help ex - Indi and Charlie



Indi and Charlie arrived a couple of days ago - a young couple who have been travelling around Europe visiting and volunteering on eco-communities.  Both are interested in philosophy, ecology and spirituality and so far it has been a rich exchange of ideas.

 

Insulating the stair wall with a thermal corrector

 

The first project they are tackling here is insulating the stair wall.  We are using a thermal corrector rather than the 20cm of terre paille (straw and slip) here as there is not much width on the stairs to spare.  This consists of a mix of one volume of chopped up straw (average fibre lengths 10cm), one volume of sand 0/4 and one volume of soaked clay earth.  It is called a thermal corrector rather than an insulation layer ... all mixed in the concrete mixer.

 

Charlie uses the lawnmower to chop up straw

 

Indi prepares the straw

 

 



Indi loads the thermal corrector mix into buckets

before applying to the wall

 

 



Indi applies the thermal corrector mix to

the wall with her hands





Charlie and Indi applying the thermal

 corrector render to the stair wall

 

Applying an earth render (corps d'enduit) to the terre paille insulation

Charlie applies the corps d'enduit to the

terre paille insulation

 

Indi applying the corps d'enduit earth

render to the downstairs wall

 

Cooking at La Mariais

 

Indi spent a day perusing my collection of vegetariancookery books and planned a menu for the week

 

Deep in creative thought with the

 cookery books

 

Indi puts her culinary research into practice

 

Charlie, an accomplished cook has

created many delicious meals using

fresh organic vegetables from the garden
 

Charlie chops wood for the outdoor

 woodburning cooking stove
 

He fashioned a blow pipe from a piece of metal

he found on the land and used it to keep the fire

going in the survival stove

 

Enjoying the kitty cats

Indi spends quality time with spotty cat

 

Charlie and spotty cat share the

same taste in colours