Wednesday, February 5, 2020

I'm Still Around

A lot of things have changed and not just in my head this time.  The biggest thing is that my office closed ahead of schedule.  We had to be out by November.  I now work at home and my position has changed from engineering to purchasing.  It is interesting getting to know new people in the company and finding out what the other plants do. 

Also, I bought my mother's house with one of my sisters and I am trying to do the "rent it out to snowbirds" plan.  A couple from Canada is scheduled to move in next week and I am running around trying to get the house ready.  My tiny house has electricity, one interior wall framed, and a porch as of this week.  Hopefully it will get steps next week.  I have a new handyman and I have learned that his time estimates should be multiplied by two, at least.  My sister and her family stopped by last weekend and helped me move a truck load of stuff from the house to the tiny house.  I will go out this weekend and try to arrange it in a convenient way for me and 3 dogs.  Baloo is going to be the most challenging since he is 15 and has hip dysplasia,  I need a ramp asap.  I just bought an 8'x10' carpet for the inside.  I was planning to use vinyl flooring left over from the mobile home project but it will be too slippery for him.  I also need insulation, at least for the bedroom, and to completely enclose the dog area with fence panels and a wire roof.  I will be there most of the time since I work from home but I don't want to worry about them every time I need to run an errand.
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Ok, time just sped up and I have moved to my unfinished tiny house for 6 weeks, at least, and a couple more weeks if my tenants find a golf course to sell them a two month membership.  I just want to show you pictures of my patio furniture though.  One of the things people asked about when they looked at my house was if there was patio furniture available.  I saw this patio set, minus the cushions and umbrella, for $60.  I asked the lady if she could wait for me to pick it up on the weekend when I had the U-haul truck and she said yes.  That was a great deal.  I had the umbrella and I bought the cushions for $20 for 6 at the thrift store that I volunteer at on Saturdays.


Then I had this 4 seat patio set out at the tiny house for years.  The cushions were falling apart and the metal was a greenish grey.  I was able to bring it to the house with the help of my sister's family when I had the Uhaul truck and they were helping me bring some things out to the tiny house.  Then I spent way too much time spray painting it and searching for the perfect cushions.  First ones from Walmart were too big, second ones too small.  Finally, I found the right size at Home Depot.


So, here is a picture of the tiny house with the new deck before I dragged everything out from inside and put it on the deck so that I could move my stuff in.  Mostly wood boards, trim, metal gutters, things for future projects.


Inside the front door is the fridge that I got for free when our office closed.  I also got a sink, microwave, and toaster oven.  This is not where I want the fridge to stay but it works for now.


Here is a picture of the flooring.  I had one day to throw this together so I used scrap vinyl  from the mobile home and rugs that I bought from the thrift store.  The rugs were a great idea because Baloo can get up easily and doesn't slip.  My office area is to the right.  I brought a folding table and my office chair.



This is the kitchen area.  Again, a temporary set-up.  My handyman build the wall that separates the kitchen from the bedroom and added two outlets.  I have two induction cooktops but I haven't done much cooking yet besides microwaving.


The weather turned cold with a low of 25F last night.  Last weekend I put some foam board in the bedroom walls.  It is warm enough for me but I worry about my big dog on the floor since it is much colder on the floor. 


My chiweenie just buries his face in the blanket.  I have ordered another heater which should get here tomorrow.  It will be back in the 60's this weekend but I am sure the cold weather will come back again,  The insulation is only 1".  I plan to put another 1" board in the gap before paneling.  I don't know if I will get to the project while I am here.  It makes such a mess everywhere.  It will be much easier to do after I have moved back to my house.


My handyman built one set of stairs but ran out of time to build stairs on the side that the dogs use.  I quickly put together some stairs made of blocks and covered them with blankets for padding.  My little dogs like to lounge on them.  My big dog doesn't like them but he is getting better at using them with my help and not falling.


Just a picture of my big dog in the little dog bed after the little dogs took all of the big dog beds.  Poor boy.

So, that's what I am doing.  The endless list of projects have shifted from the house to the tiny house.  Lots to do.  I don't have water or drains yet.  My nephew is still in the mobile home and his bathroom is available.  On sunny days, I put the camping shower in the sun to heat up.  I have an aquarium pump for hand and dish washing which goes to a bucket and I dump it outside.  It's really quite nice on warm sunny days.  I'm glad that I am finally living out here after so much planning.  So much to do but I'm having fun.

13 comments:

Practical Parsimony said...

Getting free stuff help out. I bought ptio furniture cheap, too, Hw many square feet are enclosed? how many sq ft are on the patio?

Stephanie said...

Glad to hear things are going well!

Daizy said...

Hello Practical Parsimony! The tiny house is 12'x32' minus the tiny porch so that's around 304 sqft enclosed. The extra deck is 7'x 26' so that's another 182 sqft to keep my stuff off of the ground.

Daizy said...

Thanks, Stephanie! I am thrilled that things have worked out so far.

Dave said...

OMG Daizy dear, your resourcefulness never ceases to amaze me. You basically cannibalize stuff from one residence to make another one more livable. Make sure you take good care of all the Augie Doggies, too.

Looks like the work-from-home thing, early or not, is turning out to be a big benefit, too. Are you still on schedule for your early retirement?

Kim said...

I love that porch, and what a deal on the patio furniture. Is working from home as great as it seems?

Daizy said...

Hi Dave, "cannibalize" definitely applies. I'm making a list of things I wish I had brought from the house and searching through my things in the mobile home. Next on the list, a small hand mirror. Regarding my retirement schedule, buying half of my mother's house has extended my plan by three years but if this snowbird rental plan pans out it might not add as much time as I think. I want to get the tiny house finished before I re-calculate though because I only had $10k set aside for tiny house improvements and I have spent $6K already. I hope to do more of the work myself. Hiring people is expensive.

Daizy said...

Hello Kim! I was worried about not liking working from home but once I set up an office space it worked out quite well. It also worked out with moving to the tiny house and starting a new routine with the dogs. I do wish I had more time to work on projects around here but I need the money so I'll keep the job. Are you still blogging? I lost a lot of favorite blog links when my computer crashed.

Kim said...

I only read blogs. I get really attached to the writers and feel like I’ve lost a friend when they stop writing. So glad you are still checking in. My big news is that I retired in May after 39 years of teaching. WooHoo. I love tiny houses so it’s cool watching your renovations.

Daizy said...

Wow, Kim, Congratulations on retiring! I hope it is everything you want it to be. People like to say that I'll be bored if I retire soon but I think I have plenty of things to do. I hope you do too.

squire said...

Great, sounds like things are moving along.

squire said...

Hey gal, how about an update and what ever happened with your nephew?

squire said...

Would love to have an update, thanks.