Holiday Spirit 2013

I had a lovely chat with Debby Richman from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company today.  Great things are happening in the world of tiny houses!  Let's hope 2014 is a banner year.  Anyway, we talked about blogs and I was reminded that I haven't posted in quite a while. So, I'm posting some pictures in the spirit of the season!

I did not want to move any of my wall art for my Christmas tree wall hanging, so up to the ceiling it went and I think it looks pretty cute there!

 

The cute little stuffed kitty peeking out was a gift from little buddy, JP in Brookings.  Love ya, Bud

I think my tiny house is at it's best during the holidays.  People often tell me that it looks like a house in one of those miniature Christmas villages.  I don't get as much traffic here in the mobile home park, but we still believe in dressing things up!

Merry Christmas and a Blessed, Prosperous New Year to you and yours!

Fidalgo Island

In an effort to distract myself from obsessing over my current lack of employment, Rosie and I have been exploring our new home.  Last week we visited Washington Park on Fidalgo Island, in the city of Anacortes.  Fidalgo Island in peppered with parks large and small and is an illustration of the Washington spirit of conservation and recreation.

This is a view from the park's boat ramp area, looking towards the San Juan Islands.  We hiked a bit of the loop road and forest trail that day.  It was gorgeous!  And absolutely FREE.  We barely made a dent in the acreage of the park!  Even though it was a weekend and there were quite a few people in the park, it did not feel crowded and folks were very courteous on the road.

You can access Washington Park by the State Hwy 20 Spur going into downtown and then towards the ferry, or heading towards Whidbey and turning on Rosario Road.  Rosario Road is definitely the scenic route.  After our hike Rosie and I headed into downtown Anacortes because I wanted to check out a bakery there (closed) and another one of the cool historical murals that are all over town.

This dragon is to honor the many Chinese residents made contributions to Anacortes' success.

On an earlier trip I shot this mural of a local family.  The murals were taken from photographs and the murals' information can be found within the picture itself.  Fun!

Here's Rosie in front of Causland Park - a very funky little park in the heart of town.  If you are a fan of rock walls, this is the park for you.

On another day we visited the reclaimed waterfront.  Very lovely.  This is looking towards the Cascades.  The bay was reconfigured to prevent the erosion by sea waves that had been a problem in the past.  Computer modeling helped engineers figure out the best placement of material to diminish wave power.  Kind of tricky, I guess.  The park area has also been replanted with hardy native species and wetlands are being restored.  Good job, Washington!

Kitchen Fixes

I wanted to get my knives out on one of those handy magnetic knife strips, but I didn't have any wall space large enough for even a small strip.  After puzzling over it for a while, I decided to mount the strip under one of my kitchen shelves.

I put the strip at an angle because I didn't want the knife handles sticking out in my way.  They are just over the stove.  I find this arrangement very handy and it takes advantage of some otherwise unusable space!

The large shelf brackets above my kitchen counter were crying out for SOME function (besides holding up the shelf).  I had hung my pots and pans over the windows, but the pesky lids had no home.  Then, it hit me - I got out some nails and...

The lids are out of the way AND within easy reach.  The nails are slightly bent around the edges of the lids to hold them securely.  The smaller lids (shown) only required two nails each.  The largest lid (you can kind of see one edge of it hanging below the far bracket in the top picture) required three nails - one I just twist out of the way when I use the lid.

Adding Access

My kitchen has tall shelves on one side, next to the stove.  Unfortunately, I had to be something of a contortionist to reach the shelves UNDER the countertop.  Then one day, I realized that I could do something different!

A friend of mine did the actual carpentering for me - his tools.  At first I thought I would add doors, but I prefer them as they are now.  The mangy towels hanging on the cabinet are my "floor towels" - a necessity in the winter in a very wet climate!  Rosebud and I bring in puddles of water several times a day during the wet season, so I've taken to swabbing the deck after every outing.



Cat Shelves

 

 

Here is a photo of one of the window shelves I created for my cats, Jack and Stormy.  The only place in the house where they were able to access a window view was the loft.  I decided, after dealing with hairballs on my bed (and worse), that the loft would be off-limits during the day.  So, I needed to provide the cats with some kitty TV!  The shelves are supported by the inverted bracket at one end, and a brace running the length underneath.  The bracket has wingnuts holding it and there is only one screw running down through the shelf to the brace below, that way, I can quickly remove the shelf if needed.  I used 2-sided carpet tape to attach some carpet to the shelves for comfort and clawing.  The shelf above is in the office.

 

 



 

Stormy is sitting on the shelf in the great room.  Both shelves are trapezoids which give the cats plenty of sleeping space, but allow sufficient room for me to access the bathroom, or, in the office, my desk.  I was quite pleased with how much weight the shelves can bear with such low profile support.  They are a great place to snooze!

 

 

Perfect Autumn Day

I might just be the tiniest bit of a perfectionist, but I HAD to tweak my pumpkin light.  Here is his new look, complete with pumpkin-y lines...

And, just above his nose, that little spot is actually a spider!  How perfectly Halloween!  He's so cute - here's another shot!

 

 

I also took Rosie for a walk in the lovely park in town.  It was a perfect autumn afternoon, maybe a bit warm for it to feel like autumn, but the light was golden and the geese were flying.  The statue and the windmill in the park acknowledge the many Dutch immigrants that came to Oak Harbor in the early days.





 

 

You can just make out the windmill above Rosebud (the reflection in the lagoon looks like it's balancing on his tail).

 

I've had a few of my neighbors stop by and tell me how cute the house is.  The yard definitely looks better now that the grass has greened up.  I need to get a new picture tomorrow.



Yard Art

When I moved in to Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park, I discovered on the first night that the lights for each of the spaces is an orange globe.  I immediately knew what I would do for Halloween.  Here is my Pumpkin Light...

 

I used electrical tape for the features.  I think he turned out very cheery - I'm not really into scary jack-o-lanterns.

At Riverside RV Resort, we had white globes for each space, so I had a Christmas light...

His name was "Frosty Light"!  And yes, I was in space 13.

My first winter in the tiny house (2009) I had a ridiculously large propane tank - it was the smallest one I could lease - and I decided to dress him up for the holidays.  "Frosty the Pro-man" was my first yard art...

That's a plastic grill cover doubling as his top hat.  He really looks like a giant marshmallow!

Cable Hack with Sugru

I have been on Whidbey Island for about one month now.  I have been applying for jobs - substitute teaching and others.  I am finally online for the Coupeville school district.  Now it's just a matter of someone calling in sick and me being the first to find the job at the online service or get the call from office staff.  Fingers crossed!

So, I decided it would be a good time to talk about some of the things I've found for or done to my tiny house.

When I moved, I had to switch from a landline phone (I had free Wi-Fi at Riverside), to a phone and internet provider.  I can keep costs down since I don't watch cable TV and I found a pretty good package from Comcast.  The only hitch was that I now had a fat coaxial cable to run into my house, instead of a tiny phone line.  I looked around for some kind of secure outside mount/plate.  No luck.  Besides, I REALLY did not want to put a hole in my house.  I was temporarily running the cable through the office window (as I had done with the phone line), but I couldn't close the window very well.  Then I found a FLAT coaxial cable section (about 6 inches long) at Ace Hardware - advertised as something to use for doorways or windows!  BINGO!  I secured it on the outside with cable clips and ran it through the screen.  The window can close sufficiently well now - I don't think I'll have much trouble come winter.

I sealed the screen with Gorilla tape and that white stuff around the cable is this terrific stuff I found at the Daily Grommet, called "Sugru"!

It is a moldable silicon that comes in a variety of colors.  The perfect product for life hackers!  In 24 hours my cable will be well adhered into place with a waterproof seal.  Of course, the tape is not waterproof, but I'm thinking that the Sugru will help the tape stay in place.  And the Sugru stays flexible.

With winter coming, thoughts turn to heat, even though this tiny house holds any heat well with the windows closed and sunny days keep it toasty, cloudy days have started.  By evening the house gets cool and rain makes it feel damp, so I turn on my heater.  Four years ago I stopped using the propane RV heater that was built into my house.  I did not like the noise of the blower and I did not want to use so much propane.  I experimented with a tiny electric fake wood stove.  I love the ambience, but the cat hair is hell on the small fans!  Then a friend suggested I look at Envi heaters.  They are convection heaters - no loud blowers or fans - and have a very clean, low profile.

I have the heater in the main room and it does a great job of keeping things dry and warm.  In three years I've never even had it past mid-way on the control dial, although I think it gets colder here on Whidbey than it does in Brookings.  We'll see.  Anyway, this heater takes up very little space and uses very little energy.

As you can see, it is not more than a couple of inches deep.  Not enough room for cats to jump on top!  The exterior stays cool to the touch and it is SILENT.  Now, I also have a tiny oil filled radiator in my office, because the air does not flow into it very well.  I seldom need both units on at the same time. 

I have been using this combination of heaters for about three winters and my highest winter electric bill was about $27.  If you are looking for a cheap, efficient way to heat, I would highly recommend an Envi Heater.

Deception Pass

It was foggy this morning and I thought it might be clearer inland, so Rosie and I headed towards Mount Vernon, WA to see if we could see the Cascades.  No luck!  We did visit a lovely and busy riverside park in Sedro-Woolsey, WA.  I saw the Skagit River.  Certainly seemed to be running swiftly and high.  On the way home I stopped at Deception Pass to get some pictures since it wasn't too hot in the car for Rosie and the area wasn't too overrun with tourists.

The tiny things that look like fence posts on the beach are fishermen!  As you can see, the fog was still around to the north and west.  That is the Whidbey Island shore.

Here is a shot of the bridge looking towards Whidbey (south) from the pedestrian underpass on tiny Pass Island.

 I think the tide was going out and, boy, that current was hauling!  I wouldn't want to get caught in it.  There were kayakers to the north, coming through the smaller pass and they were just being swept right along.  I don't think it would be possible to paddle against the current - even the speedboats seemed to be working hard.

It's just rock face down to the water - no place to come ashore.  Very beautiful.  This shoreline is Whidbey Island (looking east).

Changes!

Whew!  It has been a crazy month!  An old friend kicked me out of my depression over yet another year just making ends meet in Brookings.  So, to make a long story short - I moved to Whidbey Island, WA a week ago!  It was a humbling, tiring experience.  I received so much love and good wishes that I was overwhelmed.  It is hard leaving a place where I know someone virtually ANYWHERE I go in town, to a place where I am, once again, a total stranger.  But opportunities are limited in Brookings and I also want to see more of this incredible Northwest!

I hired a gentleman to tow my house since I do not own a truck.  We made the trip in two days with no mishaps!  Hooray!  I decided to live in a mobile home park for now, because it is cheaper than an RV park.  I do miss life in the RV park, though.  My house looks like a tiny foot in a big shoe in the mobile home lot!

Whidbey Island is lovely.  Rosie and I have been searching out good dog walking trails and parks.  The Whidbey Island Music Fest was this weekend and we hit that!

Rosie is an old hand at modeling.  Those are ducklings in the top photo - makes me think of that story "Make Way for Ducklings!" which was part of our reading book in the third grade and I always enjoyed reading it.  It's a bit hard to see the mermaid behind Rosie in the bottom photo.  I put his leash on her hand and someone had put a bandana on her earlier in the day.

More about the move later...