As someone who’s writing a book in the same (one) room that I live in, I’m always impressed by people who know how to organize. Here’s a blogger who knows how to organize a workspace with flair!
The photographer/mom even tells you how to create a homemade chalkboard using paint (see the photos of the teal green tabletop).
Those of you who are fans or members of the tiny-house movement will get a kick out of this post about the completion of a brand new house, with lots of photos, over at the RK blog. Enjoy.
Just discovered a new blog called “Under the Apricot Tree.” It’s a blog “about new life on an old farm.”
The most recent post is here: More on Stillness.
Wow! This post makes me realize how limited my experience is, since I’ve never been anyplace but the U.S. and Canada.
Sounds like Italy, in particular, would be a wonderful place to live life, especially for people of a certain age. But how would I ever adjust to being fashion-aware?
The Clueless Farmer(s) have been busy since they started “Glean Acres” and ordered 500 baby chicks. Their adventures are amusing and uplifting. Lots of great pictures. I wouldn’t miss following their story on the road less traveled.
In an insane world of war and economic calamity, it’s a relief to find something that’s good and real and simple. I think they’re living in approximately the way human beings were intended to live. I’m cheering for them to be successful enough to continue to farm for a long time.
Image via Wikipedia
I’m still wrestling with “Starve The Beast.” The more I think about “Starve The Beast,” the more I see a political conspiracy to bring down the United States of America, to reduce the government to a helpless, broken heap of bureaucracy, so that corporations can be free to profit without limit, and the wealthy of the world can be free to exploit the poor without opposition.
And right this minute, I’m working my way through the Fourth of July weekend in beach town, USA, where half a million people will watch 15 minutes of fireworks tonight — a dazzling display of noise and light, to be sure — and then sit in absolute gridlock for three hours, waiting to get over the bridge and go to work Tuesday morning. Will anyone think about “Independence?”
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.”
. . . . Meanwhile, a simple post about simplicity, from Australia . . .
via Melbourne Mumma
Friends, I apologize for being away from ConsterNation for so long. Hard to believe I’ve not posted since the end of April.
What happened? Long story short, I got a job. I continue to make time for reading. Later in this post, I’ll talk briefly about “My Antonia,” by Willa Cather, and “Babbit,” by Sinclair Lewis. Continue reading
How much living space do I need?
This week, I discovered a new community of small, bare-bones cottages here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and it got me thinking about how much space is enough.
A lot of folks are intrigued by the tiny house concept. These cottages probably don’t quite meet the standard for “tiny.” Most are one-bedroom, living room, bath, and galley kitchen. Some have two bedrooms. You can look here for more pictures and floor plans. The rooms are SMALL, but the Web site doesn’t give dimensions.
I estimate the cottages have about as much space as a small, one-bedroom garden apartment. No doubt, many people in Manhattan live in high-rise apartments smaller than this. And tiny “alley” rowhouses were once commonplace in Baltimore.
This is no-frills living, but I prefer to think of it as a simple lifestyle. You get a front door, a few small windows, a roof. A small closet, but none of the clever, built-in storage niches you find in custom-built tiny houses. You want amenities? The community has a laundry room with six washers.
Neighbors on both sides. Togetherness. Community! You’ve got as much space as in a modest trailer park, or less. Looking down a row of cottages, I get a flash of a Depression-era work camp. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)
Not exactly the splendid privacy that many small-house advocates imagine. But I’ve always wondered if the concept of a 12 X 12 cabin on a remote mountainside isn’t contradictory. Elitist even. I mean, a tiny house with your own, private, national park? It is true that when you opt for simplicity, you may also find grandeur. Monks usually take vows of poverty, but sometimes live in impressive old monasteries.
No grandeur is included with the austere cottages pictured above. Don’t be misled because they’re near a beach resort. These cottages are clearly designed for workers, not tourists.
Rent is $600 a month for the one-bedroom models, plus utilities. A modern water and sewer system is paid for by the owners. Your cable TV bill looks like a BIG EXPENSE, in this scenario, especially if you also want Internet access. I’ve been spoiled by cable TV and Internet the past few years. Wonder if I could do without? Remember, we’re talking about simplicity and frugality. TV and Internet are not necessities, like food and water. Or are they?
I could still write on my computer, just not connected to the Net. When I need the Net, I’d go to the library, and use the fast, free WiFi.
I could listen to FM music or news over FREE airwaves. (Imagine that! Free radio. TV signals used to be free, too, but free TV was too good to last forever.)
Long story short, housing is adapting, if only a little, in response to the crash. Are people choosing a simpler lifestyle? Or in the new normal, do people have no alternative? Time will tell, but I doubt that cottages as small as the ones pictured here will become commonplace in America. Other countries, maybe.
For those who want to reduce their carbon footprint, a small cottage is a big step forward. I’m nagged by one reservation: Beware the fine, thin line between simplicity and poverty. Spacious suburban manses — the ideal goal for many Americans — are clearly not a necessity. Space is a nice luxury, if you can afford it.
But I wonder if tiny houses are more a novelty than a viable alternative? Most folks feel more at ease with a bit of elbow room. Space enough for two people to slow dance, at least. An extremely tiny house could be tough on the spirit, it seems to me.
I’m in favor of living space that is, as Goldilocks put it, “Just right.” It’s an individual thing. Or a matter of negotiation, for a couple. Between huge and tiny, a modest cottage might be a reasonable compromise.
— John Hayden
For photos of my own efficiency apartment, take a look here.
You can learn about the Tiny House Movement at “How I Met My Tiny House Hero,” by Tammy Strobel.
Image via Wikipedia
The “Clueless Farmhand” has now become the “Clueless Farmer.” Step one (buy a few acres with a livable house) is complete.
Sounds like the new farmer-entrepreneur, Diana, and her husband, will be focusing on the chicken business, and also growing quite a variety of vegetables. Diana, aka “Farmer Di” and “Doodi,” is methodically learning all she can about how to be a successful part of the “local-food” movement. Click on the Clueless Farmer’s report below. Her post includes lots of links to useful farming information.
This is a serious career-change event. Diana says: “My completely awesome husband turned down a perfectly decent and lucrative office job in favor of farming for a subsistence income.”
The real farming begins this week, with “100 fluffy day-old chicks and about 500 seedlings of various vegetables.” That sounds feasible on five acres, with some room for expansion.
If it works, the small-farm movement has potential to provide a great lifestyle, along with a modest income, for thousands of workers who would otherwise be stuck in dead-end jobs, and living in suburbia.
Producing and consuming our food locally (including organic food) makes sense, and it can improve our food security in times of shortages.
Image via Wikipedia
Update! Update! The Clueless Farmhands have a deal to buy their Virginia farm, complete with livable house. The bank suddenly decided to OK the short sale. See their update post here. It contains a long list of things they have to do to get the farm running this Spring. (Far from a leisurely idyllic existence, farming is probably more like endless work and 24-7 responsibility.) But I guess you’re your own boss and can work at your own pace, so far as Mother Nature allows. If the Clueless Farmhands can pull it off, maybe other people can do it! Opens up your limited career and lifestyle options, doesn’t it? Do you think you could do it?
End of Update.
You’ve had the fantasy. Admit it. What you really want is a few acres of farmland and a house. You’d like to buy it dirt cheap, because it IS mostly dirt, after all.
You want to chuck the career and the credit cards. Tell your boss to take this job and . . . Escape from the materialism, the congestion, the commute.
You’d trade it all in for freedom and simplicity. Life on the farm.
The Clueless Farmhand couple has done what you dream of doing. They’ve searched five counties in rural Virginia. They’ve looked at single-wides, double-wides, and actual houses. They think they’re ready to take the plunge.
I suspect most folks in Consternation-land will find their story enlightening. At last report . . .
March 9, 2011 Update: The Clueless Farm Hand has posted an update, detailing the bumpy road to buying a distressed property via a short sale. I had heard that buying real estate through foreclosures and short sales could be problematic, but this was an eye-opener for me. — John Hayden
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 