After a month of frantically trying to find a place to land in WA, I got a response to an email I sent regarding an internship at a goat farm!
Starting in August, I'll be working as a full-time intern for Broken Shovels Farm, the ONLY no-kill commercial dairy in the country!
It's a small affair, with fewer that 100 does in milk. The owner is stoked to teach me everything I need to know to open and run my own no-kill commercial dairy!!
The best part...
When I'm ready to move to WA to start my farm, I'll be moving with GOATS!
She wants me to stay through kidding season, which ends in April or May, but I might stay longer. I figure, the longer I stay, the more time I'll have to repair my credit and the more I will learn!
I got to hang out on the farm for a couple of hours, and I am already amazed by the goats. They are smart enough to be trained! I had no idea!
I was in the milking parlor, watching how everything worked, and I noticed some activity coming from under a flippy white tail.
The owner told me not to worry, that they have been trained not to go in the milking parlor.
The coolest thing I saw while I was there was watching the does come as their names were called.
I had no idea.
I am SO EXCITED!!
The position includes room & board, utilities, fresh eggs and goat yummies, fresh produce, and a small stipend. To supplement my income, I have applied and been accepted as an intern writer for an online news site! The pay is fairly low, but it's something I can easily do in my spare time.
HAVE FAITH. THE UNIVERSE WILL PROVIDE.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Friday, May 29, 2015
Getting ahead of myself, as usual...
I suppose I should have started at the beginning, but what fun would that have been?!
Before the floorplans and 3D models, I actually made a plan.
So what's the plan, man?
1) Get back to work. Hopefully at new job.
2) Work tuckus off.
3) Save as much as possible.
4) Find large barn/ storage for rent, tall enough to build in.
5) Buy trailer for Winzighaus, put in storage
6) Buy truck with towing capacity for finished haus
7) Work and buy materials, using recycled materials as much as possible
8) Build a little at a time
9) Finish haus
10) Seek on-site, full time internship at goat farm.
11) Live in haus on farm, work on farm
12) Save for land
13) Have goat farm
14) Wake up every morning and exclaim "WOOHOO! My life is awesome!"
Sounds pretty good. The devil, however, is in the details.
Before the floorplans and 3D models, I actually made a plan.
So what's the plan, man?
1) Get back to work. Hopefully at new job.
2) Work tuckus off.
3) Save as much as possible.
4) Find large barn/ storage for rent, tall enough to build in.
5) Buy trailer for Winzighaus, put in storage
6) Buy truck with towing capacity for finished haus
7) Work and buy materials, using recycled materials as much as possible
8) Build a little at a time
9) Finish haus
10) Seek on-site, full time internship at goat farm.
11) Live in haus on farm, work on farm
12) Save for land
13) Have goat farm
14) Wake up every morning and exclaim "WOOHOO! My life is awesome!"
Sounds pretty good. The devil, however, is in the details.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
WinzigHaus!
I have decided to take the leap into tiny living and I am planning on building my own tiny house!
Entry is 8' sliding glass doors opposite the stairs. Stairs have storage under. Layout to come.
In-wall fireplace on the landing.
4'x8' bath with composting toilet, large shower, sink.
8'x6' kitchen with fridge/freezer, range/oven, and w/d unit, water tank storage, storage in rafters.
Big ass couch with storage under opposite 6' office/craft desk/ entertainment center. TV will pull down from above.
Winzig: tiny, miniscule
Haus: house
I am still in the very early planning stage of this project, but I want to document it start to finish.
I'll probably redesign the blog a few times, so please bear with me until I get it "just so".
Start: In bed, recovering from surgery (lots of time to plan!) in a mildly crappy, overpriced apartment dreading the return to a job I hate.
Finish: Living in my tiny house on a nice chunk of land, running a dairy goat farm.
I have sketched up some rough floorplans for a tiny house to be built on an 8'x24' trailer.
In-wall fireplace on the landing.
4'x8' bath with composting toilet, large shower, sink.
8'x6' kitchen with fridge/freezer, range/oven, and w/d unit, water tank storage, storage in rafters.
Big ass couch with storage under opposite 6' office/craft desk/ entertainment center. TV will pull down from above.
2 lofts upstairs:
8'x10' master loft with queen bed, nightstands, dresser. Storage under bed also.
8'x6' second loft almost fits twin bed as shown, will be set up as office/storage, lounge space until 2nd bedroom is needed.
Each loft has pony wall for privacy. Side of wall facing open area for displaying art.
I also made some 3D models of a 20' model I was working on. It would be perfect for one person, but I decided I wanted room to expand.
This view is the front entry.
To the left: bathroom (same as above) and 8'x4' loft above with ladder
To the right: 8'x8' kitchen with same size loft above with stairs.
Maximum elevation on the front is 13.5'. On the rear 11.5'.
Windows and doors are approximate.
But there will be A LOT OF WINDOWS.
Light, light, light!
I like plants.
On the 24' model, the entry will be on the shorter side, so that the ceiling extends up when you come in, creating the illusion of greater space.
The view from the top:
The 8'x8' master loft has a see-through fireplace instead of a pony wall.
The 4'x8' second loft is a small lounging/storage space.
Lots of little extra notes.
View of rear and kitchen
The kitchen has a corner sink with a big corner window. All the same features as the 24', only 2' deeper. I decided with the 24' model that I could sacrifice 2 feet of kitchen for the sake of a common lounging area.
Opposite the entry is a 4' office/craft desk surrounded by storage that spans the length of the space, but I couldn't get a a good shot of it. The top of the desk/storage area is level with the loft floors and strong enough to be used as a crawl-across, but would probably just hold plants.
If you are planning on joining the tiny living revolution, I strongly suggest you first take a look at yourself and decide what is REALLY important to you.
Some of the things I know I want are:
A large(ish) kitchen because I love to cook.
A kickass fireplace.
Lots of windows for my plants and because I like lots of natural light.
A space to work on crafts/jewelry/etc (combined with office desk/space)
Composting toilet, large water tanks, propane (fireplace and stove), a tankless hot water heater, and solar power so I can be as off-grid as possible, but still have the capability to connect.
Room enough for a family.
A bathtub. Argh. That means another redesign.
Love the process.
Some other design ideas I don't want to forget:
I need to work in a bathtub, somehow. Know thyself.
Incognito rain collection runs through in-line filters to fresh water tanks.
Possibly small fireplaces in lofts, split exhausts into 2/3 roof vents each, designed to melt snow.
Hidden kitty lounge in stairs with pullout catbox.
Removable prop-up awnings with built in props that can be locked down to secure windows for transport or severe weather.
Same sort of idea for the door, only make a drop-down porch and a prop-up roof that fold down together and lock.
Mason jar storage in the rafters. I found this on Pinterest, and it's really cool. It was a Kickstarter that didn't get funded, unfortunately, but I think it could easily be modified to attach from above.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/477856455/moms-mason-jar-hanger
I think that's all the tinyhaus I have in my head right now. I know there's more, but it's 2:00. AM.
Sweet, tiny dreams, folks!
This view is the front entry.
To the left: bathroom (same as above) and 8'x4' loft above with ladder
To the right: 8'x8' kitchen with same size loft above with stairs.
Maximum elevation on the front is 13.5'. On the rear 11.5'.
Windows and doors are approximate.
But there will be A LOT OF WINDOWS.
Light, light, light!
I like plants.
On the 24' model, the entry will be on the shorter side, so that the ceiling extends up when you come in, creating the illusion of greater space.
The 8'x8' master loft has a see-through fireplace instead of a pony wall.
The 4'x8' second loft is a small lounging/storage space.
Lots of little extra notes.
The kitchen has a corner sink with a big corner window. All the same features as the 24', only 2' deeper. I decided with the 24' model that I could sacrifice 2 feet of kitchen for the sake of a common lounging area.
Opposite the entry is a 4' office/craft desk surrounded by storage that spans the length of the space, but I couldn't get a a good shot of it. The top of the desk/storage area is level with the loft floors and strong enough to be used as a crawl-across, but would probably just hold plants.
If you are planning on joining the tiny living revolution, I strongly suggest you first take a look at yourself and decide what is REALLY important to you.
Some of the things I know I want are:
A large(ish) kitchen because I love to cook.
A kickass fireplace.
Lots of windows for my plants and because I like lots of natural light.
A space to work on crafts/jewelry/etc (combined with office desk/space)
Composting toilet, large water tanks, propane (fireplace and stove), a tankless hot water heater, and solar power so I can be as off-grid as possible, but still have the capability to connect.
Room enough for a family.
A bathtub. Argh. That means another redesign.
Love the process.
Some other design ideas I don't want to forget:
I need to work in a bathtub, somehow. Know thyself.
Incognito rain collection runs through in-line filters to fresh water tanks.
Possibly small fireplaces in lofts, split exhausts into 2/3 roof vents each, designed to melt snow.
Hidden kitty lounge in stairs with pullout catbox.
Removable prop-up awnings with built in props that can be locked down to secure windows for transport or severe weather.
Same sort of idea for the door, only make a drop-down porch and a prop-up roof that fold down together and lock.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/477856455/moms-mason-jar-hanger
I think that's all the tinyhaus I have in my head right now. I know there's more, but it's 2:00. AM.
Sweet, tiny dreams, folks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)