Honestly

Sometimes it is hard to be the one who is blogging about this tiny house adventure...but not the one who is doing all the work to make it happen.

I've written a few posts about being realistic about work that I can do and work that I really just shouldn't be doing.

Such as putting shelves up on the walls.

Or ordering hot water heaters.

There are just some projects better left to people who like figuring things out.  I mean actually find joy in creating and figuring out a problematic project.  They really enjoy figuring out how to make something WORK or turn something old into amazing.

My sister-in-law is one of those people.  She sees beauty and possibility in the old furniture on the side of the road.  She works hard creating and figuring out problematic projects.  The results are stunning.

My husband told me the other day (while discussing the wood stove), "I like figuring out how to make it work."  He pointed out how much he is enjoying the challenge of figuring out how to make the wood stove work safely and efficiently (and really it hasn't smoked since before I wrote my last post).

He must also be one of those people.

As I said, sometimes it is hard to be the one blogging but not actually doing the work because, I am NOT one of those people who enjoys figuring out problematic problems.  I just want something to work perfect the first time or to have a definite answer I can use some sort formula to figure out. Yes, I know this does not always happen in life and, yes, this has created a lot of opportunities for self-character building.

There have been a lot of lessons learned through this tiny house adventure but I would say the biggest lessons for me have been about being realistic in my work.

• What am I (realistically) able to do?
• What do I see other people doing and want to do but probably wouldn't actually enjoy?
• What do I want to do but really wouldn't be able to do?!
• What do I want to do but will never have the time (or patience!) to do?
• Why do I even want to do these things???????  
• What can I do, even if I'm not really good at it (and it won't have to be redone when I'm finished)?

I have often said since starting this tiny house adventure, "Something can be super cute or absolutely amazing but we don't have to own it."

I think this applies to my work as well, "Someone else might really enjoy working on something but that doesn't mean I will enjoy it".

Really, this has been a good lesson and a good character building process for me.  I am enjoying doing the things I can do or want to do.  I will leave the problematic projects to the people who enjoy doing those projects and I will be very appreciative of those people!

After all, I am sitting here in my cozy chair next to a warm (but not hot or smoky) wood stove and I am writing.

I'm really enjoying this.

Smokin' Hot

It's here, it's installed, it's working...most of the time.

My husband installed it on our metal "front" door.

For those of you who are interested in HOW he did this: 

please message me and I'll give you his contact information.

I know there are a lot of bolts involved as well as some metal reinforcing strips and a metal piece for it to sit on.  Hopefully the pictures give you a better idea than I can as to how it is attached to the door.  I also have a few pictures of the outside.

Once installed, my husband fired it up and got a blazing fire going.  

Unfortunately, he realized the door itself was not as heat resistant as it needed to be.  In the following picture you can see where he cut a section out of the door (after he had removed the stove) and replaced the foam inside the door with hardi-plank.  He then bolted it all back together and reinstalled the stove.

The door is holding up great now and, as you can also see, my husband loves to use our tiny wood stove to cook on.  This is his popcorn pot (which he uses almost nightly).  He also likes to cooks eggs and toast on it quite regularly.

Here's a couple shots of the outside.  We painted the door a different color as well as coating the inside of the door with a heat resistant paint.  

Not that it has anything to do with the wood stove but I just want to point out: we ARE planning to paint all the window trim white....if it ever stops raining...like maybe late August???

Now, unfortunately, this pipe system is not very effective for keeping the air from whooshing down into the wood stove when it's windy outside.  Perhaps its the wood stove combined with the piping.  We're really not sure.  

We just know that when the wind blows a certain way our house is completely filled with smoke within minutes.  Thankfully, we have a lot of windows and the smoke also clears pretty quick.

But still we take precautions, such as wearing scuba masks....

Ok, only my son wears his scuba mask as soon as he smells smoke...and he usually has his swimsuit on to complement the gear.  

We have discovered how to open some our windows just right to create the right amount of draft which counteracts the air coming in preventing the smoke from coming out.

Most of the time.

Other times my husband creates the draft and blows into the vents to counteract the air coming down the chimney or we open all the windows to create a draft and clear the house.

Oh, one other thing, when I titled this post I wasn't just referring to the smoke.  

It can get VERY hot in our house now. 

85 degrees with the window open hot

Don't need blankets hot

Tank-tops and shorts hot

I NEED a fan IN WINTER hot

I can't sleep hot

Like Hawaii, he says.

NO, this is NOT like Hawaii!  

There is no ocean and I have to work in morning.

He turned it down because he loves me 

more than he likes it that hot.

We are all thankful for the non-electrical dry warmth and the ambiance our cute tiny wood stove creates.