Healing space

My father died last week. Although it is a very sad time, I have found much peace by spending time at the destination for my new home. I have done a lot of weeding (getting rid of the invasive daphne) and a fair bit of just sitting and watching the birds. I am very glad that I was able to bring Dad out to the future location of Happinest just a few days before he died. Dad had ordered a tree that same day and Judi let me reroute the delivery of his last purchase to my new home as a memorial. In addition, I took out two of my special Robin Hopper pieces to the property - a bird planter and a ceramic mushroom. I've since added a lovely azalea bush that will produce beautiful red flowers next spring.

Walls

The walls are going up! As Jamie has a limited area to work in, the walls are going up in two stages. The first 8' of wall all the way around went up first. It will be followed by putting in the steps and loft areas and then the remaining height of the walls will be added after that. I haven't been there since it was just a floor so am excited to go and see the progress and get a true sense of the interior space. Jamie sends me pictures every few days so that I know how the build is coming along.

Construction of "Happinest" has begun! As it has been a wet spring, the first thing that Jamie did was to build a huge structure to go over the trailer. That way, tarps could be put over top so that work didn't have to stop every time it rained. The next step was to start on insulating the floor and putting on the plywood decking. So next time I go over to check on progress, I will at least be able to walk around on the floor of my new home. It will start to feel more real then and once the framing for the walls goes up, I think I will get a much better sense of the space and whether the interior design needs any additional tweaking! After months of checking the ads for used french doors, I was finally able to find one for $100. The money saved from having to buy new will cover at least half of my cost of the now-needed composting toilet.

I finally told my landlords that I would be moving in a couple of months. Although they are sorry that Nova and I will be leaving, they were both super sweet and supportive of this project!

Well, my parking spot is now finalized. I am very happy with the location and have been exploring the nearby trails with great delight! I have bought several family members out to see it and everyone can see the potential in this spot. I can't wait to make it my own! Mum is helping me with designing a small natural garden around the old pond. I will need to invest in some fencing to have a safe area for Nova. I plan to have a sitting area (and possibly my fairy garden)under the trees and beside the lovely ivy-covered well. And lots of bird feeders - I plan to put some up this week so that the birds have a chance to find them even before I move in.

Here are a couple of photos of the new spot:

The only downside about this spot is that it is not legal so there will always be a nagging worry that someone will report us for living there. The landlord is putting up some privacy fencing and hedging to minimize the ability to see into the property but we won't be invisible. I'm hoping the fact that the last tenants lived there in a RV for 5 years will mean that the neighbours are not likely to complain.

Exciting week!

It has been an exciting week!

My trailer arrived a few days ago. It will get delivered to my builder this week so that the build can begin. He expects to have it finished by the end of May. It has already been redesigned several times so hopefully I have it just right now.

Even more exciting than that is the fact that I have managed to find a spot to park the house once it's done. It is at the back of a 4-acre farm. It doesn't look like much - just neglected fields and an old shed - but I can do whatever I want in terms of fencing off an area, adding grass or plants, etc. Who knows, maybe I'll even have a garden (everyone else in my family does so why not me). I haven't had much luck with indoor plants - maybe I'll have better luck outside. I could even have chickens or goats or horses - I probably won't but it is nice to know I could. There are two trails within a 5-minute walk (one is even right across the street) and I am a 5-10 minute drive from two of my favourite beaches.

There is a second spot that will also be available and I am meeting another woman who will have her tiny house done this summer who might be interested. There is plenty of room for two tiny's and the main farmhouse without anyone feeling crowded in any way.

Now I just need to tell my landlords I'm moving. I've been procrastinating because they have been so good to me but now that I definitely have a place to park, I will need to let them know.

Design Changes

So, I thought I was positive that I wanted my bedroom on the main floor of my tiny house. However, I recently had the opportunity to visit a tiny house that was 90% finished. Her tiny house had very do-able steps with a landing at the top instead of going straight to bed level. In addition, I realized that having the bedroom downstairs was limiting my everyday living space while having a loft area that I had planned to only use for guests (and I don't often have guests anyway) was really a wasted space. So I redesigned with the bathroom at one end and the kitchen underneath the loft.

My builder suggested that it would be easier to have all the plumbing closer together. And the location of the wheel wells would also impact the design. I have now done one with both the kitchen and a small bathroom under the loft and a bigger living room space. I am meeting the builder to see if this design is better and can be done in the available space. It may impact my barn door and "wall of whales" but we'll see.

Soon the build will begin and I won't be allowed to make any more changes :)

Along with excitement comes the doubts!

Most of the time, I am excited to watch the build of my tiny house take place. The trailer has been ordered and the build will start next month. Lately, I am finding that doubts are sneaking in alongside that excitement! My house will be finished in a few months and it is still not legal to park it anywhere. I knew that when I made the commitment but lately, it is feeling like a crazier decision than it did at the time. I'm also concerned about the price of somewhere to park. When I first started looking into the reality of going tiny, I had several people who were willing to offer a spot for $300/month. Now that I am actively looking for a place, I am seeing listings for RV pads in the $600-800 range. I currently live in a comfortable apartment with great landlords and all expenses included for $900/month. My biggest motivation for going tiny was to retire with a low cost of housing so that I could still afford my car, my groceries and maybe some spending money for travel once I was relying solely on pension money. Now I'm starting to worry that I will have spent my life-savings on a house (as well as going back into debt for a couple of years to pay off the line of credit I'll need to pay the final payment for the build) and not be any farther ahead than I am right now. I hope that I am worrying unnecessarily - and I am trying to stay positive - but it is definitely a concern!