Kill Your Television- finding time to build YOUR tiny dream house- and other projects

My backyard with SOME of my micro-cabins- the locale for the recent Relaxshacks.com Workshop- photo by Bruce Bettis

 Alot of people have asked me over the past few years "Deek, how the heck do you find time to do any of these projects?"- to which I reply "Little Sleep n' Lots of Coffee!"- kiddingly- well, somewhat. Honestly and simply- and it ties right into another part of today's ramblings- one of the things we DON'T have in our household is cable tv, and the lack of that temptation has freed up quite a bit of my time both day and nights.
    Beyond that, we recently purchased a Vizio flat screen tv so as to gain some needed space in our modest/small home (small by US standards- four of us, and a huge dog, in approx. 1000 square feet or so- and lovin' it), and after mere months, the thing has crapped out (a recurring problem with their sets apparently). In the meantime, while we're wrestling with the warranty, the botched service jobs, and lousy customer service, we now haven't had tv AT ALL for almost a month now. Honestly, by day three I stopped instinctively reaching to turn it on while eating a bowl of cereal, or working on my blog, but beyond that, while already a total bookworm, I've not only had more time for reading and sketching, but for many other things as well. Ultimately, family-wise, the tv will be back, but I have to say, through this little unintentional experiment (and given that its something I've been wanting to kick for awhile), I can't say I'm in a rush to get the ole beast back. I do miss PBS and Create though...

Here's a few of the random things I've done recently, when I would have been watching re-runs of "Green Acres" instead....and its with little changes like this, that you might be able to find more time to plot YOUR next project, or future tiny home. Your tips and ideas are ALWAYS welcome too...

-Picked several pints of raspberries from the canes/garden in my yard.
-Went to a local pond to go swimming
-Visited a local farm I found by accident- where I discovered a new, closer, source of farm-fresh eggs.
-Worked on gussyin' up cabin #2 from our Relaxshacks.com building workshop the other week (pix soon- once I'm done painting it). "The Little Blue Bump" might be its name- you'll see...
-Took the communter rail into town to check out the Boston Common/ride the Swan Boats with the family
-Baked a HUGE homemade lasagna
-Made donuts from scratch with my family (something I'd never made before)
-Read a heck of alot more than I usually do (which is ALOT)- in fact, right now I'm reading a really cool book by NICK ROSEN- Called "Off The Grid"- kinda historical and political, while giving narration to the author's travels through several off the grid communities worldwide- and showing what worked, and what didn't, and how to potentially make such situations work. The book is pretty dang fascinating so far! I added a link below if you want to check it out....

And of course- my own book is out on pre-order now....at a really reduced price.....this edition has LOTS of new, unreleased stuff, art, designs, tiny house design advice from some BIG names in the game, TWO color photo sections, and more!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen