Rowan's Tiny Home

The original rainwater catchment system for the tiny house was put together rather hastily, and so I  had never been completely satisfied with it. When making our move, it was a great opportunity to install it properly.  This time we constructed a box that could shed snow with a hinged lid and more fully insulated it with some reclaimed pieces from a friend's stash. This should make it easier to access if the top layer freezes (which has happened on occasion over the past number of winters during extreme cold spells).  Another design flaw was the intake hose. Originally I just pieced together scraps and suspended it with a bungee. Of course this led to it coming apart... usually in th cold or rain. Now it is one single piece that enters through the side of the box. Nice and snug now.  There are still a few improvements that I'm considering, such as a metal roof and an entry point to pour boiling water in case of freezing. Still, the last design lasted

Morning mist and smoke from one of our many brush piles combine  to create even more stunning woods. One of the benefits of living tiny means we've been able to save up for this breathtaking land. Land to call home.

After 5 years of sponge bathing the shower is finally complete. This ad hoc tiny home shower system  uses hot water heated in a kettle on the stove, pressurized through a camp shower unit, and sent to the shower head through a military style pull chain. The result is absolutely divine!!! The wooden bathtub is currently getting refurbished, so the pressurizing unit is crammed into the edge of a plastic feed trough. It makes it a little tight in there for the time being, but we'll hopefully solve that when we do our next round of improvements. For now though, just going to enjoy the opportunity for easy rinses. See my post on plumbing for more info on the rainwater catchment and gravity system....  Plumbing updates

In October 2017 my partner Jordan and I bought a wonderful piece of property to call home. We've been busy cleaning up old logging debris and putting in a road, and in July moved the tiny house to its new space... making it year 6 living tiny. We could not be more excited and grateful! As we begin this new journey in tiny living, you are welcome to join us on instagram until more detailed posts can be made. Instagram.com/rowanstinyhome 

This Saturday at the Woodstock Library I will be giving a presentation on building and living tiny. I'm also looking forward to having conversations with residents about how we envision the various shapes and ways mindful living could be encouraged in our community. It all starts at 5pm. Hope to see you there! For more information visit:  http://www.woodstock.org

*UPDATE- to see recent changes made to the rainwater collection system see THIS post. It has been a long time posting because, well, Willow and I have just been enjoying living. Exiting yet another long and very cold winter, the house has stayed snug despite a cat door that has decided to stick in the open position during subzero evenings. This year I estimate that I used less than a cord of wood for heating, and found that temperatures rarely dropped below 60 degrees, even first thing in the morning.  I have received a few requests for more information on the plumbing so here you go.  As of yet, the shower is still not hooked up, so it is sponge bathing using a pitcher and water heated in a kettle on the stove and then mixed into a two gallon bucket of cold water. Laundry is done in small batches in a 5 gallon bucket with a plunger.  These two 'piglets' hold about 70 gallons combined. An insulated plywood box then covers the sand filled area. The tanks did

Spring is here and I have been celebrating by not being on the computer, so apologies for the lack of updates. While there is still much to do on the house, I have been enjoying the other aspects of life- the reasons why building the house was so appealing in the first place. Spring began with my trying my hand at sugaring. Tree identification during winter turned out to be not as easy as I originally thought, and accidentally tapped some ash (although no sap, so the harvest was safe- and yes, please enjoy the pun). I did ultimately find 3 new trees, and I think a few more for next year. I went low tech with a fire pit out back this year, although I think I'll try making a barrel stove for next year since my teaching schedule conflicted some with the needs of the sap boiling process. Still, was able to produce almost a gallon of syrup this year, and had a reason to enjoy the brisk beginnings of spring outdoors. The harvest after one was already given away. The ga