Can we call it ‘The Cabin’ anymore?
Jun17
Category Archives: Building Phase 2
Jun7
Making the Grade
Delays, delays, but we’ve not been idle! Thank goodness we have the lovely cabin which means we have the luxury to make the best and most considered choices.
Dec21
In by Christmas
Not us, but our books and furniture are coming out of storage and up to Easterdown. Why? Because we are finished with the floors!
Jul25
On the ceilings – Part 2, the sequel
I LOVE this look! More
Feb14
A Visible Difference
Dec16
Getting Plastered
Dec4
Flurry of Activity
Sep4
Back On Track
Getting back on track, or should I say ‘in’ track? Underfloor heating pipes now firmly placed in the Lithotherm tiles and connected up to Ruby the pellet cooker boiler. And also on track, an experiment in orderly queueing – my own milk train, thanks to the amazing Tara Wright!
Aug9
The Leading Edge
Some people dream of building a ‘Grand Design’ using ‘Leading Edge Eco materials’, but what they forget is that just beyond the leading edge lies a vast abyss of ignorance. The day you find yourself staring into it, you might just have to hope that an unexpected hero will suddenly emerge to save the day. Luckily for us, Chris Brookman and his products from Back to Earth appeared just in time. More
Jun5
What’s been Cooking?
I’m going to have to stop apologising for not updating this blog. We’ve been doing lots of boring, unphotogenic, slog repetitive stuff. Filling holes, mostly. But this week, warmest this year, we’ve been doing some new style cooking – getting ready for our future! More
Jan24
A Breakthrough!
Even if it looks more like a break-in than a breakthrough… More
Jan11
New Year’s Resolutions
To try to do EVERYTHING at once. Shame there are only 24 hours in a day and we need to sleep sometimes.
Jan4
A quiet Christmas, with Deadlines…
When I got the idea to milk other people’s sheep, I created a lot or problems for myself. One is that sheep get ill and when they are taking certain veterinary drugs (antibiotics, wormers, etc) they cannot be milked for a given ‘withdrawal period’. How to easily tell which sheep must not be milked without bothering the farmer? More
May31
We have Closure
No, we haven’t finished the entire house while you weren’t looking! If only! But we have installed Lynne Knowlton’s gorgeous sliding barn door wooden wheels, and we now have an amazing sliding door in the cabin! More
Apr19
A Renewable Innovation
You would think that building a house off-grid using solar panels to make our own electricity would be renewable and innovative enough, but our latest renewable is probably the most innovative and possibly the closest to the leading edge we’ve come, to date.
Mar24
Now where have we got to…
We’ve had a long, self-indulgent period where we were hardly ‘self’ building. The amazing Mike Roberts with his able Whiteway Carpenters has been the real project manager (not me!) – every so often saying – ‘Time to order your insulation’ or ‘Better get the plumber in now’. He will still be coming in to help us with the ‘design and build’ – where he teaches us how to build something, then leaves us to get on with it. But Monday marked the end of an era.
Jan15
Let it Snow?
Dec3
A Curtain Raiser
Confession: We haven’t finished the interior of the Cabin. The main problem has been how to create a sliding ‘barn’ type door for the bathroom. But the arrival of a special package is going to be a ‘curtain raiser’ for us!
More
Nov16
Topping Out
Had intended to have a big party, but Steve, our roofer has finished two days early. More
Nov6
So nice to be here
Before… and during. Leftmost photo – the cabin before the house was started. Rightmost photo (and below), look closely, the single storey bit- away from the scaffolding to the left in the photo, that’s the Cabin that we are living in. I really want to share what an amazing experience it is to live in a micro version of the house you are building, while you are building it, but I’m struggling to explain.
Oct8
‘Closing In’ – it’s official
While I was taking this picture, Mike Roberts said “This is called ‘Closing In'”. So the title of my last entry was a bit premature, Sorry!
Sep27
Closing in
First equinox at Easterdown and nights are closing in. This is the phase we are at with our house – Roof, Doors and Window installation means we are closing in: More
Sep16
Looks like a house
Sep4
Very Special Deliveries
This week was always going to be tough because we are now on the first floor and need to move the blocks one by one onto the slab and then up onto the first floor. Yesterday we threw Manpower at it – Mike Roberts + 2 of his guys + me and it took us an hour and a half to get two pallets of blocks unloaded onto the first floor.
I had mentioned to the Wrights (who are helping me with the sheep and sheep milking), and this morning: More
Sep4
Up to the Eaves
My Nephew dropped in for a few days – first trip to the UK and what does this American Tourist get to see? Lots of clay blocks. More
Aug25
First Floor, Going Up
Aug16
Getting on top of things
Aug12
Next Generation
We have had generator problems for the last few months. The Hyundai generator died and I lost faith in the brand. Not in the people – Genpower and Just Generators have acted honourably and fairly – but I suspect I will never buy anything with a Chinese motor ever again. So skip forward to the next generation, our new generator looks very promising. More
Aug10
What I most feared
Roderick James Architects wanted us to build with Clay Blocks. An environmentally friendly material (clay), cleverly engineered with natural insulation and thermal mass, but very expensive. Mike Hope said that we could afford this system because it is so simple that we could lay the blocks ourselves. I could imagine that indeed, we could lay the blocks, but knowing when and how to stop seemed to be an entirely different and much more difficult problem. How to know when you’ve reached a door or a window and what you do when you get there, REALLY worried me. More
Aug9
Quick off the blocks
Unbelievably, we are pretty much on schedule! More
Jul30
Carpenter Oak Magic @ Easterdown
Now you might think that Carpenter Oak magic at Easterdown is something to do with magic’ing up this gorgeous timber frame. Yes that’s part of it. But it doesn’t stop there, I’ve always thought that the guys from Carpenter Oak are ‘super’ men, but read on – you’ll believe a Carpenter can fly! More
Jul29
Carpenter Oak, at the end of the day
Carpenter Oak were supposed to take three days to erect this frame. I reckon they will be ready to leave here at 11am tomorrow morning. They don’t hang around! More
Jul15
Onward and upward
Jul12
Getting off the ground
Jun26
Solid Foundations
Jun24
Things are really moving here
Jun22
Phase 2 begins!
Jun17
All Falling into place
Log store starting Friday and Solar Panels will follow. SO exciting – Carpenter Oak have kindly emailed photos of the framing! OUR HOUSE! So good to see: