the end of another year

Another catch up posting after having been in the UK for a while.  I am back at Chalet Lou Rider for the winter again, my fourth season here and the place that I have spent the most time during my last four years on the road.

Christmas flew by in a blur of meal preparations, serving drinks, washing up and helping the new team get acclimatised to their new environment.  We are now in a slight lull before the excitement of New Year celebrations kick off, I have time and I am in the mood to write.

Where had I got to?

Matty and I returned to the Dordogne, to Matt and Wendy’s for a couple of weeks for a promised introduction into willow weaving as a thank you for the efforts we put in back during the summer.  Ben, one of the summer team joined us too, it all felt very easy and a bit like coming home.  We laughed, ate and drank as well as we had in the summer, enjoyed gite accommodation (indoors), got to see our roundhouse creation again which looked more amazing than before, and became part of the family for a second time. 

Hurdle making in progress

The finished article

We coppiced various varieties of willow, learned the basics of hurdle making and started a long curving in situ fence for one of their future projects.  Due to a prebooked flight I left before it was finished, but have seen the finished result, it looks amazing,  missed to salmon trap and fan lessons, but with a decent book, can’t imagine that it is hugely difficult to master in the future.

freshly cut willow varieties, with in started situ fence behind

progress with the curved in situ fence

I flew back to the UK at the end of November, in time to celebrate Mum’s birthday, make flying visits to some of my favourite friends and catch up with news and goings on.  It is always great to spend a decent amount of time with folk and share some love where I can.  Work on allotments, choosing Christmas Trees, reading books and playing with children, cooking meals and turning compost, walking dogs and shopping.  It’s all good fun and contributes to making life run smoothly.

My brother was home for a week too, so we got to spend a day together and almost has a whole family Christmas meal, unfortunately not everyone was able to make it.  He, however is much happier than when I visited him in Portugal and his house project is coming on leaps and bounds.  The track is finished, the house reroofed, has a new floor inside and a temporary wood-burning stove, he and his partner moved in on Christmas eve after several months in a caravan. I am so glad that they have somewhere warm and cosy to spend the rest of the winter. 

Windy's new roof

The land that I am looking for has been somewhat elusive this last year so I decided that another winter season at the chalet would allow me to pass the worst of the winter somewhere enjoyable, warm and in a location that might allow me to visit land possibilities should they arise, continue to improve my french and learn further kitchen skills from our great chef Mark.  I arrived by Eurostar again, by far the most comfortable way to travel with extra luggage, complete with hundreds of tea bags and other english supplies, straight into a busy chalet.  

Chalet Lou Rider

My quiet morning is disappearing fast, with reservations coming in for lunchtime, new guests arriving and an extra ten eating tonight.  I’ll be needed in the kitchen soon to lend a hand and keep things running smoothly so I’d better upload this whilst I have time.  Wish you all a Very Happy New Year and hope that the coming year is a good one for you all.

the roundwood house is getting there

NW bale wall finishing.  We discussed endless possibilities for finishing the end of the bale walls.  Due to the nature of the building and the fragile nature of straw, when it comes to moisture and rot, there were not a huge number of feasable options.  The straw had to be covered and kept dry whilst the earth needed to fall and look fairly natural down the side of the building.  Here, the waterproof layers continue to encapsulate the straw behind the willow horizontals and are secured with the large vertical trunk.  The tyres hold the willow in place at the other end without damaging the layers behind.

SE side, needed a different solution of finishing and retaining, so we used oak planks to hold the soil back and finish the straw wall.  The shower tray is still visible as the final wall isn't in place yet.

Interior straw walls clipped neatly ready for rendering.  The cloth protects the plumbing for the kitchen sink.  For the moment the tyres will remain visible.  They protect the bales from the damp floor/ground and are filled with large stones.

Adam working the first layer of lime mortar well into the bales.  The further into the bales this layer goes the better supported the final wall will be.  Not particularly strenuous work but hard on the fingers with constant forcing of mix into the straw.  3 parts sharp sand, 1 part lime and enough water to form a slurry.

Cordwood wall sections under construction.  They rest on horizontal beams of cleaved chestnut wrapped in polythene to keep them off the ground.  The two sides of the wall are mortared and the central area is filled with wood chippings, this reduces the amount of mortar used and in enclosed buildings provided an added layer of insulation.  

Second layer of lime mortar in position, scratched to take the final finish coat once dry.

Evening sunshine on a portion of finished cordwood wall.  It's starting to look good.

willow roofing

Matty and I starting to weave the roof support layer.  We nailed lengths of willow to each rafter then wove them round in a giant structure.  Their length and solidity made it strenuous work to bend each branch into position.

As the willow would be seen from underneath, it was important to check that it looked good from below.  

Three days later the weaving is complete.  It got more and more challenging to bend the branches into position, even choosing lighter more supple lengths made for interesting work.  The surface covered a multitude of unevenness underneath and looked almost too good to support further layers.

From ground level the structure is starting to resemble a building.  

Layers of protective material, waterproofing and further protective surfaces are added to make the structure waterproof.  Folding the layers proved challenging as there was a huge surplus at the centre that had to be folded to keep the whole thing water tight.

Doing battle with the final layer of geotextile membrane 

Finishing touches to the layer of earth.  We barrowed about 6 tons of soil onto the roof, sufficient to suport vegetation throughout the year with a bit of watering through the summer.  The whole building remained solid and comfortable to walk on even with all this weight.  Most of the planting will happen in the autumn as it is a better time to get plants to establish.  By this time next year the roof should be vibrant and green.

willow roof structure

Matt and Matty encouraging the first willow onto place on the roof.

Nearing completion with Harry, Nic and Matty hard at work

Too good to cover with soil

layers of protection

and a topping of soil

The roof was much more fun.  Giant spirals of willow wound and attached round the roof to be viewed from below once the structure is complete.  This process was amazingly time consuming and energetic, each length of willow being encouraged into place, often against its natural tendencies.  The result was amazing and almost too good to cover with earth.  

The willow spiral was covered with white fabric to show it off well then double layers of polyethene, landscape fabric and then earth.  The plan is for the roof to return to nature with ivy, perrywinkle and woodland plants creating a green carpet and disguising the building from above.  It’ll take a while and there are more pressing things to do at the moment than wandering about the woods looking for rooted ivy and interesting specimens to relocate.  Better done in the autumn when it is cooler too I would have thought.