Fire in the Valley...

There was a fire in the farm valley but fortunately it did not reach our little haven or do damage to anyone's property.

The roof is up between the two little wooden cabins and now it is on to constructing the kitchen lean-to, just waiting for the quote. The lean-to actually has a wall on the south side and a door that leads down to the long-drop loo, which is surrounded by a pineapple sage. I thought it would look pretty and smell nice but the bees liked it so much they made a nest in the loo! We had to throw down burning rubber to get them out...don't think they will come back now:)

The shower will be built into the kitchen extension - the lean-to. The "donkey" - in which we light a fire for heating the water, will be built outside the south wall and will have extensions to both the shower and the kitchen. There is so much to learn and I am so grateful that I know like-minded people who already know some of this stuff!... (and that I have a lot of good reference and instruction books and the Internet:))

It is really difficult to find a team of brush cutters up in the mountain. The municipality seem to have them all trimming the sides of the roads. I need a team on the farm to clear all the long grass. The horses are not on our land yet, so the grass is still very high. All we need is a ball valve to refill the water troughs which have not been placed yet. It is hard to get things done, living nearly two hours away.

I am keen to start my cage/bottle walls to connect the cabins and make our Chestnut Cottage more protected from the east winds, mist and rain. the weather can be most inclement in winter, and the rain in summer can become a deluge.

The ceilings need insulation, and I would like to try cardboard and egg-boxes in panels...but how to keep the mice out?!! I wonder if there is a herbal repellent I could make up? Perhaps one could make panels made of papier mache and vermiculite?...I am going to experiment by making up a paper pulp with vermiculite mixed into it. One can only try. It could be fun!

We are going to make this camping cottage as user-friendly as possible so that we can be here on site while we build our earth shelter. It will be a simple house...two large bedroom suites, one for each of us. Both suites will have its own bed and bathroom and both will have their own space for whatever is required by the occupant...be it space for an office/crafts/meditation/yoga/etc.

Both of us love books, so we will need to be very creative when it comes to shelf-space. Next week we are going to do a book decluttering session. That will be fascinating as I have inherited a load from mum as well and we ourselves have a mountain of the printed word. Whatever we do not keep will go to the second-hand book shop in the mountain village.

Off to dream of farming and horses, eco-building and fresh vegetables... isn't chocolate a vegetable?