Dreams

I have been living in a Recreational Vehicle after selling my 2000 sq ft. home in 2002 and moved into my first RV, which was a class “A” motorhome. We purchased our 35 ft. 5^th wheel RV in 2006 after we outgrew our class “A”. About a year or so ago I discovered Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. Now I am completely in love with them. My only dilemma is do I want one on a trailer or do I want one of the “house” models that go on a foundation. Either way, I want to build it myself, and document it on film.

It is not just the house I want to build but it is an all-inclusive, self sufficient, off the grid homestead, complete with solar and wind power, composting toilet, well water, and manmade wetland grey water drainage. I would love to have a nice garden and a kitchen that will allow me to can my produce for long term storage. I have been watching a lot of shows set in Alaska and it looks like something that I would like minus the really cold weather.

At this point with the RV I want to find a nice secluded area with a really awesome view. Someplace where I can start a new life in a place of my own that does not have wheels attached. This is my dream and one that I am working hard to fulfill. I want to travel the country and see all of my options. I do know that I would love to live in the mountains but it must have at the least a lake or river. I love the water I can’t help it.

 Over the last year I have bought just about everything I could get my hands on when it comes to how to build a tiny house. I am considering now taking the class on how to build one. Since I have graduated from film school I now have the time to go and take the class now, which I wanted to take when it was in Florida last year. I have found both a trailer and a house design that I like. Oddly they are pretty much the same style. Either way, when I build it, I will add my own spin on the design.

In addition to wanting to build my own tiny house, I want to create my own natural perfumes using essential oils in a pure carrier oil base. One of my favorite kinds of perfume is that which comes in an oil base and applied with a roll-on. I have my manufacture for not only the oils, but also the bottles. This week I am designing my packaging and putting together my branding package. My plan is to take my products to a few Wiccan bookstores to see if I can sell a few there and I will also open my first store on ebay and hope that I make some sales.

In order to make a few dollars I am going to be going through my storage unit and selling what ever it is that I don’t want on e-bay as well. With this money I am going to take that money and save it up for supplies to build my tiny house. That is my plan.

We will see what happens…

More to come.

Tiny living

I am really starting to like living back in the RV again. I have to admit that it has been a bit of a culture shock after three years in a nice one bedroom apartment. I have to admit that I kind of want to just hook up the RV and do some traveling. But for the winter at least I am stuck where I am so that I can figure out where I want to go and how I am going to do it. The down side will be leaving my Jeep behind, as I can’t drive two vehicles at the same time.  I also have quite a bit of stuff to go through and get rid of.  I will be setting up an e-Bay store to help make a little bit of money in the process. We will see how that goes.

Moving back into the RV had the challenge of downsizing, yet again, and I got through that all well  Just to name a few things there are so many other things that have had to be done.

She needs a bath!

and good. The other challenge is that when you stick an RV into storage for so long that when you pull it out there are a lot of little, and not so little, things that need to be fixed. My list has included everything from replacing missing cabinet door handles, bay door locksets, seals and clamps, scrubbing walls, to replacing busted vent covers, and re-caulking nearly every seam on the outside of the trailer.

On this particular weekend the vents got replaced, and hopefully the caulking of the exterior fixtures and the roof seams on the slide will stop the water from getting into the RV all together. I am crossing my fingers on that one as every time I have caulked something it has not seemed to help. I think at some point I am going to have to strip all of the caulk, rubber sealant, and spray rubber off the RV and start with a completely blank canvas. Having to do this will suck as I admit that I have an aversion to heights. Luckily my ex-husband has been nice enough to drive down from Maryland and assist me with all the roof stuff.

Part of my living room

On the interior I was happy to enter on that first day to find all the furniture, with the exception of my kitchen table, gone from the trailer all together. The blank canvas allowed me to pull in most of the pieces from my apartment to create my new space. The key to adding the furniture from the apartment is that it has had to be bolted down to the floor and to the walls. Not a major thing to do but does take a hot minute to complete. “L” brackets have been a godsend! I also invested in a few packages of Museum Putty that allows me to tack down things to the desk and the bookcase so that I am not constantly putting things away and pulling them back out every time I move the RV. 

The best experience from moving back into the RV is that I do know a few design things that I do not want in my tiny house when I build it. For starters I want much better windows, and a lot less of them! Wall space in my RV is at a premium and I have a lot of things that I would love to be able to hang up, unfortunately I cant. So in the Tiny Home I will have to make the space to hang pictures and things. I have had the thought of stripping the RV down to just the trailer and building my tiny house on that, I do plan on just buying one of the tumbleweed trailers though.

But for now, my story continues…

YouTube… Great source of information!

View full post for links at the bottom.

            I have been doing a ton of research over the last couple days, Having a few days off from school has been awesome, although I have some family issues that have surfaced, mainly two family members in the hospital, one awaiting a new heart, and one with other heart/blood thinner, related issues.            Things are a little tough at the moment but everything happens for a reason.

            Anyway, In my down time I have been addicted to You Tube looking for information on gardening, farming, canning, Cheese making, off grid living and many more things. I wanted to share some of the links to my most favorite and the most useful videos that I have found. There are so many more and I will post the best ones as I find them.

You Tube Links:

            Magazines on my Ipad:

            Backwoods Home Magazine: I really like this magazine, Got the Chicken back issue and it is awesome!

http://www.backwoodshome.com

Gardening:

            This is the best gardening youtuber that I have found, I really like this channel!

            http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnFheTbVpASikm0YPb8pSw

Butchering a Pig:

1)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsoK0gcG9as&list=TLSqrqvJVsGJo

2)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJy7nGS11VY&feature=share&list=TLSqrqvJVsGJo

3)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEWFbdOCZMY&feature=share&list=TLSqrqvJVsGJo

Chicken Processing:

            Awesome videos for Chicken Processing, The system they sell is not that expensive and I am thinking of purchasing one when I go off grid!

           

            http://www.youtube.com/user/buckley02

More Cabin Pictures

 Only thing missing is the roof! I have to admit that I have been having a bit of fun putting these together and creating them. I added a second story set of lofts, the walls are four feet tall and will have a simple roof. I plan on adding a window to the front top of the house and a few in the sleeping loft. The front loft as well as the bathroom have pocket doors for access, there is a small wrap porch, and Sliding glass doors that I am considering making french doors, as that is what my daughter requested.

I think I am going to do a video and talk about my design choices. It still has a lot of work to be done on it.

Click on the image below to see in larger view.

Finished First Floor Design of My Daughters Cabin.

Been Playing with Vectorworks 2012 

I have been designing the buildings that i am planning to build on the land that I purchase. The second of which will be a cabin for my little one. I have been drawing sketches of what I want to build. This one is 12 X 20 and will have two lofts one is 12 X 6 over the porch and the other 12 X 8, There will be storage Under the stairs as well and a series of Built in Book Shelves. To save on cost it will be covered on the inside with dry wall. Outside is yet to be determined.  The lay out was inspired by the tiny homes that I have seen on YouTube. 

                                                              Click on images to View.

Wasteful Spending

You know it is amazing just how much money one can just toss away thinking that they actually need it. I am rather embarrassed after looking over what I have been spending over the last few years. So as of today gone is my $350.00 a month Starbucks addiction, My 400.00 a month Nutrisystem Diet Plan, Audible.com spending, Libsyn account(the paid one anyway) my INSANE iTunes spending, and my 100.00 a bottle perfume habit and 100.00 dinner fetish. among many other things! All OF the aforementioned account have been closed, with exception to my iTunes or I would lose the ability to utilize what I have. However, I will not be making purchases any time soon. 

Next I will be looking over my utility bills and see just where and how I can cut back there as well. Do I really need that 300.00 a month cable bill?

In Need Of a Simpler Life.

            It is no big surprise that I have wanted a simpler life, as I get older. I have to admit that I am wanting more and more to move away to some secluded place where I can write and just be left to myself, well aside from family and close friends.

            Lately I have been taking trips back to the days of ole where I would sit in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother while they would cook, and can fresh fruits and veggies. I remember one time when I lived in Ocean View that my mother showed up with bushels of corn. We had to blanch and freeze all of it in the short time she was at my house. This was quite the feat in my little one bedroom apartment with the tiny galley kitchen. However, I nonetheless find myself these days, long after my mother has passed on, going back to those days of canning and blanching.

            Recently I have pulled out the old recipe books, Broken out my Martha Stewart caning pot, Purchased almost everything I would ever need to can food and have set off to do just that. I have started with the simple things like Jams and Jellies. On my list is a pressure canner so that I can get into the harder things. I am still in a tiny one bedroom but this time I am all to myself.  I also find myself utilizing my Kindle Fire to download books on gardening and canning. As well as books on Off grid living.

            Off grid living is something that I have though about for years. And lately it is appealing to me more and more. I have been researching the “tiny house” movement, solar power, and looking into untainted land for sale. I have a year at most from the start of this month to figure out what it is that I want to do after graduation. To be honest I am thinking that maybe prepping for something so drastic as going off grid may be right up my alley.

            It should also come as no surprise that I am a prepper! Yes, I do believe that something is coming that will drastically change the way we as a civilization live and function these days. And I have started with the Canning, and recently moved on you Gun ownership. And I have to admit I am quite good with a pistol, and a rifle! I go to the range every week, Purchase Ammo and spend time on the range practicing with paper targets.  I have also recently gotten me a dog that is becoming my best friend these days. She is still a puppy, and I hope to have her around for quite a while.

            So now I am starting this blog to chronicle my transition from City apartment dweller to living full time off of the grid! I am hoping to meet some fellow sustainable living enthusiasts along the way and learn a whole lot more!   

            In a perfect world I would hit the lottery and be able to do it all at once. However, the world is far from perfect, and I must do this as I can afford too.