Bluebell - A tiny cottage built onto a van Pt1 - Georjie Adams - BS059

My name is Georjie, and I have been in the process (that is still on-going) of building my own 'tiny home' for 3 years. I started off with almost zero experience in building, I could barely use a drill and had no practical understanding of engineering or architecture. On starting the project - and throughout the majority of the building process - I had no access to internet at my workshop space or home. Therefore, no youtube! Working in an old barn on an isolated hill, I also had no teacher or building help. I relied entirely on intuition - something we all have - which I was excited to learn is enough of a groundwork to use basic tools and materials. Then, accompanied with determination and a dose of perseverance, I trialled-and-errored my way into gaining a deeper understanding of woodwork and construction principals.

It was nothing short of an enlightenment to learn that building, at least in fundamentals and everyday basics, was really simple! How had I been lead to believe (through direct/indirect comments and more problematically, deeply challenging ideology) that this hugely approachable and crucial life-skill was so far from reach? That it was not just physically out of my potential, but that I couldn't really trust my hands to do as 'good' of a job as a man. My mind started unpicking years worth of comments, social examples, media/imagery and prominently my educational experiences. All of it had enforced a narrative that it is not a woman's place, it's just not the way of things.

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