Hi all, I'm having way too much fun in Ohio, working away at our little eventual-retirement bungalow... where the spirit (and most of the furnishings) from the Mudcat Dorm moved a few years ago.

The little house continues to amaze me with its ways; the layout facilitates applying Tiny Living and clutter-prevention principles. I'll paste in those principles separately.

I continue to look forward to my DH's retirement in 36 months or so; he's trying out retirement garb, like bowties on downtime instead of just taking off his clergy collar! ;-)

I also, when here for workshops/projects, continue to use up stuff our PA house had been storing. The Liberation Library here, for instance, has swallowed up boxes of books and literature from my earlier career, two small recliners, a file cabinet and tall stool, instruments and amps, a plastic drawer unit, a small analog TV for video review, MudDorm curtains and linens, and more... in a 9x12 room. Oh yes and my Boondocker cot (from the van that died, which I traded in an autoharp to purchase). Guest-ready for visiting niece, nephew-- or intern. Laptop and printer (an old, slow pair).... also the antiracism training materials for the workshops I co-lead here, as well as climate change workshop/organizing stuff. People say that they don't feel claustrophobic in there when I set up in meeting mode; TBTG the ceilings are a good height!

In the garden, four new lasagna beds. The newest is bordered by a row of cinderblocks, pointing up as planters for annuals, in front of the just-planted perennials we started in PA. Another one is about to get the wishing well I nabbed a few years ago from Freecycle, which has been reconstructed by a nice young man here. One more afternoon's screwdrivering, and it goes in place. DH Hardi and I will re-paint it during July vacay here. "It had good bones."

In the garage here, we continue to find and purge junk left by the sellers up in the rafters. Examples.... I hope to get one working VCR out of the three they left. I have repurposed a number of 5 gal buckets they left, a few items from the bags of children's clothes, a few mismatched pieces of glassware.... but many of the found items have been happily unloaded from my car by Goodwill workers. Maybe the garage rafters were their garage sale waiting to happen, but we'll need every inch of that rafter storage ourselves, after a little roof leak is found and fixed. Someone is going to get a very nice double bed out of that garage! Maybe yard man Jacob and his wife. I tease Hardi about that garage: "When do we insulate, eat, sheetrock, and plumb? Before or after adding a 2nd floor man cave/recording studio?"

Because every night when I scooter-exercise the dog, I find new ways people in this little area have customized the 3-4 modular home (GI Bill) floor plans, of which ours is one. I've seen that huge-i-fied garage two blocks over, housing a nice little home business. This 1008 square feet could easily double, with only one breezeway of new footprint. ;-)

~Susan