Internal views

Window-sill former little DIY shelf from bathroom, showing home-grown cutting from my carpet rose :)

Sliding window the surviving pane of glass from a bookcaase I bought for my 21st !!

Roof arches joined/strengthened by spur brackets from former shelving

top of rear wall piece of painted pine (former shelving)

shwing 'sunlight' detail

Construction timeline

The full details will be uploaded on completion of the venture !

Trailer conversion!

'Natural' roofing = rubber pondliner offcut

Previously protected by 10yr-old Khyam tent groundsheet

Rear wall lowest point will have guttering for rainwater capture

finally a rear wall

'New' floo: recycled 5-ply timber wood-preserved on underside against damp from wet roads/fields

More t/f - the mobile 'home' is taking shape :) 

Equipment

Comfort ten years on from the stint in the Khyam!

DIY roofbox !

 Roofbox finally fixed to DIY roofbars and packed with items for storage :)





Roofbars: recycled timber + 'U' bolts meant for fixing exhaust pipes (brilliant tip from AA man :) and cushioning from an old 'push-on' shower fitting!

Roofbox (in progress) for car to transport bulky camping items to free up space in boot and lessen load on trailer.

The (Ad)Venture has begun

8' x 5' trailer collected 26th June  - kept for me for weeks by a kind gent :)


Now the real work can commence: wood preserver and hammerite 'at the ready'!  An interesting stroke of fate - it was located in my mother's county of birth :)




Pics of resources/components to be uploaded !

Some wood panels preserved at the ready...

to be clad internally with plywood planks!  (cavity walls of course lol)

Plywood sheet at forefront to be used for a car roof-box!

More efforts by an enterprising Pensioner lol

Broken garden trolley provides axle/wheels

Sack truck from offcuts and recycled brackets

Lightweight but strong for moving boxes of books... then also for water cannister etc

now 'wood-preserved'

Surviving now despite short-sighted local bureaucrats

Watch this space for an update re my latest plans to show what I can achieve !!!!

I have various materials* collected via Freecycle but my council gave no permission for a decent-sized shed in my backyard, let alone a lean-to :(  I needed a workshop/utility space plus somewhere for plant propagation.  

It took about 11 months to get permission for a very small shed for my garden tools.  I was told my plans to use recycled materials were not suitable neither was the use of student help!!  My small shed was made by cutting down a larger secondhand one and not constructed by a 'carpenter'!!  

See: http://www.nomorelandfill.blogspot.co.uk - "The shed that wasn't supposed to be!"

* 2 x aluminium patio doors and 1 side panel.  Timber etc  now hopefully about to find another use :)

I just need an 8 x 4 roadworthy trailer !!!  My car is a golf estate workhorse.

Surely we should all be using resources more carefully but someone who tries to do things in a sustainable way unfortunately encounters a lot of barriers...  including being labelled a 'hoarder' :(  

Councils are only interested in ticking boxes and making the public 'compliant' !

Surviving against the odds

Homestead Sept/Oct 2002:  My then 18yr old daughter (now working as a doctor in Oz) and I lived in this large Khyam tent, seen to rear, from 12th August - 25th October.  From September we had this pitch with electric hook-up.  The kind site manager had created a hook-up cable with a board and sockets for us.  He also lent us an oil-filled radiator when it got colder.  By October 25th it was water-logged and there were gales the night we dismantled!!

We had found it difficult to find somewhere to live with our 2 adorable half-siamese cats.  Brinnie visible in front of plants I had been given.  My daughter was working to fund 'gap-year' travels so the local council had decided we no longer constituted a 'family' in need of housing together :(  A council officer had visited me the day after my appearance on the Carlton 6pm news!  [I had been interviewed by Sean Conway, footage of the tent with our other cat Tiggles was shown!] My MP had supported my plea for support for people living in a large tent as opposed to a small van!

Freecycling...

Freecycle

Freecycling not only saves things from going to landfill and provides the 'new' owners with a valued resource, it is a wonderful way of meeting other people who care :) :)

My sustainable projects

The creation of a mini 'larder' foodsafe. Pine offcuts, bargain shelf handles and the top from a broken air-purifier!

      

Food now safe from insects and possible 4-legged thieves!  Also windproof for picnics/camping :)

Novel stand for old toasting fork (waiting for an open fire) crafted from pine offcuts :)  It doesn't topple thanks to top tier of stand!

Other function - base stays on thanks to splayed outer prongs!  So it can act as a 2-stage weapon of self-defence !!

Kitchen Innovations:

Customised from offcuts: a handy shelf unit near small microwave and larder fridge.  In a small badly-planned kitchen every bit of wall-space needs to be exploited!

Storage shelf made from spare piece of w/top offcut used to make folding table

Versatile trolley/storage for small cooking appliances

Other Innovations:

Laptop tray with ventilation rack

 

< underside

Strawbale Construction

Strawbale building

My most memorable book from childhood is

"The Children who lived in a Barn"

by Eleanor Graham. Unfortunately I do not have it in my copious book collection as back then I read a library copy; I remember hiding in our small larder to read the next intriguing chapter when I was supposed to be doing other things!   The other ploy was a torch under the bedclothes after lights out!!  No bedside lamp in those days!

I recalled the title now because of the famed 'hay-box'.  Looking at a possible 'eco' lifestyle and strawbale building, which I first heard of whilst living in Devon, reminded me of it :)

Eco Communities

I would love to join or help set up an eco-community.  I have resources and skills but alas no funds to invest :(

I am an extremely well-equipped retired linguist (teacher/translator) also TEFL qualified.

I shall be uploading more info very soon so I have somewhere people can see my dream.