I think I’ve finally recovered enough to write a HUGE thank you to each one of you who came out last Friday night to help celebrate our GOOD and GREAT God and the journey of THE121. To say my heart is full would feel like an understatement, perhaps more like EXPLODING!
To see friends from far and those who are closer give up their Friday evenings to celebrate made my heart beam.
My only regret is that I don’t have more pictures…I was just too busy soaking in the moments and the conversations.
The Jones family representing! You all know Carolyn (right) who is woven all throughout the story of THE121 and Cindy (left) actually hosted the first picnic at Teaberry Acres! My friends from CSU!! So many great memories with these friends amongst the halls of Jackson! Here’s Carolyn giving a house tour. She’s standing in the bedroom explaining the water tank to Pat. Friends hanging out on the couch ❤️. Peggy drive well over an hour to come out to the open house! She was my professor at CSU that I am sure wondered many a day who the crazy girl was in biology class who was CLUELESS. She hung in there with us and didn’t kick us out even when she had reason! And then she became a dear friend who fed me when I was hungry, let me hang out at her house and continued to speak wisdom into my life. So it was definitely special to have her at the celebration! No celebration is complete without marshmallows and hotdogs roared over the open fire. I love that my friends share their children with me!
Thank you again to all who came out to help celebrate and those who prayed from far away. My heart is still swelling with gratitude!
You’ve read before that I value Community HIGHLY. I’ve been dreaming for years of having friends gather around my fire pit, share stories, good food and laughter together.
I had four stages I dreamed of for my fire pit and I’m so happy to say that tonight stage 3&4 were completed! With the help of some very good strong friends, they hung my beam for my hammock chairs and the lights went up!
So whose going to join me for some laughter and conversations around the fire? You’ll have to come in person to see the full lights on display.
To say my heart is full would be an understatement.
A huge thank you to Mike, Melissa and Carolyn for sacrificing their Tuesday evening for some heavy lifting.
I’m one step closer to welcoming you to THE121’s open house this Friday night! If you’d like to come, shoot me a message and I’ll give you the details.
If you can’t make it but would like to help celebrate, my wish list is posted below!
So…how is Maggie Marie adjusting to tiny house living??? I’m glad you asked. Let me share a story.
I may or may not have a camera that watches Maggie Marie while I’m at work (I mean I can neither confirm nor deny…). I check on her periodically (did I just give myself away?) during the day, you know, just to make sure she’s ok.
Every single day (and I mean EVERYDAY) Maggie Marie sleeps on the couch ALL day. So today, of course, I presumed nothing would be different, until it was.
As I pulled up the camera on my app there was no Maggie Marie. I didn’t freak out, at first, I thought maybe she was just exploring her 200 square feet she has to explore.
Until I check again a few hours later AND no Maggie… I called for her, threw her some treats…no Maggie.
This pattern continued throughout the day and each time I panicked a bit more. On my drive home I went through ALL the scenarios…
She died of a broken heart because she misses Carolyn and Dakota
She died because the house is too small and she hates it
She died because she’s mad at me for living tiny
She died from a broken heart
I wish I was kidding but those thoughts allll ran through my head. I pulled into the drive and there was no Maggie Marie barking out the window to great me. I immediately pulled out my phone ready to phone a friend. As I put my key into my door and turned, I braced myself…
I called her name and saw her slowly peaking over the banister to the loft (aka her bedroom) with one eye she glared at me as of to say How dare you wake me up???
And there you have it. Maggie Marie was in her room all day sleeping away.
So I would say she’s doing quite well and is quite comfortable. Diva and all.
Let’s be honest, I never cared about the weather much. I wasn’t the girl who looked at the weather app, nor did I love small talk about the weather. The only time I got “excited” about the weather was when someone would say we were going to get a snow storm, and even then, I’d usually be disappointed.
Until now.
Living off grid means caring about the weather. Why? Because my house depends and “lives” on it.
My primary source of energy is solar which means the energy comes from the sun. If it’s not going to be a sunny day, I must compensate with my generator to power my house.
Living off grid also means that my water source is rain. My gutters generously “catch” the rain and then feed into my 500 gallon water tank (situated nicely under my bed…but it’s not a water bed… 😉). I have a tiny red ball that tells me how full or empty my tank is by “floating” up and down with the water levels. If my tank is full and it’s going to rain, I can take longer showers, and fill up my water jugs! However, if like this summer, we are in a drought, water conservation is a MUST.
So here I am keeping a “close eye” on the weather trying to map out my week…
Ideally, it would be perfect if it is sunny all day and rains at night but God is creative and not everyday is the same. So until then I’ll be looking at the weather but I hope we can find some “deeper” things to talk about 😉.
It’s so hard to believe that four weeks ago today I faced one of the most stressful moments of my life as THE121 pulled onto Teaberry acres!
And here we are (we as in Maggie Marie and I :). So…I feel since I’ve been here for one month now I can officially share my good/bad/ugly list!
Good:
No utility bill! My neighborhood has lost power twice since I moved in…not this girl!
It takes 20 minutes to clean my house (yes I timed it!) and that’s if I do a deep clean and clean EVERYTHING!
The beauty of sitting in the window seat and being surrounded my nature
Quietness (most of the time…see the bad…)
Soooo much storage space!
Sooo much light!
Free massages (when the laundry runs the house vibrates, I count that as a pro!).
The Bad:
The water pump can be startling AND noisy when it turns on
Too much space (yes you read that right) there is “wasted space” so Maggie Marie now has her own room!
Forgetting to turn off the lights – whoops! Forgetting to turn off the lights means draining the batteries…but don’t worry…power the generator and I’m good to go!
I can’t make toast and coffee at the same time. These are life’s little luxuries some take for granted (I know I did!). However, my inverter can only handle a small load so…I make the toast, then the coffee.
The Ugly
Um…am I allowed to say pee on this blog? The worst part is emptying the urine jug and well… splashing. I’ll spare you the details but let’s just say…I am learning!
Neutral Zone:
With all of life there are chores that I would neither categorize as good or bad… they just are…
Starting the generator (I must closely monitor my energy consumption as to not drain my batteries), so I’m learning the routine of when to start the generator and for how long to run it.
Water consumption. I can honestly say I no longer take water for granted! My friends all now know that when it rains they can thank God that I can take a longer shower! Seriously though, God does supplies my every need! With our rain this past week, my tank is back to full!
Composting. I thought initially this might be on the ugly list, it was the one “chore” I wasn’t looking forward to, however it’s the easiest thing ever! Dirty? Yes. Hard? No. Ask me more about it, I am now convinced everyone should do it!
So there’s the short list. I am sure this list may change and morph as the seasons change as well. I’m only sorry I didn’t make the tiny move sooner. I believe though that God’s timing is 100% perfect so I chose to be grateful now for the good gift he has given.
In case you’re sitting on your recliner thinking that I have a tremendously glamorous life here at THE121…this blog post is for you!
My alarm went off for the first time this morning. You may remember that my first two weeks here in THE121 have been spent recuperating from surgery. And well today was the day I headed back to work. So as my alarm startled me awake and my crusted eyelids tried to orient to my new surroundings, my water which I keep on my headboard gushed out of its resting place onto my body and all over my bed. sidenote: water is a VERY precious commodity now that I’m living the off grid life so spillage is a sad way to start the day… So…once I realized that it was my water that spilled and not my bladder that let lose, I was able to find my alarm, turn it off and slide out of bed.
My morning routine consists of starting my generator and taking Maggie Marie out to the potty at the same time. Because of my mishap before my feet even reached the floor, my saddened heart was not allowing my brain to function. Therefore, I slipped on my sandals and opened the door. Yep, I just opened the door and let Maggie lose…WITHOUT hooking her to her lead.
To know Maggie is to love her, her rotten self and all. Maggie Marie quickly realized she was FREE and Took off. So there I was, in my pajamas and adidas slides following her across Teaberry acres trying to entice her to come home.
Until she left Teaberry acres.
She found her wild roots and nothing was stopping her. And well… that’s how I met the neighbor. Maggie Marie is a friendly little cockapoo, so at 6.47am I knocked on his door, begging for his help. Praise Jesus he answered in his groggy voice and Maggie Marie came running and jumped right into his arms.
I introduced my unshowered self, in my pajamas as he handed my unruly cockapoo back to me. I apologized again and again but he was just so nice that we even chatted for a bit, all the while, my mortified self died a little inside.
Eventually she and I headed back to Teaberry acres, she all smiles and so proud of herself and me…the walk of shame home.
So how was your morning? It’s not always glitz and glam here at THE121…sometimes I just thank the Lord I made it to work.
I knew from the conception of THE121 that I wanted to do something special in my bathroom. When I moved into the Trosky cabin, I quickly knew within a week or two that the something special would incorporate Carolyn’s artistic mind and skilled hands.
“And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 NLT
If you know Carolyn at all, you know she is a skilled potter. Pottery has always served as the good Father’s skilled hand in my life as the above verse mentions. We are, after all, the clay in His hands.
And so, I asked Carolyn to make the bathroom sink for THE121 and I am so grateful she said yes!
The clay in the hands of the potter represents me in the hands of My Father. The lump looked like nothing at first but in the skilled hands of the Potter it began to take shape. The potter told me that the sink needed some color, “trust me” she said. These look nothing like the colors I picked out but she assured me that after the sink went through the furnace it would look MUCH different. And of course, she was right!
So not only is this sink a beautiful piece of art. It is a daily reminder to me to entrust my life Into the hands of my Good Father. I am, like Jeremiah says, a lump of clay ready to be molded if I would only surrender my life into His hands.
Oh and hey, not only is Carolyn a skilled potter, she’s also a skilled plumber!
I don’t think it’s by chance that the sink was the final touch on THE121, it’s a whisper from God that He saves good gifts for just the right time.
My friend reminded me that today is Friday! Then it hit me…I have officially been living in THE121 for one week!!!! That doesn’t seem quite real but here I am!
So how has week one been? SURREAL. That’s the word I would use. In some ways it seems like a dream. Now granted I did have surgery on Tuesday so that plays a part but even last night I awoke thinking…where am I and is this for real?
Of course there have been learning curves. Probably the biggest learning curve has been watching my battery levels and knowing the right time to start the generator. You may remember that THE121 is completely off grid which means when the solar panels aren’t getting enough energy the generator charges the batteries, but I think I am “nailing that down.”
Watching water consumption is another learning curve but I’ve learned to “save” water that can go back into the tank.
Maggie Marie is learning all the new “sounds” and is trying to figure out what is night and day, I think she may be a little confused since her mother is home during the day during her recovery.
I have enjoyed watching the deer traverse the bank and listening to the crickets sing their night songs. I am so incredibly thankful for this gift. This gift straight from the Father. I can honestly say the wait has been worth it! My heart is so full. Enjoy the pic from last nights sunset at Teaberry Acres.
So it was a wonderful weekend filled with community and all the good things but it was also filled with new house chores!
Maybe when you got your traditional house, you called the water company, you got your electricity company called and maybe you hired a landscaper…
But here at Teaberry Acres things are just slightly different when you’re living off grid!
My first chore was to put the house together (literally!). Part of my house is on casters that spin in for transport (think like bump outs for RV’s). So we had to take the trim off, spin, then reinstall allll the trim! A huge thank you to Giavanni, Brian, Mike and Dan who did all that hard work for me!
Enjoy this video of Carolyn “spinning” the bump out! It really is THAT easy.
The second chore was to make sure the toilet was usable. You may or may not know my toilet requires zero water. It’s a composting toilet which meant…it needed compost!
So Saturday morning I mixed some sphagnum peat moss with water and filled my solids tank to be ready for use!
The next step…POWER! THE121 is mostly powered by solar however on cloudy days the generator is my back up so of course I had to make sure she was ready to go with fresh gas and oil.
Honda makes a beauty of a generator! And my clever builder rigged up a great system so she’s on a timer and shuts off automatically.
And certainly not least…water! Did you know THE121 has no well? The water is supplied strictly through rain water and a state of the art UV filtration system. However as you know PA has had little rain and what rain THE121 did collect in Ohio had to be emptied to make her lighter for transport. So a HUGE shout out to my local fire company who came out today to fill up my house! I’m sooo happy that after 3 days I can finally shower in my own home!
500 gallons went into the house today!
And speaking of water… there’s also a need for watering plants and having an extra supply. So remember the story of the barrels on the side of the road?? The amazing Carolyn Trosky came out this weekend to finish that project (with a smidgen of some help from me). So now I have an extra 155 gallons (well when it rains..) to water plants and fill the house tank if necessary!
Carolyn is a genius! There is actually a 3rd barrel on the end you can’t see. The gutter directs the water right into the barrel.
There is a lot of work going into getting THE121 going but it’s totally worth it knowing that I can sustain an environmentally friendly and economically sustainable living.
While I am off the grid physically, I’ll also be off of the cyber grid for a few days… another surgery tomorrow with a longer recovery time.
Until then…I’ll be cozied up on the couch, living my dream.
Well…here we are!!! We made it! The last box is unpacked and I have sat down for the first time since Thursday night!
As you read previously THE121 sucked it in tight to make it up the driveway! Two hours to get her in but with God’s angels and the prayers of His people she landed safely on her pad!
Friday night several women came over for some hotdogs on the fire but most importantly to remember what God has done and spend time dedicating the land and house back to God. It is all HIS!
You’ve heard me talk about the power of community so to say this night was a culmination of all my dreams would be an accurate statement!
THE121 