hemp walls at last

construction of the hemp walls has started. in these pics you can see the hemp and lime being mixed, it looks like paper mache and is a much drier mix than i imagined, once the hemp mix is put in the shuttering it has to be tamped down to compress it - that's what i am doing! it seems to hold together quite quckly which has meant that the shuttering can be moved quite soon although it will take about 4 weeks to dry enough to apply the render so in the meantime the whole house will be wrapped in plastic sheeting.

more wedding pics

thought you might like to see these.

all quiet on the building site

last week was a quiet week on the site with folks on holiday. the electrics are now in - wires everywhere - it looks like a cats cradle. while i've been away the hemp has been delivered ready to start the walls but i think everyone has gone on a 'training' day today - perhaps tomorrow the hemp build will begin? watch this space.

home again

well i'm home again after the festival of quilts which had an amazing array of really high quality work. i'm basking in the reflected glory of the success of my friends who all gained awards, lucie summers and jenny spencer won the group quilt category with their porthole quilt, annette morgan won the art quilt category and kathy colledge had a judges choice commendation - well done girls! well they say you have to be in it to win it so perhaps next year.......................

a brilliant day despite the rain

we had a really great day even though it rained while we were in church it didn't seem to matter and everyone seemed to have a good time. here they are out on the turf field. all done and dusted now. the happy couple have gone of to kenya and we have to get back to normal - until the next one!

just feeling a little 'flat' now hope to feel better soon.

back to the build and problem solving and getting ready for the festival of quilts.

wedding week already

well beginning of week 9 and still lots more timber arriving! we've got a roof on the studio and you can see where the roof lights are going, there is a floor upstairs and the the roof timbers are now going up. we can really see how the spaces are coming together. lots of discussion now to sort out the sprinkler system, much talk about the hemp and then there's the heating and solar system - all seems too complicated for words.

yes its wedding week - all seems to be on track but i expect i will be in panic mode later in the week. lots of food to buy and prepare for all the folks that will be in and out of the house. lists everywhere but its all very exciting! hope i won't be too exhausted to enjoy it all - please pray for good weather at the weekend :)