1st project of many!

So, here we have it, the first project of many!  My mother-in-law bought us a boat several years ago....it has never left the driveway as it needed far too much work for it to be safe/float ha ha!
So, hubby removed the boat (it was one of those inflatable ones, similar to what you might see James Bond speeding round the Thames on, but smaller!), and now we are left with a trailer that has a length of 3.2m (longer to the point of the tow socket thingymejig or what ever it is called - 3.2m is the square flat bit we can build on).

The idea was to turn it into a mobile chicken house, after-all, when we go tiny we're going to need to move the chickens and all the other animals with us....but it's very tempting to try fit some drop down bunks and a fold out bed - for us, not the chickens, somehow that's possible, right?!  Maybe we could turn it into the kids den/playroom, then turn the caravan (the one kindly given to us by some friends) into our first tiny home - but that is only 5m in length, so really would be tiny!

We're going to use materials from our collapsed hangar, there is plenty of wood there and some metal sheeting too!  Just need to be sure we don't go too heavy, or we're going to need a bigger trailer.

Any ideas are most welcome, even if they're a bit crazy!

Tiny Stove.

Isn't it cute!

Although it is going to be a pain in the ass for hubby to chop wood to fit in the tiny door, lol!

This is the stove we have at the moment and I adore it (it heats the entire house - in the winter it's often 24 oC inside), the one above is like a mini version, I'm so pleased to have found an almost identical match :)

Slide out, fold out, tiny home extension!

I just can't make my mind up about having a slide out....we live on the coast and get the most fierce winds, so I thought if we did have any slide outs, the tiny home would have to also function with them 'in' when the weather is severe!
Then, I spotted this video on one of the groups I follow.  I REALLY like this idea, I *think* it appears more weather proof than a slide out....but I'm no expert?  If we could make it work though it would create so much more space, maybe we could even fit two into the design?
At this rate I think we are going to have a huge house on wheels rather than a tiny home, lol!

Raising the roof!

One of the facebook groups I follow posted a link to this video today.  GENIOUS!!!!
Earlier this week hubby and I went for a drive round, to work out which roads we would use to access each of our fields, worryingly there were a lot of telephone wires that seemed quite low (although we haven't measured them yet).  This would be a solution to keeping the height of our tiny home down, but also enabling us to have the height we need when sited (we're both tall).
I'm so excited, another solution found, lol!

Happy Campers!

Well, long time no update!  REALLY must try harder....

Our friends have given us (how GENEROUS are they!!!!) a caravan, woohoo!
We are so excited so be able to go and camp in the van in our fields, lol!  Our girls LOVE the caravan and it has become an extension of the house.  It's 3 birth (so hubby will be on the single and I think I will have to sleep on the floor, in the niche under the double bed haha) and has a shower/loo.  It's small but has everything we need to camp....
We were given the caravan a couple of weeks ago, just at a time when I had had enough of this house!  The wind and rain we have had recently has been coming from the west, and the roof started leaking, water was coming in from round the velux window in our youngests room, travelling down the wall and into our downstairs bedroom....I had to sleep in another room as the damp smell was too much for my allergies!  We've only been here for 6 years (almost - next month), so we are still under guarantee, but it took TWO trips out from the building company to fix it, cause they didn't do a good enough job first time, grr!
So, there has been a LOT of talk about selling up and building our tiny home, and I can confirm it IS going to happen, we hope within the next two years (depending on selling our house).  I'm also back at work in a couple of weeks after having winter off, so another reason to get serious about it.  My hours have been upped, which is GREAT for the bank, but I'll be heading out as soon as hubby is home, and it really is NOT the life we planned when moving back to France!
Tiny House Nation has been playing on UK TV too, so feeling really inspired, it IS possible to live in small spaces, happily, comfortably, efficiently, ecologically!
We went to the prefecture last week to check our driving licenses, to make sure we are going to be legal and to ask about height/length/weight etc, so we know our restrictions, but we have to go to another office that's a 200km round trip, so it's planned for sometime very soon!
That's where we're at for the moment, I'm doing lots of sketching to see what we can fit into our tiny home....our girls MUST have a bedroom each, they're going to have mezz sleeping areas above too, which means the only room left for our master bedroom will be in our own mezz - so finding out the height restriction for towing is very important as hubby and I are tall, lol!

Just not happy!

I think we need to move, we need peace (from nosy neighbours lol) and we need freedom (sick of watching the pennies EVERY month!).  We're never going to be able to save up to do the extension, every time the bank recovers from the last disaster, there is something else to fork out for!
We're tired of being in the rat race - work, eat, sleep; work, eat, sleep....we do get free time but not with each other, not as a family, he works mornings through to early afternoon, and I work in the evening, so we get lunch together, but usually when the girls have gone back to school.  This isn't what we came back to France for.
So the search continues, I think we'll still stay local, as we love the area and the beaches....no idea what we will end up with though, a building plot to build an eco home, an earthship, or a tiny home and boat making do with the fields we have?  I want my own business too, a gite, a caravan, a 'glampsite' or a catering trailer/van, I think we may be having a joint midlife crisis, lol!
I don't know what we will do with the house, sell it or rent it out?  If we will keep any of the plot (maybe the field part and just sell/rent the garden part)....all ideas and thoughts welcome!  I hope we can make a decision (and one we WILL stick to) by the end of this year....

The plan!

So, a decision needed to be made, are we going to stay in our house, or are we selling up and living freely on our land....
We have decided to stay for now, however, we have our names down at a sailing port about 20 mins away, and have 2 years left to wait for a place - so it's a VERY good compromise. 
Just one thing, we'd better get saving up for a boat!
I found a renovation project (boat) last week, it was a 20m iron sailing boat, at a bargain price of 5k, no surprise it's been sold already!  However, I think our maximum size at the port is 15/16m, as we would have to moor at the pontoon rather than a buoy, as we have young children, so I must be sure not to get carried away when I'm looking, lol!

Recycling and gardening in one!

Well, we've not used the BBQ in ages as we don't eat meat (even though I bought it with the intention of cooking lots of lovely veggies burgers on it), and in the summer we prefer cold veg rather than roasted/BBQ'd veg, so....we have a new salad bar, lol!

This week hubby will be digging up some of the side garden so he can fill an old wheel barrow with soil (packing the hole with left over rubble from when we built the patio), and it will be filled with strawberry plants grown by his mum.  I need to crack on and get some rotavating done too as I've 200 young spring onions to put in, green beans, radish, carrots, and peas to sow, followed by a variety of herbs and some tomato plants to pot.  How I LOVE this time of year!

Long time no post, still thinking!

So, it's been aaaages since I last blogged!  In the time between then and now, we have finally managed to come up with a plan to extend our house, making the most of the size we're allowed to add on (36m2)....therefore, a decision needs to be made - spend a few more years here and create more equity in our home, or break free and find ourselves an alternate, free living home?!
We've had some cracking storms this winter, with several days of hurricane force winds, we were VERY lucky to only have damage to trees and nothing structural.  It does worry me how we would manage when the winds return next winter if we're in a caravan/truck/bus!  Many local fields flooded too and are only now drying out - over a month later!  Ours were very wet, and one of our horses suffered with it.  So there are also plans of moving our field shelter to where our garden chalet is as there is a concrete base which is perfect for standing on when it's wet, and we could add on a goat and chicken house without going over the allowed size (20m2).
We need to write up a list of pros and cons, and we need to come up with a back up plan - what if we sell and alternate living doesn't work out, would we really be able to start again?
I was reading another alternate blog a few days ago, one of the reasons many people don't go for the free lifestyle of not being tied to a house, is fear, I don't want to be held back by my own fears and worries....

It's a caravan....

....no, it's a mobile home....no, it's a.... TRUCK?! 
Love this, if we could create/covert a truck and it be as beautiful and functional as the one in the link is, then we will be very happy!  It has slides outs (dining and sofa area) AND a full solar roof, amazing!!!!

Alternate living is back in the game!

Spoke to hubby this morning, and the fact we would be MORTGAGE FREE, be able to build a fancy trailer/convert a bus AND buy a boat is enough to spur us on....I spotted a beautiful boat online last week, and hubby keeps mentioning it (when we met, he was due to leave France and go sailing around the world, going from job to job, but obviously he didn't). 
Although it would be hard living in such a small space, when we already feel like sardines squeezed into our 4 bed detached house, with an integral garage, a garden chalet/garage, various (small) outbuildings/shelters for our animals, it would give us the way of life we desperately crave....
I can't begin to imagine what an impact it will have on our girls, being more with nature and less with a screen in front of them, showing more respect to our resources (cause we will be off grid so electric and water will limited), sailing wherever and whenever the mood takes us (as long as we have pet sitters lol). 
I know it feels like too big an adventure, what if we don't enjoy it, what if we regret it....but I can't see a reason for any regrets, or any reasons why we wouldn't enjoy it!

The latest purchase!

So, below there should be a video of our new purchase, 2 acres of gorgeousness!  

In case I'm being a bit backwards (highly likely) and the video doesn't work, I will post a photo too ;)

Wow, time for an update!

Well, the last time I blogged I was happy to share the news of my new job....6 weeks in I was made redundant :(  I was sooooo happy there, and the other staff and the boss were great!  However, business wasn't doing well and myself and the other newest member of the team had to be laid off. 
I'm back job hunting, but it has got me thinking.... this year, between my seasonal job and the new job, I had been working full time hours, which is busy when you're a mum too, and even more busy when you've got so many animals and several plots of land to look after!!!! 
I would love to not need the money, but bills to pay and all that....But, what if....what if we did it, what if we just went for it, and converted a bus or a trailer, or got a boat, there would be no mortgage, no utility bills (self sufficient), even the council tax would be minimal as we'd be living as gypsies on our own agricultural land.  Oh I wish I was brave enough to just jump right into the adventure rather than being sooooo cautious and unsure!

What a difference a few days makes!

Well, after my blog entry on Thursday (Feeling Attached....!), I applied for another job (I was only employed seasonally before, April-Sept), an hour after sending my application by email I had an interview and a trial arranged.  That trial was 2 days ago, and I got the job woohoo!  It's only 15h per week, but it works out great with school times, and it's a permanent contract, yay!
So....this means we can afford to make a few alterations to the house, and....*drum roll*....next year we can buy a caravan and give our alternate home a trial without needing to sell our house to do so.  If we decide it's what we want to do, we will build the trailers we had planned and then rent out the house whilst we live in the trailers.  Perfect!
So, the caravan 'window shopping' has begun :)

Feeling attached....!

So, we're thinking of going off grid and living in a....*drumroll*....caravan!  Lol!
We're wanting to buy a couple of these (semi trailers) and convert/build them into something like this!
This past week though, since we viewed the other house (crumbling, ready to be rebuilt, not much view, coastal property!) I'm feeling VERY attached to our house, we had it built for us in 2009 and I designed/modified the layout.  It's 4 beds, integral garage, sat in a 1.5 acre field, so about 1/2 acre is garden, the rest is animal paddocks and driveway.
The thing is, if we stay here, there is a LOT I want to do, we NEED a new shed as ours is at the point of collapse!!!!  I want to convert the garage into a master bedroom /en-suite and build a conservatory/sun room extension.  Then we really need a large carport, to store wood and hay, and I'd like to create a stable extension to house all our animal food, tack and goats/chickens (our horses are out 24/7 - but a stable block could be a way to get around planning permission)....all this means I have to continue working, we didn't move back to France for that, we moved here so I could be a sahm, so I could create an organic veg/fruit patch (I am however, a TERRIBLE gardener lol), and so I could care for all our animals.
I'm feeling stuck, I'm desperate to get out of the system that screws you and takes your money (bank/insurance/mortgage), I want to be eco and live off grid, but I'm in love with our house....?!

ETA, look at this, amazing!!!!

Doubts!

Keep having doubts (verging on absolute panic) about our next *house* move, so every time I'm having a wobble, I'm going to look at this!  I think this will be the one thing that will make me (us) go through with it....?!
We had thought, originally, to split our time between the house on wheels and a boat, but with so many animals it's totally unrealistic, so will have to be a weekend/holiday treat instead.
We're off to see another house today, the photo below is the view from the side of the property (where there is a public footpath), it's STUNNING and we could just about be mortgage free (it needs renovating/new roof etc), but....it's got LOTS of neighbours, plus only a 1/4 acre garden, and I'd rather be in a private/secluded spot, away from the world, and our animals would all have to be kept in our other fields, I can cope with the horses further away, but I'd want the goats to be in the garden as they are now - for milking if nothing else....still lots to think about, before we make that final decision, but the house on wheels seems to be getting our biggest vote each time....

Amazed!

Finally, after searching the internet for what seems like forever, I've found the perfect inspiration to our new home here and here!
I'm hoping to find the time to complete this simple task asap, which will give me great encouragement about living off grid!
Safe water harvesting and recycling is another thing I need to learn about, and also being self sufficient, I MUST turn my fingers green, lol....for the moment, I am the worlds worst gardener/harvester....

Mortgage Free?

Due to events beyond our control earlier this year, we have decided to try and ditch the mortgage, but I'm not sure if we might be seen as a little extreme/mad?!

Sooooo, our village has a rule that you can live in a field for 3m of the year, as long as what you're living in has wheels (caravan) and doesn't make a permanent change to the field, and as we have enough fields to rotate each year, this is a serious consideration. We could sell our house, pay of our mortgage and fees, pay off our loans (for buying our 13 acres) and still have enough money left over to sort out the next part of the plan....

Originally we were going to go for one of these, but heating is by electric or gas, and as we have our own supply of wood, we prefer a wood burner for free heating!
We had also thought about a gypsy caravan but it's quite small, esp for the price.
So, we're thinking about buying 2x HGV trailers and building two of these! They will slot together, one being the kitchen/dining/living room, the other being a shower room, a seperate WC and 3 bedrooms (yes, 3 beds is possible, as the trailers will be 3x14m lol).
We will also have enough left over to build a stable block - which as horse owners we are allowed to do in our fields (each field if we please!), with water and electricity connections. The stable block will be 2 stables and a tack room, the tack room will have a shower room and WC, and also will have plumbing for a washing machine, and electric to charge appliances
Will will create an area in each field, where the trailers will blend in with the surrounding nature/landscape. We will also invest in wind and solar, and also rain water recycling. It will be a back to basics, self sufficient type of lifestyle, which I feel will benefit our children.


Is this absolute madness, and a stupid way to be mortage free? What would you think of people living like this? How would you feel if your children went to school with other children living like this?