Round(ish) house project update

Round(ish) house project update

After two years I’ve finally succumbed to covid, so am waiting out my quarantine by updating some of the information on the website. First up is the roundhouse – a project that at one point I thought would never end. After a quick start, the thought of...
Finishing the roundhouse

Finishing the roundhouse

Five years ago now we started building the strawbale roundhouse, which has been a slow affair, mainly due to not having any good clay with which to make earth plaster.  The roundhouse has sat there full of junk – a wasted opportunity that has nagged at me each...
The storm before the calm

The storm before the calm

I keep nearly writing posts, and it seems there is so much to put in that it never gets done, so its time for a good update and then we’ll keep up to date. There is certainly plenty going on, so here goes. It’s getting on for a decade since I began this...
Limewashing and a barn repair

Limewashing and a barn repair

October was a busy month at Lackan, tackling all the regular jobs that we’ve been putting off too long. The cottages have been limewashed, repairs made to flashings and everything made generally weatherproof. Three years after we bought the lime-hemp plaster,...
A strawbale barn

A strawbale barn

One of the hardest things about producing your own food isn’t growing it, it is storing it afterwards. It really wants to break down as fast as possible, and all manner of creatures want to eat it first. Until now we’ve stored food all over the place – hanging up in the living room; in cupboards. In short, not ideal. Another issue that we had was that our 4000 litre rainwater tanks and pump were not terribly pretty and very exposed to cold temperatures. The pump especially has been badly damaged by freezing twice now. The problem, as they say in permaculture, is the solution, and in this case takes the form of a strawbale barn, which incorporates the water tanks as its back wall.

Roofing for the DIY renovator

Roofing for the DIY renovator

Prior to landing at Lackan, I’d never re-roofed a house – let’s face it, its not something you do every day. Throughout our search for a house, my primary selection criteria was ‘is the roof straight’, and on that basis, this cottage was winner. There are two cottages here, and on one we kept the old corrugated roof, for reasons of budget and fear, and the other we re-roofed, having a bit more money and confidence. Hopefully this post will be of use to others who are wondering what to do with their old cottage roofs.