Wow! 700 sqf! That’s very impressive. Congratulations on such a positive life move! Now I want to know so much more: How long have you been there? How old were the kids when you moved? How did they feel about the move at the time? What made you choose Amsterdam? (I hope you’ll indulge me and share. I think others may find your story helpful as well as interesting)
Entertaining is a loss (I miss it myself, at least until Covid) but gathering in a cafe means you don’t have to clean up!
This is terrific. You moved when the kids were still in an exploring age. If they had been teenagers, the move would have likely been a challenge. Now, after 8 years, this is the kind of life they will always identify with. That's a true gift you gave them, as well as yourselves. Kudos on creative re-arranging of space!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this! I appreciate your input and look forward to hearing more.
I love that about Amsterdam and Holland more generally: kids are loved. Where ever we went in Holland, someone always wanted to help us with our toddler and infant. We also found the same experience during our years in Southern Africa. Children are beloved and cherished.
While we thought of moving for awhile, & were actually looking for a little MORE space, we’ve just decided to make our 1600 sf as close as possible to what we’d want, & just stay put. It gets a bit tight when the kids & grands all come home, but it’s fine for two & a dog or two. It’s been our home, & where we’ve raised our family, for 25 years, & we have poured our hearts into it. Still more pouring to do, but it’ll happen in time.😀
25 years is worth celebrating!! Like, you might have a party just for ypur house! And YOU have done so much work on it. You’ve put a LOT of sweat equity into that place! It’s been years since I’ve seen it but I remember being impressed. Glad to hear you’re staying. That makes coming home for the kids and grandkids not only a return to your arms but to this specific special place as well. Not many people get to have that gift anymore 🧡
I love the pictures of tiny homes and the freedom from detritus that they require. However, I love to have family dishes that only come out sometimes, and my grandmother’s excellent roasting pan for turkey, and books and papers and the notebooks I kept of the kids’ first mutterings. I am too much a lover of archives to jettison enough to live so small— but maybe I will change my ways later. That too would be fine. :-)
oh Tara, yes, I agree, these things are treasures. I carried my grandmother's china with me from move to move for decades, using it only for large dinners (typically Easter). When I got to Tulsa, there was absolutely no where to put it or even store it, so I gave it to a neighbor in need. Sometimes I miss it but I'm glad I didn't just give it away to a thrift store. These special things are the most difficult to release - and maybe we're not meant to. When I was in my tiny home phase, there were folks who talked about only have 2 mugs, etc and all I could think was, seriously? I've culled my mugs many times and there are still 5 that I could never let go of - too many good memories and associations. I don't want to live where I don't have these happy things around me. Sounds true for you as well.
No paper bowls for Cheerios and Fruitloops. No branches for tyre swings. Nowhere for a cat to get stranded.
Someone should write a book. Call it The Giving Tree. I bet it would sell, but don’t encourage me to write it while I am waiting for the snow to melt, because I’m getting way in over my head. I’ll be lucky if I can get the trebuchet grant submitted to the NEA by the beginning of FY24-25 on October 1.
Now that’s an excellent idea. I could even build a clay pizza oven to sweeten the deal.
Another possibility is to turn my Ford Excursion, the Queen Mary, into a mobile kitchen. It would have three times our current floor space and could be moved to take advantage of the best seasonal views.
Do as the farmers in Owhyee County used to do. Need to store three coffee cans full of used nails and screws? Build a little shed, half-finished. Need to store a wheelbarrow and some garden tools? Build another little shed, half-finished. Need to store some 19th century first editions filled with the author’s marginalia? Build another little shed, but perhaps finish it. And those kid goats? You know the answer.
😂 😂 I know those sheds. When a neighbor replaces the kitchen cabinets from 1966, you pluck them out of the junk pile and nail them up in the shed, yes? Same goes with the carpet from 1972. A carpeted shed is pretty posh -- til the carpet gets moldy, but it was just going in the trash anyhow, so good to extend the useful life of the old orange shag by a couple of winters. Is that the idea?
How about this? All you need is a 37ft sailboat to sail around the world. In one way they had very little room, in another way they had the whole world. Depends on how you look at it.
wow! That is quite a story! Have to share this with a friend in the bay area who is an avid sailor... That's too much water for me. Kudos to them, however! Pretty incredible.
We had a 35’ sailboat in the Chesapeake. No lawn to mow. No gutters to clean. Don’t like the neighbors? Lift anchor and sail. Dust on the furniture? Never.
The only problem? Wifey got seasick. It could have been a great idea, especially on breezy nights, when boat rigging sounds like a giant wind chime. It could have been.
ah yes, motion sickness can definitely ruin a good sail! Not sure if you saw the comment by Wayne - he included a link to a very cool YouTube with a couple sailing around the world over 6 years.
Wow! 700 sqf! That’s very impressive. Congratulations on such a positive life move! Now I want to know so much more: How long have you been there? How old were the kids when you moved? How did they feel about the move at the time? What made you choose Amsterdam? (I hope you’ll indulge me and share. I think others may find your story helpful as well as interesting)
Entertaining is a loss (I miss it myself, at least until Covid) but gathering in a cafe means you don’t have to clean up!
This is terrific. You moved when the kids were still in an exploring age. If they had been teenagers, the move would have likely been a challenge. Now, after 8 years, this is the kind of life they will always identify with. That's a true gift you gave them, as well as yourselves. Kudos on creative re-arranging of space!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this! I appreciate your input and look forward to hearing more.
I love that about Amsterdam and Holland more generally: kids are loved. Where ever we went in Holland, someone always wanted to help us with our toddler and infant. We also found the same experience during our years in Southern Africa. Children are beloved and cherished.
While we thought of moving for awhile, & were actually looking for a little MORE space, we’ve just decided to make our 1600 sf as close as possible to what we’d want, & just stay put. It gets a bit tight when the kids & grands all come home, but it’s fine for two & a dog or two. It’s been our home, & where we’ve raised our family, for 25 years, & we have poured our hearts into it. Still more pouring to do, but it’ll happen in time.😀
25 years is worth celebrating!! Like, you might have a party just for ypur house! And YOU have done so much work on it. You’ve put a LOT of sweat equity into that place! It’s been years since I’ve seen it but I remember being impressed. Glad to hear you’re staying. That makes coming home for the kids and grandkids not only a return to your arms but to this specific special place as well. Not many people get to have that gift anymore 🧡
I love the pictures of tiny homes and the freedom from detritus that they require. However, I love to have family dishes that only come out sometimes, and my grandmother’s excellent roasting pan for turkey, and books and papers and the notebooks I kept of the kids’ first mutterings. I am too much a lover of archives to jettison enough to live so small— but maybe I will change my ways later. That too would be fine. :-)
oh Tara, yes, I agree, these things are treasures. I carried my grandmother's china with me from move to move for decades, using it only for large dinners (typically Easter). When I got to Tulsa, there was absolutely no where to put it or even store it, so I gave it to a neighbor in need. Sometimes I miss it but I'm glad I didn't just give it away to a thrift store. These special things are the most difficult to release - and maybe we're not meant to. When I was in my tiny home phase, there were folks who talked about only have 2 mugs, etc and all I could think was, seriously? I've culled my mugs many times and there are still 5 that I could never let go of - too many good memories and associations. I don't want to live where I don't have these happy things around me. Sounds true for you as well.
Maybe we are not quite tiny home candidates but “smallish home” candidates - full kitchen required. 🏡 Also, a tree is awfully nice. :-)
Yes and Yes! :)
I’m still hoping to negotiate on the full kitchen at our house for some book storage space. What’s wrong with paper plates and plastic cutlery?
But you are right about trees. They are nonnegotiable.
Without them, there'd be no paper. No books. Nothing to negotiate about!
No paper bowls for Cheerios and Fruitloops. No branches for tyre swings. Nowhere for a cat to get stranded.
Someone should write a book. Call it The Giving Tree. I bet it would sell, but don’t encourage me to write it while I am waiting for the snow to melt, because I’m getting way in over my head. I’ll be lucky if I can get the trebuchet grant submitted to the NEA by the beginning of FY24-25 on October 1.
Well, if you won’t write it, I will. The Giving Tree has a nice ring to it. Might be a winner.
Maybe your wife would let you put up a shed for a kitchen. Pioneer-style is back in fashion.
Now that’s an excellent idea. I could even build a clay pizza oven to sweeten the deal.
Another possibility is to turn my Ford Excursion, the Queen Mary, into a mobile kitchen. It would have three times our current floor space and could be moved to take advantage of the best seasonal views.
I can’t imagine her turning that down. Your library is close, so close!
Do as the farmers in Owhyee County used to do. Need to store three coffee cans full of used nails and screws? Build a little shed, half-finished. Need to store a wheelbarrow and some garden tools? Build another little shed, half-finished. Need to store some 19th century first editions filled with the author’s marginalia? Build another little shed, but perhaps finish it. And those kid goats? You know the answer.
And after 50 years, tear them down for the rustic barn wood.
😂 😂 I know those sheds. When a neighbor replaces the kitchen cabinets from 1966, you pluck them out of the junk pile and nail them up in the shed, yes? Same goes with the carpet from 1972. A carpeted shed is pretty posh -- til the carpet gets moldy, but it was just going in the trash anyhow, so good to extend the useful life of the old orange shag by a couple of winters. Is that the idea?
You could pass as an Owyhee County lifer.
I flush with pride. :-)
Of course you do, plumbicist. We rural people’s homes are plumbed with a path.
😳 Right. I walked right into that one, didn’t I? 😂😂
🤐
How about this? All you need is a 37ft sailboat to sail around the world. In one way they had very little room, in another way they had the whole world. Depends on how you look at it.
https://www.youtube.com/@SailingYachtFlorence
wow! That is quite a story! Have to share this with a friend in the bay area who is an avid sailor... That's too much water for me. Kudos to them, however! Pretty incredible.
We had a 35’ sailboat in the Chesapeake. No lawn to mow. No gutters to clean. Don’t like the neighbors? Lift anchor and sail. Dust on the furniture? Never.
The only problem? Wifey got seasick. It could have been a great idea, especially on breezy nights, when boat rigging sounds like a giant wind chime. It could have been.
ah yes, motion sickness can definitely ruin a good sail! Not sure if you saw the comment by Wayne - he included a link to a very cool YouTube with a couple sailing around the world over 6 years.
The answer to the steep stairs is one of those Stairmaster things they used to advertise in the back pages of old Popular Science magazines.