Category: THE121

Everything you wanted to know about tiny house living

Spring at Teaberry Acres

Some days are just sad. Sad is ok.

Have you ever had those days? Where the sad news just doesn’t end?

That’s how today felt for me.

As I drove up the gravel drive of Teaberry Acres my heart welled with both sadness and gratitude. Sadness and Gratitude can co-exist.

My eyes turned upwards as my tires rolled over the gravel and proceeded up the hill. My heart was reminded of the generous provisions the Lord has granted me.

With my sneakers still on, I woke Maggie Marie up from her slumber (yes my cockapoo sleeps alllll day) and we stood outside with the sun beckoning us through the trees to talk and walk.

It’s been a second since I’ve been on the back acres, but nonetheless I felt the trees calling and my Spirit needing some grounding.

I climbed over the first downed tree that had fallen years ago and began to walk. With each crunch of leaves fallen months ago my Spirit settled more and more.

As THE121 began to fade, I paused and recognized so many answered prayers exist at Teaberry Acres.

Remember.

Remembering helps me fix my focus. Remembering also beckons me to dream again. As I stood at the spot where two trees precariously leaned against two others that broke their fall, I imagined what this spot could be. What could it hold for future healing?

Does God always have to break us to heal us?

I don’t think the answer is always yes.

However I do know that brokenness does lead to healing if we allow Him to enter into those hard places.

Sadness and Gratefulness can coexist.

My Spirit is challenged to continue to dig in. To remember.

THE121 @teaberryacres is a place of many answered prayers, one of which includes healing.

And just for smiles…enjoy Maggie Marie’s smile on our hike tonight @teaberryacres.

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What was lost…has been found!!!

If you read my last post, you entered into my great dismay about the loss of half of my coffee maker.

It was maddening. Quite literally.

I spent hours which turned into days turning this Tiny House inside out. I began obsessing about where that one piece could have gone.

I’m quite certain that there wasn’t a corner of THE121 that wasn’t touched.

I was so obsessed, that I am also quite certain that if you had any face to face contact with me, you knew my quest for the missing piece.

My co-worker and I were chatting and she suggested the “usual”

RETRACE YOUR STEPS.

Yep. Done.

Or had I?

And so, I grudgingly trudged home, to once again “retrace my steps.”

I stood in the middle of all 250 square feet of THE121 and prayed. True statement.

And as if, there it was the entire time…lights from heaven came down, the angels started to sing and the Hallelujah chorus was in stereo!

That one piece?

WAS IN THE COFFEE MAKER!!!

Now before you start to judge (which, if I were you, I would be doing right now…) the one piece had somehow become conjoined to the other piece. I still have zero idea how the coffee maker worked with the two pieces joined together, but alas, that’s above my pay grade.

So many lessons learned in this short (but what felt like eternity) quest.

  • Breathe. I have a lot of cortisol.
  • Cortisol disrupts your nervous system (I’m a trauma therapist)
  • Ask a friend for help
  • Don’t quit
  • Sometimes you have to quit so you can start again
  • Things can indeed get lost in tiny houses
  • Jesus never quit looking for me

I love life.

Most days.

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I bet you never…and other tiny house myths.

I was at a workshop today, the kind where you go around the room and do “ice breaker” questions.

One of the many joys of tiny house living is that for a very long time yet to come, I won’t have to think of a “strange fact about myself.”

Turns out living in a tiny house is strange enough.

Out of the many things people say to me when they hear that I live in a tiny house is, “I bet you never lose anything!”

I wish this statement were true.

Oh. How. I wish.

As it turns out, you can still lose things in 250 square feet.

How is that possible?

I have no idea.

But.

It.

Is.

Currently I’m looking for half of my coffee maker.

Half.

I have one of those fancy coffee makers where you can switch out contraptions depending on the amount of coffee you wish to consume.

Thursday night I wished to consume a larger amount.

Friday the desire was less. Therefore, I took out the larger consumption contraption for the more desirable smaller contraption.

And that leads us to today. Where is the larger contraption?

Gone.

THE121 has swallowed it whole.

I have searched EVERYWHERE. All 250 square feet.

I even resorted to looking in the washing machine because I could figure out how to install a dishwasher this past week but turns out I couldn’t figure out that said dishwasher, in-fact , took dishwashing detergent and not soap. THE121 began filling with suds whilst I was on a zoom call (that’s probably another post)…

So maybe, I scooped the larger coffee contraption up in the towels I used to clean up the suds…

It was a hope, but nope. No coffee contraption in the washing machine.

Here I am, perplexed and dismayed at the loss of half of my coffee maker on the eve of the week where my days turn from 8 hour work days to 9 hour work days.

The myth?

Tiny Houses don’t swallow things whole.

The truth?

I’ve lost more than half of coffee makers. Turns out it’s not about the space, it’s about the mental bandwidth of the girl living in the house.

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Even Cinderella would want a Tiny House

Maybe she would still want her castle with Prince Charming, but my guess would be, without the maids, she would want a Tiny House!

Pros to Tiny House Cleaning: it takes less time .

Cons to Tiny House Cleaning: if you don’t do it, there’s no hiding it.

I do hear quite a bit, “your house is probably so easy to clean!”

I always answer, it really is!

The downside?

You can always tell (and very easily) when it’s not!

There is no hiding in a tiny house.

There’s also no Cinderella or Mary Poppins either.

I’ve tried to entice the bears in the woods to come in, but sadly, my efforts have failed.

As long as (and that’s a BIG AS LONG AS!) I keep up with the reading up (bonus points if you know what “reading” or is it “reddin”? Up means!), a typical day takes me about 10 minutes to clean the house.

Once a month I do a “deep clean” which involves washing the floor, rugs, stairs and the areas the naked eye doesn’t catch, which takes me about an hour.

Have I convinced you yet to go Tiny???

This post reminds me, I have dishes in the sink…

I also want to know if you know what reddin’ up means? I’m giving away my heritage slightly in this here post… great great grampy is prolly rollin in his grave down there in the hollar.. so I’ll leave that there while I go tend to the dishes.

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The night I threw my dishwasher out the front door.

I post a lot about the benefits of living in a tiny house off grid…so how about some good ole country truth telling…

If you live anywhere east of the Mississippi, you may or may not have been VERY cold last week. Remember the post where I wrote that Maggie Marie and I were quite warm in THE121? If not, you can read it Here.

I still would tell you that for the most part, we stay warm.

UNLESS Antarctica invades the Eastern part of North America and the temperatures drop below zero…then I would tell you that I become like Ralphie from The Christmas Story…

What happens to the tiny house when temps drop well below zero?

Check out the story Here from 2023 when my house flooded.

That’s what happens.

The pipes freeze if I’m not diligent to protect the house.

And well. It happened again.

Saturday morning I woke up to no water. Zero. Water.

I spent the day trying to “do what I knew to do.”

And then, I could do no more.

So I phoned every single person I knew could help.

No one answered.

BUT. GOD.

He wanted me to wait. To breathe. To have a little conversation with Him (remember how He does that?!).

And then all of my friends from all over began to call. And come.

Within time, God warmed my pipes and my heart in my surrender. So I was able to rest.

Until I wasn’t.

THE121 has an on demand water heater. And I’m sure you know that means that the heater doesn’t turn on unless there is water running through it.

So you could imagine my internal questioning when I was using the bathroom at 9pm and the hot water heater turned on!

Yep, you guessed it!!! The “last” pipe unfroze and the next thing I knew I was walking through water.

My dishwasher died in the debacle of 2023, however I never got rid of it (full disclosure I have been using it as storage!). Since I never got rid of it, the water hose was still connected and well…spewing water into my house.

So at 9pm, I opened my front door and threw it out.

Picture taken next day. Just so I could remember that this actually did happen.

And that’s how the dishwasher landed in my front yard. Frozen pipes.

Tiny house living isn’t always glamorous. But then again, living life fully isn’t always glamorous either. I want to live life fully and passionately. God gave me THE121 to teach me and heal me. This story serves as a reminder of the beauty of community. Those who show up, those who pray and those who help.

I just might keep the dishwasher in my front yard as a reminder, at-least for a little while longer.

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Silence Interrupted

The snow crunches under my feet…the pines stand still with white dust covering their half there branches.

It’s quiet here in winter and perhaps that’s why winter might be my favorite. The stillness beckons me to rest.

Here at THE121, my bedroom is on the main floor (which by the way was a must for me with all those bathroom trips!) and resembles a cave tucked into the end of the tall ceilings under Maggie Marie’s room. I’ve been told by guests who have stayed in my absence that it’s the best sleep they have ever had.

And so, at night, I rest. I rest hard in the silence of the woods, in my cave bedroom, here in the winter.

Until the silence is interrupted.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

When the batteries that power THE121 run low, the inverter sends out loud beeps to notify me that my powers about to go out unless I do something about it.

Turn on the generator.

At 2am.

This is off grid living. Sometimes I have to give up things to get things.

We all do.

I give up convenience to save on money.

As the silence was interrupted at 2am, I had time to talk to the Lord. And what a picture He gave me.

Most of us live our lives doing our thing without much thought, until our lives are interrupted.

If you’ve been following you know that I’ve had several major surgeries that have quite literally interrupted my life. And yet…it has been in those interruptions that some of my deepest soul work has been done.

The Lord is doing a deep work in my heart and I am choosing today to be thankful for the interruptions which force me to the hard.

The sun sets on Teabbery Acres
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Winter in THE121…how cold is too cold???

I love all questions tiny house living. I love that people are genuinely inquisitive. I think it’s natural human tendency to ask questions about things we don’t understand or know.

One question I get, particularly this time of the year, is “how do you heat your tiny house” and “do you ever get too cold in there?”

Both are great questions!

So first…I heat my house with propane! The first year I would haul 40lb propane tanks to and from work, stop at the gas place, haul the tanks off the back of my truck, have the nice man fill them, reverse process, travel home, unload and hook back up… I’m tired even now just thinking about it!

Second year…I got smarter! Isn’t that the phrase after all…work smarter not harder….

Second year, I had a bigger tank dropped off and now I am never without heat! Plus I save my back, which my body thanks me for.

I also insulate around and under the skirt which also helps on these super windy cold days here in the wooded mountains.

Another way I stay warm at night…I have a heated mattress pad on my bed and a heated blanket thanks to a SUPER thoughtful friend! About 30 minutes before I get in bed, I turn on the heat and when I get into my bed it’s like a warm hug envelops me.

So…do I stay warm? Yes!

Plus, if you’ve been hanging around long enough…you may know and remember, I LOVE winter!

I’d honestly rather be cold any day before I’d be dripping in sweat. I’m a big fan of blankets, hoodies and super thick socks. And good news…so is my sweet girl.

So happy winter my friends.

We are tucked in tight and staying warm here at teabereyacres in THE121.

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It’s never what you expect.

I groggily awoke this morning in my cozy tiny house and slithered out of bed anticipating a quiet and slow morning here at THE121. I climbed the stairs to wake up Maggie Marie and wished her a Merry Christmas Eve! I checked her bed carefully as last night she had been vomiting. All ok.

She ate her breakfast while I prepared myself my 43 year old Christmas Eve traditional cinnamon toast breakfast. The house filled with the aroma of cinnamon and coffee brewing while Christmas songs played.

I sat down to spend time with the Lord, coffee and cinnamon toast in hand, when my phone began exploding with text messages and a phone call.

The Christmas box never arrived.

Yes the one with my presents from Ohio. I shrugged it off expecting it would arrive later in the week, it’s not what Christmas is about to me anyways.

Except they said it was delivered.

The UPS driver lies, I told myself.

Phone calls to corporate, no responsibility taken, I surrendered that it was probably stolen at the bottom of my long drive. We’ll file a claim later.

Back to my coffee and Bible.

Then I sat in the quiet of THE121 crocheting and enjoying the snow, when I felt a whisper from the Holy Spirit check the bag you threw in your truck last week.

Last week as I was pulling up my long drive, I saw a random garbage bag thrown into the woods on the side of my drive. I saw a target box in the bag and knew that must be the present from my sister. I threw it in the back seat of my truck as, well, a tiny house doesn’t have a lot of space to keep large boxes and went about life.

But as the Spirit whispered, I listened and opened the garbage bag. There was the box from Ohio!

I phoned Ohio and exclaimed the Christmas miracle!

The package wasn’t where I expected it to be. It wasn’t in the wrapping I expected it to be in, and so in my mind it must have gotten lost or stolen.

My mind immediately went back to the least unexpected package this season celebrates.

Jesus wasn’t delivered by an expected person. He wasn’t delivered in an expected way. He wasn’t even wrapped in an expected package. The shepherds were guided by a star to find Jesus. I expect they wouldn’t have found him any other way as he was delivered in a very unexpected place.

So I wonder. What are we missing because we expect them or it to be a certain way?

May our eyes be opened this Christmas season to see the unexpected.

Enjoy the staged photo of my Christmas Eve tradition!

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The Quiet of the Night

I just tucked Maggie Marie into bed (yes she has her own bed and yes I tuck her in and yes you may judge me now). I turned off the Christmas tree lights and blew out my pine scent candle. I lay down on my couch, turn on my outside lights and look out my bay window upwards towards the towering pins that line my driveway. As I look up, snowflakes the size of dimes and pennies fall from the night sky. With each snow flake that falls the ground becomes a vibrant glittering white.

I haven’t gone out much nowadays and so it’s as if the earth that the snow falls on is untouched and the snow pure. The only sound is my generator running, pouring juice into my house to get me through the night but even that purring is a comforting sound to me now.

There’s something about snow that stills us, at least for me. It causes me to stop and the wonder of watching it, has yet to get old. Snow constantly reminds me of Psalm 51:7

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
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So maybe I’m still in awe because the snow reminds me of what Christ did for me on the cross. He purified me and washed me whiter than snow. If you live anywhere where it snows, you know what that whiteness looks like.

And so I sit and I watch tonight. I watch each flake fall on teaberry acres with an awe and wonder that Jesus Christ, the King of Kings has washed me whiter than the snow.

A glimpse out my window
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Truth over lies

As the rain hits the metal roof of THE121 this morning, the Christmas tree lights twinkle against the backdrop of the woods and my pine candle burns reminding me it’s Christmas time, I am tempted to despair. You may be reading this and thinking that sounds dreamy and you’d be right. There have been many a day I have dreamed for this. Maggie Marie cuddles up next to me, my crochet hook waiting to work, and yet…

I am tempted to despair. I am tempted to believe the lie. The deceiver would tell me you’re never going to get better. The deceiver would tell me God is never going to use you again. The deceiver lies.

I was so privileged (yes I intentionally used that word because so many aren’t) to attend church yesterday morning. Our pastors have been preaching on Spiritual Warfare because well…the battle is real.

This quote from John Mark Comer hit me:

So today I believe the truth. My story isn’t over. So if I continue to struggle physically and if I don’t return to work and if the pain never ceases, God IS still good. God IS who He says He is. God CAN and WILL use me for HIS glory and HIS story.

The deceiver won’t win. This side of heaven we all have our struggles and our thorns in our flesh. But oh what a glorious day that will be when we see our Savior face to face.

It’s also a glorious day when we chose to believe the truth over the lies. So today that’s my stance, fix my focus in the hard and chose to believe the truth, He is for me, This is for my good.

If you’d like to listen to the gathering you can find it Here.

If you’re wondering about this Jesus I talk about and how to know him, click Here

The flesh is weak. The battle is real. God is greater and He can be trusted.

Got questions? Reach out, I would to have a conversation.

I’ve got loads of time nowadays. Time to pray and time to listen. Maggie Marie and I are on the couch, choosing to believe the truth over the lies. Well I’m choosing, she’s waiting for her next treat time…

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