Spirit

By now you’ve seen many tiny house videos. Many of them are showing the building in progress, even more show the tiny house before anyone has moved in, in pristine condition. The few that do a video tour in a lived in home, well just like you would do before company is coming over, things are picked up, cleaned and made presentable. I don’t know about you, but I don’t live my life in a pristine condition, there are dishes in the sink, there are dirty clothes in the hamper, there are crumbs on my stove, you get the idea.

So what is the reality of living in a tiny home? Is it easier to keep clean and tidy or is it more difficult? What if you are the type of person who has lots of stuff, clutter? That is who I am, I tend to have lots of clutter, I would love to lean more toward tidiness, but it’s just not in my DNA, you should my collection of ebooks on busting clutter…

A few weeks ago I wrote about Ariel C. McGlothi’s tiny house in a cold climate, she does seem to keep a tidy home, I suspect it is almost a requirement otherwise you wouldn’t have any room to live yourself. She has created a follow up video answering some questions she received, and to show how her tiny home really looks, how she really lives. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/yfc8_29Y6rs

Given a handful of primitive hand tools, I mean a sharpened rock, a few sticks of wood and not much more, what could you build? In today’s modern world, most of us have access to modern tools, at the very least, simple tools like a knife, a saw, hammer and nails… you can even get inexpensive tools in the dollar store. But what if you wanted to know what you could do with real stone age type tools? That’s exactly what the man behind Primitive Technology does.

It’s interesting to see him work his magic in the bush of Australia, he doesn’t live off-grid or out in the bush, this is a hobby, a serious hobby, he does it just to see if he can, and based on what I’ve seen on his YouTube channel, I’d say he is successful at being primitive and getting things done.

In this video, you see Primitive Technology creating a bed shed, a protected place up off the ground to sleep that is also covered against the rain. He is seen chopping down small (diameter) trees, digging post holes (remember he is doing this BY HAND), setting the poles, lashing them together using some sort of vine that looked wickedly prickly. He thatches the roof with grasses, he weaves a bed frame and more. He also creates a fire, close enough to reap the benefits of the fire without catching his bed and shed on fire. I am impressed!

https://youtu.be/_ZXUCQc2Z78

When you think of someone living off-grid, chances are you either think of a man or perhaps a couple (or even a family), but it’s doubtful you will think of a single woman going off-grid, especially an older lady. Well I’m here to tell you, there are women living off-grid on their own, homesteading, doing the things that are traditionally done by the men.

As a female myself, I can tell you it’s convenient to have a man around to do the hard jobs, to do the really messy jobs, to reach the taller things, even to unscrew that stubborn lid, it’s convenient but not a requirement! I love my man and am glad we are doing this together, but it’s not an impossible thing to do on your own ladies, if you really wish to do this!

As long as you are in decent health and have a few skills, ladies you can do this. Having some smarts helps too, of course there might be somethings that are just physically difficult to do, that’s when you hire someone to help, whether you pay with money, or you trade something you can do (cooking, mending, fixing, and the such), don’t get fussy with me if you are a liberal woman and are offended by my words, this is what I would do if I didn’t have my PB around to do the heavy lifting.

Out where I live there are quite a few ladies, some in the +60 and even +70 age range who live on their own, not necessarily living off-grid, but living in a wild place with no city amenities or conveniences around. Many of them grew up on ranches, but not all, some did come from the city and just made it work through their own strength and perseverance.

Here are a few ladies who are doing this on their own