Happy, simply House (warming) Freezing

Not the warmest day in Aldinga ever but the warmth from the community, participants and supporters made it the warmest possible house warming ever…

The temperature was the only indication of the home freezing as it was insulated, warm and loved to make it toasty in and around. I couldn’t imagine anything that could have been warmer and more human than celebrating a community to come together for over a month to recognise the experience – and by the way there was also a home that was a bi-product of that process to show for it…

I know I will sound a little delusional and that usually happens when I am at 10,000 feet on my way from or two my next chapter of life, as I am writing this on a plane back to my ‘normal’ world of global awareness education and social justice.

The house warming day saw the Happy, simply volunteers building feverishly to try and finish as much as possible before the 11am champagne brunch and the 12 open-house celebration. By 11am we were still putting in the floor, adjusting tanks and constructing a temporary front deck but regardless of how complete we were we put tools down at noon to join a bunch of supporters, family and others to stop time and take note of the wonderful contribution of humans to put together a community project that produced a self-sufficient home.

This is what Happy, simply epitomises for me – bringing community, collectivism, cooperation, connection together to create shared time and experiences. Anyone who has ever done something collectively will know the post reflection and recognition of what was achieved when people come together behind a shared goal, identity or project.

For me the best things in life are not things and I have never seen Happy, simply as a project to build a house it is a community project to create an opportunity to learn, share and interact with people, a project to build a community – that happens to produce a house.

I love the Happy, simply home not because it is beautiful or a tangible object that I will live in and share with others but because it was made with others who got to know each other and create quality rich experiences and friendships.

At this point I could go into a big Oscar speech of listing people, thanking them and being acknowledged myself but anyone who was a part of the Happy, simply experience – weather following online, making food for the project, donating materials, donating their skills and expertise or being there to use their hands and head to produce the home all walk away with some form of self-appreciation for their part in the Happy, simply project.

Popping the cork to ‘officially’ (prematurely) open the Happy, simply South Australia home!

We were all just as important and insignificant as each other and we now have something to show for our combined time and efforts that not only means something to us but to anyone who interacts with Happy, simply – a sustainable lifestyle model and education project.

Enough rare-air rambling but I can say I am extremely thankful to all who have been a part of the experience and feel proud in what we have achieved but best of all is I walk away with a group of new friends and a rich experience that will last with me for a lifetime.

Infinite gratitude, love, happiness and thanks to all who have stepped into the Happy, simply space in the past 6-8 weeks – time for me to step away from the building space and back into the comforts of education, empowerment, global citizenship and youth inspiration for seeing an end to extreme poverty and a happy simple world for all.

Super thanks to all and I’ll follow up with a more practical blog on where to from here for the Happy, simply South Australia home…

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If you want to keep in touch with my propaganda in my other life of global education and social justice…

• July/Aug I’m working with JUMP! Foundation – inspire, empower, engage in Thailand
• Plus my other blogs of personal/travel: http://lunny06.wordpress.com/ and continued posts with Happy, simply https://happysimply.wordpress.com
• Aug-Nov I’m walking 1500km in Japan for learning, advocacy and fun and I’m calling it Teaspoons of Change – Personal choices, decisions and actions that have a positive impact on people and the planet creating teaspoons of change…
• http://teaspoonsofchange.wordpress.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/teaspoonsofchange
• https://twitter.com/Tspoonsofchange
• Nov/Dec – ??? Any ideas – but no more houses for a while (or ever)…
• Christmas back in South Australia with family and some Happy, simply living as well!

Please feel free to use any ideas, resources, information and inspiration from Happy, simply and just get in touch if there is anything specific you would like to know…

Happy, simply became a HOME today

Happy, simply became a home today.

Busy watching people work

Still busy watching people

Just standing around

Actually it was for an interview with ABC – first time to stand still for 5 mins in 5 weeks!

Ladder and cupboards in place

Front has a deck

Clouds approaching

Another day another rainbow over Happy, simply

It’s a Happy, simply home

View of cupboard/stairs and ladder

The home is now Happy, simply!

Cladding inside painted, toilet shelter completed, front deck on and most impressively we have custom made steps, ladder and bed rail!!! To see how that was put together have a look at the youtube clip here:

With just a couple of days left before I head off I think the Happy, simply home will be almost 90% done… I plan to stay in it tomorrow night anyway!

See you on Sunday for the open day? https://www.facebook.com/events/1434264183502485

Happy, simply Open Day Sunday 22 June

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Building update. Today saw a ceiling painted, raised bed reinforced and put in, front deck extended, inside of two walls clad – one in plasterboard the other in red cedar tongue and groove and we learnt about how to not make a box for solar batteries!

But this blog is for you to mark in your diaries next Sunday 22 June when the Happy, simply SA will have it’s home warming day / open day / thank you supporters day / happy, simply day!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1434264183502485/

Come and see what it might be like for someone to live happily, simply, healthy, with a little more sustainability, self-sufficiently, debt-free, with lots of friends, connected to people and planet, active citizenship and lots of community participation and MORE!

Optical illusion or just inside cladding?

Dani and Gracie painting the bed platform!

Special project

Sam loving working with plasterboard (or not)

Man with nail gun and wood = happy

Woman with nail gun = productive

Lunch spread and community!

Last of the bed platform prep

Sums it all up!

Once properly finished in the near future the home will be available for people to stay a night or two to have a taste of the happy simple life.

It has been a wonderful community project where people have given so much in the way of time, materials, working, sharing, food, etc…

Sums it all up!

Sunday will be a wonderful celebration to take note of what has happened in the past month and share with others why living in a small but happy place can be a ‘rich’ thing to do – where less is more and just enough is plenty!

Hope to see you there for a look and a chat!

Happy, simply

Piece by piece – it takes a community to build a (tiny) home

Happy, simply is pulling together nicely. Each cut, hammer, screw, fierce-out bashing and piece by piece the home is moving towards the finish line (the outside at least!).

Progress is going along slowly but beautifully. We have a great blend of inexperienced volunteers all having a go and trying to make it work mixed with some people in the know who are wonderful at directing, advising, sharing and doing the finer points as well as actually knowing what they are doing – or showing that impression!

Happy, simply now has 2 out of 3 doors!, a little more cladding, an interior custom bed frame, the making of a back deck and is ready to receive a roof!

The photos are back down on the ground and a wonderful new set of volunteers about the place over the past few days, mixed with the old reliables!

Only a couple of days away from moving the building into the inside and looking forward to the students from Heathfield tomorrow…

Earned another man badge today using an angle grinder – luckily I had my safety shorts on…

And then there was a house!

And then there was a house… well at least the outside of a house, and only kind of, but no roof, or the final outside cladding – BUT it looks like a house now!

First we started with some framing on Sunday…

which was then erected and strengthened on Monday.

And today was ply cladding to strengthen and put the makings of a roof, as well as fitting windows, boxing over wheels and a myriad of other little bits and pieces…

It is just amazing how quickly things come along once you have the framing up.

As always the highlight for me was seeing a community of people come together to learn, share, talk and move together for a common purpose.

The Heathfield High guys were just fantastic. They have great skills, keen to listen, keen to offer their own ideas and work together on a building project that has a practical application for their future (whether they build again or not). Kieran and Phil their teachers are brilliant to have skilled them up to this point so they are hitting the build running and ready to apply that theory into a home – just awesome.

 

The students were also very lucky to have been joined by a building mate of mine, Paul who came along and showed them what it really means to be a full-time builder – the tools you need, the skills involved, the brain work it takes and a top attitude of enjoying what you are doing – cheers a-plenty Paul and T!
Looking forward to tomorrow and another day with another group of Heathfield students as we aim to clad the building in corrugated iron and maybe even have a roof!

Looks beautiful eh!

Happy, simply SA Erected!

In just one day it was like we turned a trailer into a house… Thanks to the hard work and precision of people over the weekend who finished all the frames and floor, today was finally the big moment to erect the structure! See timelapse footage from the past two days at the end of the blog…

It started with the big wall on the back…

 And we soon added the front frame and end frames slotting them in to the millimetre (well done Julian and weekend frame building team)…

By the end of the day we even started measuring doors and windows and it now even has two front windows (but nothing else!).

Tomorrow will see the students from Heathfield High School back on site where we hope they will see the roof go on and maybe some outside cladding…!

Great to have more new people on the build today including Patrick (pictured holding window) who was over from Aotearoa New Zealand and was an important part of the Happy, simply home in NZ last year.

Big thanks to Charlie and Cam today who were our building experts, advice givers, skill sharers and just wonderful people who gave their time to come and share and teach others about how to build a home with your own hands – it is just a fantastic feeling to receive that kind of learning!

And the timelapse camera from the past two days…

Day 3 – rain only adds sunshine to the Happy, simply community project!

Day three a wee wet but not in the sense of community, learning, sharing and building!

From midday we moved indoors to the lovely community shed space of Aldinga Arts EcoVillage (AAEV) to complete the two smaller end wooden frames…

A day of calculations, cutting, re-calculations, re-cutting and some wall skeletons!

To be continued tomorrow and everyday until completion! Be sure to come out to see us and join in…

The wonderful thing is seeing the Happy, simply family continued to get closer and happier with conversations, thoughts, laughs, perspectives and connections. This is the part of the project I like best as it is a wonderful ecosystem of learning, doing something together and wanting to be there for all different reasons but with one simple common goal..

See you tomorrow…?