Another feature was
installed this month, a myrtle stump that was donated to us to turn into a
backrest for the strawbale window seat that will be positioned in the round
window. We weren’t sure if we could turn the idea into a reality as there were
several tricky stages involved. The first was cutting the stump so that it a)
sat flush against the bales that will be raised in the curved wall and could be
rendered into, b) sat flush against the bales that would form the seat, c) sat
50mm below finished floor level so the earthen floors could be moulded into it
and d) had a beautiful backrest carved into it. This wasn’t an easy task not
only because of all the angles and measurements, but because the stump was
massive. We couldn’t have done it without our friend Bob and the three foot bar
on his chainsaw.
Bob asked Jack to
operate the excavator, which was great fun but maybe not the best idea
considering he’d never operated one before!
Then there was how to
get all the loose mud and bark off the stump, which was difficult considering
all its burls and hollows. Bob found some guys only 10km away who sand blast
massive steel ships, and they offered to use “gentle persuasion” on the stump
with their powerful machine, which worked perfectly.
The next stage was to
try and get the stump through a small gap in the frame and into the house. This
took quite a few attempts, but we got there eventually.
The stump is now
positioned, the backrest is sanded and it’s awaiting the strawbale seat. I put
some temporary bales there and sat back to enjoy a glass of wine. It was so
relaxing that I walked straight of the lounge onto the deck, which doesn’t
exist yet… ouch!
The highlight in
August was laying the first pass of earthen floors, as during the past four
days 25 amazing people came and helped. Over the years we’ve helped a few
people raise the walls for their strawbale homes, lay their earthen floors,
render their walls etc., it was undoubtedly the best way to learn and we’ve met
wonderful friends through the process. It feels quite surreal and magical that
it’s now our home, and so many people have shown such generosity to help us. Since deciding that we wanted to do the floors with natural materials, and
use our feet and hands, the project has always been somewhat daunting. However,
thanks to the support of so many people, it wasn’t daunting at all… it was an
extremely fun few days.
We really are quite
overwhelmed by the whole thing, the generosity that people have shown, how much
fun we had, the new friends that we’ve made, the fact that we got it finished…
we’re just simply blown away.
And we are glad that spring has arrived (which was
confirmed by the return of the Welcome Swallows this week), as we move into a busy
few months installing the decking, all the eaves and ceilings and then the
windows in preparation for raising the strawbale walls in November.
