Category: New House

Out in Autumn (early).

Published on by Jen23 Comments

jenjoycedesign© out in Autumn
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We’ve spent two nights so far in the new house, so we’ve officially moved in, even though the construction mess is ongoing, we’re all just happy to be finally home.  Now I’m busy cleaning out the tiny house to its former glory before two humans, a dog, and countless spiders inhabited it for seventeen months, while Jeff continues the finish building.  I woke this morning early and watched the rose-gold sunrise, while Emma in her Help’emUp harness acclimates to the new front porch,  as that was one of her favorite places before, where she use to spend hours napping in the early mornings.

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We are back home, it is Autumn, and life is good.

settling in

Published on by Jen21 Comments

jenjoycedesign© autumn things
I have begun collecting little treasures from Autumn ; a leaf from a Black Oak turning gold, a curl of Madrone bark, and a freshly fallen Douglas Fir cone.    It was almost a year ago in Autumn that I found this novelty  . . .

jenjoycedesign© settling-in
Now the vintage Four Posts are finally kitted out with a mattress and bedding,  and  so I’m going to fling off my shoes and curl up on it with some strong coffee made in a cezve (my thing lately) with fresh shortbread just out of the oven,  and contemplate which small quilt I will attempt to make first from  “Civil War Legacies” by Carol Hopkins.

jenjoycedesign© settling-in 2

The loft room (still without a door as you can see), the kitchen, and upstairs bathroom are the only rooms in the house able to be used thus far,  while the main part of the house remains a mess of building, tile dust, and tools. But there is rumor ringing through the rafters, that we may move in this coming weekend, or should I say move out of the tiny house . . .  fingers crossed!   

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home

Published on by Jen16 Comments

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The phoenix has landed.   I sit peacefully at my laptop parked on the large pastry board in the kitchen,  while Emma naps near me, claiming her floor space in the kitchen as she had always done before.   As I mentioned last post, we passed the final building & fire inspections, and now we can slowly move in over the next few weeks. I have spent the morning consolidating the construction area to one end of the downstairs floor, and vacuumed, so it feels so much more like home now.  All in good time the finish work will get done;  doors will be hung, furniture will fill in, although much more sparsely,  and things will be again clean, complete, and calm.

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Emma is comfortable in the kitchen, most surely she knows she has come home?   This of course, is reaching the other side of the bridge to us, having Emma bring us home.
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I will be posting more of the usual knitterly & spinnerly things against the backdrop of the rebuilt house as it takes shape, the floor plan nearly identical to what it was before,  but with changes that are almost insignificant now.   We are all three worn, bedraggled, and *very* tired,  but we are home. 

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newness & oldness

Published on by Jen9 Comments

jenjoycedesign© spinning in a room 2

Spinning in a room that feels old and familiar,

yet is barely even new.

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The rest of the house is in building chaos & still no doors,  but I’ve got the skeleton of my Loft room in place,  filled with old furniture.  I have everything I think I could possibly need, as I have been collecting the essential now for nearly two years, and some unessential as well. I am exhausted of shopping,  I want to be doing now.

I have struggled with the place of things in this room,  but now I think I have arrived at a floor plan that works, although a bit on the cozy side. I am so intrigued with clean surfaces lately, with everything in its proper drawer or cabinet, so the bookcase of three shelves is potentially problematic and some day I plan on downsizing as it for its too large for my little library,  dangerously inviting clutter, and therefore indecision into the room.   jenjoycedesign© spinning in a room 6

I have been indecisive and feeling strangely familiar with everything, yet at the same time I feel an awkward discord just not being use to anything.  I hope that odd feeling goes away in time as I begin to work at things, because now all tools of the trade are ready.  I am waiting for the waves of inspiration to carry me away!

So far only spinning for a project.

I am committed to these fluffy beautiful swirls of wool and getting themt spun at a casual pace in the weeks ahead,

and committed to getting to know this room of newness & oldness.

How to levitate a bathtub . . .

Published on by Jen13 Comments

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We finally got the bathtub that’s been sitting in the woods  down at the tiny house for over a year, up on to the 2nd story, all ready for the plumber who is coming tomorrow.   We brought it up on a pallet with Jeff’s relic of an old Ford tractor, then we did it just as we had on our first build 15 – 20 years ago; using straps and a come-along tied to a post, to pull the tub up the ramp into the house, then again, tied to a main beam up in the rafters to lift up on to the second story level, and maneuver into bathroom by hand. These photos make it look easy, but there was a  :hellofalotof:  grief involved, and the event completely shattered my day, even though I managed to get a few photos before and after the worst of it.  However, Jeff remained composed, and was on to the next project before I could blink. It is a wonderful little slipper bathtub, and once in its landing pad, I am surprised to see how roomy the space seems! (click 1st photo in mosaic to see slideshow).


I should mention so that there is no confusion if anybody hasn’t been following this epic journey homeward; do see the hyperlinks at the top of the post, and you’ll get the idea. Furthermore, although I was adamant about moving the tools of my trade up into the loft room at the soonest possible date (which was end of June) and it gives the impression that the house is ‘moved into’ , these photos of the bathtub arrival will sober anyone up to the fact that its still a major construction zone, and there is months of work to do before we have it final inspected, which still is an illusive date that I can’t at all even guess at presently.  But, appliances are arriving slowly, one by one everything is going into its place, and life is good.