Happy Holidays from our tiny house!

Winter break offers us a nice change of pace when school is out.  The kids and I took a plane to Michigan for a little over a week to visit my extended family.  Husband stayed in AZ to work and cat sit.  It was a great visit.  It was also fun to stay with my siblings & see my nieces and nephews.  It was the first time we have stayed in a house for quite some time.  I am not sure Sister remembers living in a house, but she was very complimentary towards the homes we visited.  My siblings have basements which serve as a play rooms/game rooms for the kids.  My kids joined the fun and I remained with the adults upstairs for much of the time.  When the kids would come upstairs and get rowdy we (adults) would tell them to go back into the basement.  It was nice that the kids had a designated spot to play and to be loud.  Certainly a downside of our tiny living is that there is no indoor space for rowdy kids.  Thankfully the weather is good this time of year and we can send them outside!  We visited various homes and they were all decked out with Christmas lights and trees.  Ours is too, just on a much smaller scale!

I think Christmas in a tiny space is actually much more manageable.  We can't buy too much because we won't have a place to put it.  We can get the kids a few new enjoyable things that will travel well.  We put up two strings of lights along the trim of the slides and our tree will ultimately be under the presents, but it is cute. 

There were a number of years Husband and I celebrated a Buy-Nothing Christmas inspired by Buy-Nothing Day.  I would embrace a return to that practice in future years. 

Spending time in the homes of my siblings I note the various ways we have all sought to reproduce our own childhood experiences for our kids.  I asked my mom to make cut-out cookies so that the grandkids could enjoy the experience of decorating them.  This is something my nieces and nephews had done, but my kids had not.  Clearly good memories from our pasts inspire us to make good memories for our kids, but I was reminded that we can't ignore the possibility that there may be even better and more meaningful ways to make happy memories with the next generation.  Traditions are important when they remind us about our core values and our ancestors - traditions can also be suffocating when they stifle new ideas. 

I know that my choices about how to celebrate Christmas have long been considered odd by my family.  I am searching for the right balance of respecting the past and building the future.  I can't allow myself or my kids' worth to be defined by our ability to purchase and consume.  I want to pass on a sustainable way of life and that means living differently than what is normal.  Our family lives with one foot in and one foot out of traditional American consumerism.  One day I imagine shifting our weight more to the foot on the outside.  In the meantime we are exploring.  We continue to learn how to be comfortable with less than is expected by choice (not necessity).  We continue to learn how to want what we have instead of experiencing an insatiable desire for more. 

May this Holiday Season be filled with love and satisfaction!

Rancho progress 2019

When we last discussed Rancho Status Quo I shared the progress from phase one of transforming the metal building/garage into a tiny house.  A loft, bathroom and kitchen were built.  Now phase two is underway!  As a reminder, we purchased this land way back in 1998 and have been very slowly developing it over time - the goal is an off grid, low cost, self-sufficient dwelling that we can (mostly) build ourselves. 

Our last project included getting the water running from our solar well so that we are able to use our toilet and septic system.  The project included using a handyman jack to lift the well cap and the associated weight of both the simple pump and our solar pump which both hang nearly 170' to the static water level.  We then installed an air displacement valve after chipping off the seal we installed years ago which was sealed so tight it wouldn't allow any air in to displace the water.

This all happened back in August and we were able to spend a few more weekends there over the next couple months as we prepared for construction to begin on the second half of the building.

Just to remind you the front side of the building had a garage door and looked like this:

This month construction is underway to transform the front of the building into a more traditional entrance. The inside will be transformed as well with a second loft and a bedroom for the parents!

It's all quite exciting - this 500 square foot house will offer all the comforts and will be powered by solar and some propane.

On our last visit we enjoyed a full moon that lit up the night sky so much we could see our moon shadows.  Here are a few pictures I took on that bright night - you can see the moon shadow of the tree on the building!  These were taken without a flash on the night mode setting of my camera.  The interior of the building is lit with candles (we don't yet have power).

Our plan is to use this land and this tiny house as a rural base of operations.  City living is necessary due to our jobs, but rural living is our preference.  We also hope to use this house during the hottest summer months to try and avoid the heat of the Phoenix area.  The area is beautiful and I would love to live there during the growing season and cultivate a greenhouse full of produce....but one thing at a time!  We also have no intention of abandoning RV life.  RV living solves a lot of problems and gives us a ton of freedom. 

Here is the most recent picture from our contractor....it's very exciting!