Words to the Cosmos

Tiny House Project: Clogged Sink

// October 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects, life the universe and everything, personal

The Tiny House-of-Chaos doesn’t have much in the way of workspace drainage, so I use the kitchen sink for far too much in the way a disposal.  I try to make use of everything I can, but still a little of this and a little of that accumulates and my kitchen drain was slow.

I got out the plunger. Which just made the nasty water fly up and out of the second basin of the sink.  I retrieved a second plunger.  There was suction and pressure and I heard much in the way of gurgling, but in the end I think I just compresses the clog more. (more…)

Printing on Fabric with Inkjet Printer

// September 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects, personal

Okay.  I’m decorating my bedroom in the House-of-Chaos and I’m learning all sorts of new things along the way.  I’m interested in using ‘noren‘ door/window curtains but I’ve not been thrilled with the prints that I’ve found on the noren.  I’m a bit eclectic in my visual tastes and I want a “traditional” feel but mayhap a more modern, or even surreal, slant to my imagery.

Cherry blossoms are awesome.  Samurai too, but they’re a little to vanilla for my tastes.

So I found this tutorial on how to use freezer-paper, printed in an Inkjet printer, to possibly make the imagry for my noren.  So I’ll sew the linen panels for the windows and doors, then piece together 8×10 panels of image.

Inkjet Printing on Fabric – More DIY How To Projects

Then I’ll do a test and see how it looks.

Tiny House: My Dream House

// September 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

OMG!  This house is *so* beautiful.  On the water.  Aged wood.  Tiny.  This is it!  Nirvana.

CHINAGRRRL's DREAM HOUSE

Thanks to Tiny House Blog for posting this!

Freecycle ROCKS!!!

// September 14th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects, life the universe and everything

The Freecycle Network is a site which allows individuals who HAVE stuff connect with individuals who NEED stuff. It rocks. Seriously. I’ve been a long time supporter of thrift-stores, consignment stores and garage sales, but this is AWESOME! I had to find my local group by typing “Akron, OH” in the little search window:

then it took me to this fine page letting me know that Akron, OH has a Yahoo!Group for it’s Freecycle movement:

(more…)

Tiny House Project: Compost

// September 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

This isn’t a House-of-Chaos project, but it’s another in the Tiny House Movement. Hillary (and Michael) from This Tiny House are a couple dedicated to the use of small spaces.  Hillary has blogged about her composting experiment in one of those plastic storage bins: (more…)

HOC: Tiny Kids Bedroom

// August 27th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

First painting project at the House-of-Chaos is my daughters bedroom.  She was on a “Cousins Trip” for a week and I had the room all to myself, so I wanted to get as much done on her room before she returned.

• http://blog.chinakrysdarrington.com/2009/08/tiny-house-project-kids-bedroom/

• http://blog.chinakrysdarrington.com/2009/08/tiny-house-projects-kids-bedroom-phase-ii/

• http://blog.chinakrysdarrington.com/2009/08/tiny-house-project-kids-bedroom-phase-iii/

• http://blog.chinakrysdarrington.com/2009/08/tiny-house-project-mias-bedroom-phase-iv-sleeping-corner/

I’ve posted several times about the process, but here’s a gallery of the whole she-bang:

HOC: Prickly Pears

// August 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

I was given a few prickly pear cacti from my friend Barb.  Last week she came by the House-of-Chaos and brought a box of the spiny fellas that she and her late husband Larry had gotten in New Mexico, a place they had spent many close, magickal times together.  Larry and Barb have both been deer friends to me and I greatly appreciated the gesture of her sharing these wonderful plants with me and my new garden.

She told me, very clearly, to use tongs to drop them into the dirt.  She was in no way unclear about this.  Still, I used my everyday gardening gloves.  Within minutes I realized why I was to use tongs.

The hundreds, nay THOUSANDS of spiny slivers slipped right through the gloves and into my hands.  When I pulled the gloves off, the spines broke of in my hands

Whee!!!

So…over the weekend all those prickers were working themselves out of my hands.

Ouch!

Prickly Pears

HOC: Stripping and refinishing breezeway windows

// August 27th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

Ugh…20 layers of nasty paint.  13 coats of paint stripper.  A Dremel tool and sandpaper.  And a little wire brush.  I’ve used a heat gun and a scraper.  I’ve sanded of my fingernails MANY times.  But we’re almost there.

My breezeway has five windows and four doors.  Two front windows, on one either side of a door and two back windows, one on either side of the door.  I’ve already replaced the back storm door with a new lovely Larson door which I’m quite pleased with.  I want the same door on the front breezeway ASAP, but as always money is tight and it can wait.

There are two entry doors on from the garage and on going into the house.  A full-sized window peeks-in from the breezeway to our living room.  All-in-all that a LOT of stripping I have to do.  Inside and outsides of the sashes.

I’ll update as my progress continues…

Tiny House Project: Back Storm Door

// August 27th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

It’s finished and it’s in.  It looks and works great!  The Larson Storm door that we installed on the back breezeway entrance is on the House of Chaos.

Larson Storm Door on the Back Breezeway

You can read about the selection of the door at our earlier post, but the installation went pretty smooth.  I needed to strip, sand and refinish the inner sash of the door to make it look nice, and there was a tiny bit of planing needed to one vertical board to make it fit perfectly square.

I like it!

HOC: Washing the aluminum siding and exterior woodwork

// August 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects, personal

Nasty.  I live under a big tree.  Dirt gets on my siding.  It needs power-washed, but I need a tree surgeon to snip off some limbs first.  So I did a little experiment to see how clean the siding would get. (more…)

Tiny House Project: Gardens –

// August 19th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos

Ok, I’m officially out of money right now, so no more buying things for the House-of-Chaos garden right now, but I have a list and these are on them. Shade-dwelling, perennial, ever-green. Who could ask for more? Hellebore…

Expect the blooms to continue for 3 months or more!

Hellebore Winter Jewels™ ‘Golden Sunrise’ Helleborus Winter Jewels ‘Golden Sunrise’ Very Free-flowering from Winter into Spring Item #46287 – Plants 1  for $17.95 each 3  for $15.95 each - You save $6.00 6  for $14.95 each - You save $18.00 Item Qty: Ship to (select): OR ship to someone else: (example: Mom) Me

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Very Free-flowering from Winter into Spring

This is one of the Winter Jewels™ series, selected for its rich, clear colors.

Every flower is different on this heavy-blooming, vigorous evergreen perennial. All are canary-yellow with bold red veins along the exterior of the petals, but some also sport bright red edges, a smattering of red freckles, and even a red central starburst!Chosen for its freedom of bloom and unusual clear, strong colors, ‘Golden Sunrise’ is from the renowned Winter Jewels™ series of Hellebores. The blooms are several inches wide, dangling from their stems like bright bells. They remain lovely for months on the plant, gradually drying to a papery consistency that is no less beautiful than their original freshness. They also make fine cut flowers when floated in a bowl of water to reveal their “face”!Hellebore is an absolute must-have in the shade. You can rely on it to remain beautiful year-round, its evergreen foliage large and handsome. A mainstay of the shade border, it resists heat, humidity, drought, cold, and even poor soil. Nibbling pests from deer and rabbits to insects leave it alone. And best of all, it colonizes over time into large, lovely plantings. Don’t miss this gem for the shade! Zones 4-9.

Tiny House Project: Hyacinth

// August 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos

Hyacinth

I love the smell of Hyacinth.  It’s heavenly.  It is one of the few things that can shake me from my Ohio Winter Stupor (OWS).  So, in preparation of the horrid Ohio slump and in anticipation of the breaking Spring, I’m planting hyacinth bulbs this fall.

I’ve already detailed my purchase of mixed variety.  Now, the Peter Stuyvesant Hyacinth.

Botanical Name: Hyacinthus orientalis
Description: A longtime favorite valued for its rich, dark blue color, beautiful flower form, and strong sweet scent. Giant blooms reach a height of 10 to 12 inches and long-lasting in the garden and as cut flowers. Great for growing in planters or in hyacinth jars in a sunny window to bring a little spring indoors. Plant in the garden to provide ribbons of color along paths, for massing in beds, mixing with other spring bulbs. We ship premium 15-16 cm. bulbs that will bloom again each spring for years.

China’s desk: 081709

// August 17th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects, family, life the universe and everything, magick, personal

AtWork_081709

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

A snapshot of a part of my desk at work. Why we do what we do. How we do what we do.

Tiny House Project: Bulb Planting – Daffodils

// August 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos

Daffodils

In an earlier entry I detailed my purchase of “Black-Out” Asiatic Lilys for my fall bulb planting.  I recently sprung for a mixed bag of daffodils to plant along the front border of the walkway.  100 bulbs!

Now I know, that I’m not supposed to expect much from my bulbs the first year…even the second.  But I will be very pleased and grateful for any ambitious bulb which wants to emerge in the Ohio Spring 2010.

Gold stars for all of them.

Tiny House Project: Fall Bulb Planting

// August 11th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // House-of-Chaos

This is the first fall in the House-of-Chaos, and we’ve installed new doors, painted and redecorated the kid’s bedroom, fixed a toilet, sanded windows, cut the tree back, planted a bit of a garden and painted a bathroom.

The gardens have been minimal.  Mostly making some basic beds and working with the soil, which was mostly clay when we started.

I’ve had the ambition to get a few bulbs into the ground this fall so that come spring, I’ll already have some work done.  This is my plan:

My front yard has a wonderful mature maple tree which covers most of the yard and house in shade.  So I need to get some ground covering, hostas and day-lilies in this area.

In the back I have full sun almost all day, so I’m planting another two roses, some asiatic lilys, and peonies.  I love these “Black Out” Asiatic Lilys.

Tiny House Project – Mia’s Bedroom – Phase IV – Sleeping Corner

// August 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

Tiny House Project – Mia’s Bedroom – Phase IV – Sleeping Corner

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

Mia’s bedroom. Not *all* done…but mostly done. I’ve still got to make her headboard and get the dressers for under her bed…and make a tree. But this was good work for her being away on vacation! Yee haw.

Tiny House project: Kid’s Bedroom – Phase III

// August 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

Mia’s Bedroom – Phase III – Sleeping corner

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

I’ve added iridescent glitter to the walls and created “wall pockets” for storing photos and cards and small, flat items. Also added a few dots and flowers.

Placed a duvet and nightstand back in place.

Next up…the fairy nook.

Tiny House projects: Kid’s Bedroom – Phase II

// August 4th, 2009 // No Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

Sleeping Corner (phase II) – Sleeping Corner

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

The painting continues at the House-of-Chaos. Phase II is the application of blue paint and treating it with a white “cloudy” surface. I did this to break up the *really bright* lime green paint.

Next up…glitter and “nature” themes…

Tiny House project – Kids’ Bedroom

// August 3rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

Mia’s Bedroom – In progress

Originally uploaded by chinagrrrl

Mia’s on vacation this week, so I’m using that time to get her bedroom in shape paint-wise. I still have MANY updated to do; wardrobes and dresser built-ins, but I’m getting the paint and molding in order and MAYBE the windows.

I’ll post an entry with the whole project when it’s finished…just wanted to included an update on what’s happening at the House-of-Chaos.

HOC: Storm Door (Back Breezeway)

// July 5th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // House-of-Chaos, Tiny House Projects

You can see the cats peeled back an aluminum panel to make their own "kitty door".

When we moved into the new House-of-Chaos, the storm doors were in sad shape.  First, they were the cheapest doors available on the market 20 years ago.  Next, they had never had their pneumatic closers replaced so they slammed every time you closed them.  Next, they had flimsy lower panels which the Chaos Cats immediately saw as vulnerable and their doorway to the outside world.  They immediately head-butted through them and made their own “kitty door”.

Bah.

So.  I knew they all needed replaced.  (more…)