My house is sold, and my big 30 year mortgage is paid off. What a relief. So we are here camping on my new 6 acres of forest land. We will be paying cash to get a well drilled, septic system installed, and some electricity.

My biggest challenge so far is learning to use my new cell phone with internet. LOL. It is crazy that I can be checking my e-mail out here in the wilderness with no electricity. I charge my cell phone in the car while driving to the store for groceries, or going to fill water jugs and take showers at friend’s houses.

So far propane heaters are working. I leave a window partly open because I am worried about the carbon dioxide. Things are going well.

My parents, friends and relatives were so upset about us living out in the woods  without a “REAL” kitchen and a “REAL” bathroom, etc. So I decided to compromise. I bought a big 30 foot Tin Can – oops, I mean – Travel Trailer. It is OK, and all my relatives are SO HAPPY. It actually is nice to have a little kitchen with a propane powered refrigerator. But we sleep in the Tiny House out in back. 🙂

My Mom always said, “Follow a path that has Heart (Joy).” The more I thought about living in a travel trailer the more sad I got. To me, all travel trailers look like Tin Cans! (Even shiny new ones.) NO JOY!!! The travel trailer idea did not pass the “Joy Test.”

So, I decided to make myself a really cute Tiny House out of my new deluxe 10 x 16 shed. YES, I have JOY!!!! I decorated it with my handmade quilts and stained glass, and some art from around the world. All I need is a wood stove. Here are the photos I took today!

I also started building a fence for my doggies.

Today I bought a water filter, flash light, lanterns, batteries and extension cords. I got my used generator on Saturday.

It hurts to lose my Tiny House. But I think I am going to take the money and buy a travel trailer. The main goal is to homestead my land without debt, and that goal is still being accomplished. I need to keep my eye on the big picture.

My Handyman is only giving me $10,000 and I have invested $15,000 into the Tiny House project so far. He is a scumbag, taking advantage of a single Mom in her hour of need. But I don’t have the time or the money to take him to court. I hope his bad Karma gets him.

These are photos taken on my new property. I am putting them here to remind me what is important.

You know the old saying, “Get it in writing.” I did not.

In the spring of 2014, I purchased the Ynez Tiny House building plans from a licensed architect at Oregon Cottage Company for $350. I then purchased a brand new 20 foot long Flatbed Trailer which was registered to me. The trailer cost $3,500. I entered into a verbal agreement with a handyman neighbor, Mike, who agreed to build the Ynez Tiny House on the 20 foot trailer according to the building plans I provided. Mike set up the trailer on his property in order to more easily work on the construction of the Tiny House.

I gave money to Mike each month and he built most of the Tiny House including the insulated floor, the framing, the walls, metal roof, and installed most of the windows. I believed that the verbal agreement regarding the building of the Tiny House was working out in a satisfactory manner. Over the year I gave Mike a total of $11,405 which mostly went into the materials for the Tiny House. So the total I had invested so far in the Tiny House was $15,255.

My goal was to get out of debt and become mortgage free, and live in the Tiny House on my new 6 acres of land. Since the Tiny House was almost finished, and the new 10 x 16 shed was already built on my new land, I decided to sell the house I lived in. One day soon I came over very happy to tell Mike the good news, “I sold my home! We need to finish the Tiny House fast! I need to live in the Tiny House next month.” That day I worked all afternoon with Mike installing insulation in the ceiling of the Tiny House. Everything seemed fine.

However, THE NEXT DAY, Mike informed me that he needed to be paid the entire $8,000 that I owed him for his labor costs on the Tiny House right now. Mike said he would not do ANY further work on the Tiny House until he was paid the entire $8,000 that was owed to him. He also said I may NOT REMOVE the trailer from his property until the $8,000 was PAID IN FULL. Mike also said I MAY NOT have any other hired person come and work on the Tiny House on his property. I suggested a payment plan, since I had been making monthly payments to Mike for over a year already. Mike said NO. He insisted that the $8,000 must be paid in full before he would release the unfinished Tiny House from his property.

THEN the truth came out. Mike wanted to keep my Tiny House! Mike had been busy watching “Tiny House Nation” and “Tiny House Hunters,” and various other Tiny House TV shows. He wanted to finish my Tiny House and sell it for a profit! Mike said he could buy my Tiny House from me right now for $10,000 cash. (This was $5,255 less than what I had invested in the Tiny House up to this point.)

So basically, he waited until HE KNEW I was about to become homeless, and then refused to give me the almost-finished Tiny House that belonged to me! I told Mike I would sign a legally binding payment plan that said I would pay $1,000 per month for 8 months. I would let him hold the Title to the Tiny House until it was paid off. Mike said NO. At that point I lost my temper and called Mike some various colorful names that cannot be printed here.

I have told Mike my Tiny House is not for sale. I want him to put IN WRITING exactly how much I owe him in order to get my unfinished Tiny House off his property. I told Mike he can keep the $350 Tiny House building plans I gave him, and build his OWN new Tiny House if he wants to.

So I don’t know what will happen. We might end up living for a while in the cute fixed up shed………