Big Snow

Fy Nyth is looking tinier than ever compared to the snow banks growing around her! We got about 15 more inches of snow in the last day and the forecast is calling for another half a foot tomorrow. I do like winter. It's just so clean and pretty. And yes I'm cozy and plenty warm inside. 

54 Degrees Below Freezing

-22 F. at my house this morning! It is winter here.

Thoughts After 2 Full Years of Tiny Living

First a bit of a current update. Here's what my house looks like as of this afternoon. We got about 11 inches of new snow in the last day so it's finally looking like winter for real.

And then here's the latest video I did. Sorry this is a bit late to be posted here. I hope you did all have a great Thanksgiving! I got this video posted to Youtube, but ran out of time to finish my blog post to go along with it. I guess better late then never. So if you are not already subscribed to my youtube channel, here you go.

I also thought that just for fun and in memory of the last two years, I repost a few of my favorite photos of my little place over time. Enjoy! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my frosty snowy house to yours this morning, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all enjoying your day.

Anniversary

Two years ago today, my house arrived. She has changed a lot both inside and out in those two years and I have some as well. 

It's been a good two years. Years with plenty of frustrations like moisture problems from propane heat and things to learn about living off grid in general. But good years. The opportunity to have space, peace, and quite to deal with some tough things in my life and to pursue some things other than just working. The opportunity to enjoy the beautiful natural world I am surrounded by. 

Buying a tiny house is still something I consider one of the best decisions I've ever made for multiple reasons. Maybe I'll try to do a video with more on that later today. At the moment, I am curled up on the couch sipping another mug of hot fresh ginger tea and trying to recover from the nasty sore throat I woke up with. Watching the wet snowflakes raining down outside and feeling ready for it to turn into a real winter with nice cold temps to freeze up the mud and provide nice dry fluffy snow.

Happy anniversary to me and my cozy little nest!

Tiny House Big Travels

After a big trip around the northwest to see friends and family, it was good to be back in my cozy tiny house. Except I'm off on another trip again. And very much looking forward to getting home and staying for a while! Here's a few shots from my last trip.

Wood Stove Update and Tips

Ok. I had great intentions to answer many of the wood stove related questions I've been asked a long time before now. But here you go! I'm experimenting with putting most of the content in video form. As I look at the stats of what you all view, it seems many people prefer videos to written words and photographs. I prefer the later, but I seem to be in the minority. And recording a video is hours faster for me than writing out the same info. So let me know what you all think!

And if you, like me, prefer photos, don't worry. There will still be lots of those since that is what I prefer.! 

In this shot you can more clearly see where that metal plate I showed you in the videos sits in the bottom of the stove between the firebricks.

And the now burning fire obscures this a bit, but you can sort of see how the edges of the metal plate we added do not go quite the whole way to the edges inside, allowing air to flow out from under it and feed the base of the fire.

The fire braid that we stuffed in the space around the door that had been created for it.

This shot just let you see what the chimney looks like on the exterior of the house.

Above, just a nice glowing hot fire. And below, you can see how if you look up to the top inside of the stove, the flames curls up around and into the baffles that help thoroughly burn (more of) everything in the smoke before it heads up the chimney.

Here's what my pipes did look like the first time I pulled them apart. That is a lot of creosote plugging them up!

Using this little torch, we burned out all that buildup.

Once lighted, there was plenty of buildup in there to burn for a little while. 

After it burned out, here's how much drier and flaky all that build up became. At that point, I was able to brush it out with a chimney brush.

In case you forgot why I have a wood stove? Here's two shots of my house last winter. This time of year is rapidly approaching again!

Fall Wrapping Up

Hey folks. I'm trying to get back in the swing of updating things here. I was able to do a little tour outside my house this afternoon and show off some of my work. Like my little wood shed that I built and am kind of proud of. 

At this point everything is so soggy, I'm ready for the ground to freeze up and just have snow instead of rain. And just for fun, here's some of the wildlife I've seen around my house in the last few weeks. 

All of these amazing animals were within a few hundred yards of my house. I do get to live somewhere pretty amazing!