Scanning Project Rule #1

Scanning project

Rule #1. Don't second guess the contents of the garbage bag. You've already looked at it and made the decision to 86 it. Don't dive back into the bag and start taking things out.  In my case, there is probably a duplicate copy of whatever it is, so I'll see it again anyway and have to make the "chuck it" decision repeatedly.  

Next subject:  Propane

While I've been refilling my propane tank that feeds my heater on a regular basis, the tank that feeds the stove and hot water heater just ran out this morning (Feb 20) for the first time. That makes 4 months to go through a 20 lb propane tank. Not bad.  And when it isn't winter any longer that will be the only propane I'm filling.  We've been having spring-like weather so I'm only running the heater for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, so we're beginning to use less already, which is nice on the budget.  During the full-on winter months I was using about $60/month of propane.  Nice to be able to budget for next winter.

Next subject: Making things happen vs. allowing things to happen

If you aren't into the "deep thoughts" posts, you can stop reading now.  So, I've always been the type of person who makes things happen.  I decide what I want and I figure out how to do it, get it, build it, learn it, apply it, or drive it.  Usually once I've settled my mind on one of those things and taken a few steps in the right direction, things just begin falling into place.  If I'm going the wrong way, I figure that out too pretty quickly.  Really good example you already know if you follow the blog is the Grantsville move.  I felt really compelled to be in St George, I started down a path to parking the Bungalow there, which didn't work out, but my friend Robyn happened to be in St George at the same time (I hadn't seen her in 20 years) and staying 5 minutes from where I was camping.  There was some serious orchestration by the heavens to make that all happen!  Moving here to Grantsville has been FANTASTIC! And quite a blessing!  As I sit here in the sun on a lovely spring-like day I could stay here forever.  A couple of weeks ago in the midst of a winter inversion where the cold air and smog gets trapped between the mountain ranges and anyone living in the valley wants to flee for clean warm air, I was moving tomorrow to Florida.  I also realized that I was Vitamin D deficient...no wonder I was wanting to make my escape to the Sunshine State.  Now that my Vitamin D is back to normal-ish, and the weather is changing for the warmer (although we're not out of the wintry woods yet), I'm not feeling that "get-me-outta-here" quite so strongly.  I'm also beginning to wonder if the push-push-push to get things done and get a job and move somewhere else, needs to be re-organized into an allow-allow-allow attitude that will get me where I need to go, to build, to learn, apply, and drive in good enough time.  Funny...as I write this I'm feeling calmer already.  Think I'll go put on my shorts and sit in the sun a while longer with Nellie (who, incidentally, is sunning in the driveway instead of on her comfy pillow which is next to me).

Just stuff

Last time I wrote about installing the cabinet over the closet.  In the process of clearing the wall space for the cabinet, I took down some mirror squares.  I put the mirror squares back on the wall on the other side of the window and now they are like a full-length mirror of sorts.  The funny thing is that they freak me out sometimes because I think it is a window and I don't have the blinds down.  I know it is just a weird illusion, but I think I'll need a few days to get used to it.  

Poor Nellie, I have trained her terribly!  The smell of bacon makes her cower.  Yes, it is all my fault.  I was cooking bacon for my bacon, cheese, lettuce wrap this evening and couldn't figure out why Nellie wasn't standing at my side begging for a tiny morsel of a bacon treat.  I looked outside and she was standing about 20 feet from the front door with her tail between her legs looking at me like she was in trouble.  I called her and she wouldn't come, but continued to stare at me.  All of the sudden it hit me...she has associated the smell of bacon with the smoke alarm singing...and with good reason.  Today, I had the windows and doors open because the weather was so nice, so the smoke alarm didn't go off.  Poor puppy.  I really need to be more careful about that.  

I haven't done a lot with the house this last couple of weeks because I've been doing a giant math review.  I've started my own tutoring business and I figured I'd better brush up.  I have one client so far and a couple of other people who showed interest.  So I guess we'll see. 

I did buy the fabric for the tv stand cover/cushion.  I'm excited to get that started and I'm still going to make a cover for the bean bag because Nellie really likes to sleep on it.  So I have a couple of sewing projects to do.  Those are both on my to-do list for this week.  Yippee!  PS.  Nellie likes to sit on the new bench and look out the window.  I love that she has a place to see out.  

Cabinet...finally!

The cabinet above the closet finally came to the top of the list. So here we go...

Before

Very messy and difficult to get into and out of the closet. 

During

Almost a cabinet. 

Moved the stuff, and now to take the mirrors down. 

Ready to hang the cabinet. 

After

Cabinet is up. Whew!

Much better! Less messy! And I can get into the closet much more easily. 

I'm now debating about the cabinet door.  I kinda like it without the door.  On the other hand, a door would make for a cleaner look.  I'll have to think about that.  I need to go to IKEA anyway and get a couple more of the green boxes.  I really like them.  One is holding Nellie's toys, treats, coat, and sweatshirt.  The other is currently holding printer paper and scratch paper from all the scanning I've been doing.  So one day soon I'll have to make a choice about a door.  

I also need to re-do the lights under the storage loft.  I suppose I could have left them just like they were, but oh well. Could be exciting to see what I come up with.  We'll see!

Heated floors and another seating solution

Lots of people have asked me if I'm staying warm in my little house.  The answer is YES!  A couple of weeks ago I plugged in the radiant heat floor and that has helped quite a bit.  Here's an example. This morning I got up and my thermostat said that the ambient air was 56 degrees F.  Now that might seem a bit cold, but my bare feet were standing on a floor that was 71 degrees F.  I was wearing fuzzy pajama pants and a short-sleeved t-shirt and I didn't feel all that cold, maybe just chilly enough to put on a sweater.  That warm floor makes ALL the difference.  My suggestion to anyone building a house, no matter what size, put in a heated floor.  Even if it is just in your bathroom or kitchen.  It is lovely to have warm feet, and when your feet are warm, the rest of you feels a little warmer.  

I purchased a "kill-a-watt" electricity monitor.  It measures a lot of electrical things, but the reason I bought it was for the kilowatt-hour measuring capability.   I wanted to see how much electricity I truly use so I can actually have an appropriately sized solar system.  The first 24 hours it was plugged in I used about 2 kilowatt hours of electricity. Which means I actually need another panel and 6 more batteries.  Solar goals!  When I was originally sizing my solar system, I had difficulty imagining how much power I would actually use because I lived in a 1200 sq ft home with big appliances, different heating solutions, more lighting requirements.  I couldn't estimate how many hours my ceiling fan/light would need to be on.  I realized the other day that I only turn on lights in the house after sunset.  Even on the cloudiest days I don't need lights on in the house, just the right amount of windows, I guess.  Since I have never had radiant heat floors before I didn't know how they would cycle on and off.  My thermostat actually tells me if the floor is using 100%, 75%, 50% or 25% of the rated electricity to maintain the set temperature of the floor.  Sounds fancy, but it really isn't...well, maybe it is just a little.  So while I could estimate the full capacity use of the floor and everything else electric, it is nice to have an actual measurement.   

I went to IKEA aka The Danger Zone and got a cabinet to put above the trunk.  I think it will be really nice to have a little extra storage space.  The size I got also allows for a 5-6 inch closet rod between the cabinet and the wall so I can still hang my coat in basically the same place. I'll post a picture when the cabinet is hung, as it is currently still in the box.  As I was eating breakfast this morning contemplating putting the cabinet together, I realized that I didn't buy the cabinet door.  I got the hinges, but the door comes separately.  I guess I'll just have to go back...such a travesty!  Sigh! 

Then, I'm finding that I'm still not 100% pleased with my seating arrangement.  Yes, Nellie is 150% pleased because she LOVES the big green pillow and has adopted it as her own, which leaves me curling up on her dog bed to read.  Well, maybe not quite that extreme, but almost.  So while at The Danger Zone I looked at benches with underneath storage, couches, futons,... Then I came across TV stands. The one I got is the right height, the right width, storage underneath and all I need to do is make a cushion.  Shucks, that means I'll have to go to the fabric store...what a pity. I think when the weather gets warmer it will get a coat of paint or two though, the dark color just doesn't quite work, but it didn't come in any other color.

Then again maybe I'll make a cover for the whole thing and incorporate a cushion...instant transformation. Hmmm, the wheels are turning.

House structure report

Some of you may be wondering about how the structure of my house is holding up since it travelled about 1600 miles last year. Now that we're settled, the house has had a chance to do the same. Also last April in San Diego there was some discussion about using laminate flooring for wall covering, which is what I did, and whether or not it was a good idea. 

The ceiling covering looks just like it did when it was first put up. Nothing has shifted and the junctions between the laminate pieces are tight. The walls haven't fared quite as well, though I can't say I'm at all disappointed with them. There are a couple of places where the laminate junctions aren't as tight as they used to be and only two places are really noticeable in the unpainted part of the wall. 

In the kitchen where the walls are painted the settling is more noticeable, though with a little sanding and another coat of paint won't be noticeable at all. I'm not sure how much the cold weather is contributing to this or if it is from rolling down the road. Nevertheless, if I was going to build another tiny house, I would use laminate flooring again for the walls.   I must say that I would probably try using flexible adhesive on the studs as opposed to nailing it like I did. That would at least provide a little more wiggle room for settling.

The kitchen floor has probably fared the worst but it really doesn't look bad. The floor is floating, meaning it isn't actually connected to the subfloor, and has expansion room on the edges.  The kitchen floor gets the most abuse...it IS the kitchen. The laminate pieces just aren't as tight as they used to be.  Again this may be due to the cold weather or traveling down the road, but I would vote weather because the slight separation has only occurred since the weather got really cold. 

I haven't done much close inspecting outside, but there isn't anything noticeable on the outside of the house that has changed.  I have to admit that I still have some painting to do in the spring.  The trim really needs another coat and the blue could use another coat as well, but that is a warmer weather project.

Looking back on this post's pics I realize you are now probably thinking that my inside walls are falling apart.  But actually this is what they look like.  The separations aren't all that noticeable.

In other news...

I'm making progress on the picture scanning project and brought my third box home from my cousin's house where all of that stuff is stored.  It is quite the emotional rollercoaster for me to be looking through all these pics and reading so many letters from people I love who aren't available for one more hug or one more conversation.  There is a lesson there, but I'll leave that for you.  

Another item...I knew when I changed the layout of my original plans to the layout I actually built, that I was eliminating a lot of storage space.  I've almost decided to put in a wall cabinet above the trunk (closet), which is behind the front door.  We'll see.

PS. I really love my radiant heat floor.  My feet haven't been cold since I turned it on.  Now to see how much electricity the floor really uses...  

Welcome to 2016 tiny living!

Okay, I know I'm delinquent with the blog posts.  December was a little difficult for me...first Christmas without my mom.  So thankful for family and friends who have adopted me.  Onward to a new year and new adventures!

Seating update...the beanbag arrived and I am loving it...so is Nellie.

The great thing about it is that I can change the way is sits on the floor so I'm lounging low or sitting high up like a dining chair.  Nellie and I can easily snuggle and share the seat.  Overall, a good choice.  The cover is quite sturdy and seems to shed Nellie hair well.  I bought some super-fuzzy material to make a cover for it that I can take off and wash.

I'm making more progress on the scanning project.  I have scanned almost another whole box of pictures and letters, and moved all the photos and family history stuff from my ancient Mac mini to my newer PC and saved it all on a thumb drive and also on an external hard drive.  So now everything is all in one place.  I feel like I can see the end of the tunnel for this project.  I've also gotten to the point where there is no "should I scan this or not," only options are now "scan" or "circular file."  The end of the most extensive project I've ever started is close.  Whew!!  I'll be very happy to no longer be the only one with all the pictures and letters.

I still haven't called an electrician...don't know what my reticence is about.  I have done a little work on the electrical though.  I plugged in the radiant floor and the ceiling fan.  I am in LOVE!  Having warm floors is a little bit addicting.  The other morning, I woke up to the heater being out...ran out of propane sometime before sun-up.  The thermostat said it was 65 in the house.  The floor though was 68.  I stood barefoot on the warm floor and didn't care that the air in the house was a little chilly.  Lovely!  Went out and changed the propane to the full tank and the house warmed up quite quickly despite the outside temp being about 24 degrees F. 

Some observations about keeping the house warm.  I feel like the straw skirt has done a lot to insulate the floors.  Then the radiant heat is amazing!  When the low temps are in the single digits or teens, I leave the heater running all the time, even through the night, to maintain about 70-ish degrees.  If the outside temps are in the 20's, I leave the heater on at night, but usually sometime between 1am and 3am it gets too hot for sleeping in the loft so I turn off the heater.  In that case, when I get up in the morning it is usually in the low 60's in the house.  Good opportunity to snuggle Nellie while the house warms a little.  When night-time temps are in the 30's or above, I turn the heater off when I go to bed, makes for good sleeping.  Nellie wears a sweatshirt to bed when I turn the heater off and that seems to keep her warm enough.  Propane...I use about $30 of propane about every two weeks, so $60/month for heating.  Haven't had the floor on long enough to say how much electricity it uses.  I have it set for 70 degrees for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, then maintaining 60 degrees otherwise.  

This past weekend was quite cold here in the desert.  Highs in the teens and low 20's, lows in the single digits.  My water has worked very well thus far.  My heated water hose has been amazing! The spigot in the shop is insulated and has a heat lamp on it.  But you guessed it.  Turned on the water on Friday morning and voila! no water.  Yes, I had soap all over my hands.  And yes, I had a few gallons of water stored under the sink, thank heaven.  So the investigation began with making sure the hose was still plugged in and working. Yes.  Then to the spigot, seemed to be ok.   It dripped a bit when I unhooked the hose and the knob turned easily.  Figured it must be frozen down in the pipe between the spigot and floor, or in the cement of the shop floor which is 9 inches thick.  Bummer!  Ran to the store and got a heat tape.  Put it on the pipe between the spigot and floor and waited for a little while to give it time to work.  No luck after a couple of hours. So, not the pipe, must be frozen in the floor.  Got out the hair dryer and tried warming up the cement, which is more action than my hair dryer sees in a year. (hehe)  Worked on that for about an hour and a half.  No luck.  The cement was warming up, the heat lamp was directed at the floor too, so I figured it either just needed a bit of time, or it was really solid and I would be hauling water until spring thaw.  I made a little tent out of a tarp to hold the heat from the lamp in a little bit and left it so I could come in and warm up a little.  I had left the kitchen faucet open so I would know when the water was flowing again and lo and behold a little while after I came in to warm up we had water!!  It was quite exciting!  Just super glad the pipes weren't broken.

Note to self: Don't procrastinate doing the dishes. 

Fun stuff!!!...Last year when Ticklebelly Bungalow and I were in San Diego I had a lot of people ask where my TV was.  I generally use my computer to watch stuff, but I splurged a little and bought a mini projector for $62.  At that price my expectations weren't very high.  I got out an old sheet that I'd been saving for testing embroidery patterns and hung it from the storage loft as a screen.  Empire Strikes Back was FANTASTIC on my big screen!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!    

The Week of Tweak

As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm now to the tweaking stage. So the first thing that got tweaked this week was the straw skirt. I bought 8 more bales (again all they had out...it is a "self-service" straw pile in somebody's yard along the road) and almost finished the skirt. Still need three more bales. In order to put the skirt around the south side of the house, I dismantled the greenhouse, put all of the contents under the front porch, and took the frame apart. I discovered a nice little warm sunny spot to sit on sunny days. I will have the straw two bales high next to the wheel wells and only one bale high everywhere else. On the south side between the wheel well and the shed is a lovely little sitting place. 

The next tweaked item was the shower curtain. I've been fighting with it every time I take a shower. So my solution isn't pretty but it is way better than before. Took a 10 ft piece of pex, four corner supports and a straight coupling. And made a square curtain rod. So much easier to use! 

And the graywater tweak...I had put a piece of screen on the end of the drain pipes, mainly to keep critters from crawling in, with the intention of changing the screens every couple of weeks since I was sure it would get clogged up.  Well, then we have had very cold weather.  So, before I could even change out the screen one time I had ice building up behind the slowly clogging screens until both the kitchen and the shower pipes were clogged with ice.  Luckily the weather warmed up just in time for me to be able to clear the clogs easily.  Whew!  And I didn't replace the screens.  In the spring when the critters are active again I'll need to re-evaluate the situation.

A tweak in process...my seating arrangement. The moon chair that I have been using just isn't cutting the mustard.  It is too wide and not close enough to the floor to be able to sit and scratch Nellie.  I'm currently sitting in a beach chair which works for scratching Nellie a little better, but I'm still not completely happy with it.  I've ordered a bean bag, so we'll see how that works. I think it will be good, because I can lounge and snuggle Nellie too.  We'll see...stay tuned.   

Washed the windows this morning only took me about 1 1/2 hours to wash all my windows inside and out...well, except one of the loft windows...but still.  This is the first official window wash and a couple of windows still had stickers and sticker goo on them.  Also washed the dog door.  Just one more perk of having a tiny house, tiny cleaning times. :D

I'm continuing to work on the picture scanning/downsizing project and I feel like it is coming along pretty well.  I've scanned about 400 more pictures and I'm about half-way finished with another box.  Part of the renewed excitement about the project is that I bought a new scanner.  It is a Doxie scanner and it is as big as 10 plastic rulers stacked on top of each other.  It fits in a drawer in the table, or I can take it with me in my backpack because it has an internal rechargeable battery and built-in memory.  Don't even need my computer to scan stuff, just feed it through and download it later.  I'm really loving it so far!  I'm very excited to be on the homestretch with this 6-year project.  

Just an FYI, I made bacon AND popcorn and the smoke alarm didn't go off. The secret is to open the kitchen window and the bathroom window and put a fan next to the stove blowing in the direction opposite the alarm.