I was just told the other day that it's starting to look picturesque, I have scattered some white clover seed in the shaded area and have prepared an area for some clay dancing especially for the up and coming workshop. I will get up on the roof at some stage to remove the satellite dish that is unplugged and not being used currently Take a walk around the little house that was started on the previous workshop, we have come so far with it, phew. Let's step inside and take wee look and there we have the covered bench seat made from a foundation of rocks and earth bags under the crook frame. I had planned to put the door entrance into the little house here but the suggestion was made to put it where I have now (great idea Mark from England who participated on the first workshop) in it's place a recycled window frame awaiting it's windows. The new and improved bath house, yes I seem to have a thing for the crook frame aye, and I'm calling the washing up area finished having added tiles and grouted them then finishing around the window with a frame.
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Alone on an IslandI don’t really know where to start with this blog this time; I have put it off for so long now that I start to wonder if I even remember how to write. So let’s just start shall we, I’m sitting in the tiny Bach which has finally the feeling of a home, filled with memories of past events and hopes and wishes for the future and just happy now that I can give myself permission to just sit and look out the window at the sea view, with wax eye flying to and fro stopping for a snack on seeds and berries from the wee kitchen garden just on the other side of this window. 5It’s the early days of spring the garden is waking up blossoms on the fruit trees and flowers on the weeds, the bees are flying, so busy they are, collecting all that they need after the winter. Speaking of winter, I arrived out here alone 5th of July after dropping rut at the airport and I have to admit that I had worked into my thoughts a bit of fear about being out here alone, you know things like it’s going to be dark and I’m going to be alone and I have no curtains on my windows someone might see me blah blah blah. Two months later yes it was dark, so very dark but only when the moon was at its lowest, yes I was alone and I actually began to enjoy my own company. I had talked myself into some fears, and then after all there is nothing to fear. There have been some hugely windy days where branches were falling off trees so I stayed inside and steered clear of those potential hazards. It has rained a lot where rivers were forming on the pathways, I have had to go out in the pouring rain and redirect the excess water to gardens, the paths got muddier, stickier and slipperier, so I had to make amends and build the pathways up adding a slope to allow water to run off. There has been beautiful weather also where I just took the day off from working and set up the garden lounger and soaked up the sun, oh those days I didn’t even try to come up with an excuse I just allowed myself to accept the gift of a calm sunny warm day all for me. People and PlacesCorinna came out and stayed here for a week, we walked five hours to Patuki station which is a sheep farm way up near the north of the island. It’s the first time I have wandered up that direction and WoW the views are incredible. I guess because its windy the trees get shorter so the views open up, the native tree growth falls away and becomes farmland, the smell in the air also changes. I was asked to come back one week later to work with the lambs for two days, it was physically hard work and I had to take two days afterwards to recover, but somehow I had energy while I was working and sometimes the energy just seemed to come out of the air and I was able to keep going even though I was tired. In fact I enjoyed the job, the people I worked with the views, being in a different place for a moment and cuddling every single lamb I picked up (hundreds). I’m not sure I will do it again; I just can’t seem to figure out how to not work so hard to the extreme of knocking myself out. From Alone To Love, All In One PlaceI have been raising some vegie and flower seedlings, trying out experiments and mostly I have found out that I have to be patient with them. I started them all off inside next to the fire where I could watch them, some in plastic bags and others soaked in water. I made the seed raising mix by collecting forest mulch and sifting it down to a fine mix I added worm castings mixed into slurry then sieved in order to make it easier to add to the seed raising mix and I used washed beach sand. It seems the little seedlings love it as they are growing so beautifully. It doesn’t take long for the pricking out stage, which means I have to move them to bigger pots. What a fun process I have enjoyed it so much. The garden is what I have been concentrating on the most during this winter and spring. In previous years we have come back to grass nearly as tall as ourselves and their seeds blowing all over the garden, so this year I have been on to it to get to the grass as they have been sprouting which is after all a brilliant form of nitrogen that I have put back onto the gardens as a mulch. I made a compost which was supposed to be a hot compost but I just didn’t seem to figure that one out, I couldn’t get it hot enough so the best thing to do I guess is to make another one and just keep trying. Hot compost will heat up unwanted weed seed and any pathogens in the soil. So this is where I tell you that I have fallen head over heels in love… with the garden, yes you read correctly. There are days where I sit there and tears of joy for how much love I feel form droplets on my cheeks, wiping them with an earth soiled hand knowing that this relationship with the garden is a relationship that has grown within me for myself. Before being out here by myself I would concentrate my efforts on building and only visiting the garden like it was a place of time out and to collect food. Before, I loved the garden but, it was different. Now when I go, I want to linger. I want to pull grass on the way, not like it’s a chore but a feeling of nurture. I want to notice the blossoms unfolding from their rebirth and see the greens growing prolifically and in abundance showing all those years of effort that has been put in. I want to get down on my belly and inspect the soil up close breathing in the smell of the damp earth and composting mulch. It doesn’t feel like work, like there are things that have to be done, I don’t know everything that there is to know about gardening but I am in this relationship with an open heart and an open mind, things just seem to happen naturally and intuitively. I want to feel everything there is to feel from this garden and honestly, I am ready to. Maybe after all, it is the reflection of the garden of knowing myself. Arts and CraftsIt hasn’t been all work; I have been playing with coloured glass, and have been inspired by Isa, (Ruts Niece) and her rainbows. Here’s Isa and her brother Luca playing on a seesaw I made for them from a chestnut tree that was growing over the greenhouse in Belgium two years ago. Clay Plaster Workshop 2018Preparations are underway to host another workshop out here in the summer of 2018, largely to do with clay works for the little house that was started with the previous workshop. I will keep you posted regarding the details, along with updates of building activities (will let you mull this lot over first) I’m off to enjoy the sun while it’s here, see you again soon It has taken some months but I realized that I had not yet uploaded the last photos of our little build. Now i have a moment so here goes...
Rut worked really really hard on the roof, half of it was done by her alone, and I helped her with the other half. She installed the gutter using beach stones and weed cloth and came up with solutions for directing excess water away with a self made down pipe system. Once all the earth was on the roof, Rut went around and planted thyme (that grows like a weed out here), If anyone can give ideas of what we can do with extreme amounts of thyme I would really love to try them.. While Rut was on the roof I was under it building up the walls with the brush infill. We used pond liner as our waterproof layer using similar methods to the meditation space. the roof is steep so its an interesting experiment to see if the earth is still on the roof when we return to the bay. I only took photos of one side of the roof as the land slopes up and makes it easier to take a photo from above. Some other creative projects on our agenda included, finishing the wall over the washing up sinks, this wall make washing dishes so much more pleasant on those days when the wind drives the rain right into your face. Who wants to do dishes now? and Ganesha is right there, his arm broke in transit, hes only been sun dried and not as strong as if having been fired in an oven. Rut finished the sculpturing at the top of the wall and managed to save one turtle from the workshop. Rut wanted the green house finished and closed up for the winter to keep the wekas out so the seedlings could have a chance, I bet you can guess who made the back wall, yes your right rut did. A door and windows were built and the plastic covering complete. Some more work has been done to the inside of the batch. A new, stronger bookshelf made and moved, it now makes the room warm snug and homely. The walls have been plastered and washed with lime and earth pigments. While here in Europe I attended an Interior Design with Clay Plasters course in Germany, Wangeliner Garden for one week, its the first course I have done since I learnt that it was possible to build with earth several years ago. I am very happy that I have completed this course and do recommend attending courses or workshops (even though books and internet can teach us a lot) with experienced teachers, they can show directly how to do the work and what to do when something goes wrong. Irmela Fromme our teacher has extraordinary energy and taught wonderfully, there were seven other participants, such a nice bunch of people. I look forward to returning to Whareatea to put into practice what I have learnt. That brings us up to date with more mud news from D'Urville Island. I will leave you with a beautiful specimen found growing wild in the garden... and it tasted awesome.
Slowly but surely we are making progress, these photos were taken today so within the next couple of days the pond liner will go on the roof of course with padding material underneith For the walls just add brush
Alaskans don't do things by halvesOur flimsy little chicken house turned greenhouse has had a makeover. Rick and Jonah from Alaska woofed out here for two weeks and produced this huge greenhouse with three bents braced with manuka. we are in the process of finishing off with the plastic
Happy New Year!
2016 starts with joy fun and general good times, building and celebrating life. Our exchange based workshop was, in my opinion a successful venture. After some months of planning time and excitement, building up to the very first workshop held in Whareatea bay. Earth building with locally available materials, that was the theme but we didn’t get far into actually playing with the clay portion of the earth. The water taxi arrived a bit late but certainly better than never as they say, I was pretty stoked to see the boat and wandered down the beach to meet the workshop attendees. On the way Ashley the driver stopped and let them do some fishing from the boat, there was a buzz of excitement as the boat was unloaded. After showing the amenities and setting up tents we shared our first meal. Rut was our main cook and had help from Rick who was out at our home woofing two weeks previously, the meals were premium class, three a day plus snacks. The workshop went for fifteen days and a lot happened to actually write about, we did have some setbacks, we had asked our neighbour for assistance for rock collecting though his truck broke down so the rocks for the foundation had to be collected by hand from the bush. One day was lost by me for fumbling information from my mind to my mouth, so noticeably people became disinterested, though I am very happy that the three or four stuck in there with me. One and a half days were lost to New Year’s celebration and two more days gone due to heavy rain. We did get a lot achieved, foundation rubble trench dug, stones and rocks collected for filling in the rubble trench, earth bags placed and tamped to enable the foundation to become level, trees located cut measured and peeled ready to be worked, frames for the round henge structure and one frame for the cruck structure notched and assembled on the building site, reciprocal roof frame set onto the roof. For the reciprocal frame we sourced the trees, cut them, peeled them and set them up following the direction from tony wrench’s detailed instructions on the ground. Tied the rafters together and tested them with every bodies weight, after everyone had a play the plate glass was placed into the centre to see how it would fit, I was able to stand on it and take a photo. The next day it was time to notch the rafters and put it together on the roof, but when it came to putting it together on the henge frame it just wouldn’t come together and the circle in the canter was smaller than it was planned. I was thoroughly confused because we had gone over it the day before and had it all figured out. At breakfast the next morning (workshop leaving day) it all became clear … the person who was left to direct the roof frame came to me and told that the notches had been made incorrectly by his instruction, so never mind we just have a higher pitched roof and a window somewhere else in the roof rather than the centre. After the workshop, Rut and I were thoroughly exhausted and pretty much collapsed for a couple of days. I was persuaded to continue at intervals when I found some energy. I tightened the whole structure by cross bracing with fencing wire and bolting down the roof rafters, I added the mezzanine floor of the henge structure. I have made a couple of changes from the original plan, the entrance has been moved, and the rafters have been adjusted to sit above the upright poles opening up the entrance to the cruck structure. Hello friends
December 28th -11th jan 12 square meter round building made with green round timber frames on a rubble trench rock and earth bag foundation. we will also add two cruck frames to the building. If you are in New Zealand or heading this way you may want to think about staying in a remote quite pristine location of the south island for two weeks. we are on four acres of a teaching and learning site of durville island. Workshop involves digging foundations collecting stones, selecting trees for building, making pegs for tree nails, framing, mixing clay, fishing and harvesting for food, collecting seaweed to replace what has been taken from the organic forest garden. There also will be some work in the gardens for those who want. We will use some power tools but mostly the build is with hand tools and using the material available to us. Travel by boat to the location: costs will be shared as a group and arrangements can be made to travel to the boat with shared cars. Accommodation will be in shared tent, teepee and bell tent, otherwise you can take full advantage of this quite space and bring your own tent. Composting toilet, urine collection, solar heated shower and fire heated bath are all available. We will all play a part in making this exchange based workshop happen, teaching each other and learning from each other with guidance from the land and our hosts. Since this is an exchange based workshop we ask you to participate in the exchange by bringing food items and/or monetary donations and/or extra time or skills on the project. Max 10 people If you or anyone you know is interested contact me (angela) [email protected] and i will give more details. The green house is officially finished, our first completed project, and it looks like ruts had some fun. When Mieke came to stay she gave a suggestion for what would be helpful in the shower space...somewhere to sit down to put on shoes; so we created a seat especially for you Mieke.
There's also a nitrogen collector (pee bucket) for our convenience and yours too of course. I know where I will be spending some good quality time. Another autumn is here, the full moon brings the rains. The gardens are looking lush and green. The honey bees and bumble bees have had a busy season around the Bach with flowers from the seeds scattered by rut and the wild herbs that naturally found their way to set their roots. So far the wind has been quiet but has made its presence known occasionally. The cicada’s songs were also not as present as the years past. The weka gave rut reason to practice patience this year, one of them, the female, small and extremely cleaver, often found her way into the garden and the green house pulling up seedlings and other well established plants, rummaging through the mulch to get to the juicy worms and earth critters. Rut caught her one time as she was finding her way into the garden, promptly put into a bucket with the lid tightly closed while we decided the next move. Weka is protected in New Zealand. Rut took her up the track to the top of the island and some way over the other side then let the weka out. By the end of the day (some hours later) the clever little weka had found her way back here. I’m writing about the weka because she died two days ago and she wasn’t like any of the other seemingly ordinary wekas, she was smart, she would have rut stumped as to how she got into the garden, she was able to jump down from nearly two meters and would climb up the fences. Most weka certainly don’t seem to do this (though they have wings wekas don’t fly). Rut buried her under the roots of a fig seedling forever with the worms. We had a visit from Dave. He came out with his kayak taking three and a half hours from the pass. Thanks so much for all you’re digging help. We are preparing a pantry of sorts behind the bach and needed to dig out some clay in order to make space for the build, we have recycled the tin from that side and moved it onto the shed and put a clay plaster in its place since it will be a sheltered wall under cover of a green roof. Dave’s visit gave inspiration for the fact to just give it a go, and he did. In an email he wrote of his journey back to the pass telling of his meetings with the sea birds and seals. The shed is nearing completion needing to be lime painted, just waiting for the beautiful clay sculpture that rut created to dry. She is doing a lot more clay work this year and recognizes that it’s much more fun with friends than alone. The shower greenhouse space is evolving. When Mieke was out here visiting she made a welcome suggestion to have a seat inside, so not just any seat for her, but a magical seat, something you can really immerse yourself into and enjoy the greenhouse. Kitchen time and it was really fun to do this job, I had recycled milled timbers to play with, wow what a difference from the manuka trees. I started outside with the sinks using the last two macrocarpa pieces that cat had bought out on one of her previous visits. It came together like a sculpture I really enjoyed fitting the pieces together cutting by hand saw, notching and pegging. Im pleased with the outcome. Second phase to kitchen renovation was inside. Everything came off the shelves, our tiny home turned even tinier for a week. Pieces of the old bench were dismantled, one of the walls received a final plaster coat then I applied 3-4 coats of linseed , the other got a fresh coat of paint. While waiting for the linseed to dry I built the framing for the shelves, sanded down all the woodwork and bench top, even the floor. We decided to oil everything with linseed, it’s natural and easy. Then the day came to put it all together. The only problem I encountered was that I was running low on screws. But we made it. Good effort us. Rut had her birthday march 16th and I made her a tiny cake with fresh strawberries from the garden (the ones the birds didn’t get) Happy birthday to you Rut.
It´s a year now since the last update of this blog, in the meantime rut and I have been to the mainland to meet Mieke and her friends for a month travel to New Zealand, Mieke, Ruts mum came over from Belgium she stayed out here in the bay rut took her for some walks on the tracks she had made, we all went out in the bay fishing, it was a very nice few days and came to an end too fast. Afterwards works continued on the shower/greenhouse slowly and a new project was started. The shed was planned out and started by myself and rut, rut dug the holes for the concrete for anchoring the roof to the ground, we cut the trees for the roof and I peeled and notched them ready to erect, the notched logs sat waiting while other projects were continuing. Cat Leeann and their two dogs skippy and nico came out for a couple of days, we all got together and worked very well on the build of the shed; more poles were needed so rut and cat would disappear into the bush and select the right sizes and pull them out while Leeann and I would peel them and get them ready to be useable for the rafters, purlins, wind bracings, ect. When they left it seemed really quiet and it felt like something was missing, yea some fun and laughter, giving and receiving. I worked at getting the walls up on the shed and rut got the garden ready for winter, then we left….with the choice of either going to Belgium or going to Anahata yoga retreat Takaka. We both stayed at Anahata for the winter. That’s a whole other story which I’m happy to share if you ask. Three months later we stopped in at riverside community we picked up a couple of wwoofers Louise and Charles from France. We met Cat at the French pass. For two weeks it rained nearly every day but lots of nice things happened and I was met with some mind miss management with thoughts of preparing for leaving to India for three months, wondering at what I was doing with leaving this behind. So I’m back the same but not the same, rut, well she is the same too but not the same, we can’t and certainly don’t want to expect that things don’t change after such experiences. Its boxing day ruts in the hammock with a good book Tattwa Shuddhi by Swami Satsangi. For Christmas day we celebrated Christ’s birthday and invited all who wanted to come, it was beautiful, for me it was the very first time ever in my 42 years of life that Christmas a day especially for the thanks giving of the Christ born on this earth. We prepared and sang mantra and danced, ate and drank then lit a fire to close the day ….. MERRY CHRISTMAS…… |
Weka (Wood Hen) Family
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