My personal "Cabin in the Woods"...
So I know at least some of you know I spent some time homeless. For anyone who doesn't, here's the short version: Shit Happened and I found myself without a place to live. So I ended up spending a year and a half homeless, spending most of it living in tents in the woods.
But what this entry is about is the awesome several months of homelessness that I got to spend in my own little cabin. Or rather, the cabin itself. Did I mention we built it ourselves? Because it was so awesome, I feel this entry needs accompanying pics, so here they are under the cut!
So here's a shot of our materials--a bunch of pallets (~10-14?) we had to lug through the woods to get to our campsite. I learned that pallets are a lot heavier and more awkward to carry than expected! Also, sheets of plywood, two-by-fours, insulation, tar paper, and a metric fuck-tonne of nails and screws! Also, a lovely white door that you can see there in the background. :)
We started with the floor (duh). For the dimensions, we decided on 8' by 10'. After doing our best to get the ground level and free of rocks/debris (not too much work, we were lucky it was fairly level already) we set the base of pallets. Then it was time to put down our plywood flooring... so here is our hired help sawing some of the plywood for the floor! Ha ha, okay, not really... he was a member of a local church that had been helping us out some. Hought helped gather and transport the supplies.
Here's a shot so you can see the whole floor put down. Please excuse me derping in front here... this was I think the only shot (or one of the only few shots) where I wasn't the cameraman. Woman. Whatever the fuck. ANYWAY.
And here's the beginning of the walls! These are obviously where the two-by-fours came in (well, the majority of them, anyway). And you can see the plywood that's going to become the inner and outer parts of the walls.
This was fun! We got to stuff a bunch of insulation in the space between the inner and outer walls--it was a lifesaver though, because this little place held the heat like nothing else! We would've gone through a loooot more propane if we hadn't insulated. You can also see half the roof has been put up! In case you want to know, this is the side view... :P
Another shot of the same side, here you can see the front walls are up, and you can see the half-finished roof a little better. :)
Here's a little shot of the inside of the roof and some of the walls--haven't got all the inside ones put up yet.
Here's a shot of the back side of the cabin, partially finished. This is where the door will be put.
Getting the last of the walls put up around the door frame.
AW YEAH! And here is our lovely door up and ready to open and close! Okay, it's probably too late to avoid boring you, but in the interests of not boring you further, I'm gonna speed this up...
Here is the front of the cabin, completed! The roof is shingled, and we've covered the outer walls with tar paper to protect them from the elements as best we could. Ha ha, and just to let you know, there ARE windows... they're just on either side instead of the back or front. :P
Here is the back, with a combination lock for security (the area is well known among the homeless community, drunks, and various others--we had problems before with thieves and vandals when we and two others were camping here in tents, so we wanted to be able to keep our meager possessions safe). Yes, that is a sign on the door. "I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day." ;) A fellow involuntary camper and friend gave that to us.
I'm gonna wrap this up with a few shots of the interior. Please do excuse the poor lighting in some shots, power is hard to come by in the woods. ;) We used oil lanterns. Construction started in December and took around a week--a day or two had to be skipped due to crappy weather. But! We were lucky enough to finish in time to spend Christmas in our new little home. :)
In all honesty? That may have been the best Christmas I've ever had. :)
There you have it! That little cabin made an indescribably huge difference for Rob and I. Going back to the woods at night was no longer this dark, depressing end to the day. We actually started to look forward to it. Being homeless had become... well, not so homeless. :) The tent was a place we spent as little time as possible in, simply a shelter from the elements and a place to sleep. The cabin felt like a home.
We spent a good couple of months there, but unfortunately we were forced to leave under some super unpleasant circumstances. Don't really want to get into the details, but it was a huge mess and more than a little scary.
To end on a positive note, we've found out that since we left, several other homeless people have used our cabin. In fact, we were down there a few weeks ago and whoever is staying there now has cleaned it up very nicely (it had been trashed), and covered the outside walls with some coroplast signs to protect them from the weather. I'll try to take some pictures if we get down there again. It makes me so glad to know that other people in need are getting some use out of it. :) Shoot, pay it forward, right?
In parting, here's a last picture. My hat glows with the light of pure awesomeness.
<3
But what this entry is about is the awesome several months of homelessness that I got to spend in my own little cabin. Or rather, the cabin itself. Did I mention we built it ourselves? Because it was so awesome, I feel this entry needs accompanying pics, so here they are under the cut!
So here's a shot of our materials--a bunch of pallets (~10-14?) we had to lug through the woods to get to our campsite. I learned that pallets are a lot heavier and more awkward to carry than expected! Also, sheets of plywood, two-by-fours, insulation, tar paper, and a metric fuck-tonne of nails and screws! Also, a lovely white door that you can see there in the background. :)
We started with the floor (duh). For the dimensions, we decided on 8' by 10'. After doing our best to get the ground level and free of rocks/debris (not too much work, we were lucky it was fairly level already) we set the base of pallets. Then it was time to put down our plywood flooring... so here is our hired help sawing some of the plywood for the floor! Ha ha, okay, not really... he was a member of a local church that had been helping us out some. Hought helped gather and transport the supplies.
Here's a shot so you can see the whole floor put down. Please excuse me derping in front here... this was I think the only shot (or one of the only few shots) where I wasn't the cameraman. Woman. Whatever the fuck. ANYWAY.
And here's the beginning of the walls! These are obviously where the two-by-fours came in (well, the majority of them, anyway). And you can see the plywood that's going to become the inner and outer parts of the walls.
This was fun! We got to stuff a bunch of insulation in the space between the inner and outer walls--it was a lifesaver though, because this little place held the heat like nothing else! We would've gone through a loooot more propane if we hadn't insulated. You can also see half the roof has been put up! In case you want to know, this is the side view... :P
Another shot of the same side, here you can see the front walls are up, and you can see the half-finished roof a little better. :)
Here's a little shot of the inside of the roof and some of the walls--haven't got all the inside ones put up yet.
Here's a shot of the back side of the cabin, partially finished. This is where the door will be put.
Getting the last of the walls put up around the door frame.
AW YEAH! And here is our lovely door up and ready to open and close! Okay, it's probably too late to avoid boring you, but in the interests of not boring you further, I'm gonna speed this up...
Here is the front of the cabin, completed! The roof is shingled, and we've covered the outer walls with tar paper to protect them from the elements as best we could. Ha ha, and just to let you know, there ARE windows... they're just on either side instead of the back or front. :P
Here is the back, with a combination lock for security (the area is well known among the homeless community, drunks, and various others--we had problems before with thieves and vandals when we and two others were camping here in tents, so we wanted to be able to keep our meager possessions safe). Yes, that is a sign on the door. "I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day." ;) A fellow involuntary camper and friend gave that to us.
I'm gonna wrap this up with a few shots of the interior. Please do excuse the poor lighting in some shots, power is hard to come by in the woods. ;) We used oil lanterns. Construction started in December and took around a week--a day or two had to be skipped due to crappy weather. But! We were lucky enough to finish in time to spend Christmas in our new little home. :)
In all honesty? That may have been the best Christmas I've ever had. :)
There you have it! That little cabin made an indescribably huge difference for Rob and I. Going back to the woods at night was no longer this dark, depressing end to the day. We actually started to look forward to it. Being homeless had become... well, not so homeless. :) The tent was a place we spent as little time as possible in, simply a shelter from the elements and a place to sleep. The cabin felt like a home.
We spent a good couple of months there, but unfortunately we were forced to leave under some super unpleasant circumstances. Don't really want to get into the details, but it was a huge mess and more than a little scary.
To end on a positive note, we've found out that since we left, several other homeless people have used our cabin. In fact, we were down there a few weeks ago and whoever is staying there now has cleaned it up very nicely (it had been trashed), and covered the outside walls with some coroplast signs to protect them from the weather. I'll try to take some pictures if we get down there again. It makes me so glad to know that other people in need are getting some use out of it. :) Shoot, pay it forward, right?
In parting, here's a last picture. My hat glows with the light of pure awesomeness.
<3