ulcers for nothing

Something weird happened this weekend. We were contacted by a TV show in NYC about possibly being on their Earth Day show that would feature tiny house living (or at least, living in small spaces).

I heard free trip to NYC and thought how could you not?? I quickly coerced Keith into it and also a friend in town (they wanted a family to stay in our house to see what it's like) and we talked on the phone with production agents. It was kind of exciting.

But it made my stomach hurt. I'll be the first to say our house is not exactly TV-ready. We have some Ongoing Projects. We're Waiting for the Right Materials to be found. Also, Money. Anyway, I did mention this to the lady in NY: We don't have a shower. We have a composting toilet. (Small white lie, but we could have built one in a couple hours.)

They said they'd call Saturday a.m. and we didn't hear back so we took the hint. (Kinda of rude, though, not to even say "Hey we decided to go another direction.") It was a little disappointing. But---mostly: a relief.

When I told my friend I didn't think it was going to happen and that I was kind of relieved not to have to do everything necessary to pull it off, she said she was too. That her husband was freaking out a little. (Mine, too!)

So while I obviously would have loved a free trip to NYC (amirite?!), I can't say it would have been worth all the stress. I found this blog post by a pretty famous blogging couple that does DIY home renovations and makes a living bloggging!, Young House Love, about how they were on this show that contacted us. And they were to NYC and back in 22 hours. That doesn't sound very fun.

And to be on TV and worry about being able to string together coherent sentences and trying not to think about the 10 pounds the camera adds. I mean, reading their blog post, I pretty much found out exactly what the experience would have entailed without all the stress.

When I hopped online Sunday morning I saw that a guy named Ryo who has a DIY house blog (Laptop and a Rifle) had finished  up his Project 31, which meant "[S]pending an entire month (31 days) on my property this winter without leaving for any reason. During that time, I will subsist solely off of what I have at hand or can gather from my land."

And I realized: we're more Laptop and a Rifle than Young House Love. It's true. We're more about use than aesthetics, though we always take aesthetics into account. And so if they didn't want us because we're not polished enough, okay. We've declared our okayness with a) the salvage look and b) this whole thing being a work in progress. This is our house. AND: We don't need your stupid TV show.

Now that the weather is warmer (though still rainy), we're really motivated to make progress on projects that will make us more self-reliant out there: toilet, shower, working kitchen. I'd like to think is that this experience has been a boost to our motivation about checking off all of the many projects we have mentally lined up for our house. Just what we needed. Yeah.

So expect more posts that end in projects getting done? Or at least we'll start some. And eventually some will get finished. And eventually it will all be finished.

weekending

(These are all from Saturday, so don't be fooled by the mid-week post.)

time to give our fender planters a hair cut

Keith's oars need a good shellacking

Saturday reading spot (was very nice)

love love loving my 50mm lens (still) - after raking branches in the yard

cherry-blossoms-to-be outside our bedroom window

dig, Larzaus, dig!

Signs of life

springing up around the apple tree.

Planted

 

 The mail lady ruined the aesthetics with her fat sharpie number written on the front, but once the weather warms up I think I will paint the front...  Also, Keith's going to wrap the post in cedar like our porch posts.

A good friend sent a tea care package to help us cope with our recent stresses and it's becoming a nice ritual for me and also for Keith. It's something we can make in our house (well, outside the house on the propane camp stove) and sometimes we drink it at night in bed, watching movies. Yesterday I sat in bed listening to NPR, doing the Sunday crossword, and drinking tea---am I 80?!

French press mugs are great for tea making! Pour in the boiling water and then press the tea bag under the strainer and voila. When it's ready I pour some into a mug for drinking and the rest stays hot in my insulated french press mug. I've never really been a tea drinker, but it's growing on me and the variety of tea is really interesting, too---everything from "detox" to "passion" and they're all delicious! Don't be a tea snob, try it!

the part where we wait

Lazlo is, like all of us, waiting for spring. Stupid warm weather fools us for a day or two or three and then BAM, back to snow. Not  much getting accomplished on the tiny house lately... might pick up in the next couple of weeks? Family coming in from out of town for a birthday, might have tours to give. I could really do without a tiny house tour right now, people.

What do we do while we wait for spring? We watch A LOT of movies. A lot a lot. Our mini DVD crapped out on us a while back and my parents took pity on us and gave us a great gift of a new TV and DVD player that is perfect for us! It's the smallest screen you can buy (19") and it's just right for the tiny house.

Keith built this cedar box for it out of scrap that sits on a old metal typewriter desk that has wheels but doesn't roll. Handy. So now we can watch foreign films (subtitles on a 7" screen = not happening), which a is fantastic development at the casa de Blankenship! Recently: Lust Caution.

Just because we're not working on the house, doesn't mean I'm not cataloging ideas. I send emails to myself all the time about different design inspirations and this place in Australia caught my eye most recently. I pretty much love everything about it, especially the kitchen shots.

 Anyway, gears are always turning and new ideas are always manifesting. C'est la vie.

interview on Love and Trash

My webpal Christina interviewed me about our tiny house for her site, Love and Trash ("a DIY blog for people who do things differently"). Here's part one. Here's part two.
I told her to use any pics she wanted from my flickr account and I have to say she did an excellent job using ones I hadn't necessarily thought of.
It's really helpful to me to organize my thoughts re: our house and present them to someone else because it reminds me why we do what we do and how this is a process and how we've made so much progress already. That's not to say Keith and I aren't both about fed up with cabin fever and this stinkin' winter. We're ready for spring and all that comes with it---house projects, garden, camping, travel.
We're celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this year and if we can't do our #1 choice (floating a river with our friends from Missoula), #2 would be a hike into somewhere (but probably not 15 miles) for a week or so, just us. Or us and the dogs if it's feasible. So if you know of any places we should check out that are within 3-4 hours of driving distance to central Idaho, give a shout.

 

Keith's making a tiny house mailbox for us. Still needs tin on the roof, but it's pretty great so far!

Happy birthday to the man

I love spending my life with.

The Island

We've been struggling a bit here recently, so a walk out to the island on Saturday, with the dogs, was just what we all needed. Fresh air, communing with nature, appreciating the simplicity of things that go on and on regardless.

We found a deer mummy. Looks like it was swept downstream and caught under some fallen trees maybe. The skin was taught like paper. Mia was rubbing on it for a few minutes before I realized what she might be up to. Luckily, it had already lost its smell.

On the way back up the other side of the island we stopped for a game of curling/bocce rock.

Lazlo, of course, had to get in the river. But this is all the deeper he went. I guess he's not completely retarded.

slide film from Meadow Creek cabin (last July)