Category Archives: Pictures
Slow Progress
Sometimes, when you work mostly alone, you just need a supervisor. Here’s mine. His name is Ninja and he’s the feral cat who takes care of our workshop/shed. He’s a lovey-dovey and almost always wants hugs and rubs. Except when … Continue reading
Cross-bracing “fun”
Normal houses use plywood sheets at the corners to prevent the frame from racking in a high wind… but you can’t do that in a strawbale house, because the plywood traps moisture which will rot the straw. The answer is … Continue reading
Sept. & Oct.
We’ve been working hard since the last post — and been too busy to update this site, unfortunately. We’ve made progress, though there have been ups and downs. The weather has been dry and helpful, and we’ve tried our best … Continue reading
Mid to Late August
The “update list of links” idea is working well for timeliness, so this page will take Chenoweth East thru the end of August. Join us on the journey! We love visitors, so if you are in the area (see Maps, … Continue reading
Update in Pictures – June to Early August
Now that we are in the thick of actually building, there doesn’t seem to be much time to do the posts! So, for a picture overview of progress, here are links to different folders that progressively bring us up to … Continue reading
High Lift and Hoe Ram
Here is the hoe ram in action, breaking up the rock which is in the way of the footer for the annex foundation… It is a Bobcat lift with a special attachment on the front. In case you’re wondering, the … Continue reading
Rock & basement
In the last few days we have been buying lots of #3 rock, plus something called “crusher run” by the dump truck load. Because of the rain, it has been going on the road and … sinking :-O Obviously, this … Continue reading
Junk in the pipes – before/after
In previous posts I described the process (and hassle) of cleaning out the pipes which the crossing is built on. Since doing that, the pictures nearby represent the highest the creek has gotten since then. In point of fact, in … Continue reading
Beth and Ginny
The lady of our future home has been a vital part of everything from the beginning … even when Ted was musing about building a rammed earth home (another story) back in the mid-80s! Now that we’re on our way, … Continue reading
Found a claw
After roughly 10 tries last week, we found an excavator with a claw (the grabber thing above the bucket in the picture). It got the crossing cleaned out! Since then, the creek has been happy, and we’re moving forward… Notice … Continue reading
Highlift, meet dead oak
A friend recently asked me, “What’s a highlift?” Behold… Our driveway, it turns out, needed to go right through a place where this huge, dead oak tree was standing. We got a bid of $800 to drop it, but then … Continue reading
We Need a Claw!
…with a backhoe attached to it. That’s because the creek keeps cutting the ends of our crossing out every time the water gets high, and before we can fix it we need the culverts cleared of debris. See? We think … Continue reading
Dig ready? – not – yet…
Weather (wet) and paperwork (govt.) have combined, and we have missed our goal… but we’ll keep at it. In the meantime, here’s our site plan. Notice the shaded area around the creek at the upper part of the diagram – … Continue reading
After 35 years of dreaming…
…here we go! As one might note from previous posts, our progress since 2007 has been somewhat uncertain. The 2008 financial meltdown, family and business issues and the general rush of life have meant that now, finally, we’re on the … Continue reading
Crossing is finished!
We are very pleased; Paul Clifford Construction did an excellent job, at a reasonable price.