Progress on the house was somewhat slowed over the summer by the heat of the day, which lasted literally the entire day, from 11am-8pm throughout July and August. However, steady progress was made on the interior of the straw bale house.
Author: Kungfuflee
Packing My Bags For The Misty Mountains
Delving into the true essence of the people who are born, live and work in the mountains.
A Sealed Super Structure
With winter well and truly behind us, I find that now is the time to reflect upon some of the successes, failures and surprises which the winter and spring had in store for us and our straw bale house.
Van Life
January 2018 has been the wettest January on record in France for 100 years. It’s also the second winter we have spent living in our caravan. What motivates you do even contemplate doing that, I hear you cry.
What Light Through Yonder Window Breaks?
Shakespeare knew where it was at; windows really are making all the difference to the house. It’s starting to feel like an indoor space now. Surprisingly we found the windows super easy and satisfying once we had all the right components.
The Splendour Of Render
An account of the ups and downs, ins and outs of using lime render on our straw bale house.
I’ll Huff And I’ll Puff… 🐖🐖🐖
Anyone close to us will know that for the last couple of years our lives have been dominated by our straw bale house. After the foundations got underway and finished last year, we began building upwards in earnest on July 15th this year. The aim was to have the superstructure of the house completed by winter time.
Majestic Mongolia
Mongolia. A land of mystery, ferocity and intrigue. A land where the people maintain a strength as large as their legendary leader Chingis Khan. A land of horses, camels eagles. A land where the traveller can barely scratch the surface of the culture without becoming fascinated…
Homemade Powerwall
Always being up for a challenge, we decided to have a crack at creating our own homemade Powerwall using recycled laptop batteries sourced in job lots on eBay.
WWOOF WWOOF
WWOOFing in Japan was one of the best things I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.
You Put The Lime In The Coconut…
For the past month or so our lives have been consumed with making lime putty. Processing quicklime and turning it into lime putty, ready to be mixed with sand just before it goes onto the walls of our straw bale house as render/plaster.
Trans-Siberian & Trans-Mongolian Railways
Although our round trip to South Korea and Japan was a little while ago, I’ve rounded up some of our best (and worst) memories of the trip and put them down in writing. Since returning to Europe, many friends, friends of friends and even complete strangers have asked us for help or advice in planning a trip on the most infamous of all train journeys through Russia.
