mudnsticks: April 2012

March 2008

Where it all began.

We stumbled on this piece of land almost by accident, in Michelle's home town! 6000 square metres, north facing, heaps of trees, on a quiet road - perfect!

So we bought it.

So we began thinking and planning and working out just what we were going to do with it. Michelle built a shed and we filled it with stuff we found, and I put a fence in down one side. ( there weren't any fences when we bought it, just vague ideas about where the boundaries were).

In August we let itchy feet get the better of us and decided to head back to Scotland for at least a few years, and this is how we last saw our block of land, with a dusting of snow, as we headed off for summer on the other side of the world.

2009

And this is how it looked when we got back. On 7th February 2009 the worst bushfires in living history swept through a large part of Victoria, killing 173 people and destroying hundreds of homes. It almost wiped Kinglake off the map. Michelles parents lost their home, and with it all our belongings we had in storage there.
We were lucky; we only lost things.

The heat on the day was so intense that most vegetation was killed. and our block was left a moonscape.

The soil lay lifeless for six months, during which time we had to decide whether or not we wanted to build a home and make a life here, knowing that it will burn again, sometime in the future. It was a decision being made by many people in the affected area, with many deciding the risk and stress were too great and moving off the mountain.

Finally, some green shoots popped up from the scorched earth, and the decision was made.

We're staying.

What follows is a collection of pictures that hopefully depicts our journey so far.

Most of the trees were Mountain Ash, a species that doesn't survive fire, so sadly they all had to come down.......

.....and so began the cleaning up and the milling. There were a couple of portable sawmills available in the area, and in four sessions over a few months I managed to make quite a pile of good timber.

2010

So, once the logs were turned into lumber and stacked to dry, the next job was to build a shelter to live in.

with a little help

sometimes things got a little silly.....

meanwhile Michelle was creating a garden.

I sorted out some plumbing

and the new bead-house was open for business.

we made sure we were comfortable, oh yes.

OK. So now we turn our attention to the house.
What house?
This house.

It's made of mud brick, north facing, solar passive design and built to comply with the local bushfire standards. We're building in three stages, this being the front view of stage one. I don't know how long it will be until we get onto stage two or three, but hey, whats the hurry.

I started making a model.

2011

And Michelle borrowed the neighbour's Kanga and moved some serious dirt!

There were still twenty dead trees standing, slowly rotting and becoming more of a danger, so they were brought down too, and once again there was the long and tedious task of cutting and moving and stacking and burning.