Block plan

Crazy stuff I know, but bear with me. Here is a plan of our block, laid out on the carpet of our rental home. Best not to read if you're easily confused.

The red dot with a black line on the represents our gate, with the light brown of Hendersons Rd running up and down the right-hand margin of the picture. The black DVDs with blue dots is our existing dam. We stocked yabbies and trout in it over the last 12 months, but suspect cormorants (birds) have feasted on our entertainment. We like trout and I'm going to have to figure out a way to protect future aquacultural investments. As far as I can tell though, the yabbies live on.

There's a white square of paper over to the top and far left which shows where our existing stone fruit, almond and fig trees are planted. We anticipate sharing a beautiful relationship. See cherry photos on this blog.

There's also tape measure at the bottom left, describing where our 6 citrus trees and 4 berry shrubs are sunbaking. We want them close to the house, because we all love oranges and berries and don't want to travel far when we feel peckish, because I think we might be lazy. Jury's out. We'll find out when we finish building. I will joke with everyone that oranges are Anastasia's favourite fruit. I frequently get her to guess what fruit I'm putting in her lunch by asking in series the following questions: "What's you're favourite fruit, Anastasia? I'll give you some clues: It's round; the name is the same as its colour; it's a citrus; and it has a skin you peel; has plenty of vitamin C......." Silly game. Same silly result every time. She responds to each component of the question in series "It's an orange, it's an orange, it's an orange....." I don't actually think she likes oranges very much. Pity. I do.

The citrus trees are adjacent to our vegetable patch, dug recently but not yet planted. It is 9 mtr long X 4.5 mtr wide, running vertically above the middle of the yellow tape from the tape measure at the bottom of the picture. I hired a hoe, but found we had to do most by hand. Willing helpers sought alternatives to this activity, as it was hard work, although Desii helped hoe for a little while.

The remaining obtuse shape in the bottom right corner has used rulers and measuring tape to approximate an outline of our 8000 sq. mtr building envelope. The shiny plastic in the middle of the obtuse line top left represent the footprint of a magnificent 150yr+ messmate eucalypt tree we intend to keep. It is massive and enchanting. If you look closely on the white paper, you can see the plan we have in mind for our single storey 3 BR straw bale home running diagonal to a two car garage + studio, which is the rectangular outline horizontal to the bottom of the photo.

We think it's pretty cool.

K

First year's cherries

We collected no more than 30 cherries from the tree we planted last year. Fortunately, we beat the birds in collecting the fruit. Not many survived the Harley ride back from our block, as we had nothing to stuff them into except Anastasia's pockets. Her jacket had no zip, so we reckon we lost 5 - 10 on the ride home. We'll call them road kill. Several more were consumed before this picture and I have to say they were delicious; lovely and meaty, with a full flavour. Our second cherry tree won't be having fruit this year, but we should be able to manage a decent feed from the two of them by next year.

Slow Progress and ... STUFF

Well it has been some months since anything was updated .... mainly because not much has happened. Karl was initially too busy with his writers groups to focus on the project and then when we finally got around to meet with the prospective draftsmen we could not decide on who to contract for the job.

Enter my dearest mother in law ... always has a brilliant suggestion or four! Following a month of indecision, she suggested we pick a name out of a hat so that is exactly what we did. This was a HUGE relief and we finally engaged a draftsman two weeks ago. I am hoping we will have preliminary plans in the next week or so. Yay! Thanks mum!

Between us I think Karl was secretly procrastinating because he wants to delay the hard work which is to come once the project is underway.

In the months since my last post (apart from the daily grind) we have been working on the gardens and started creating the veggie patch. We also stocked the dam with some Rainbow Trout and enjoy driving down every few days to feed them and watch them jump out of the water ... such simple pleasures ... priceless ...

The veggie patch was some of the hardest work I have ever had to do. What a way to spend my September holidays! I am sure neither Karl nor I want to repeat that experience in a hurry ... last time I trust a equipment hire company if they have never used the items they hire out.

It was days of backbreaking work. Well, one and a half solid days of hoeing the area with the hired rotary hoe ... yes we hired the "possessed" one. It had a mind of it's own! and then another day manually digging in mulch and reworking the area. Karl did most of the work that day but I did get tired watching him work as I rode around on the mower ... yes I was on mowing duty most of that day.

I dread us having to go back after we "zero" any remaining weeds and hope that when it comes time to dig in the compost it will be easier than the initial work ... FYI the veggie patch is some 12m x 4m. We planned on a larger area but after the work that went into this plot we decided this is large enough to feed the three of us.

The fruit trees are all growing well and have taken off. Pity we didn't get to spray the peaches and nectarines on time ... they have suffered from leaf curl. I am told this does not harm the fruit but the leaves have all fallen. I wonder if they will grow back this season or if we will have these dead looking trees for the summer? When I last looked one of the cherry trees has fruit as does the apricot.

I wish I knew where the cable to the camera is so as to upload some photo's but I have no intention of looking for it at 3am ...

In September we decided to clean the block before summer hit and make sure we had all wood burnt off before the fire restrictions hit us. Clearing the dead and fallen limbs has been 'cathartic' he he ... and I thoroughly enjoyed building the three large bonfires we ended up with. Standing there admiring them and reviewing the hard work that had gone into them we decided that instead of a plain burn off, which most people do, we would hold a bonfire party and get our friends together and make an event of it.

On the night we were a little disappointed at the last minute cancellations from some of the Melbourne crew but those that did attend found that it was better to be in Ballarat that day than back in Melbourne - the sun came out for us and the rain stopped for the weekend. It was a great night with music, food and drink. The best part was that we also finally had our first camp out on the block. This is something I have wanted us to do since last summer.

Waking up to the bird-song was amazing. It took me back to our camping holidays - which we haven't done for some time (I am not including Feb when we went down to Wilsons Prom - this is far too civilized to be considered camping). In any case we ended up spending the weekend pottering around on the block and came back home late Sunday to prepare for the week ahead. It was a great way to spend a recovery ... sunshine and a few more lazy drinks.

What else have I been doing in the meantime?

Well I have been looking for some special items for the house. We thought it would be great to see how much recylced material we could use on the build but some items will have to be new.


For example I have found a gorgeous three sided fireplace. We will be looking to design a less contemporary setting - but you get the idea .....




I am still sourcing other bits and pieces but I have also found a dream bathtub ....








We have just returned from a weekend in Hamilton with some friends. We were away for the Dunkeld races weekend. That is where I was assured that the leaf curl does not spell the end of the trees - and where I was able to stock up on the best home made quince past this side of the equator.

Everyone had a great time despite the weather. Anastasia and Karl both entered Fashions on the Field again this year. They both won last year however this year only Anastasia was able to defend her crown. Karl came in second. I don't know what the judges were thinking ... they must have been blind ... he was clearly the best dressed man on the stage. OK I am biased but he was.

There is more but I had better catch a few zzz's before I need to get up and go to work .... bye now

Some Photos

Hi all,

These are some of my favourite block photo's.

They are of the front of the block as it is L-shaped and the rear is not visible from the road. They are of the view from the dam up the hill to where the house will be built and then down towards the dam from the "entry point" to the back part of the block. These and many others have also been uploaded to my FB page.

We have made minimal progress since last post. I have been trying to find someone to draw up the plans - someone with SB experience.

Mark from Professional Strawbale (www.strawbale.com.au)- put me onto someone but I thought I would try speak to more than one draftsman to ascertain experience and obtain input. Everyone I have spoken to showed interest in the project but very few had experience with SB.

I spoke to one draftsman who had said he had researched the medium for his nephew however that project is at early stages.

Another had only ever completed one project. It was the chocolate shop out Daylesford I am told. We might need to take another trip out there and chat to the owners as we were there a few weeks ago and are aware it was predominantly owner built but both Karl and Anastasia were more interested in the chocolate for sale than the building!

I spoke to a so called expert who would not assist without us taking part in his workshops first! Another source advised he had had to "fix" problems with other so called "professionals" who are based locally on more than one occasion. Mind you we have seen some of the finished work of these other teams and are not exactly thrilled by it so we would not be in a hurry to go out and pay premium prices for average output.

As such Mark's recommendation would appear the best bet at this stage. We are hoping to get out to Smeaton to another house he has worked on and speak to the owners as I have some time off over the next couple of weeks (this reminds me I had better call Mark to tee this up).

On a positive note, on the day of the "chocolate" trip we went to the Goldfields Revegetation Native Nursery out in Mandurang (near Bendigo) and stocked up on a whole range of tubestock to start some screen planting. I can't wait to get stuck into this whilst I am on leave. It has to be more fun than the two backbreaking days it took to mow the block recently .... bye now

Our straw bale dream

Hi all,

We are a family who decided to leave the big smoke of Melbourne last year and relocate to Ballarat in the hope of achieving a better "work life balance".

We were tired and stressed and always too busy to spend quality time together.

So hoping for a "tree change" we have purchased 5 acres of land about 8 kms West of Ballarat in a place called Smythes Creek and are now looking to created a environmentally friendly and sustainable family home and recording studio.

We have loved the idea of straw bale construction since we stayed in a straw bale studio in Margaret River back in 2000. The property we stayed in is owned by Shelley Cullen - one of the Cullen clan. Shelley is also married to that brilliant winemaker Michael Peterkin of Pierro wines.

You can find images of the property in her book titled "Margaret River Style" ISBN 1863682856 . The photo above is of the book's cover.

Why straw?

Warm, inviting surroudings, great insulating and acoustic properties, apparently also easy for owner builders ... this remains to be seen.

There will be more on straw down the track.

The house concept

We have owned the land for just over six months and are almost satisfied with our plans. At one stage they kept on changing weekly. Do we go for a traditional country homestead look or something contemporary? Single or double storey? Pods or Split level? We have pages and pages of drawings ...

Karl, my husband wanted something large. I felt it would be a waste as there are only three of us who would be living there full time. Sure we have lots of family and friend's visiting from Melbourne but I am sure we could find space for them somewhere - or we could always pitch a tent!

We had grand designs but the reality of being owner builders and on a budget has meant we needed to reign these in. As such we have settled on something mid size with a self contained recording studio attached to the garage.

We have spent months researching and re-researching design ideas. Everything from septics/watertanks/on or off-grid solar/compost loo's / heat pumps and solar or geothermal heating to name but a few.

Main aim is for correct solar orientation and good design to achieve thermal efficiency and a long term healthy house. Karl read somewhere that we should allow for our grand ideas to be incorporated at design stage in the hope they can be acted upon down the track when and if budget allows.

At least we have similar taste when it comes to most things. I just wish I could convince him against glass bottle wall inserts. We stayed at Mirra Mirra last year and he became enamoured of the walls in the bathroom of the "Tanglewood" cottage.

Maybe he can use these in the music studio ...

You must check out their website - www.miramira.com.au

A bit about the block

The land is an undulating L shaped block with about a dozen really old gum trees scattered on it. The trees are what initially drew us to it. They have huge trunks and gorgeous spreading canopies. They seem like they have been on the land forever and are a welcome sight every time we go for a drive there.

Although we are not presently living on the block we have spent many summer afternoons sitting in the shade of these beautiful old trees while our daughter swam in the dam on the property.

Aim of this blog

Firstly, we hope that this blog will get keep our friends and family up to date with our progress.

Secondly, we want this to be a "meeting point" for others who are building similar properties. We want to be able to share ideas and expriences and links to resources. Now I just need to learn how to update the site!

We are new to blogging so will see how this site works for us. I had better get going now as I need to finish some drawings ... and I am just rambling ...