Ryan started framing my Tiny House!!!

The room at the back with small windows up high is my bathroom!

We had to stop work for 2 days of rain. Now the sun is out and Ryan is continuing to work on the plywood subfloor.

Blue skies and sunshine! Wonderful!

Ryan is fitting the plywood subfloor between the wheel wells.

This piece of plywood is on the outside of the wheel well. The outside wall of the Tiny House will be built on this.

Finished subfloor!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Today Ryan is using self-tapping screws to attach 2 x 4 wood to the outside of the metal trailer. The outside walls will be built on the 2 x 4 and the metal frame. This gives the house a little more space inside.

The outside wall will actually be built on this surface on the outside of the wheel well.

Ryan had to drill holes in the 2 x 4 wood to fit the 8 anchor bolts that were welded onto the trailer frame.

Ryan is cutting plywood for the subfloor. It goes out to the edge of the 2 x 4s he attached earlier.

He had to drill holes in the plywood to fit the anchor bolts that are welded to the trailer. Now it is time for “Glue and Screw” to put the plywood subfloor permanently in place.

 

We are really doing it!!! Yesterday I drove to Home Depot twice to pick up building materials to get started: plywood, insulation, assorted 2x4s, hardware, etc.

Here is Ryan putting the insulation in my floor! The plywood subfloor will go over the top of that.

The insulation under the floor is finished!!! I am so happy!!!

 

 

 

Their Tiny House is Darling! They built the hOMe design with a few modifications. The lofts extend 16 inches at each end of the Tiny House. Plus they added big utility cupboards on the tongue end of the trailer. They plan to stay a year while the wife finishes nursing school.

They already planted a garden next to the Tiny House!

They even set up an outdoor fire pit with seats. Wow, these people are so together! 🙂

 

I have a good friend who knows a lot about native plants and their medicinal properties. She took me to the native plant sale where I purchased all my baby trees. She told me, “There are no such thing as weeds. Every plant has a purpose.” There are a LOT of plants growing naturally on my land that I did not plant. I decided to go looking for beauty in the “weeds” and I  found it! 🙂

My friend told me that these pretty bell shaped flowers, Foxglove, are poisonous if eaten. However, they are used to make the heart medicine Digitalis.

My friend told me to buy the book, “Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska.” Wow, there is so much to learn!

 

I have decided to build The Cider Box Tiny House by Shelter Wise. I purchased the plans at PAD (Portland Alternative Dwellings – Padtinyhouses.com) I think it has more personality than the hOMe, although the hOMe is a great design. My builder is going to begin on June 20th. I will take photos and post them often as the work progresses! This is very exciting!!! 🙂

 

 

In the mornings I hear a wonderful choir of bird songs. But I have to watch where I step because of all the morning slugs! They seem to be everywhere!

On my cooler. On the ground.

I was curious so I Googled  “The Life Cycle of Slugs.” (You can Google anything these days.)

That is right, I am going to give you a lesson about slugs. Land slugs are shell-less gastropod molluscs. I learned that slugs play an important part in the ecosystem by eating decaying plant material and fungi. They are also an important part of the food chain. They are eaten by reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians and fish.

They have 2 pair of retractable tentacles. The upper pair are light sensing, and the lower pair provide a sense of smell. They move by muscular contractions, and secrete a layer of mucus to prevent damage to their tissue as they move along. (That is why they leave a slime trail.) Slugs are most active after rain because they like the moist ground. (They like morning dew also apparently.)

They are hermaphrodites, meaning they have both male and female reproductive organs. They get together and exchange sperm. After a few days both will lay about 30 eggs in a hole in the ground, or in a covered place. (That is very efficient – they ALL lay eggs!)

So I let my slugs live in peace. They are doing their jobs, and enjoying a simple life. And some of them will be breakfast for my sweet song birds. It is The Circle of Life.