It's a heat wave!

The last few weeks we have had a heat wave on the ranch. Usually, this doesn't happen until August. There have been too many days to count that the heat has been over 100!  Luckily, I have a small window ac unit that has been able to keep up with it. I planned for ac during the build by having this window large enough to hold the smallest unit available at the local big box store. This window is a single hung while the others are awning style. I purchased a Frigidaire unit and it does a great job keeping the lower level very cool. For the loft I place a 6" fan at the edge pulling up the cool air from below. Even with the heat over 100 I can sleep comfortably in the loft.

Does your tiny house design cover all weather conditions?

This hot dry weather has been hard on the old trees here as well. This one split during the night and another fell in the tent camping area. It fell between two tents! Fortunately no one was hurt. Two tents, one air mattress and a sleeping bag were damaged. I can bet the young man who was sleeping on the air mattress was a bit freaked out.

Mr. Green Jean's

One of the perks at the ranch is that we have a garden expert here. He has taken the initiative to start an organic garden in a unused patch of dirt near the picnic area of the campground. It is fenced from the unhappy deer however the squirrels and raccoons are still visiting.

This year I was able to get involved in the planting which was fun except when I bumped into a cactus! Yeah, now I know why they have a reputation. I am still picking out the tiny porcupine like hairs from my left arm and leg. And now my right hand! I tried to remove them only to relocate them in my finger tips.

I will refer to our gardener extrordinaire as Mr. Green Jean's not that he wears green jeans. Here he is talking about gardening.

 

Those that know me will look at this garden and question my role as I am an organized person who would have everything labeled, have stakes to indicate planted areas, walking areas would be covered in mulch, mounds would be in uniform rows & I would have a map indicating the location of all planted items. However, this is Mr. Green Jean's garden and I am but a serf to his project. My lesson here is to go with the flow and let it be. A seed does not care whether it is in a row or not, nor that there is a stake to indicate what and where it is planted, only that it has good soil, water and sun.

I can't wait for the bountiful vegies to come! Yum, yum. Now if I can only get those pickers out of my arm.

Summer Solstice Celebration

The summer solstice, the longest day of the year. What better way to celebrate than with a parade and festival! This is the craziest parade we have in Santa Barbara and has been called the "Santa Barbara's Mardi Gras". The festival started back in 1974 as a birthday celebration with a group of street performers dancing down State Street. It now is a 3 day event with a parade, street fair, concerts, stage performances, floats, costumes and dancers.

Santa Barbarians sure know how to have fun!

I just hate to wait, don't you?

Patience is not a virtue of mine. I hate to be late or to wait, so I apologize to you for not getting out my post on time. I guess that life somehow keeps sputtering along even when we are sidetracked by all of lives obligations. Because my obligations have nothing to do with living tiny I will not bore you with them.

So...I'm back! A couple weeks ago I had a chance to see the "I Madonnari" chalk art festival which is held at the Santa Barbara Mission. This was the 27th annual festival and it drew over 150 artists from master Italian street painters to kids. The artists use only chalk to create beautiful images that will be washed away at the first rain. If you are ever in Santa Barbara during the festival this is a great event to see.