i’m going to miss this place

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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in one week i will be in colorado again on a one-way plane ticket!!!

cause i’m going to be driving my beautiful vardo home to california!!!

once we get here she won’t be all mine yet— she is going straight to tiny watts solar so she can get her solar and diesel heat systems installed— i’m going to be coordinating with wes and savana on the way home

and i’ll still have a month or two living in the forest

i’ve been so aware lately how much i’ve come to love living among the redwoods in my yurt and how much i will miss it when my time here comes to an end

now that winter is here and the rains have started it’s even more challenging, but i so appreciate the feeling of growing stronger and more resilient this way of life offers me

the other morning it was 36 degrees and raining as i walked up the hill in my towel to the outdoor shower!

when it’s cold, i feel it— when the rain is coming down i have to deal with it— when mice get into my stuff i remember i’m not the only one making my home here

i love trying to experience life a little more on banana slug time :))

i’m going to miss the banana slugs that hang out here with me!— and the chatterbox squirrels— and the quick, tiny birds— and the lofty ravens up high in the trees— and the creek

another stepping stone on my path to a new life

the view outside my yurt

she's really coming together fast now

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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it was amazing seeing how far my vardo has come when i was at “you know who” last weekend— pretty much everything is installed except my fridge

we went over lots of details and made a list— checking it at least twice ;)

i spent lots of time sitting in her just staring around in wonder!

my cousin happens to live right in lyons, so she got to come by and see my vardo— it was pretty affirming to hear her say, as she stood inside looking at everything, “It’s huge!”

i had dinner with my son, eric, on monday night and we decided on our roadtrip route back to santa cruz

since she won’t have any water or power in her yet, we are airbnbing it on the way home— last night i got our reservations for each place along the way, making sure we’d be able to park her

her next to last stop will be tiny watts solar here in santa cruz, where wes and savana will work their magic

i’ve started a new instagram to count down till we get her and beyond!— #vardodemadrone

she sure has nice curves!

colorado here i come!

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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again, it has been awhile since i posted, but now we are seeing the light at the end of the vardo tunnel!

she has her interior siding and floor in!

they are working on the cabinets as i write this!! 

i have a december 6 plane ticket to see her!!! 

and i have a one-way ticket december 26 to bring her home!!!!

it hardly seems real after all this time but it is getting more and more real

i just spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to make another instagram account about her but failed :/

i will see the light at the end of that tunnel too then you can see lots of images of her :)

here is a view looking at her floor and interior siding :))

some beautiful realness!

sooo wishing i had my vardo

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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we had power shut off all over california last week

i woke up in the middle of the night wednesday because my dogs were trying to burrow under my covers it was so cold in my yurt

we were without power for less than 24 hours there but it was so destabilizing!— no lights and no heat made it hard to function even for a short time

i kept thinking if i only had my vardo i would be snug as a bug!

“he who must not be named” got a huge headache last week installing all my wiring but it’s all in now and she is waiting for her spray in foam insulation next week

then they will be able to move on to the plumbing

after that, the beautiful interior cedar siding!— it smells so good :)

here is a view looking in toward my sleeping loft

home sweet home!

no antonyms found

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i know, i know— it’s been a month and i’m just now making another post

and i was trying to find a funny way of saying things are not exactly moving full speed ahead, but there were no comparable sayings with the opposite meaning— maybe i should just say “full speed ahead!— not!”

i feel as though things are moving along about as fast as a banana slug, if you read my last post— ha! ha!

so there is not a whole lot to bring you up to date on— the exterior siding is on and looks gorgeous!

the corner trim is on and looks amazing!

my front door has been resized and placed and looks so cool!— it even has a little peek a boo door you can open to see who is there outside ;)

i’ve been really busy with tiny house theater, though— i’m working with the santa cruz small business development center and they have a great team of folks to get you off on the right foot so you have a very successful plan to grow

i’m loving my new art studio in live oak and loving being back at all my schools now that fall is here— i’m getting settled and looking ahead

so i didn’t talk about my water system or my bathroom this time cause i’m not far enough into it yet

the next thing they are doing is the wiring and the insulation inside

for now i just have to stay patient and know that i will have my magical vardo sooner or later

looking goooood!!

the good, the bad, and the vardo

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this post may seem like a bit of a diversion from my normal topics, or maybe too much information for some people, but it’s what’s up in my journey right now

i have been amazed and delighted, as well as horrified, over the last week and a half

first the amazing part— a banana slug has become my new “pet”!— i first saw it on august 26 after dark— a friend had given me a bunch of pears from her backyard tree and they were on the counter— when i went to put them away, a banana slug had found them and was having a feast!

the really amazing thing is that the slug has been coming back almost every night, to the same spot, looking for the goods!

i’ve really been wondering about banana slugs’ brains, and how it can remember where to find the pear, and wondering where it goes during the day

the other night i spotted it on the back wall of the kitchen as i got home— took it an hour and 20 minutes to make it’s way all the way to the counter— i made sure it’s pear was there waiting :)
i’m out of pear now, so going to try giving it banana!— hee hee

now the horrible part—my hair is falling out!!— i noticed a weird gap in my bangs last week, and as i was braiding my hair as i do every night before bed, i realized it felt really skinny

the other day, i felt “light headed”— like my hair didn’t have any weight and the wind was blowing right through to my scalp

i kind of started freaking out, but i did remember that my hair got really thin back when i was 20, moving out under duress from my parents house, and having my periods start again while in recovery from an eating disorder

and again after i gave birth to my daughter

online i discovered there is a term for this phenomenon— telogen effluvium— sudden hair loss due to extreme physical or emotional stress— so now i know what’s happening— it should return to normal in 4-6 months, once my stress goes down and things get more normal

not that anything in my life is ever going to be “normal” again— and i am not sure whether my stress levels will taper off— but hopefully my hair will recover anyway!

as for my vardo, we had a pause last week to catch our breath and catch up on some details— now we are ready to move full speed ahead!— next time i’ll tell you about my water system and  how i’m handling my “bathroom” set up

my “pet” banana slug :)))

washer, filter and fridge, oh my!

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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i spent a LOT of time last week on the phone with my credit card company

at the beginning of august, my card got cancelled due to fraudulent activity, right when i was supposed to be ordering the appliances for my vardo!— by the time my new card arrived last monday, i had to get on that pretty quick

my first order was with ben at ben’s discount supply in las vegas, nevada— he found me a “scratch and dent” unique 6 cu ft solar powered DC refrigerator and saved me over $200.00!— thanks, ben!

BUT— my credit card company flagged his attempted transaction right out of the gate, which set off a whole domino effect with his and all the other purchases i tried to make after that— it took me the rest of the week to finally get it all ironed out!

but ben stuck with me and on the 4th! try it finally went through and i’m now the proud owner of a new unique solar fridge!— this is the company that wes at tiny watts solar recommended i buy to work best with the kickass solar system he’s designing for me

next, i ordered my splendide 2100XC vented washer/dryer— wes and savana had a chance to test this appliance at an install they did last week in southern california and they confirmed it will work perfectly for the system i will have in my wonder wagon— they were able to measure the power draw for each stage of the wash/rinse/dry cycles to get a detailed understanding of how using this luxury appliance in my vardo will affect my lithium battery power levels

i also ordered my berkey water filter!— i first heard about the berkey water filters on a wonderful episode of creativity rv, where robin interviews tiki in her rv and does a “find it” challenge with her— as soon as i looked it up i knew i wanted one!

so that is as far as i’ve gotten with my appliances— i still have to order my induction cooktop, but this will not be installed— i will keep it in a drawer and bring it out to use, and i’m keeping the toaster oven i have now to use in my vardo, which will also be stored in a drawer when not in use

the roof is on my vardo and next week they should be putting on the cedar siding and window trim— then they can finish up the inside and hopefully i’ll have her by the end of september!! 

my vardo leaving the roofers!

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

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it’s been a little over a week since i left my airbnb in ben lomond and landed at my magical yurt in felton

having packed up and moved for the third time in 6 weeks, it’s taking me much longer to get settled and organized this time around

but the place is very peaceful and green, with a swift little creek with many small waterfalls running down the hill

in the early morning as i drink my coffee, the dark winged ravens croak and fly between the towering trees— somewhere close by are tiny birds i haven’t seen yet that cheep and chirp

there is a firepit and they are building a sauna!— i really hope they finish it before my vardo is done ;)

my kitchen space outside finally is set up the way it works for me, but the inside of the yurt is still chaos!— i’ve never lived in a circular space and it’s more challenging than i realized when all the furniture is squares and rectangles

my vardo is still at the roofers and i’ve got a couple emails from “he who must not be named” with info to look over

had a great meeting with wes and savana of tiny watts solar yesterday— wes told me i am buying a couple decades of energy now!— that is something to get excited about!

i’ll tell you all about my appliances next time :)

my home for the next couple months!

walls, roof and reality

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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ok— i missed my goal by one day, but here i am with my next post!

things are really moving along!

last week the guys at “you know who” covered the amazing steel frame custom designed and built for my vardo by Mountain View Welding in longmont, co, with Zip System wall sheathing and taping

now my vardo has gone to Roof Check Inc. in longmont, co!— they are installing my metal, standing seam roof in a beautiful copper color

once it comes back, the cedar siding will go on and then the inside will be ready for finishing

I’ll be ordering my cooktop, fridge, sink and faucet, big berkey water filter, washer/dryer, and lighting this coming week

we will also be deciding on cabinets

another development is that i have realized that my vardo will not be done in august like i was wanting/planning— but in my next post i’ll share the magical place i get to live until it’s done, hopefully in october— just another chance to practice impermanence and being open to serendipity!

this post is short and sweet :)

please let me know what you think of my vardo so far, and let me know if you have questions!

here she is in all her glory!

paradise lost, and found

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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i’m sorry i have been away so long!— it has been months since i last wrote and so, so much has happened!

at the end of january, it became clear to both sides that tiny diamond and i needed to part ways

it was a very sad and traumatic turn of events, but i have to trust that each of us has only the best at heart for our situation and for the growing tiny house movement

but whenever one thing ends, something else is beginning!

in february, i found “you know who” in lyons, colorado!!— i cannot say enough wonderful things about their commitment, not only to their design-process inspiration and the highest quality build process, but even more, their continuous care for the relationship between builder and client

the concept, decision-making and build experience with them has been exciting, inspiring, fun, flexible and comfortable

in march, i acquired my ford lariat F550 from o’meara ford in northglen, colorado— it has a level of comfort i would not have chosen for myself, like leather interior and seats with heating and cooling settings (!) but chase chantals, the fleet manage at o’meara, identified several vehicles appropriate for my project and this one had everything i needed and more for a great price!

“you know who” helped me, with his extensive connections/contacts for all things tiny, to get great insurance for my very out-of-the-box situation from cheryl johnson at strategic insurance

in april i went out to colorado and met with byron and dot in person!— we got a super nice flatbed from rob at jayhawk trailers, and then byron had a steel frame designed and built for my living space “vardo” and sleeping loft over the cab

byron just keeps pulling one miracle after another out of his magician’s hat of creative genius!!

we looked at siding and sinks and cabinets and i ordered my front door

now, they have the rafters and ceiling up and soon it will be going to the roofer!

recently i connected with my solar company here in santa cruz, tiny watts solar— wes and savanna are designing a cutting-edge, super powerful system for me so i can have a washer-dryer in my vardo!

the other thing happening at the same time as all of this was that the beautiful house on the westside that my ex and i have owned together for the last 15 years was put on the market— of course we both knew it was an eventual outcome of the path our relationship took, but that didn’t make the end any easier— the hardest part for me was loosing my magical yard where for the last 3 years i’ve had my puppets in the garden summer performance series

but as i said, whenever one thing ends, something else is beginning!

now i have a wonderful, cozy studio in the 17th avenue studios where i can offer my classes, workshops and small performances

and it won’t be 5 months before the next post!— i’m aiming for every other friday :)

my vardo today!— with the ceiling almost done!

plans

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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Things are really starting to move with my theater!!

i just found out that a big chunk of my funding is coming through next week!— hooray!

i’ve posted the preliminary drawings steve made below, and we are fine-tuning everything with decisions about the doors, windows, roofing, flooring, cabinets, loft, and more

it’s funny how things don’t seem to be moving much, then suddenly they move fast

one of my tasks this week is to look in to my carpet— i’ve decided to go with FLOR carpet tiles, not just because it is a great product, but for the amazing commitment the company has to sustainability— they are actually a carbon neutral manufacturer, and they have a new initiative, climate takeback, to prove that companies can even be carbon negative!

here is a short youtube conversation with the current ceo, jay gould

i am wondering if maybe they would sponsor me??

guess i got a letter to write!

i really love trees!

the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

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they give so generously to the world— and at different points in my life, i felt my only sustaining relationships were with trees

on wednesday, i met with jared roth to talk about a special tree for tiny house theater

jared creates beautiful, found wood art with driftwood and reclaimed wood— i’m imagining one of his amazing pieces in my theater

he had lots of inspiring images to show me, and we spent time envisioning how this special tree would come into form

jared’s art is dimensional and has lots of curves— i can just picture people of all ages running their hands along the contours of my special “spirit” tree, communing with it and bonding with it

i’ve been thinking how to handle logistics come june and i think i’m going to rent a uhaul truck

then i can bring lots of my puppet stuff and the basics for camper life— i can also bring the panels jared will make for my doors and steve can mount them!

behind the wheel!

i’ve hit some speed bumps in the last month or so— but, i have decided on my truck!

i went back down to salinas mid-december, and kris answered a few follow up questions, then i test drove the ford F550

it was actually very affirming getting to drive that big truck and realize it’s really not all that different from driving my car— i’m just a lot higher above the road, and it’s noisier

and interestingly enough, it looks like i might be getting a 550, instead of a 450— one of my speed bumps has been the timing of my funding and thinking i was going to need to order the truck from the factory— this was really stressing me out, since the lead time for that is 4 months— that meant even if i was able to order it right then, i wouldn’t have my truck till at least april

but steve has found one with everything i need out there in colorado, it’s just a 550 instead of a 450— funny how that is the one i test drove :)

my other big speed bump was that i ended up having to postpone my trip to colorado :(

so, cheryl and i have been talking by phone about the roofline, the type and color of roof, water or no water in the trailer, loft configuration, doors, windows, floors…

and my trailer is ordered and being built right now!— it will be finished in a couple weeks and they will start working on tiny house theater for real!!

truck talk

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the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

a couple weeks ago i finally made it out to salinas to visit the commercial truck dealerships for ford and dodge— it was a great experience!

first i talked to kris at salinas valley truck center and got the dirt on GVWR and CVWR, which are the most important numbers to start with

I got to see the chassis i’ll be getting, and see the 12’ bed where my new home will be built

then i went over to talk to delilah at my dodge, knowing by then, after my conversation with kris, that i was pretty much committed to the 450 ford or 4500 dodge

delilah had a lot of helpful info on towing with my new truck

they say these work trucks are “rough” but they look amazing to me!— some of the folks i’ve talked to in my process were suggesting these work trucks wouldn’t have the level of comfort i would want, but sitting in them, they are awesome!— and you can get so many options

i think the last thing i have to work out is the back window, so i can have a little doggy door going into my camper from the truck

my last action is to go out and test drive both these vehicles, which i’ll do next weekend, then my truck research will be over and decision time will be here, but i’m about 85% already there

just need to confirm by getting behind the wheel :)

ford or dodge???

dreaming of ostheimer

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it’s only a couple months till i’m in colorado with steve and cheryl of tiny diamond homes to finalize the plans for my theater design!

i’m already thinking about paint colors, roof color, door color, floor color, truck color— because i love color!

also thinking about the ostheimers i’m going to have in my theater— i spent over an hour today looking at all the figures on their website and trying to decide on the scenes i want all around the walls

ostheimer wooden toys were first made in 1939 in germany, where they are still made today, with a dedication to work as social life, giving children the best, crafting by hand, awareness of real quality, sustainable production and making new things possible

i first saw these figures in the school store at the waldorf school of the peninsula back in 1998 when my daughter started second grade there

the store has since been named “hearts delight,” but back then it was just “the gift shop”— simply walking into that cosy space full of delightful treasures filled up something inside me that yearned for beauty and authenticity

for my birthday that fall, i asked for one of those wooden figures— a bare tree they call the bird tree, and an owl to sit in the tree— that was the start of the collection i have now— when my youngest left waldorf after 8th grade, my collecting pretty much stopped, and most of my figures had been put away since we moved out of our big house when we came to santa cruz

but a couple years ago i got them out and put them up along the top of the desk hutch and the armoire in the family room, and somewhere along the way i decided i wanted them in my theater— they are simple, warm, comforting, and magical— and that is a pretty powerful combination!

i have a lot of basic landscape pieces, and now i get to add more people and animals!— i’m going to have a castle scene, a farm scene, a forest scene, and some fairytale scenes, as well as a few other things

i can’t wait!

my ostheimers

i got my plane ticket, my airbnb, and my rental car!

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i’m going to colorado right after christmas to meet with cheryl and steve and finalize the designs for my traveling theater and my truck camper

we’ll have two whole days together to dream and sketch and get super excited about this amazing project!

along the way here, i’ve done some sporadic, fitful poking around about the truck i’m going to need to make all this go, literally!

now it’s time for me to buckle down and do the research i need to do to find the right one

i’ve talked to a few folks and gotten a bit of input, but i really need to set aside some time to read through truck stuff on the websites of ford, dodge and chevy

tonight, i’m taking some time to look at their websites

talking to cheryl last week, she gave me the contact info for showroom transport, the company she and steve use to get their tiny house builds where they need to go— cheryl says they are the ones i need to talk to about my truck

i’ll let you know what i learn!

looking at trucks!

in the beginning...

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a couple years ago, i posted a blog on my old website about tiny houses

you can see it here :)  http://www.madronedardenne.com/tiny-houses/

when i wrote that blog, it hadn’t been that long since the existence of tiny houses first entered my awareness— i’m not sure how i first heard about them, but i’m pretty sure it was a book i saw in bookshop santa cruz, which some of my classmates coincidentally gave to our dear puppet teacher, suzanne down, at the conclusion of our year-long puppet training in july, 2015

the idea of them put down roots in my imagination

at first it was just a tiny house on wheels, but somewhere along the way, i began to visualize a tiny house traveling puppet theater!

since i posted that blog on march 4th, 2016, i’ve been on a slow but steady march toward tiny house acquisition

in november, 2016, i attended one of tumbleweed’s now extinct weekend workshops and got pretty excited— i was going to have them build my tiny house, since i realized early on that building one myself wasn’t the right choice for me, but that didn’t work out

in october, 2017, i went to the tiny house jamboree in dallas and subsequently discovered zyl vardos— i thought he would be my builder, but that didn’t work out either

then, in december, 2017, i had an epiphany, thanks to a christmas card from my cousin, about separating the living area into a truck camper and having the entire trailer be the theater!

and somewhere around that time, i discovered tiny diamond homes, and steve and cheryl coates

i looked through their website— i read the testimonials— i called and talked to cheryl about design, and i talked to steve about trucks

this past summer, in august, 2018, on the way home from puppet boot camp, i visited cheryl and steve!

things are getting serious between us!— cheryl and sharon, her assistant, are creating a file for me and my dream of a real tiny house theater!

(there is supposed to be a picture here of sharon creating my file— i’ll post it when cheryl sends it to me :))

wildflowers at chautauqua park in boulder, colorado— i got to spend some time exploring the gorgeous trails here when i was in boulder for puppet camp.

my first tiny house theater blog post!

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the purpose of my blog is to document and share images, questions, ideas, information, discoveries, excitement and events as i journey from dream to reality with my tiny house theater

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed in magic. She colored magical worlds with her crayons. She built houses for the fairies in the sandbox. She went on magical treasure hunts in the forest, and she talked to the animals and the trees.

Many times she was told that magic wasn’t real, and as she got older a strange thing happened: slowly she lost her way to the magic inside her. Then the girl grew sad, and she stopped coloring and talking to the trees.

But the magic was always there inside her, just waiting.

The girl became a woman, and one day something amazing happened. The woman saw a puppet show, and all the magic inside her came alive again!

The woman began to sew colorful quilts, and she planted a garden. She wrote stories and made puppets of her own. She began to share her love of nature, her stories, and the magic inside her through her puppet shows. 

And she had a very magical idea! She wanted to have a tiny house puppet theater that would travel the land, bringing magical stories of nature, wonder and imagination to all.

That girl was me, and that woman is me! Welcome to the magical world of Tiny House Theater. Follow along here as I turn my magical dream into a reality!”

I wrote this at the final, 4-day writing intensive for my year-long “Walkabout Tales” writing course with Suzanne Down and Juniper Tree Puppets. Christine Summerfield came and gave us a day-long presentation on writing a blog and it was just the inspiration i needed to get me going on the blog I have been wanting to start for awhile.

You can meet Suzanne here: https://junipertreepuppets.com

And Christine here: https://www.wiselilystories.com