Special concerts you can watch. Stars singing from their homes to raise money.

Even if you don't like the music, you can read about what they're doing.

https://www.rollingstone.com/m...

This is so cool!

My neighbor just told me that she just took her very-young (5 YO) son out for a bear ride. A what? A bear ride.

People throughout the entire town are putting stuffed bears in their windows and parents are taking their kids out to count how many they can find! They counted over 150!

What a cool thing to do right about now. It gets the kids out of the house, involves the entire neighborhood or, in our case, town, and is just plain fun. Plus, everyone stays in their cars so that's really good too! These kids are keeping in touch online so they can share their numbers, what they saw, and where they went. They're all preschool and first an second-grade kids.

I just put a bear in my window.

I saw where they were doing something similar in some northern IL towns. Pretty popular.

My niece in San Antonio said something about the bears in windows. Apparently it's taking off there also!
Very fun idea!

It is! I'm really happy about it!

McCannon said:I saw where they were doing something similar in some northern IL towns. Pretty popular.

They are doing it in our neighborhood according to out Nextdoor app. Great idea to occupy the kids safely.

My cousin in OK said they're doing it there too.

Her 5.5 yr old grandson carries a sword with him when they go for walks outside & he fights their shadows on the sidewalks. He says he's killing zombies.

The good some people are doing. And the things some good people are doing. I find this uplifting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I have been reading about how the coronavirus hasn't just hit the pause button on life but will force us all into changing things about the way we live for decades to come. We may be building our homes differently in future. Many people realise they need outside space, even if it is only a juliet balcony, because fresh air is needed when we can't leave our homes very often. Others discover they don't have enough storage space for frozen food, canned food, bulk buying of pet food, and general groceries if we need to change our shopping habits for the foreseeable future.

I have decided my small home needs a proper pantry. The house used to be a garage so it is small and open plan with no built in storage at all. We have added a mudroom/laundry but we have been using an old school stationary cupboard (it's stained with Gestetner ink and smells like homework) as a pantry for 13 years now and it just doesn't fit everything we currently need to store. I have been drawing up plans for a lean-to extension to the house that will accommodate the washer/dryer, vacuum cleaner, brooms, etc, as well as a wall of pantry shelves along one side. I don't know how I will get the concrete if the batching plant is closed down but I think the whole thing is doable at very little cost as we have second-hand building material lying around the place already. As for planning approval, I have a saying when it comes to our local council - never pay to ask for permission when you can ask for forgiveness later for free.

Has anyone else decided they need to change the way their home works in order to get the best out of it in the long run? What projects are you thinking of doing around your home or garden to make life easier and more enjoyable?

LolaTasmania said:I have been reading about how the coronavirus hasn't just hit the pause button on life but will force us all into changing things about the way we live for decades to come. We may be building our homes differently in future. Many people realise they need outside space, even if it is only a juliet balcony, because fresh air is needed when we can't leave our homes very often. Others discover they don't have enough storage space for frozen food, canned food, bulk buying of pet food, and general groceries if we need to change our shopping habits for the foreseeable future.

I have decided my small home needs a proper pantry. The house used to be a garage so it is small and open plan with no built in storage at all. We have added a mudroom/laundry but we have been using an old school stationary cupboard (it's stained with Gestetner ink and smells like homework) as a pantry for 13 years now and it just doesn't fit everything we currently need to store. I have been drawing up plans for a lean-to extension to the house that will accommodate the washer/dryer, vacuum cleaner, brooms, etc, as well as a wall of pantry shelves along one side. I don't know how I will get the concrete if the batching plant is closed down but I think the whole thing is doable at very little cost as we have second-hand building material lying around the place already. As for planning approval, I have a saying when it comes to our local council - never pay to ask for permission when you can ask for forgiveness later for free.

Has anyone else decided they need to change the way their home works in order to get the best out of it in the long run? What projects are you thinking of doing around your home or garden to make life easier and more enjoyable?

We did when we moved from a larger house to our smaller.. once the kids were out of the house.. we didn't want them to come back! ( to stay)

The house is a series of separate pods.. made from insulated panels ( filled with foam) so a good insulator. Energy efficient to lower utility cost in retirement. Ceiling is the same.. insulated panels. .. no air infiltration — so we needed an air exchanger. We used levers as door knobs in case we got arthritic. We ..widened doorways for wheeled chairs and the shower has no doors or curbs . The windows wind out so no raising or needing to stand. The light switches are lowered and close to the door edges not inside the room. The loft stairs can be adapted for an electric chair to raise to top . The oven is raised to a higher position so no bending to take things out. Materials need no care for long periods.( cedar wood, metal etc ) we screwed up because there are two steps to get into one entrance and 5 for another .. and we developed too much land for gardens and we cant keep that landscape up in older age .... we did add a whole house generator for electric loss .. there are no walls in the main living area..kitchen, dining, and living so easy access for event of handicapped scenario. We should have lowered some counters ..for access... and we did raise a few to be easy on the back in bathroom .. raised the two toilets up too .. there are no rugs.. front loaders for laundry access.

Those are great innovations you have make to your home, Rosie. We did a lot of similar things to our old home thinking we would never leave it but suburbia encroached too much and we found ourselves no longer living in a small fishing village but within an upscale waterfront enclave. All the houses around us were sold and bulldozed, and in their place were built mansions with jetties onto the river and lake. Our little cottage was the last one standing and when we sold it we made sure the new owners were not going to pull it down. The new owners love the old house as much as we did and it remains a little piece of country paradise but in a shiny and new suburban hell.

Our current house had no real kitchen so when we built one I made sure there was not one cupboard or cabinet in the whole thing - there are only drawers. Everything fits in drawers that have draw pulls that I can open with my feet if I need to, so I don't have to bend down. I never have to get on my hands and knees to drag anything out of a deep cupboard. Even the dishwasher is a bench height drawer.

I had my house rebuilt in 2016 and my intention was handicap accessible. I am 70 but didn't need that feature (yet). My youngest who is in real estate said that was one of the things most people were looking for in a home. Perhaps it will be more marketable some day for my heirs. Meanwhile comfortable for me.

Smaller home with features very similar to Rosies'. The only thing I didn't do was grab bars but that can be done when needed. I grew up in cold country and my depression era parents had a pantry and a fruit room for food storage in the basement. Learning from them, I have always had a pantry and that was one feature I was determined to incorporate in my home.


I lived in a 12 x 20 shop with added bathroom for 9 months while they rebuilt the house. I loved the minimalist features of the shop. Less to cool/heat, clean, less room for clutter. I have implemented that in the house as well. The only thing I will have done if it will dry out long enough for the dirt work is a circle drive around the house. There are steps in front but I want the drive to come right up to the patio where it is on one level to walk into the house. That is my only plan for the immediate future.

pod said:I had my house rebuilt in 2016 and my intention was handicap accessible. I am 70 but didn't need that feature (yet). My youngest who is in real estate said that was one of the things most people were looking for in a home. Perhaps it will be more marketable some day for my heirs. Meanwhile comfortable for me.

Smaller home with features very similar to Rosies'. The only thing I didn't do was grab bars but that can be done when needed. I grew up in cold country and my depression era parents had a pantry and a fruit room for food storage in the basement. Learning from them, I have always had a pantry and that was one feature I was determined to incorporate in my home.


I lived in a 12 x 20 shop with added bathroom for 9 months while they rebuilt the house. I loved the minimalist features of the shop. Less to cool/heat, clean, less room for clutter. I have implemented that in the house as well. The only thing I will have done if it will dry out long enough for the dirt work is a circle drive around the house. There are steps in front but I want the drive to come right up to the patio where it is on one level to walk into the house. That is my only plan for the immediate future.

Sounds great!!!! Perfect. Our house is not large. It's just a small two bedroom .. in order to age in place... it can't be so big that we get lost and forget where we live! No sense in getting lost after all that Planning!

"Tiny" houses are catching on. Minimalist approach.

Thousands of Instacart grocery shoppers stopped responding to requests for deliveries and say they will not go back to work until the company provides them with protective equipment such as hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, hazard pay of $5 per order, and expanded paid sick leave to cover those with health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the coronavirus so they can afford to stay home

McCannon said:"Tiny" houses are catching on. Minimalist approach.

Here in the RV park where we winter, the Park Models ( tiny houses) are gone in days when they go up for sale

Yes, most of them are on wheels, portable, to comply with zoning restrictions. But that's slowly changing. Whole permanent stick built tiny-house mini-communities popping up in many places. I like the concept. I want a TH with a big workshop nearby .

I can't tell about wheels ... they all look like on ground ..siding goes straight to ground...except for a very few with skirting .. .. but I don't think those are on wheels BECAUSE. I wanted to chain our RV down ..and the resort won't let me.. because it wants it's status kept as an RV resort... we have say 50 park models out of 300 total spaces ( I made that up.. just a 'for instance') .. they are at limit for park models .. by chaining mine down it takes away its status of rolling or stock inventory. They want no more non rolling inventory....

Enjoy some really good music from a great singer-songwriter in her kitchen. Especially good if you like dogs--the first one is about dogs, and if you watch it, be sure to watch it to the end which is really funny.

Cheryl Wheeler
https://www.brisbin.net/2020/0...

Tiny house on wheels as opposed to a conventional mobil home
https://tinyhousecommunity.com...