no place... create space... if it hasn't seen the light of day in over a month... reconsider if it is a need or a want

Back to the Start

Shortly after my 21st birthday I made a drastic life change... which led to me living out of a backpack in the mountains of Oregon for 2 years
With either no structure or a tarp structure... so I'm no stranger to a minimalistic lifestyle
But Maui is where I got my first taste of 4 wheel livin

I started with a backpack and a rain fly when I walked off the plane

A few months in and I was living out of Wanda, a Jeep Cherokee

Throughout the years I would alternate living indoors or living in 4 wheels

After Wanda there was MaryAnne the mini van and later would come Yurtle a 2 door Hyundai

All presented their own challenges but virtually rent free with the ability to choose my front porch each night was quite rewarding

I left Maui for a new start
A new chance
A chance I'm learning to embrace

I sold my car
Rented out my room
Packed my clothes and mementos into one duffle, one carry on and my backcountry backpack
Other useless necessities went into 5 flat rate boxes to greet me upon arrival
Once everything else was given away... I shipped off for the mainland once more

For a much longer intended stay than my usual 2 week trips away... 
Leaving behind the island that welcomed me home 5 years before 

This stay happens to be in a 20 ft bumper pull trailer... indefinitely

Now... for the first time in all my 4 wheel living... there would be a fridge, a shower and not to mention the extra storage space!

This is when reality starts snickering behind my back

I should mention how at this time the space is being occupied by my then boyfriend and his 3 1/2 yr old pit/lab Cleo and every other weekend a then 8 year old daughter

Can you picture how quickly the space dissipates
While laughter slaps my face