Merry Christmas to all! And it is most DEFINITELY winter, now...

The shed wore a festive wreath for its photo op!

...and here's hoping you all have a wonderful Christmas season, with friends, family, warmth and comfort; solace for those that need it, as well.  God's blessings on you, today and always, and best wishes from us to you.  May 2014 bring all the love and creativity you could wish for!

Joseph makes sure the little cousins are fed...

I get some sketching in...

 

You can tell this is a faux woodstove.  (Too bad I didn't leave it on overnight!)

And brrrr!  -8 when I got up this morning; just about zero, now.  Went out to the shed to bump up the heat with this little beauty this Christmas Eve morning, and it was 32 degrees in there WITH the tower heater set at 60+!  Cats' water is frozen on the floor; Belle went out, briefly, and right back in, crying and complaining LOUDLY.    So, time for more dependable heat, I think.

Thinking baseboard heat...the shed needs a Christmas present, too!

It's Winter!

First snow, the other day...and 10 degrees!

...and my old heater just wasn't cutting it any more...it was 38 degrees in there that morning, so we are REALLY glad we bit the bullet and decided to go for the new faux woodstove, on sale at Plow and Hearth!

You may remember I'd been wishing for a stove like that for three years now (check out this post)...but why make any sudden moves, right?

The Shed in Context

People sometimes wonder where the shed IS; it looks like it's out in the woods, and feels like it too, sometimes...if you look in the right direction.  Here, the outlines of the old raised beds that get too much shade to be gardens now, the white martin house just visible at the top of this shot, and the shed, in autumn gold.

The old yellow Victorian to the left is where we live...the shed's only a few steps from the back door...and food, and running water, and all the comforts of home.  Unlike our original cabin, I can get there in all seasons, and do.

The blue house at right is our neighbor...the shed's on a vacant lot I bought when the house there burned down.  It was my garden for years, till the trees grew up too much.  Now it's a lovely jungle and a buffer from the street.

So my "tiny house in landscape" is a tiny house in an URBAN landscape!  Glad Joseph got these shots today...

Autumn at the Shed

It's a golden year, with the roof and deck a tapestry of yellows and golds, citron and ochre and cadmium...

This was a few days ago, when it was more lemon than cadmium!

The deck is covered with maple leaves...

A gentle rain has invited us to spend the days indoors, reading, venturing out on occasion for photos...

Even the alley looks beautiful!

We've been winterizing, simplifying, doing maintenance and generally hunkering down.  I still want to figure out a passive solar panel for the south-facing wall, and perhaps, this year, baseboard heat?  Still making do with the little portable heaters, and the larger one has gone on strike; it will only stay on 11 seconds at a time, then off for 19, then on...

Not so great...fungus among us!

This is not really want you want to see INSIDE your living space...

Sort of looks like the Starship Enterprise, doesn't it...and it colonized the inside of my shed with millions of little white spores...

See, I'm not making this up.

SO.  What to DO??  I need to make sure the door jamb is good and dry (good luck with THAT, it catches every splash from the roof when it rains) or kill off the spores, but I don't like poisons.

Any suggestions?