minktoast.net » land

Shed building

tom — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:14:08 +0000

Back to blip after a few weeks without getting the camera out much.

Various developments mean that I’ll be doing a lot of building over the next few months so prepare for many shots of timber and tools.

Ben and I have been working on the shed at the back of the house for the last couple of days. We put the doors on today. They are made from recycled aluminium from the old mobile home that we dismantled last year. It was very satisfying creating new things from old.

Roundhouse in the morning

tom — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:33:23 +0000

Did the early run to the school bus this morning and wished I’d taken the camera with me as the dawn over the village was spectacular.

When I got home I ran up the hill to the roundhouse to see if the light was still the same. I’d pretty much missed it, but there was still a pinkish glow on the roundhouse. This is now the pony’s winter shelter. They love it and will be going in later today as gales and rain are forecast.

moonlit snow

tom — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:46:04 +0000

Some shots I took at our place in the middle of the night under a full moon back on 22nd December. 30 second exposures at ISO 400 with camera on a tripod.

Warm house

Sledging in West Cork

tom — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:17:30 +0000

We’ve been enjoying the snow! The sledges were cut from an old kids plastic slide.

(Click pictures for large versions.)

first egg day

tom — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:18:05 +0000

great eggcitement today as one of isaac’s chickens layed her first egg!

home based

tom — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 08:29:48 +0000

after 6 years of distance learning courses with the organic college it was time to call it a day and hand over the reins. so i resigned and the last pay cheque arrived yesterday. the courses are continuing and i’ll have a role in keeping the website up and running.

so it’s time to develop some exciting ideas for making a bit of money. hopefully enough to keep us in food and clothes. given the state of the irish economy i’m not hoping for much more! there will be news here over the next few months about how these ideas are developing.

fortunately the house is working well and hasn’t blown down yet – so it will make a great base for living simply and reducing our energy and money needs.

(thanks to simon for the great panoramic shot of the house below. click to see a much larger scrollable version)

house panorama

autumn progress

tom — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:06:15 +0000

first proper cold morning here today…

cold sunflowers

which inspired us to get on with completing the roof on the roundhouse…

reciprocal 2

reciprocal roofing

tom — Sat, 08 May 2010 10:13:28 +0000

christy was here this week and we got the poles for reciprocal frame on the round house up. it’s 9 metre diameter which is pushing the limits for this kind of frame without central supports!

lifting the last pole of the reciprocal roof into place

I forgot to say: We moved in at Christmas…

tom — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:14:26 +0000

It’s June already! After a very hot bank holiday weekend with the first proper days of summer we’re loving living in our new house. There’s still lots to do (stairs, kitchen, hearth for fire) but most of that is on hold while we enjoy the garden. Yesterday everyone spent the day swimming in the pond.

I’ve just uploaded a few more photos if you’re interested… Ruth has done a great job getting the veg garden going – ably assisted by Fionnuala and Isaac.

may – the greenest month of the year

tom — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:47:50 +0000

fantastic weather here and incredibly lush and green everywhere… the house is starting to look like part of the landscape…

we’ve been busy installing insulation – some new photos on picasa.