Outdoor Expansion And A Party

I promised my writer's group that I would have a house warming party two years ago when I told them of my tiny house adventures. They were all very intrigued so when I met up with one of the members for a hike over the summer she encouraged me to do it and said she would help. The group had disbanded several years ago and we hadn't had a reunion in some time so before the summer slipped away we had our party. The prep for it was nearly as intense as my original work on the interior and took just as much brain busting for the space planning.

The only way to seat six people was to build an outdoor table, but the central space was taken up by two kiwi trees. They were too close together to permit a table top to be placed between them, but eventually I found a way.

I got my folding work bench out of storage and it just fit between the trees. From there I could build a table top around the trees using what wood I had on hand.

It was largely a matter of fitting a board on the workbench that would then support the "leaves" of the table. I also happened to have a framed board given away by an artist that fit perfectly in the remaining space between the trees.

For a table cloth I laid down two pieces cut from a canvas drop cloth we bought to cover the furniture once when the dogs were still chewing on things.

As a finishing touch I hung a tapestry of a pastoral scene that I thought was very tongue in cheek. A client off loaded it to me.

Then I bumped out one of my fence pieces and put one of my benches outside for seating.











I also felt the need to have a washing up station to do the dishes afterwards which would be the perfect opportunity to use the fish cleaning table I got off e-bay to use with my solar hot water unit and to use as a laundry table should I ever feel compelled to do off grid laundry.

This is a folding table with integrated sink. It comes with a detachable faucet that connects up with a hose. I used the top of my storage box as a dish drain. The faucet is the selling point of this unit as it allows for water to be turned on and off at the point of use.










I hooked up my homemade solar hot water heater to the faucet, but there was not enough sun to keep it warm throughout the day. This was a project I had been meaning to do because it meant cutting a hose in half and finding fittings to connect it to the black irrigation hose. I did manage it, but later in the summer the fittings popped off.

And finally I provided guest facilities behind a privacy curtain made from bent conduit pipe that I stuck into a pot of dirt.

The commode I borrowed from my mum from when she broke her ankle. I modified it with a $50 urine funnel I ordered from England off e-bay and never used.

Because the urine separator would only fit metric fittings it was near impossible to find a hose that would fit it. Finally I found a funnel that would do. In fact it perfectly connected into the gasoline container I had. 

Behind the separator I put a waste basket partially filled with straw for a poop bucket. 

Two of my guests used the toilet with good humor. It actually would have been fine for them to use my toilet inside, but this made things less complicated with the kitchen being in use.

The weather was still just warm enough. Everyone brought beverages, salads et al and I made fried chicken. I got them all inside for a tour and they could see that I had indeed managed to fit my whole life into this tiny house. At least my writing life. They loved the hammock where I do my serious writing. Two of the members had moved into retirement homes. One commented that she thought her apartment was small, but now she could feel it was spacious by comparison. And that was one of the messages I wanted to impart. Here is our group photo taken with my camera on a tripod attached to the trellis.

(This post has been backdated to keep a record of the timeline. Actual date of writing is 12/24/18).