Baled Out - Friday morning

Friday 20 September 2013

There's no stopping those Smiths - they were well up for Day Two.  Start time was 10am to give Dave a chance to get his overnight ideas sorted out and the lintel frames made before the workforce arrived, while I had time to do the washing up (boring!)

The Smiths had collected a newly-arrived son late Thurs evening and spent the night talking, but this didn't seem to impair performance in any way.  We'd had an early night and slept well, and felt battered in every limb, muscle and finger-tip. 

 Early morning, Friday - the sun once again streaming into our living room, now that a large proportion of the bales have been moved out.

 Inside the music room, west end,

 and looking east, almost all walled in.

 Dave finished the ladder frames, so Rowan fitted them, then stapled more blue netting up at the high level

 Paris still bale splitting - it's getting more technical now, with those eaves to manage

 Rowan hacking corners off the bales with an old saw, to fit under the eaves.  Most people who build with straw bales have 'hipped' roofs, where all four sides slope down to the walls so there is a flat top all round the walls.  We didn't plan for straw bales, and we have a 'gable' roof - two slopes with a pointy bit in the middle.  The slopes don't lend themselves to straw bales.

 Look, me in a picture - tying those bales in from the mezzanine level.  The bale tying involves part-screwing a 50mm screw into the wood frame, tying on baling twine and draping it out over the bales below.  When the bale is fitted, the twine can be pulled tight over the top and made fast to another screw in the wood frame.  When we eventually plaster inside, the screw heads will disappear behind plaster.

The drill hospital.  Rowan brought two of his, and we have two cordless, all on rotating charging to keep us powered up.