Every now and then you have to take a break from the tiny house build to work on another project of real significance.  Like a flag stand for your flag that’s taking a stand.  Though, I can’t believe the statements on this flag are a stand.  Can’t believe these things don’t just go without saying Continue reading →

Although not my favorite season, there are a number of things I really love about autumn.  (And, oh, do I appreciate autumn and winter so much more now that I am again living in middle latitudes after a few years living in Hawai`i where a cool or cold season is but a temperate dream – I never realized how much I appreciated the drastic cyclical season changes until living in the tropics where, although there were seasonal variations, they were a bit more muted than temperate climates.)

But, one of the things I glory in when the Fall season envelopes us again is the movement into the seasons of darker more flavored beers. Continue reading →

Clean and tidy surroundings are instrumental in the pleasant and peaceful existence I crave.  There’s nothing like the feeling of ease and serenity I experience when I sit down in a freshly groomed home.

However — I have to be careful not to clean existence away.  Put   that   dusting   cloth   down.  Continue reading →

Cause everything deserves a second chance at life, clean those baggies!  And, those produce bags!

We’re actually trying to move to cloth zippered bags and produce bags, but plastic bags continue to find their ways to us (are they like cats and can sense when someone doesn’t like them??), Continue reading →

With mine rapidly approaching, a word about birthdays:

What better way to honor a person than to celebrate his or her birth and all the successful years that have ensued in his or her life since.  A celebration of that individual’s existence in the world.  A holiday special for each individual, recognizing their individuality and significance.  So, I try not to miss other people’s birthdays, and I try to do something special for my own. Continue reading →

Although the clothesline is where it’s at, the dryer can come in handy at times, particularly during the cold or rainy weather. For those times, I’ve never been a big dryer sheet user (just seemed like one more thing to buy and use without much return)… that is, until I moved to a dry, dry, DRY climate. Enough static shocks, too many pairs of underwear stuck to our shirts, and skirts loving up on my legs WAY too much, and I was persuaded.   Continue reading →

“Each of us in our own way, gotta do something – save your soul, you know.” — Yvon Chouinard (180° South)

Exactly.

Because: Continue reading →

Treehugger.  I try hard, but with trunks that big, it ain’t easy…

Yup, I love trees.  Love ’em.  —  Which is why I have no interest in wiping my ass with them. Continue reading →

I do not understand, for the life of me, why we don’t make all of our human creations beautiful.  Why do we hold such little value to beauty in what we build and develop?  Wouldn’t we all prefer to live in a beautiful space as opposed to an ugly one?  So, if you gotta build something, make sure it’s aesthetic – yes, even if this costs more.  Continue reading →

I am so thankful for the diversity in the world, and this is particularly true when I learn of concepts in other cultures, cultural groundings, that do not exist in my own.  What people discover all over this world as each of us and our communities learn to move through life with grace.  What a waste to ignore the realizations of those around us.

A few I’ve found a great appreciation for: Continue reading →

If ever an ideal life existed, it would include hammock lounging.  And, lots of it.  In and of itself, it’s amazing – just sitting in the hammock, watching and feeling the world.  Birds calling, leaves dancing in the breeze, Continue reading →

With six plus months of sun and sun and sun and sun, I have no excuse not to line-dry our laundry.  And, I feel good about every load that (just like that sun tea) is using natural-occurring, free, non-polluting, passive heat from the sun Continue reading →

For one flash of a moment, if the lens and instruments capture it just right, if we can make the camera eye’s projection match the observation of the human eye, we are left with an image Continue reading →

Like I mentioned in my last post, we furnished almost our entire house with second-hand furniture.  The only reason all the furniture in our house wasn’t second-hand was because my husband has a penchant for carpentry.  That guy loves himself a wood shop.  Continue reading →

When we moved from Hawai`i to California, the only furniture that moved with us were two small wooden bookshelves that my husband had made while we lived in Hawai`i.  So, upon our arrival in California, the house we rented needed to be fully furnished.  I have no interest in using or consuming more resources than is necessary in my life, and so much furniture has already been made!  Material goods are so prevalent in the United States.  So, I took to Continue reading →

Wait, seriously all I have to do is put a tea bag in some water in a closed jar and put it in the sun, and when I remember that guy in a few hours he’s made tea?? I love it. Totally love it.  I love anything that requires no electricity, gas, oil, etc. to make! Continue reading →

As all things really do.  Time and actions and existence have come before and are coming after.  And, the same is true for this attempt to live the ideal.  In an undefined way, I have been attempting this all my life, but now Continue reading →