Merry Christmas, Thank You's, and Eating Snowballs

An attempt at a self timered shot of Grizzly and I. Hitting a camera shutter, getting in place, and trying to show her how to pose all at once it a bit challenging! But we did get one shot of us and the house together. 

A bit late, but Merry Christmas and some big thank you's to all of you amazing folks following the journey here!

And Grizzly is starting to get pretty comfortable here. She's even feeling relaxed enough to play some. I learned that while she doesn't seem to have any interest in chasing a ball, she does like to catch and eat snowballs. :) 

The snow is still not very deep, but at least it's white and clean looking out there now!

Isn't Grizzly just a really beautiful dog? :)

And one shot of one of the many little cheerful birdies that flit and chirp around here in the winter. 

Grizzly in the House!

I know, I know, it was just too great of a title to resist! Announcing the addition of Grizzly the dog to my household here at Fy Nyth. Check out this quick video for an introduction to my new girl!

She seems to enjoy the couch quite a bit already and be comfortable in the house. I expected warming up to and trusting a new person to take some time given her past. But I think we will be a good fit for each other as from my own experience I can relate to giving your life to someone and then being dumped out of the blue for someone new. 

Since I finished the above video, she's already become a lot more comfortable with me. Actually approaching me instead of shying away, and by this evening, even coming over and resting her head on my knee a few times while wagging her tail. That melted my heart! 

Look at those eyes! Isn't she beautiful? So far anyway, she's been very well behaved. Good leash manners, travels well in the van, is very gentle with everything around her, and does not seem to have any desire to run away. 

She's been exploring my little clearing and just seems curious about everything. Including the newly falling snow which we are finally getting a little more of! 

She's even starting to show a little bit of a playful side though long naps seem to be something she enjoys quite a lot. 

We even encountered this huge herd of elk while driving near my house and while she was very interested and alert, she stayed seated quietly and didn't bark at them. I think she may be a good companion on wildlife photography drives which is exciting.

I hope you all enjoyed the shortest day of the year, and I look forward to a little more daylight as we go forward from here!

Crisp and Cold

The sun makes it look warm, but it's been several days now since the temps climbed above freezing. 

So I thought I'd take you all along on a walk around my place looking at all the frost and ice since the snow seems to be lacking so far this winter. 

And another good hearty winter soup to keep warm with.

Horefrost on the deal leaves in the yard.

And a few impressive bull moose I've seen recently. 

With this really old king following.

Chimney Cleaning and a Hole in my Kitchen!

A beautiful scene under the full moon a couple nights ago. I love that I live somewhere you can still see stars even with a moon bright enough to be able to read by outside. 

But with the cold, comes some winter chores. Like maintaining a clean and safe chimney on my little wood stove.

And another review, this time of my oven/range. Which I love, with one big caveat, the electrical power use of an appliance that is supposed to be propane powered.

After posting that video, one of my amazing followers offered to buy my current stove. And being semi local, he drove over and picked it up, giving me the cash to purchase basically the same stove, but with a different oven ignition. 

It's in the mail, but for a few days, I have a hole in my kitchen and am cooking on the wood stove. I'm excited to get the new one installed and I've been wanting to switch out my first one since about the first week after moving in here!

Enjoy your winter evenings whatever the weather in your area!

Cures for Winter Blues and Chills

Finally a little of that white stuff showed back up. But it didn't last long. Still it's wintery enough temps to make it time for some indoor projects.

Like growing some fresh greens!

I love sprouts, but don't grow them in the summer just because I have so many other greens coming out of the garden. All winter though, I keep these guys going.

And the time of year when I keep this mix handy.

In one of the few remaining open water spots, quite a few of these beautiful birds gathered. I love watching Trumpeter Swans.

And one morning, getting up early yielded a few minutes of stunning light over the mountains just before the sun rose. 

Post Thanksgiving

After Thanksgiving the weather remained unseasonably warm for a while. So I split a bunch more firewood. 

And discussed some of my thoughts on Black Friday...

And added a new cooking video on my favorite meatloaf recipe. 

All the warm weather melted most of the snow we did have, and then added a bunch of rain. The creek below my house ended up just about as high and muddy as it normally is during spring run off. 

And then the temps plummeted, and coated everything with a glittery layer of hoarfrost. I love when the air just sparkles!

A new Home for my Tiny House... eventually

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! This morning started out unusually warm and sunny for the end of November here. And I'm back just to share the video with a few details on my future home. I hope you all watch this later, and get to spend today with some family or friends. 

And just a couple more shots from there. 

Can you tell that little creek is one of my favorite things on the new place? :)

I was visited by this cute little wren right outside my window a couple days ago. And since I don't think I've ever seen one at my house before, that was pretty special too. 

Enjoy your day all!

3rd Anniversary in my Tiny House.... and some big news!

Today it has been three full years since I moved in here, off grid in my tiny house. I think it is still one of the better decisions I've made in my life. After this much time, I am very sure that the most important thing about a tiny house, is not the house. But instead, what less time, money, energy, and effort being invested into a house can free you up to do! Just for review I still think everything I said last year at this time still applies.

And now for my thoughts today. Along with some big news for me.... I bought a homestead of my own for my tiny house!

I'm super excited about this, obviously. Please come back tomorrow for more info on my future home. :)

Happy Thanksgiving all! I hope everyone is able to find at least some things to be thankful for in your life as well!

How I found Parking for my Tiny House, and other things....

I really do love life here in my tiny house. And I hope that sharing my experiences and ups and downs can encourage others to take a closer look at what is important in their own lives. 

In the interest of that, I've created a quick overview of what my blog and videos are all about. 

And done an updated look at how I found my amazing location to park my tiny house. Along with some ideas if you are trying to figure out the same thing. 

It was warm again, with more rain. I would have preferred snow, rain is kind of depressing. But now it's dark and that rain has turned back into snow. It looks rather like I'm going to wake up to quite a bit of fresh snow by morning!

I'm still trying to get a good shot of this little Stellers Jay when he flits by the house. He's visited several times now, and I think they are such pretty birds! But he never holds still.

And sometimes I get bigger avian guests. What's the biggest bird you've ever had near your house?

Tiny House Daily Chores

So far the start to winter has been starting if fits and spurts. Snow one day and rain the next. Then snow again. Normally by this time, it's more consistently cold. But the kind of crummy weather has given me a chance to work on things like expanding the amount of info I have on video. 

I'm planning to try to cover all my various household appliances and what works well for my tiny house situation.

And some of the regular household chores. Which are generally lesser when you have a smaller house. 

I'm loving being able to start off cold mornings with no rush and a nice mug of tea. With no rushing off to a pre 5 am job. :)

After looking at things the size of elk and moose regularly, I'm not normally very impressed when I see a white tail deer. But this pair of boys came by the other evening. And that one fellow has a long tined 10 point rack. Maybe one of the largest white tails I've ever seen.

And I continue to be visited by smaller critters regularly, which I very much enjoy! I hope you are all having a lovely night as well.

Single woman living in Off Grid Tiny House - Safety and Security considerations

Since some of my most frequently asked questions relate to safety, security, being afraid, and living in a pretty rural and remote area, I decided to do a video addressing all those things. 

And just in case you haven't seen them before, here's some more shots of the awesome, and potentially dangerous neighbors I have. :)

Just some of the tracks that I can find outside my house. Having fresh snow on the ground is a bit like  having a trail camera since I can see what came by when I wasn't looking!