Incubating

Well well well. It’s been over a month since my last post. Mostly this is due to a very, very busy December – but partly there’s another reason. I need some incubation time.

Stuck in the third dimension

I’ve refined those last plans for the ground floor, swapping the cooking and dining areas and giving the south side some bulges (bay windows, yay!), but I’m totally stuck on the stairs. They simply need to be sooo long, and thus so large, that I do not know how to fit them in nicely. And the fact that they’re a massively three-dimensional thing doesn’t help either. I can’t wrap my head around three dimensions, I need to seriously sit down and devote a fairly large chunk of time to an even larger chunk of playdough.

I’ve been meaning to do this for some time now, but the first batch of dough I made turned out to be unusable (read: instable in the third dimension – the kids loved it though), and planning for “right after Christmas” was just a little too vague. Now the new year has begun, and I’m running out of time before school starts again and everyday life gets in the way. Hum.

Size does matter

Besides… like I said, feels like it needs incubation. Being stuck made me rethink some other bits as well, and now I’m stuck on those as well! Like, the sheer size of the thing. It’s still a modest building for ten to twelve permanent occupants, but it’s a huge thing to build. I’d love to cut down on the size some more, but I know that one of my loved ones would totally bail if I took away all those solid walls and made more corners and niches instead of rooms. His favourite room is of course the one on the first floor that can be reached only through either our office space or else through our bedroom. Perfect for holing himself up.

Cob-bale vs. straw bale

And ever since I told someone about my plans to build with cob, with straw bales in the north section, and he said “why not make it all straw bales? It’s cold up in those mountains, you’ll need much less heating”… I’ve been wavering. It’s a vague feeling of “he’s probably right but”. I can’t quite pin it down. And while we’re at it, I can’t make up my mind about the roof either! I started out with a turf roof in mind, with absolute conviction. I wouldn’t have considered anything else. But a turf roof makes rainwater harvesting a little difficult, and I like that too. And then Pinterest happened and I came across tyre shingle roofing, and I think that’s really brilliant and very eco too! Maybe make the roof half and half?!?

So yeah, I’m stuck. Incubating. Maybe I can find some time tonight for making playdough, maybe not, we’ll see. I wish you all a happy and healthy and exciting new year! Mine has been great so far, and I have a feeling it’s going to get even better. :-)