ADU, Travel, Community
Lina Menard
Maui, Hawaii

After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.

Maui, Hawaii
Tiny House, Travel, Planning
Lina Menard
Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla

A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.

Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla
Minimalism, Workshop
Lina Menard
Downsizing Tune Up

As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…

Downsizing Tune Up

exterior

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Going Whole Hog on the Tiny House

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going at the tiny house electrical whole hog This week we wrapped up the siding, adding panels and battens above the belly band and shingles in the gable ends above the head band. It was fun to work with the cedar shingles. They smell much better than the cement board! There was also an amusing puzzle aspect of making them fit together just so. It reminded me of building a stone or straw bale wall.

There's something about working with natural materials that's so aesthetically pleasing. I often wish it were easier to combine natural building methods and tiny houses. There are, of course, many natural materials that can be used for tiny houses, but several natural building traditions such as straw bale and light straw clay don't work well for tiny houses. (To learn about a wee house built with light straw clay, check out A Tiny Natural House.)

Siding & Shingles

We also got started on the rough-in electrical which involved walking through the house, imagining a day in the life of a tiny house dweller. Where do we need a light switch when arriving home with groceries in the evening? Where do we want an outlet to plug in a desk lamp and computer? How can we ensure that someone can get into the loft with adequate lighting but still manage to flip out the lights to go to sleep? It's amazing how early on in the building process these decisions need to be made! (On the other hand, for my vardo I don't plan to run electrical through the walls any more than I have to, so I'll probably have electrical chases above the kitchen counter and desk and use plug-in lights in most places. I will still need to plan ahead for where all the electrical will go, but I probably won't actually run the electrical this early in the building process.) I tacked our light switch and outlet boxes and light fixture boxes into place, so Eli can do a second walk-through and make sure it's all just right.

To bore holes through the studs for all the wiring I also got to use a heavy duty right angle drill with a super long auger bit. I'm told the tool is called a "whole hog" and I felt like it requires the accompanying attitude. When using a tool like that you've got to be committed to the placement of that hole! It was great fun. I've got a feeling I'm going to earn both my muscles and my sun tan this summer!