Daily Living
Settling back into my daily routine after 3-months away has been a period of both adjustment and satisfaction. I’m sure the same is true for Mike, but I don’t like to speak for him. Since our small cabin continues to be in an ever-evolving state of slow upgrades and improvements, I am often confronted with the challenge of figuring out what items we have stored where. So in addition to settling back in, I am also on search and find rescue missions for certain things.
Before we left, we emptied out the entirely of the cabin’s contents in order to install the floor boards and wall cladding. And not everything made it back in. Some of our things were sent to live in the storage container in our nearby parking meadow. We also took down the tent that serves as our seasonal tool shed and workshop space, so Mike is also needing to go on the hunt for things. Living in the small means keeping close by only what is most necessary, or what most nourishes the space. And living as simply and rustically as we are means being creative with things like problem-solving, troubleshooting and systems set up.
PSA: When living in the small, alongside what’s most practical to keep close at hand, remember that it’s also important to include things that help nourish the space
Some things I’ve been noticing or being reminded of as of late:
- Internetting from the woods from our cell booster antenna gives me a LOT of practice in developing patience
- Installation of the wood trim inside the cabin makes a world of difference in turning the construction site that has been our residence into feeling like a home
- Our covered porch is freakin awesome
- There’s something really enjoyable and wholly satisfying about collecting and chopping wood as our heat source inside the cabin
I’m in the process of experimenting with where the balance is, seasonally speaking, between feeding the birds without attracting the bears. And also determining when we can store water outside without having it freeze, because the less we have to store inside our small cabin the better.
I’ve been also getting reacquainted with my appreciation for our solar panels and our generator, and also for the close connection I have with water, since we don’t have a well or pipes that connect us to any town’s supply. Living off-grid in Montana means using a generator to help supplement our electricity needs when the PV panels don’t draw enough sun for support. And not having running water means developing a friendship with this fundamental liquid of life. Part of my daily routine involves tending to or hauling water, or transporting it from one container to another. And while for many this might seem a chore and bother, for reasons I cannot fully put into words (which is saying something since I’m a writer), I truly enjoy it.
And speaking of water, I was originally thinking it might take a few weeks after we got home to get our shower house up and running. My plan was to resume taking showers at my friend’s house in town once a week for a little while until it warmed up, which is what I used to do pre shower house. But Mike got the shower working in short order. Despite the cold temps out, our propane and battery-powered pump are working well to give us nice warm showers.
On the food prep front, I’ve mostly retained the necessary training I’ve been receiving in having only a two-burner campstove as my kitchen’s workhorse for making meals, but I’m also needing to do a little bit of re-remembering. Depending on what I plan on the menu, having only two-burners for cooking dinner can sometimes take next-level organizational skills. Timing is everything. One needs to cook certain things first, and then rotate the pots and pans accordingly, in hopes that whatever was cooked first doesn’t cool off too much before the next round of food is finished. Any cook’s hope is that the meal, when it’s ready to eat, is warm and nourishing. Working in a small space and with a limited kitchen set up is good practice for learning how to better go with the flow.
Pineapple tofu stirfry
On the Mike front, he has spent the last few days drawing up designs on his computer and doing a sea of research in regards to our next build, which will be a small A-frame guest hut that we plan on making movable. He’s been pricing lumber and insulation and trying to determine what size walls to build out. He’s been running his mind pretty ragged by the task of trying his best to minimize the use of resources we’ll need while also maximizing the bang for our buck. Given our cold-weather climate and the large swings in temperature here, building something hardy is important. There’s a lot to take into consideration.
Right now as I am typing this post, a light snow is falling outside. And yesterday afternoon, I was outside half-naked and happy, lounging like a lizard in the warm sun. Translation: it’s springtime in Montana. And weather wise, anything and everything is possible.
