Tiny Homes – Thursday Doors: 17th November, 2023.

Welcome to Another Thursday Doors!

After a rather lengthy absence, I’m back with some doors I photographed at a local Tiny Homes Expo last weekend. If you’re interested in checking out the bigger picture, I’ve written a more comprehensive post: HERE.

This might’ve been the back of a bathroom door, which bowled me over with rustic charm and intriguing timber.

Although I’ve been on numerous doorscursions in my time, these door captures are incidental as I was more concerned about maximising space in tiny homes and clever multi-purpose design ideas. There wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before in that department and certainly no magic wand for accommodating a life time of book hoarding and a rather extensive tea cup collection. However, they were incredibly stylish and I must admit my mood plummeted when I arrived home. There’s not one part of our house that doesn’t require extensive work of some kind. However, the expo was also inspirational and by chipping away I won’t be able to turn this place into my dream home, but at least I’ll be content. (BTW the possibility of hosting Christmas here is also firing me into action.)

Although we weren’t focusing on doors, there was one door which really stood out and that was manufactured by Golden Domes. I don’t think I was actually on display at the expo but people were raving about their “Hobbit Door” and the photos come from their website. That would be so cool having that as your front door, don’t you think?!!

Front Door

Back Door…Would you fancy a bath here?

Sliding Doors

No Doors. Understandably, few interior doors was a feature of many of these tiny homes, and although it’s hard to pick up from the photo, this is a loft bedroom from memory up a set of stairs.

Although I’m here to talk about doors, I have a little confession to make. Geoff and I actually bought a new bed with all the bells and whistles and it is becoming our luxurious oasis. What with massage features and being able move your head and feet up and down electronically, it’s bliss. However, there is a pitfall for the perfectionistically pedantic and that is trying to get your bed in the absolutely perfect spot. You could keep moving those buttons up and down searching for nirvana for eternity and never be satisfied if you weren’t careful. That’s why I’m glad I’m a near-enough is good enough sort. Perfection is a curse.

Storage under the stairs and a few doors

Speaking of bed, I’d better head off. I hope you’re all going well.

Thursday Doors is hosted by Dan Antion over at No Facilities. Please come over and join us. You’ll be surprised what you can learn and how much pleasure you can experience simply by checking out a few doors.

Best wishes,

Rowena

Her Big Break…Friday Fictioneers 16th November, 2022.

Departing for the prestigious Prix de Lausanne, 16 year old ballerina and proud Ngemba woman, Stella Donovan was asked what inspired her to dance.

“When I was five, I found a jewellery box at the tip with a ballerina twirling around inside. She was deadly and I wanted to dance like her. All me friends and aunties were into netball, but ballet was my thing. I hope to encourage other Aboriginal girls to pursue their dreams.”

Then, the tragic news came through.

Stella had broken her foot moments before she went on, but she wouldn’t let it ground her dreams.

….

99 words PHOTO PROMPT thank you to © Starsinclayjars

I learn a lot writing these pithy 100 words of fiction. Many of you will know that our daughter is an aspiring ballerina and that things haven’t been easy over the last couple of years with covid and she recently snapped a ligament in her foot, but she’s back on deck again although not about to compete in Switzerland. She has the end of year concert coming up soon and next year will be onto auditions. To add a bit of a twist, I made this ballerina an Indigenous Australian a Ngemba woman from the outback town of Bourke where my Great Great Uncle, Herb Bruhn, was the head of the Bourke Dramatic and Musical Society and put on Cleopatra and Oklahoma under rather challenging circumstances and then had his pianist move away with no replacement. I admire his pluck! Anyway, I was delighted to find out that we have an Indigenous ballerina in the Australian Ballet, Ella Havelka, a Wiradjuri woman from Dubbo with a very encouraging story: What It’s Like To Be The First Indigenous Dancer in the Australian Ballet

This is another contribution to Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff Fields.

Best wishes,

Rowena 

PS Here’s my own boot story where I broken my foot just before going on stage to play my violin: My Christmas Boot.

My Christmas Boot.

Weekend Coffee Share – 13th November, 2023.

Welcome to Another Weekend Coffee Share!

My apologies for a bit of an absence. Let’s just say that time runs away from me and I’m staggering along breathless in its wake.

How are you all and what’s been going on in your neck of the woods?

Well, it’s still Spring here on the Australian East Coast. While there’s the odd roasting, much of the time it’s been unseasonably cool, and we’ve had a bit of rain. I haven’t braved a swim at the beach yet, but did get down for a delightful walk last week on a perfect sunny day and felt so much better for it.

Meanwhile, we’ve had quite a bit on.

Firstly, last Saturday a close friend of ours got married. I also had my 35th school reunion at same afternoon. So I splurged on a new dress, some strappy wedge heels and an overnight bag to stay with my friend, Glenda. Couldn’t believe that Mum was actually going to be staying with a friend for a sleepover. How could that be? Had I escaped into the realm of miracles? Of course, it’s not just responsibilities on the home front which have kept me grounded, but more likely covid and the dreaded lockdowns. So, it felt particularly good to get out there in my glad rags, see my friends married and catch up with the girls at the reunion.

Secondly, Miss Ballerina is back en pointe after snapping a ligament in her ankle a few months ago which had her hanging up her dance shoes for about six weeks (or at least the right one) and having weekly physio appointments. Before all that transpired, she’d done her Grade 8 ballet exam and received a High Distinction. Last Friday, she finally did her Intermediate Foundation exam after being stuck in suspended animation for the last three years, while she was also doing Advanced. Clearly, she’s been busy! The end of year concert is coming up now, along with the inevitable farewells which are getting harder and harder as each year goes by and they’re all getting older and leaving school. Two close friends will be leaving at the end of this year and moving away. Miss has one year left at school and the local dance school and then she’ll be fleeing the coop as well and heading goodness knows where.

Thirdly, Geoff and I headed off to the Tiny Homes Expo at Tuggerah yesterday and had a very interesting day where our minds were opened up to a host of incredible possibilities. However, rather than buying a tiny home, we ended up buying a new bed with all the bells and whistles and I can’t wait for it to arrive. If you’d like to read more about Tiny Homes, here’s a link to my post: Explorations Into Tiny Homeland on Australia’s East Coast.

Admiring the tiny homes from the comfort of our new bed.

Well, that’s all from me for now and I look forward to hearing what you’ve been up to.

This has been another Weekend Coffee Share hosted by Natalie the Explorer.

Best wishes,

Rowena

Explorations In Tiny Homeland (on the Australian East Coast)

Transformed to he realms of Alice in Wonderland, the illustrious Bilbo Baggins or even Gulliver’s Travels; Geoff and I arrived at the Tiny Home Expo in Tuggerah about an hour’s drive away from home. We were greeted by an array of tiny homes and exciting possibilities if only we could shift all the crap in the backyard and find enough room for a tiny home. Being close to the beach, we could also generate serious income or house a teenager out there and it would be much cheaper than knocking down and rebuilding the house.

However, that wasn’t why we were there.

Stairway to Heaven?

Game for a bath?

Perfect Couch.

Rather, as you may recall if you have a very good memory and pay close attention to my posts, I completed a course in freelance journalism recently and I wrote one of my assessments on what it takes to fit inside a tiny home and how they work. As I’m sure you can appreciate, there are a few principles involved with maximising space in these seemingly tiny spaces where you can’t even swing the proverbial cat. So, after reading and writing about these tiny homes, I was busting to really explore every nook and cranny, understand more about the construction process and why anybody would want to go small when most of us would freely admit “bigger is better”.

A Tiny Home On Wheels

The first thing I have to say about these tiny homes is they are sweet.

The second thing I’ll say is that they are rather expensive.

Even a quick look at the styling inside many of these homes tells you they’re geared towards the top end of town not someone down on their luck. Indeed, perhaps the idea is that when you go small you can afford those extra luxuries. They’re a completely different story to the shack my grandfather-in-law used to take tin mining on the backblocks of Tasmania. They have toilets, showers, washing machines, microwaves, flat screen TVs and you guessed it. They even have a kitchen sink. Oops, I also forgot to mention they have beds and I’ll get to more of that later.

Couch

Bathroom with washing machine.

Kitchen looking towards the bathroom

Cupboards in stairs to maximise space.

Yet, more affordable options were available and I was particularly drawn to a Golden Dome. I forget how big the demonstration dome was and it was so relaxing with a beautiful bed and stunning accessories. I could just see our “kids” really enjoying it. Indeed, we could even afford a smaller version and somehow fit it into our backyard, although there are the dogs and random boats and kayaks to consider. Indeed, I would love to escape into one of these and read and write all day. How lush! Mind you I could also do that at the beach which is just down the road too but for some reason I don’t.

How good is this bed?!! I swear I’d never get up!

Despite all that temptation, somehow we walked away empty handed and perhaps it’s a good thing my husband is more cautious or we might’ve had a few tiny homes crammed into our backyard like sardines with the dogs stuck up on the roof.

The funny thing is that although we went to look at tiny homes, we actually came home with a new bed. Not any new bed either. We bought a dream bed which comes with all the bells and whistles…massage, goes up and down, the works. The only thing it doesn’t do is provide breakfast in bed but hey that’s what we have teenagers for, isn’t it?!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of the pics, which weren’t taken under studio conditions. Goodness knows how many people had tried out the beds by the time I came along. and it’s pretty hard to get a bit of distance in a tiny home to get it all in especially with loads of people coming and going. However, they do look at least a little lived in despite being on display.

Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed?

Lastly, it was rough returning home yesterday. Naturally, there are no photos provided but I’ll let your imaginations do the work and picture goodness knows what is piled up on the couch.

Meanwhile, we’re dreaming of the day we can afford a block of land with our own tiny somewhere and our perfect escape hatch.

Do you have any experiences of tiny homes? Do you think you could live in one? I’d love to hear from you!

Best wishes,

Rowena

PS After writing my observations, I read the catalogue and it focuses more on the housing shortage, the need for more affordable homes. Indeed, there’s plenty of scope for those on a beer budget as well as the chardonnay set. Tiny homes are also a great option for those living in flood or bushfire prone areas. I’ll get back to that.

This post wasn’t sponsored.

A Morning Stroll…Friday Fictioneers:

“Cars have feelings too,” it said. “You think I like being luminous green and an absolutely laughing stock? Of course not. I hate it. I used to be fade into the background grey, but then Harry lost a bet and obviously HE wasn’t the one who got painted green! Now, I stick out like a wretched neon sign and everyone calls me Kermit the Frog.

However, it wasn’t all bad. Daphne, a pretty pink 2CV, has a thing for bright green. Turns out, for every Kermit, there’s always a Miss Piggy.”

Humph…a talking car. Perhaps, I need a stronger coffee!

…..

100 words

….

Thought you might like to hear Kermit’s views on being green. I’ve never forgotten when I first this at the movies and it was so sad. Such a touching song.

Meanwhile , my mother and her family have had an almost phobia of the colour green and felt it brings you bad luck. Well, I thought I might just Google that and as it turns out, that wasn’t all just superstition as green paint and clothing dyes used to contain arsenic. Here’s a link to a great story about it: Scheeles Green .

This has been another contribution to Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields where we write up to 100 words to a supplied photo prompt. Many thanks PHOTO PROMPT © Brenda Cox this week.

Best wishes,

Rowena