Tiny house aka Chaos

The tiny house movement looks like so much fun; downsizing, getting down to the essentials.  You and I have both watched those TV programs and dreamed of a simpler life.  What they don’t show is the process.  We moved from a 3000 sq foot house to about 700 sq feet of liveable space.  We still have the four of us, two dogs, and now even have a fish tank with two fish!

Freddie and Frank

We no longer have a house to use as a “storage unit” so we are carrying clothing and linens for all four seasons as well as tools and spare parts for the boat.  We have all the kids school books, boat and travel reference books, as well as our usual assortment of parenting books, fiction books,  and “love and forgiveness” books (that’s what the kids collectively call them).  Add in first aid supplies, toiletries, a fully stocked galley, beach chairs, beach umbrellas, fishing equipment, snorkel equipment, boogie boards, scooters, extra gas cans, DVDs, and way too many throw pillows and what do you end up with? CHAOS.

Yep, there are boxes and bags everywhere. Things have to be sorted and then stowed where hopefully we can find it again later.

In the middle of all this Benjamin turned 15!  How did that happen? He was just 7 last week!

He now has his Learner’s permit and has become the family chauffeur.

Beware all drivers in southern Georgia, considered yourself warned

And to add to this chaos? We find a dog. She was trotting down the side of a busy highway. We pulled over and called her and she came running up to us and let Kim slip a leash over her and put her in the van. Kim took her to the emergency vet but she wasn’t microchipped. She is so sweet…we named her Ruthie.

Look at that sweet face!

This dog is spayed so she belonged to someone at sometime. She was filthy, has a bum paw that doesn’t slow her down at all. She’s very friendly with people and other dogs. We gave her a bath (which she didn’t like one bit) and let her hang out on the boat with us.

Yep, three dogs on board

At this rate we will have to change our name from S/V (sailing vessel) Wonderstruck to S/K (sailing kennel) Wonderstruck.

But no, we didn’t keep her. We just held onto her until the Coastal Animal Rescue Society could come and get her. They will care for her and foster her until she finds a home. We just can’t take on another dog right now, but if we could…she is going to make some family really happy.

In the meantime if you come looking for us you will find us buried under piles of boxes and reusable bags, trying to bring order to chaos.