Self Sufficiency.. is it a dream? Fresh wateer from the sky
How much of our lives can we actually be responsible for?
How many seeds can we save and swap and how much garden can we dig up, fertilise mulch and look after to give ourselves all the variety and constancy of supply we need to stay well? How many solar panels do we need to produce the amount of electricity we need to power the few things we have that require it. We need a computer of course even if we can do without the printer. How much money do we need to buy those solar panels and the associated bits and pieces we also need to buy before there is actually any power? How many rain water tanks do we need, on how many roofs, to guarantee us a supply of water to do the important things like; washing the body, washing the dishes, cleaning our teeth, filling the kettle, making the soup (from the abundance of garden vegetables)? Are plastic tanks ok, is collecting water off the roof without a significant water cleaning and filtration system OK? You can't drink water out of a river - animal waste ends up in there! Disinfect, disinfect...and yet, infections increase! |
 Cocozelle Zuchinni flower - by Clare
Are we going back in time or just being plain hopeful that we may be able to combine the technology of today with the pioneering spirit of the Amish. Early to rise gives us more daylight hours for growing, weaving, knitting and cooking. Early to bed and we need less electricity for light bulbs. How many hours are there in the day for us to grow, make, knit, sow and weave? Can we be self-sufficient with our clothing too? Is there any time left to work for a wage - to earn the money necessary to buy the rain water tanks, the solar panels, the spinning wheel and the weaving frame? Is there any time to visit the 'Growers Markets' to support the other 'like-minded' self-sufficiency folk? Will we have any money in our pockets if we do? 
Poppies - by Clare
|
I'm trying to be a little bit self sufficient by spending a lot on solar panels and the lithium battery set up for my van. I'm saving on water by having a composting toilet. I'm saving power by having Cig and USB sockets and using 12v camera battery chargers, USB charged bluetooth speaker and essential oil diffuser, and hand grinding my coffee beans but that's not really very much is it?
Clothing...
I simply won't have room in my little home on wheels for the bulky home grown, hand spun and hand knitted jumpers I'll need for the cold - and how do I photograph snow without going to cold places? So I buy super lightweight (expensive) clothing made from some sustainable elements like feathers and merino wool but that's really just scratching the surface isn't it? I'm probably wearing things that don't fully degrade into soil improvers but that add to the floating mass of plastic shrinking the oceans turning plastic into islands. I'm probably part of that even though I try not to be.
Clothing...
I simply won't have room in my little home on wheels for the bulky home grown, hand spun and hand knitted jumpers I'll need for the cold - and how do I photograph snow without going to cold places? So I buy super lightweight (expensive) clothing made from some sustainable elements like feathers and merino wool but that's really just scratching the surface isn't it? I'm probably wearing things that don't fully degrade into soil improvers but that add to the floating mass of plastic shrinking the oceans turning plastic into islands. I'm probably part of that even though I try not to be.
Air drying the dishes
So many things are bad...
Aluminium is bad for you, so I've heard, and my Atomic coffee maker is Aluminium (40 years old). Buying new items is wasteful but ok if not made of aluminium. When we re-purpose we must make sure it's environmentally thoughtful first.
Should, ought, must....rules - so many rules!
Food....
Cheaper foods are BAD, good foods are really expensive so if we don't have the dosh best we plant a field of bioorganicglutenfreeunbleached stuff to make bread out of, to hand roll into little couscous beads for a change in our healthy diet.
What powers the oven that makes the bread, cooks the soup and couscous - and makes the Atomic work for fresh coffee? Gas maybe?
No Gas fields in our area thank you! We only want to use the gas that comes from someone else's back yard.
We could use solar ovens but do they work outside of the Gibson desert? Will a solar oven work when it rains for days on end...of course not! I don't think they work that well anyway and they sure take up a lot of room so having one in a 'tiny space' just isn't going to work.
This musing could go on forever......
All we can really do is be conscious, be aware, do our best and don't dump our rubbish, figurative or real, in someone else's space.
That's my ramble for today 🙃
Gas Fridges....
You are in the house, in the kitchen possibly, and you've put down your pen/glasses/cuppa/phone - Somewhere' so you wander from room to room, knowing that your cup of tea is getting cold. You look everywhere, in and out of rooms, often the same room more than once, getting just a wee bit flustered.
Well......
in Tiny House spaces that doesn't happen. You just stand still and slowly rotate as you glance over the surfaces. Bingo there it is!
I'm loving living in a small space, it's not my van but i'm enjoying the experience all the same. I love staring out at the stars as I go to sleep. I like that a 21" Computer screen is suddenly a huge flat screen TV, that a single bluetooth speaker fills my space with awesome sound and that everything is never too far out of reach.
Cooking soup fills the van with the delicious aroma of garden picked vegetables and herbs. Whatever you do in a tiny space you become fully immersed in it. Tiny space living is 'Mindfullness' every moment.
I don't leave here very often but today I did pop out today to get a gas bottle re-filled and stop briefly for a café coffee and then, joyfully, I head home to my little, cosy, space.
Well......
in Tiny House spaces that doesn't happen. You just stand still and slowly rotate as you glance over the surfaces. Bingo there it is!
I'm loving living in a small space, it's not my van but i'm enjoying the experience all the same. I love staring out at the stars as I go to sleep. I like that a 21" Computer screen is suddenly a huge flat screen TV, that a single bluetooth speaker fills my space with awesome sound and that everything is never too far out of reach.
Cooking soup fills the van with the delicious aroma of garden picked vegetables and herbs. Whatever you do in a tiny space you become fully immersed in it. Tiny space living is 'Mindfullness' every moment.
I don't leave here very often but today I did pop out today to get a gas bottle re-filled and stop briefly for a café coffee and then, joyfully, I head home to my little, cosy, space.
