I just got home from Hilversum, where I was a guest on Thomas van Vliet’s Radio 1 show ‘Nachtkijkers’ for four hours. What fun that was! I was a bit nervous beforehand; you don’t get invited to be on a national radio show every day. And I couldn’t help thinking: what if I say or do something stupid, or what if I can’t get the words out, or if don’t know the answer to questions, etc.? Luckily none of that happened and I really had fun! It was quite something to walk through the NOS studio where they make the news during the day. Koen Derksen was invited as well to talk a bit about his documentary. And he was immediately put to work operating a camera. Hold on, camera? Am I being filmed as well? Nobody told me that! The answer was yes. Luckily for me, I was dressed in a tolerably presentable way. I remember thinking last night while I was going through my seriously diminished wardrobe: “thank God it is radio and not TV”. Women – always worrying about their looks. ;)
You can listen to the show here:
http://www.radio1.nl/popup/terugluisteren-programma/5898/2015-07-13
Last week I was at Daan’s Design Workplace to see how Jelte’s Porta Palace was coming along. Jelte was busy painting:
Last Saturday I had a very nice meeting with three other Tiny House lovers: Zdeno van Dolen, Astrid Willemse and Lena van der Wal. How time flies when you are talking to kindred spirits about your favorite topic! Zdeno is the founder of Upcycle Collective eand the Facebook group Zelfvoorzienend Leven en Wonen – actiegroep, and knows a lot about the subject. Astrid wants to go and live in a Tiny House as well, but is still looking into it. Recently she organized a workshop for De Universiteit called ‘With your shit off-grid’ and she’s the author of Flexdenken. Lena, I didn’t know, but what a lovely enthusiastic woman, full of ideas and energy. Lena studies engineering at the Technical University in Delft and wants to start an architect agency focussed on small off-grid architecture together with her brother, who has already finished his degree. They have a blog, www.tinyhuis.nl. This summer they will look into the Tiny House Movement in the Netherlands and experience for themselves what it’s like to live Tiny. We had so much to talk about and too little time to do it. Soon I will travel to Almere where I aim to continue the conversation with Lena and her brother.
And what about my own Tiny House? After the disappointing talk about the costs of the build, I went through my options. I can’t let Daniel build the entire Tiny House – I simply don’t have enough money for that. I could take the plans and building instructions and find a contractor or carpenter to build the house for me. I could have Daniel build the shell and handle the rest myself, or I could start all over again with a different builder. I’ve asked Daniel for an estimate for the shell and in the meantime, I’m looking around for suitable candidates for the other options. One thing remains absolutely clear to me: I will reach my goal of owning and living in a Tiny House! I think it is safe to say that it won’t be finished by October though, and to start living off-grid in winter is not exactly ideal. So, I think – or rather, hope – it will be next spring. It is what it is and I’m sure it is good for something in the end. I have faith, even when things look bad. We shall see!
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