The Ball is Rolling ...

Recently we stayed in Noosaville for a few nights and took the opportunity to get things underway with the new house while there.  We met with the draftsman at the block to discuss our design and get our bearnings for the lay of the land. Bella made great friends with the neighbours dog while we went over our plans.  Unfortunately we will have to lose some trees in order to position the house for maximising solar energy.

We are working with Steve Campbell Designs and are
very happy with him so far.  Steve has experience with strawbale
 homes and has worked with Frank Thomas of
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow who Amos trained with.

  




We spent a great deal of time pondering over this, back and forth, and I ended up back at the property for an early morning meditation with the trees trying to connect and get a feel for what was right with them.  It was so beautiful at that hour, when the world is just waking up.  So peaceful.  And quiet.  It will be sad when any of the trees come down but we will keep them there on the block and they will either become part of the landscaping or used in the construction, so they will still be part of the place in some way.  A necessary evil, as I sold it to myself.

These are the trees we will have to sacrifice, including the
"swing tree" on the right.  So named after its perfect branch
for tying a swing to for the kids.  But there is another one
 that is located right in front of the art & craft room window.





















We also met with the geotechnical guys and had the soil tested while Bella had herself a little picnic. The land came back with excellent results and a water treatment plan was devised.  Turns out we dont even need a reedbed system as the sandy loan will naturally do the same job.  So the quality of the soil is perfect for growing our food AND killing our sewerage bacteria.  We have opted for a septic tank with trenches.

Jeff Treloar and his son-in-law Rob from Unearthed Geotech
were just great.  Such friendly and helpful guys, and very
professional as well.  We were very happy with their service.

 



















Another meeting with Steve at his place to go over the specifics of our strawbale building design, and a surveyor organised for the following week, and our time was almost up.  We managed to fit in plenty of swims for Bella and relaxing time, visiting Pomona, Cooroy and Tewantin.  We just love this area!!!  Boreen Point at Lake Cootharaba is a magical place and is so close to (our new) home, it is definitely my favourite spot.  And its a great place to unwind after filling our minds and to absorb all the information.



To the left: this is our street - Forest Acres Drive.
Above: Amos mulling it all over and not wanting to go
home, as that meant returning to work after being
on long service leave for two months.