Slowly but surely.

Hey guys! Long time no blog. :)

So first things first, we hit 100 views today! Yes! Hopefully all of you are following along. :) If not, I understand. Hope we get more people with us as we go! Second, according to the schedule, we were supposed to get the camper off of the trailer and have the trailer ready to build on, umm, three weeks ago. Unfortunately that did not happen. David and myself have been working very hard at work and putting in extra hours for the last few weeks and just have not had a whole lot of time. We did get the inside (mostly) done though.

We still have to:

• Rip out the last cabinet
• Rip off the walls and take out the insulation
• Take out the remaining electrical (what was in the walls)
• Take off the water pump
• Take the windows out- the inside is done, we just have to unscrew them from the outside
• Take off the seams outside (and the camper should crumple)
• Clean up! (and go sell the aluminum) 
• Take the remaining platform off of the trailer
• Grind any rust off of the trailer and paint it with Rustoleum
• Put ice/water barrier and metal flashing on trailer

Whew! So, after all of that, we will be ready to put the floor on the trailer! So exciting. We are so close, but still so far away! Tomorrow I will be working by myself and hope to get the rest of the inside destroyed and the windows out, which will leave Wednesday or Thursday to finish it up. Hopefully we don't get called into work. No video blog yet but here are some pics of the inside of the camper now.

 This is where the bathroom used to be.

 This used to be three benches around a table, the kitchen, and a wall of cabinets for storage.

 This is the loft bedroom, you can see the cabinet that still needs to be taken out.

It looks very small in the pictures but it really is pretty sizable, considering we will also have a full loft. So that is it for this update, cross your fingers I will have enough time to do considerable damage and have another update later this week. :)

Regards,

Mollie

Update.....

Okay, so first of all, I moved my blog to Wordpress and you can find it here. I will still be posting here for a while, but in the next couple of weeks will probably start exclusively posting there. You can also check out my youtube channel here and my actual website here. We will be doing video diaries and posting them to the youtube channel and my website, and my website also has an RSS feed back to my word press blog, along with a photo gallery and a how-to section. It's kind of a one stop shop.

Also, any of you who are following along are probably confused at this point. First I said the build would be starting this summer, then I said next summer, and now we have a trailer to start building! Okay, so let me back up a little and explain.

So, the original plan back in like February was to work on the plans and continue to save money until June, at which point we would begin the tiny house. We planned to order a custom pull behind trailer in April for the project. But then, at the end of March, my dad asked us to postpone our plans until next spring/summer, because he was going to build a garage. Well, we postponed and fast forward to middle of may, my dad finds out that it cost too much and he was already supposed to apply for the building permit (I thought he already knew the price and applied for a permit, hence why I went along with it. *face palm*). So, he decided he was just going to get a kit from like Home Depot for a giant shed that he could put up in a weekend.

So, now we are back to starting the build...soon. It was supposed to be June, but it's June right now. Technically, we already started because we started to demolish the camper that we got for our tiny house. But, there are some problems that we did not think about:

1. It is taking a lot longer to demolish than we previously thought. And the inside of that aluminum camper is like an oven, even with all of the windows open. We hope to have it demolished on Thursday. Weather permitting (I hope it rains! I would be so much more willing to work in a cool rain with the air cool and low humidity than sunny, HOT, and humid.)

2. I have to make new plans! I spent a month on the original plans, and they were awesome! But they were for a 24' flatbed pull behind trailer, not a 26' gooseneck (fifth wheel). So, back to the drawing board. We know the lay out for the floor so in the meantime we can get the camper off and do the floor and cover with a tarp, but the walls and such probably will not be started until the end of June. Hopefully I can get the plans done next week because I am off school this week and next, but I also may get called in because we are busy at work now. So we will see about that.

Okay, I think those are the only reasons. Maybe. Oh yeah, and sorry that my blogs are all choppy and weird to read, I am still new to this blogging thing and often times I don't proofread or edit, I just write it and then post.

So, that is my update. I will be doing another video diary probably tomorrow... but maybe I will wait until Thursday when we actually have something done!

Regards,
Mollie

Visit my website here, my YouTube channel here, and my wordpress blog here.

What are we doing?

Okay, this blog post is less of tiny house and more of like ranting/wondering aloud. So please bear with me, or just skip this post and go to the next post if you just want to read about our tiny house journey. :)

Basically, I just want to know why all of us are so dependent on having a job and having money. I mean, whatever happened to a self sustaining farm? My gramma says I am an old soul, so that may just be it. I mean, doesn't anyone else want to live a life where the work they do is meaningful to them and they aren't working to make someone else rich?

I guess I just think this because my ideal life would be my husband and I buying a farm and a bit of farm land, some cows and horses and chickens and pigs, maybe even some sheep. Have a big garden and grow our own food, can it, maybe some apple and peach trees as well. Farm the land and make our own flour and livestock food and sell the excess to get money to buy fabric for clothes and to buy shoes, gas, etc. I just think that would be a great life. Always at home with your family, doing productive things. Kind of like what the Amish do, I guess. Maybe I am just someone who was reincarnated from like the 19th century or something, LOL. I don't know. But that plan will probably never happen, because land is just so gosh darn expensive and farm land is so hard to come by here (and I don't want to move away, I'd like to stick close to my family). It seems like all of the farm land has been handed down from generation to generation here and no one wants to part with it. Oh and farm equipment is really expensive as well.

Okay, rant over I guess.

But still, I wish more people thought like me. And it's also hard because we are so young.

Oh, and people are really starting to make me mad. Like, my dad is like, "why are you building this tiny house just live at my house until you can use cash to buy a regular sized house." First of all, I love my Dad to death, but I don't want to live with him! And, it's not 1980 anymore, it will take 10 years in this economy to get the amount of money together to buy a fixer upper where we live. It's just not realistic. What is realistic is building the tiny house, then save money to buy some land, then save money to build the well, then save money to install the septic (even if we have a composting toilet I'm pretty sure you HAVE to have a septic dug where I live), then save money to build the strawbale house. And what's crazy to me is that having the septic dug and well drilled will cost like $10,000 more than the actual house. What's up with that? I mean, I guess if I built a big house it wouldn't but I want to just build an 800 s.f. house (that's the minimum in this county).

Ahhh, so frustrating! And even the people that are like, "How much is that going to cost? Just put a down payment on a house." First, no. I don't want that much debt hanging over my head. Second, no. It's the principal of living small! We don't need all that space! Even 800 sf. is huge to me! The house I grew up in is 800 s.f. and it has a big living room, and giant eat-in kitchen, a bathroom, and 6 bedrooms! 500 sf is perfect for my husband and I and a couple of our (future) children. Zoning laws make me so mad.

Okay, now, rant over. I promise. :)

Regards,
Mollie

Got the trailer!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things got pretty hectic here for a while. We cleaned out my dad's garage, built a chicken coop, got more chicks, our ducks got hurt, and I am in the middle of finals this week.

So, first things first, what's up at our house right now. Well we planted the garden (will upload pics when everything comes up), and built the chicken coop (see last entry). But that was when we had 6 chickens and 2 ducks. Since then, the dogs got into the run and killed 4, we got 16 bantams on sale, we rescued a gosling, and I ordered 16 more layers from a hatchery. I ordered 16 instead of 4 because it was cheaper to get more. So I found a place to get free pallets and will be adding onto the coop and making a fence for a run with pallets.

We also adopted a puppy! We already had a shepherd mix, and we got a little miniature pinscher.

And last but not least,  we have our trailer for our tiny house! Finally! Actually, it's a camper right now but it will be just a trailer when we get done with it. We decided to get a camper because it is on a 26' gooseneck trailer, and a trailer that size is REALLY expensive. But the camper was only $800 so we got a steal.

But that isn't even the best part. When we showed up to get the trailer, the couple that was selling it were building a tiny house in their backyard! In their city they can have a tiny house on a foundation not a trailer, and we got to go inside and check it out. It had two full floors and a real staircase. They do remodels for a living, so when we told them what we were doing they gave us a bunch of carpet, linoleum, and wood floor that were leftover from their remodels for free!! We have enough flooring to put tile in the bathroom, carpet in the bedroom, and wood floor everywhere else. They also told me about a place to get lumber for really cheap. I am so glad to have found someone near me that is also building a tiny house!

This is the trailer as it is right now (with the camper on it)

Now that we have the trailer I will be posting a LOT more because we will *FINALLY* be starting on our build! Yay!

Regards, 
Mollie

Homemade Shampoo and Deodorant

Okay, so I made my first batch of homemade shampoo and deodorant today. It is not organic, but it is all natural. And, okay, it wasn't totally "homemade" but, oh well! I made peppermint shampoo that is also body wash, face wash, hand wash, and shaving cream! Plus, you really don't need conditioner if you use this. But, if you want to and your hair feels too "waxy" after you wash, you can do a rinse in apple cider vinegar. APV gets rid of soap scum that may be left behind and when it dries it doesn't smell vinegary at all. Just remember to dilute it in water before you put it on your hair- I'd say about 1 part APV to 5 parts water. And steer clear of the eyes!

Okay, here are the two recipes--

Shampoo:
2/3c Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Pure Castile Soap, Peppermint
1/2 c coconut milk
1 tsp vitamin e oil
1 tsp almond oil
10 drops orange essential oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil

That is the basic recipe. All you do is put all of the ingredients into an old shampoo bottle and shake it up! But, the contents will settle so shake it up before each use. This is for peppermint shampoo with a hint of orange, but Dr Bronner's had tons of different smells for the soap so you can chose one you like and add essential oils to fit as you feel you want them. Just remember not to use too much- 15 is plenty, but if you want a wider mix of smells just don't go over 30 drops. It might irritate your skin.  And don't use too much. Even for long hair, a nickel sized amount is plenty. I use 2 nickel sized amounts- 1 for my hair (which is over halfway down my back, and really thick) and 1 for my face and body. It doesn't lather like normal shampoos- those have chemicals added to make it lather. It will lather though; just add water after its on your head and scrub well. If you have long hair, bring a comb or use your fingers and run it through your hair to get out tangles before you rinse. And rinse well: rinse all the soap out, then rinse again like it's full of soap. After using this for a while, most people realize they only need to wash their hair about every 2-3 days. It's good stuff!

Okay, deodorant. This is made a variety of ways.  You can replace corn starch with arrow root if you are sensitive to corn starch. I HIGHLY recommend you take a trip to your local whole foods store and get these ingredients in their organic form. Your pits will thank you. :) (p.s. one swipe under each arm is more than enough to keep B.O. away)

Deodorant:
6 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp beeswax pastilles
4 tbsp corn starch (or arrow root)
4 tbsp baking soda (definitely organic if you can)
20-30 drops essential oils

Needed:
old mason jar with lid
small saucepan
stovetop
deodorant container (optional)

1) Fill the saucepan about half full with water and heat on the stove to medium low temperature.
2) Put the coconut oil and beeswax in jar; put the jar in the water to melt coconut oil and beeswax
3) When melted, remove jar from heat. Add cornstarch and baking soda. Put top on jar and shake until blended well. (about 1 minute, longer if doubling or tripling the batch)
4) Add essential oils of choice. I love matching, so mine was 20 drops peppermint and 5 drops sweet orange. My husband's was 20 drops sandlewood and 10 drops lemongrass. You really can mix and match however you please. The sky is the limit to essential oil concoctions.
5) Shake again
6) You can let harden in the jar and scoop it out with your fingers when needed or put into an old (or new and empty) deodorant container. You can find these for sale at Amazon easily, and I've heard Costco has them too.
That's it! Let harden in container for about an hour and you have a wonderful, non cancer causing deodorant.

Now, I realize these things are not cheap. But, the ingredients you buy now to make these will last about a year! I paid $70 and easily have enough to have shampoo, body wash, face wash, hand wash, shaving cream, and deodorant for a year. Now considering I was paying $30 a month for all of these things, I will be saving nearly $300 in the next year, just for being healthier! How great is that! And I also make my own laundry detergent, it's not all natural, but it costs just $30 for a year's supply. Considering a $20 thing of Tide used to only last us a month,  we are also saving over $200 on laundry detergent! I am on a mission to find healthier and cheaper option to continue to save even more!

Here's the laundry detergent recipe, if interested:

1 big box of Borax
1 box Arm and Hammer super washing soda
1 small container OxyClean
2 bars Fels Naptha
1 big box Arm and Hammer Baking Soda
2 big bottles Purex fabric softener crystals

1) Grate the Fels Naptha bars.
2) Mix all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket ( I did it in layers, each ingredient in a layer, 3 times)
3) Mix well (I used the stick of an old mop- worked great!)

That's it! Now you just have to find a place to store all of your wonderful smelly goodness- and it does smell fantastic! I love that it has the fabric softener built in. I never have to add extra fabric softener, even for the bed sheets or towels. Works out perfectly. To store, I used an old Sun washing powder bucket, but you could you any 5 gallon bucket with a lid, or several gallon ziplocks. It only takes about 3 tbsp for a BIG load. I add about 5 for bedsheets (cause those can get gross, and need to be extra clean) but for everything else I use 3 tbsp for a big load, 1 and a half for a small. That's about a capful using the purex crystals cap for big, half a cap for small.

I still have recipes for bar soap, lotion, and chapstick to try out (hopefully in the next couple of weeks!) and then I will be posting those recipes on here as well. :) Just need to see what has to be changed for the better and what can stay in those base recipes before I tell you all to go do it! And remember- even if you don't like these things, someone you now may want some for a gift!

Regards,
Mollie

Busy Busy Month!

Long time with no updates! So sorry about that. We have had a very busy month over here. We have retiled the kitchen floor, got chickens and ducks, built a chicken coop, and now are in the process of cleaning the garage and (hopefully!) about to get started with adding onto my dad's garage. Busy busy year!

So, here are our 6 Red Sex Link chicks and our 2 Pekin ducklings! They are 3 and half weeks and boy are they getting big :) Here they are enjoying and exploring their brand new coop! Pen is still pending.

 This is the base of the coop and walls up.

 Trusses up and secured.

 End walls up and screwed on.

 Got the side walls up.

 Got the shingles and roof on with a coat of paint!

 Finished product! This is the side with the door the hens will go in. The door is plexiglass so in bad weather light will still get in

And the door! Made of scraps and not yet painted, so it looks out of place, but it is totally functional!

So, this is what we have gotten done so far. I didn't bother to take pics of the kitchen being retiled, although a time consuming project it is not really picture worthy. Although I love the new tiles!

We are hoping to get the garage cleaned out this weekend, and hopefully start on the building of the new addition of the garage by the end of May! If we do not get started on it by then, we will start on our tiny house! We will just have to see how it goes. 

In other news, I have decided to start making our own household products. I already make our own powdered laundry detergent, but now I will start making our own deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, soap, chapstick, and dish soap. I have found some really good recipes, but am going to experiment and will post the finished recipes (and how I like them!) soon.

Also, last term I got on the Dean's list. Looks like my crazy studying paid off! :D

Plans Changing, D:

Well, our plans to build our tiny house have been set back a year. I had hoped for this blog to be more interesting soon, with the build going on, but it will not be.

Nothing bad happened to make us wait, but a few things did influence our decision. 

1) If we start building this summer, we will have to pay as we go. We will be able to purchase the trailer and the materials to get the house up and waterproofed by June (like the studs, windows, roofing, sheathing, flashing, and housewrap) but the rest will be pay as we go. It sounded good at first, but would take a LOT longer to finish anyways. We wouldn't even be able to be in the house until December, and would have to build during cold weather. If we wait until next April to begin, we can buy ALL of our materials and store them in my Dad's garage, which leads us to...

2) My dad is planning to update his house and extend his garage from a 3 door to a 5 door. If we wait to build our tiny house, and help him with his house and garage, we will get a TON of building experience and be able to build our tiny house faster, more efficiently, and better. This is because not only will we get the experience of building, but we will also have my dad right there telling us if we are doing something wrong and showing us the right way to do it for the next time (if we ever happen to mess up, not like that would ever happen, though ;D) 

3) If we build this summer, we can't help my dad, and he will need lots of help building this garage. And if we weren't helping, he would have to spend all of his spare time building it. That means his health might decline, and also he wouldn't be able to do our electrical work. Since he already knows how to wire electrical stuff in a new building to code, we really need him to help with that. I don't really want to burn our tiny house down with an amateur job. 

So, those are the reasons that we decided to wait.

In further news, a video of the tree we cut down falling.

We have a lot of work to do in the next month. We currently live in my dad's basement while awaiting our tiny house. So, we are redoing his floors for him for his father's day present. This includes the tile for the kitchen and the wood floor for the living room and hallway. We also will be tilling the spot for the garden within the next month and fixing up the yard. We have a fire pit to build, bushes to trim, and junk to get rid of that's just sitting in the yard. Plus cleaning out the garage. And this brings us to....

Chickens and Ducks! We have 6 chicks and 2 ducklings. Which means another thing we have to do is build an insulated hutch and pen/yard for them. We would like to have them free range but with the dogs and cat, we are not sure that is a fantastic idea. 

So, even though our tiny house is not yet built, or being constructed, I will still have plenty of posts about living a more sustainable life by having our own chickens for eggs and growing our own food in the garden (and canning the leftovers). If we just had room for a couple of cows and a pig, we would be set!

Regards, Mollie