Saturday, March 28, 2020

Housekeeping & Blog Info


Just a little tiny housekeeping stuff of two kinds around here. First a little business. Then a look back through time. :) It's come to my attention that some folks get the auto email alerting you to a new blog post, and then try to comment by replying to that email. The only thing that does, thanks to some kind of software magic I figured out at one point by watching a tutorial and have now forgotten, is to automatically send you an alert so you know when there is a new blog post.... and no one sees replies to that. So please comment so right under the post! I love hearing what you folks are doing, what the weather's like in your area, and answering questions. Though I know sometimes it takes me a bit to have time to sit down and write replies to everyone.

Anyway, on to fun stuff. The photo above was about the second day after I moved into Fy Nyth. I know many of you never saw it back then so I thought a look through the changes as I gradually rearranged things to best fit my needs would be fun and possibly provide thoughts or ideas for how to best fit your own needs. As you can see, I was just trying to get everything in the door. Below is actually what it looked like just a few hours before
that. When I'd just moved in a couple boxes, rugs, and the long white roll is the lovely mattress I still sleep on every night. (Find it here - https://amzn.to/3dEItZ6 if you are looking for a great loft bed option that I've been happy with for 6 years now!) Just before it was removed from it's crazy vacuum packed wrapper that kept it really really small. Conveniently, this made it simple to get it up into the loft! 



And above was what it looked like after a second load of stuff was moved in. Everything needed moved in a single day as my temporary home in a motel for two months, only overlapped with my house's arrival by a single day. So there was a few trips of just shuttling everything over and basically stacking it inside the door. 


After a few days, I got everything settled in, put away in cupboards and on shelves, a friend helped me build a little storage couch, and it looked much like above for a few months. 


Quickly I realized that I never actually sat in that cushy little brown chair. Almost the only piece of furniture that moved with me from the random collection of lovely yard sale, thrift store, and dumpster diving finds that had comfortably furnished a much larger apartment I used to share with a room mate for years. Most if it was really nice stuff too! Like a leather couch, gorgeous wooden dinning table, and more. But all far to large to fit in the tiny house, so it had already all moved on to new homes in other houses. Anyway, back to the chair, I'm just too fidgety. When I am reading, working on photos, or something similar, I sit up, then lay down, then sit cross legged on the floor, then squat, etc. You get the idea. I'm no good at sitting still in one spot. The chair, while very comfy, is really only comfortable if you are sitting still in it like a normal person. And not being very normal, it made sense for me to move it too into a new home in a friend's living room where it is sat in and loved every day. 



And then this arrangement lasted for about another year. 


The only real change from that, was adding the wood stove in my second winter. It now lives in that same corner that first housed the cushy chair and keeps us so cozy through the long winters! And this arrangement is now pretty much unchanged into my 6th year of life here. So apparently it fits my space, needs and lifestyle quite well. 


Wood stove with a baby Burley!



Every now and then, mostly when harvesting everything out of the garden in the fall while also canning a couple hundred quarts of tomatoes, peaches, applesauce, and a wide assortment of pickled veggies, the whole area gets swamped with items. Then it temporarily looks like above. :) 


But as soon as that's wrapped up, all the food is in the pantry, and everything returns to it's normal tidier state.

 Meanwhile, the kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping loft have all been virtually unchanged from day one. Maybe I just spend so much more time sleeping and cooking compared to any other single thing in my life, that I had a better idea of exactly what I wanted in those areas. 


What changes have you made in a home you have lived in to better fit with your needs in the past? 




41 comments:

  1. I am still building and improving my little house (in a barn) as I live in it. For the past 3 years I carry water in to wash dishes and cook. I then carry out the dish water that is collected in a 5 gallon bucket. Hopefully this year I will get a drain plumbed outside and water from the well plumbed into the kitchen. I did have it plumbed in but never used it as it was plumbed in the wall which might have frozen. I was doing it like it was done in California and not thinking about how cold it gets here.
    In some of the early videos of yours or other pictures that I saw of your house, you had a large screen TV on the loft wall. Do you just watch stuff on your computer screen now?

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    1. I imagine that will be a huge convenience to get that project done! I did for a bit, but my friend who liked to watch movies isn't around anymore and I found I just hardly ever do that. So if I do want to watch something on occasion, yeah I just use my laptop.

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  2. Hello Fy Nyth, thanks for the look inside again. I remember sitting at that table on evening with Clay for a wonderful meal. My tiny house has stagnated but I expect to get back to work soon and finish the inside and outside. As you know, part of the stagnation was a broken leg but then I purchased my set of camera equipment which put a real dent in my budget. All that will be paid soon and I can return to spending on the house. Hope to come again for a wonderful meal when I am back in the area.

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    1. I look forward to living in the same area again! And absolutely, I hope to have more than one meal this time since I'm a lot less busy with work these days.

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  3. In northern AZ, in the last year, our well dried up, partly due to drought, and a big part due to half of CA moving here. So we went to indoor water tanks, heaters, plumbing and pumps, similar to yours, and we use both a bucket/compost bin, and our septic system. We haul water from a public dispenser. I have made some of your recipes and really miss your videos.

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    1. Oh man, that's sad! I'm glad you have some kind of setup that works instead.

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  4. What a lovely look back. I'm in a one-bedroom apartment that has pretty much looked the same since I moved here five years ago...except that I added a couple of rolling three shelf carts for craft supplies outside the pantry door and when I saw your Ikea table...took me a year or more but I now have an Ikea gatefold table in my living room that my grandson loves to sit and do his workbooks or painting on. When the self-isolating is over with he will be back and one day his little brother will be busy at that table, too. Thanks!! :)

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    1. Isn't is a great little table? One of the best designs I've ever seen for practical use in smaller spaces. I hope they are soon back with you enjoying projects on it!

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  5. Ariel, this is a little off the subject, but you mentioned pickles. Do you have a tried-n-true recipe for pickles that is not sweet (preferably without sugar at all or with a little honey)? I found an excellent recipe for sweet pickles last year and pickled all kinds of veg as an experiment. My family are now asking for pickles (they're scattered over several cities). I'd like a dependable dill brine recipe I can also use on things like green beans. Our favorite veggies pickled were radishes, pearl onions, cauliflower, Armenian cucumbers (easy to grow on trellis too), green beans, and bell peppers. Thanks in advance!

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    1. Just dill pickles? I think if I remember right, I share one version I like in this video along with several others - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTjyAWzCvuk . Also this video is pickling carrots, but I do dill, sweet, spicy, etc. versions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaYlipXIArc. And I do the same thing with any other veggie I pickle like greenbeans, beets, etc.

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  6. That's weird - posted me as "unknown". Oh well! Hoping you'll post a good dill or not sweet pickle brine recipe or email to me when you have time. Thanks again!

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    1. A couple kinds of refrigerator pickles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTjyAWzCvuk . Also this video is pickling carrots, but I do dill, sweet, spicy, etc. versions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaYlipXIArc and use the same method for lots of other veggies. And canning sweet pickles you can find here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20__pFqU9ak . :)

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  7. I truly appreciate your videos and blog entries Ariel. It's nice to see someone who is content with their life. Keep up the hard work, and keep sending us updates!

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  8. Enjoyed this. Will you ever be posting You Tube vlogs again? If you have previously answered this, i am sorry, i did not see it.

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    1. I've wondered this also. I miss the videos.

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  9. I really enjoy your posts. There are some things I've learned from your videos that I hope to do at my own home. The hanging bear bird feeders are one example.

    My Mom and I will be growing a much larger garden one day and I'm very much interested in canning. If you decide to share more info on canning, I'd be very interested. I'll have to watch the videos on canning again. I especially like the canning pot you use. Thank you!!!

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    1. Why thank you! That feeder setup is still working great for me every day so far. Best wishes with your garden!

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  10. Good morning Ariel, I must apologize for not replying to your post lately, I have been on the road back east to the Atlanta GA area. I took the southern route going and experience the worst interstate roads thru AZ and NM that I will not be traveling on again. Horrible roads with all the ruts and pot holes I didn't think my old ford was going to make it or myself for that matter. There was no way that I could go the posted speed limits even trying to travel at 55 mph was still too fast and it took its toll on on the old ford as well as me. Never again will I go that route again. Came back thru the northern route and was much much better interstate roads, instead of taking 7 days going the southern route that I made it back home in 3 days, roads/interstate was so much better, it was as different as night and day. Then I headed up to Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington to try my hand at getting some beach gold that the area is famous for. I did find some beach gold but unfortunately, not quite enough to retire on, I was hoping to recover enough to get at least a Mickey D bugger, anyway that was my hope and plan of action... LOL. I would have stayed longer but everything was starting to close down and I was also concerned that the authorities were going to start closing down the roads out of Washington so I left and came home.
    Anyway, you wanted to know what changes I have made to better fit my needs and future needs.
    Well Ariel, it seems like I am always in a constant state of flux and my needs seems to change with the seasons as time moves forward. Seems like the longer that i stay in one place the more junk I accumulate around the place and the more that I need to redo and start over again. Originally I started off inside the trailer fully furnished from the manufacturer, but as I started to settled down all the furniture that was furnished was nothing more than junk and just started to fall apart. It took up all the room inside with no storage space so I tore out all of the original furniture including the so call beds that came with the trailer and started to replace everything with normal recliners which I now have to use as my regular bed now as I cannot lay down in a regular bed anymore because of my back now. I have made my own shelves and storage spaces for all that i need now. So if something needs to be changed out for something new I can do that and still don't have to worry much about the rest of it now. I am always trying to figure out how to make more space in a very define small area to work things out and still be able to move around inside, much like what you have done in your tiny home. Like I mention I am always in a state of flux and I guess I will always will be. Thank you sharing your post with the rest of us out here. From the northern CA Sand Pit, dd
    T

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    1. Interesting. I've never taken the southern route cross country. That is a huge difference in time! And I'm glad you made is home safely. Best wishes as you continue to create setups that work best for what you have going on at the time.

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  11. Really interesting looking at the changes you have made over time. With each change you have refined the space to fit you and I love that so much. It takes awhile to learn what we need in life and to make things work for us. Best wishes to you and that dear dog of yours.

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    1. Aww thank you. Wishing you a wonderful day from us here!

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  12. Hey, It's good to see pics of the old days again. I think I understand where you are with life, your life. I hoped we could communicate. These past five months living out in the desert have allowed ample time to know who and what I am. I know now that it's best (for me) to be one with myself and Zeb. With such close proximity we've begun to read each other's thoughts. Amazing how just a look between us is so well understood. We are good by our selves. However, after the past few years getting a brief glimpse into your life,I've come to realize,unfortunately too late, how perfect you are for me. The changes however small, you've made in your life, are just fine with me. To have a friend that you could be... well, we all at some time have thought about that kind of wish,well. You get it. Anyway, I had a long conversation with my brother today about you. By the end of that talk he knew or thought, at least I knew, where you were. Anyway, its a true shame we couldn't have met under different circumstances. Miss you.
    Your friend Rick.

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    1. I hope everyone is able to work towards what they really value and enjoy in life.

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  13. Why did you change the wood chairs? When I moved into my current 1-bedroom apt. I was so sick it took me a year to unpack fully. By that time I knew where everything should go and have not found a need to change it. (And I'm a lot more well now, btw.)

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    1. I happened to find the second set as a matched pair in a local second hand store. I liked their wood, color, and shape when I first saw them, and they happened to exactly fit in the spots I had chairs. But mine were fine, so I just left them there. Then a couple weeks later, apparently no one wanted them, because I spotted them added to the free pile by the door. That I couldn't pass up. :) So I took them home and passed on the first set. Well, I guess that's one handy outcome to a situation that I'm sure wasn't much fun at all. Glad to hear you're feeling better!

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  14. Hi Ariel and Burley. What a joy to see how Fy Nyth has changed - or how little Fy Nyth has changed! You have created a beautiful home. My house isn't a tiny house, but we're semi off-grid and grow our own fruit and veg. We built the place way back in the 1980s and raised our family here. Our main living room was originally quite formal and smart - and pretty useless. Now it's a wonderfully casual,practical room that can change from grandkids' playroom, to my sewing den, to cosy fireside relaxing space. Homes are for living in, whatever their size. Kind regards from the British Channel Islands, Caroline.

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  15. Interesting to see the changes over time by season and in response to other life needs in your home. The COVID 19 shelter-in-place order has meant that I do much of my shopping online, so my one-bedroom basement apartment is stacked with boxes upon boxes of food stuffs and other supplies. I am much more conscious of access to nutritionally dense foods at the moment, yet I'm slowly and healthfully losing excess pounds I've carried around for the past five years. That, at least, is one positive outcome of shelter-in-place. My furry friend population that had been 12 cats has dwindled down due to aging for the most part. Most of my cats are 16+ years old (I do cat rescue as a last resort option for cats). Over the past 10 years, I'm down to 6 cats, and one of those though he receives monthly vet visits and daily medication, will likely not see this time next year. Fewer cats means fewer litter boxes. If you were to walk into my entry way, you'd find about two months of canned and dry cat food for each cats special dietary needs (and they DO have different dietary needs). So, in short, my home is a storage site especially till the COVID 19 shelter-in-place order can be safely recinded.
    I miss seeing and hearing you on YouTube. Each week I awaited your video with great anticipation. At least you're hear online via blog. Take good care of yourself and Burley.
    You Friend,
    Christina

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    1. That's wonderful! Way to go on helping your body be healthier and more able to handle whatever one might encounter through life. Sounds like you at least have a lot of wonderful companions to be home with! Wishing you a wonderful day from us here.

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  16. I've never known a woman who didn't want to rearrange things. You don't have much room to do that. Does it bother you?

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    1. Not when I have things just the way they work best for me! :)

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  17. Sorry Ariel. You must think me a stalker. I'm not. I will quit trying to convey my thoughts. Again, sorry.

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  18. Hello Ariel, it's been a bit since I have checked in on you and BURLEY! I love his baby picture. I remember him that size. I am in the mid-west and you know has visited our home so the only rearranging I have done is to move the tissue box, thermometer & Lysol spray to different areas. HA! I want to say something to you Ariel, through all of these challenging times we are going through, what I miss the most are your videos. You bring me calm and peace when I watch them. So I just watch and re-watch your old ones. (I love the cooking videos so much). I understand your decision to be back off posting videos it is just a shame that COPPA, has forced so many wonderful, positive and educational channels to stop posting. I miss you and Burley. I send love and healthy thoughts to you and Burley.:-)

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    1. Aww, I hope everyone there feels better soon! Thank you so much for the kind words.

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  19. I really miss your videos, however I am glad you are ok. Is nice to see your place and Burley.
    Be safe out there.
    Daniela in Southwest Ohio.

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    1. We're great, thank you. I hope you are as well!

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  20. Hello Ariel. I had been following your YouTube channel for nearly as long as you had it and miss it so very much. I actually remember when you had the big chair in the corner where your wood stove is now.

    My husband, who never goes to YouTube, started watching your gardening and cooking videos too. Every few days, he would ask me if the girl in Wyoming had posted any new gardening videos. I hope some day you will do them again. I am glad that you are still doing this blog and will now be following you here.

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    1. Aww I'm so glad you're here as well! Thank you for the kind words.

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  21. Hi Ariel,
    Your lifestyle is an inspiration. I followed you on YouTube because I was comtemplating going tiny (still am). I chose to follow you because I live in the upper Mid West where we have snow, ice, sub-zero temps...just like you. I was researching tiny houses & when ever they showed pictures, people had flip flips, tank tops, shorts & everything fit perfectly. But what about the parka, boots, hat & gloves? Where does it get stored? You are the only person I found on YouTube who embraces all 4 seasons, like me. Your videos show it is possible to go tiny with winter conditions. I miss the videos. I fell & broke my leg & tore my meniscus in February. I looked up your video on laundry & ordered that set up that first night so I could keep up w/that part of my life. (btw...I love that set up & people that I've showed that are just wow-ed that something like that exists.) I grew up helping on the farm. Gardening and canning were all part of it. I still do it to this day. So when "Safer At Home" was ordered, I didn't panic. Like you, I planned & preserved. Your web site is layed out so nice. So easy to find topics. I made honey onion cough syrup last week. Just a fresh batch because of spring time allergies. I bought my first bottle of 100% vodka ever and will be working with dandelions next. Thank you for all the knowledge that you share. One day, I hope you'll be back on YouTube. Janelle

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    1. I'm so glad to hear some of my experiences are helpful! Very sorry to hear about the injuries! I hope you've recovered well.

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