Welcome to 2019!

Hello all! It's been a while since I've had time to write here. If you have just landed here for the first time, welcome! If you scroll back through posts, you will find most of the history of the first three years or so of life off grid in my tiny house here. And I am still very much happily living here, in my fifth year now! 

But more of my time these days is going to videos rather than blog posts about life here. Since, a bit sadly to me, most folks seem to prefer to watch rather than read. So head on over to http://youtube.com/fynyth for most of the latest updates. There's usually a new video every few days. Or find me on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook/Minds/Gab/Steemit/GooglePlus as Fy Nyth if you'd like to follow posts there. 

We're having a pretty average winter so far. Which means it's looking pretty white around here as the new year begins. 

Over time, there has been a few changes to the interior such a whitewash on the walls and the addition of upper kitchen cabinets.

Summer was full of lots of adventures with friends and family including an 80+ mile backpacking trip in the Sawtooth range with a good friend. 

I continued to garden and grow as much food as possible here in the very short summer.

Plants, flowers, food, and growing things remain some of my favorite things to spend time with. 

One morning there was a just after sunrise rainbow over the house!

My life here has been joined by Burley, a beautiful young English Shepherd who has rapidly become a wonderful companion. 

All aspects of life off grid continue as well. I'm settled in with a good supply of firewood for the year.

And like I said, for all the detailed updates on all those things over the past months, head on over to http://youtube.com/fynyth where there are currently almost 400 videos detailing most aspects of off grid life here in my tiny house along with just some fun and adventures. Thanks for following along!

Snow & A Big Furry Visitor

Did I tell you how much I like winter nights at my house? I mean summer nights are fine and all, but not nearly so bright as winter. And on that note, we have had a lot more snow arrive recently!

After that last snowstorm wrapped up and rolled on out, we awoke to a stunning sunny (still cold) bluebird day! And a big visitor came strolling through the woods. 

Moose do come by quite regularly, though with the very low snow for much of the year, I've seen less of them here than normal recently. They have been able to travel wherever they want without feeling a need to stick to plowed and shoveled pathways as they tend to do if the snow is really deep. 

Since this video though, another different moose came through as well. I either saw another moose twice or two different moose, and then the same mother and baby came back one evening when I was at a friends. When I came home, I found their fresh tracks right up to the porch! Like most creatures, they like to come by when I'm sleeping, not looking, or not home. :)

The view of my place down through the trees from the hill above my house.

One of the chatty little squirrels perched right outside my window. 

Grizzly does love bounding through the deep powdery snow. At least I assume she does from the look on her face and the wagging tail!

And lastly, a few more beautiful snowy bighorn sheep.

How I get around - Amazing Van/Camper/Everyday Rig & Pygmy Owl

I love night time at my house. The peace and quiet, and how bright it is when there's snow on the ground. Since a bunch of people have asked about this, I did a video on my transportation. How I get around in the wintery conditions, carry the things I need, and stay safe.

I really do like my little quirky old van.

A couple days after seeing and photographing my first ever Pine Grosbeaks, I spotted another little bird I'd never seen before!

Aren't pygmy owls just the cutest little owl ever?

I loved getting to watch this little feather ball for an afternoon and was hoping he'd stick around. But I have not seen him since, so maybe he's already moved on.

Grizzly and I have continued to enjoy spending time outside in the snow.

And the full moon through some light snow haze was still brilliant through the tree branches. It's almost daylight bright at night when there's a full moon and snow on the ground!

I am fortunate to see bald eagles most days, but getting to see one this close who cooperates long enough for me to get a photo, is much more rare.

And I've continued to see a lot of beautiful healthy looking bighorns this winter. Like this male and female pair in the beautiful soft snow filtered light. 

I know it's spring for many of you, but for those who don't have warm temps yet either, I hope you are enjoying the snow as much as I do!

Look Back at February & Where I've been

Hey all! I hope you area all enjoying your winter or spring. Which ever you are having. Sorry it's been a while if you are only following me via the blog. That's a long story which I'll elaborate on in a minute. 

First a look back at what the snow looked like around here in the middle of last month.

Then, after a very low snow year for most of the winter so far, it finally started to add up. Now it's looking more like a normal winter around my place. 

I've also spent a good bit of time out trying to capture some good wildlife photos. 

And I think I managed to get some. Like this beautiful mother and baby bighorn sheep in front of Sheep Mountain.

Or this pair of pregnant elk sparing over some kind of disagreement. They stayed balance on their hind legs for a long time. I'd never seen that before!

And then some little birdies came by for two days (and I've not seen them since) that I'd never seen before. After getting some photos, I looked them up and learned this is a Pine Grosbeak. 

Tracked down a few mountain goats. 

Check out the amazing color detail in those feathers!

I went on some hikes and snowshoes with Grizzly.

Isn't she just a gorgeous dog?

So other than all that, I haven't blogged much because I've been spending a lot of time working on videos. I feel a bit torn about that because I don't much like watching videos. I'd rather read personally. But on the other hand, I started this blog to share useful information with others. And, when I look at the amount of people I can get information too, Youtube wins hands down. Like in all the years I've been blogging, a little under 800,000 views on the blog. Now admittedly, that is a pretty huge number. And way more than I ever dreamed would be interested when I started this. 

But... when I compare that to what I see on Youtube (mostly in the last six months whereas the blog's been going for years) it's a huge difference. Videos have somehow racked up over 2,000,000 (yeah, two million) views with over 11,000,000 minutes watched. Now talk about numbers that blow me away! I thought there might be a few hundred folks interested when I started this. So that's just crazy!  

If there were unlimited hours in a day, I'd just do both. But somehow, I only have 24 of them in each day. So... do I put more of my time into the thing I prefer personally? Or the thing that reaches the most people? I don't know the answer. For now, I'm trying to do both as I am able, but I've certainly put more time into video than blogging recently. 

Meaning, if you've been following me on here, and don't want to miss anything, please know there is also stuff (as in info, updates, wildlife, etc) to be found on my Youtube channel! https://www.youtube.com/fynyth 

That's all for now, and I promise I'll try to get blog posts back up a bit more frequently. 

4 Different Winters

This is the 4th January I've lived here in my tiny house. And all of them have been different. I thought you all might enjoy some comparison photos. The first year, and now this year have been less snowy than average. In between, one year was pretty average, and last year was way above average. 

My first January is above. When I was still parked just downhill from my current location and before I stained Fy Nyth grey to better blend into the woods where I live. 

My second January when the winter was pretty average for here. 

Then there was last January. The year when Wyoming received more snow than any winter since recording started! 

And then we have this January. With it's way below average snowfall. I guess that's how you get averages! How average is your winter so far?

Fridge Review & A Visiting Fox

When it's not pouring rain in the middle of winter like the weather has gone insane, Grizzly and I have been able to go for some walks in the woods. :)

And do some inside projects, like continue to review the appliances I'm really happy with. 

And we had a cute little visitor come by. 

We've been snowshoeing and Grizzly seems to very much enjoy being outside and getting to move around which I don't think she was able to do much for all her many months in the shelter. 

We crossed some pretty big moose tracks several times, and it would be amazing if we could find his antlers when he sheds them soon!

And then there was this amazing full moon rise a few nights ago!