Wednesday, July 6, Part III - 2 straw houses

Below is my first look at Dominque's property (the house under construction will show up soon).  To the left is a long hedge of red raspberries that are mostly gone for this year, but certainly make a delicious permanent addition to Dominique's enormous garden.  The pile under the black plastic has straw to be used for mulching the garden.  Then in the next level, there is a large stack of pallets that represent a cheap way to make many things during construction.  This is the way Pierlo made the new temporary shower at his place.

At the next level in the picture, under the green plastic, is the large shed used to keep some of the wood and tools to build the house.  To the left, the white structure is a yurt.  These yurts are used all over France as an option for campers or Wwoofers or others like Dominique who are in the process of constructing a new abode.  It is tall and quite comfortable even in the winter since it has a wood stove. Dominique was a little sheepish as she told me that the yurt is really not an "ecological" structure, as it must be transported from Asia, although I believe she said they are also made in France but not very near where she lives.  In any case, it is not a "local" product, one of the tenets of eco-living.  But Dominique makes up for her eco-footprint by having a huge garden and by having just about everything else come from a local source.

At the end of the walkway is the large log cabin.  To the left of where Pierlo is entering are the toilet and shower.  The door Pierlo is opening is the door to the kitchen and the small bedroom where the Wwoofers sleep.  The large, green garbage can is used to store rainwater from the gutter and the structure hitched on to the right houses the gardening tools and bicycles as well as the preserves for winter that come from the garden.

Since Dominique's crew is just finishing breakfast, I will show you the difference in stage of construction of Dominique's house and Pierlo's house.  The latter was instrumental in talking up the idea of constructing a straw house.  It takes a lot of courage to make such a decision as the process is long and arduous.

Here only the ground floor has been built, yet that in itself quite an accomplishment.  Many people go to see both of these eco-houses and Pierlo has had some people blow off the idea of building a straw house when they see "cracks" (small ones) in the first floor.  He tries to inform people that certain "cracks" are ok in the beginning stages as they will later be covered up by further construction.  He himself is now constructing the attic and must be quite careful to make sure of the final coat has a "consistency" that will render a smooth finish.  We saw this in the last blog where Joe and Dominique made up different samples of material to possibly be used in the attic as a final coat.

Here you will note that there is masking tape holding the black plastic around the whole structure.  It is very important that the straw not become wet during construction.

As we await the other crew, Joe receives orders to store the clothes drying racks out of the way of where someone will be working today.

Here Joe and Ana play with the three (sometimes there are more) dogs who love to play ball.

I move on down to get a better look at the yurt and the garden.  In the middle of the picture you can see the table that stays in the same place (it has two umbrellas that can be put up if it is sunny) for meals outside when the weather is good.

If the garden looks a little weedy, it is because there have been other things to do this spring.  May was an exceptionally dry month as you have heard earlier in this blog, and I imagine that there were advances that could be made on the house during that time (or even, perhaps, a dearth of Wwoofers).  During the period I am spend in the Pyrénées, the two crews will have the time to do much weeding, transplanting, and even setting out into the garden some of the plants we transplanted this first week.

The large-leafed plant you see in the front of the garden is rhubarb with some edible flowers alongside.

Here is a place (a little greenhouse) where I will do lots of work while I am here.  I have determined that I am too old to climb the chantier to work.  It is a sad realization for me, but a decision I must take.  Here, I can play many supporting roles and not put my life in danger.  I must leave the construction work to the young people and support them by doing the chores like cooking and gardening for which they will have no time.

I chose this placement because I thought it would be a way not only to come to know a French family, but also to work with others from different countries and backgrounds.  I wasn't wrong about this.    As time goes on during my stay, I realize that the conviviality established with everyone working together in a spirit of advancing these two houses in moments that require more hours than announced, is the glue that holds us together and gives the project that spirit of cooperation.  I think each of us worked for the good of the project and thus, though each one of us did a different job, there was a commonality of purpose as each one imagined that this would be one's own house.  Of course, I am perhaps going on on a limb speculating what others thought.  Yet there was always a spirit of working together and such "joie de vivre" in the group, that I think my guess about this spirit is right.

I often thought how difficult it must be for Pierlo and Dominique to change "personnel" every week or two. Sometimes they have "workers" who stay longer, but Wwoofers generally want to have different experiences if they come to France for the whole summer.  Not only do the hosts have to provide certain basic elements (food, shelter, laundry, showers, sawdust for the bathroom), but they often have to go and fetch them from different railroad or bus stations and later take them back at the end of their stays.

Of course, each one of us must make adaptations to new food, the rustic sleeping quarters, the work load, but the working together to accomplish a goal seemed to draw us all together into a rich and fruitful experience.

Here you have a closer look at the "main" temporary structure - or perhaps it will be more permanent.  Actually, when you construct any new houses in the area, especially with a "view" (you will see it soon), there are strict rules about what kind of structure may remain after the new house is built.  In fact, I think all temporary structures must be eliminated, but Dominique has the hope that maybe the neighbors will not object to their keeping this rustic, though attractive cabin.  It would certainly make a nice place for visitors in the future.  It could be a good place that former Wwoofers might return.  Several have already returned for more than one stay to work on the houses.  We actually had one join us at Pierlo's for just over a week.  You will meet Rico later in this blog.

Here is Dominique getting ready to work.  Boots are an important part of this experience.  As in a Japanese home, we are requested to take off our shoes at the door as there is much straw and mud on every shoe that doesn't pass the threshold!  Yes, it looks like there are four dogs instead of three.

And now I go further down into the garden.  On the right in the background, you see another use for the pallets as containers for the waste from the dry toilets as well as others used for garden waste.  As at Pierlo's, a certain time elapses before using the contents of the toilets to fertilize the garden.

Here you begin to see the view from Dominique's house.  Of course it is not that 180 degree spectacular rural view, but nevertheless, it is quite sufficient in its own way.

Here is a single artichoke plant.  I forgot to ask if it was an edible one or a wild one there for looks only.  My guess is that it is a wild variety and therefor the fruit a bit smaller than the cultivates ones.

Because of the dry weather, the tomato plants are a bit behind schedule.  You can also see here, that the closest neighbors on one side of the property are quite far away with a field in between Dominique's house and the adjoining one.  No possibility of noisy neighbors like I sometimes have now in Paris.

And finally, here is a good view of the first row of mountains.  Don't forget, we are in the Pyrénées!

Here is the nearest neighbor on the other side of the property along the road.  Lots of corn and other types of crops.

To the right of the yurt, is the tiny cabin that Dominique and Patrick's son, Emile, built for himself.  He is a baker who gets up around 2 in the morning to do his job and comes home around 10 in the morning.  He is an avid biker and participates in many races.  On the ground in front of the table you can see the two umbrellas that we had to use only a couple of days when we were there.  We also only had to eat once inside because of rain.

Here Marion again reminds me of my grandchildren as they too love animals.  In the foreground, we are about to learn more about the oven that Emile has started in order to make homemade bread.  As you can already see in this picture, there is some straw on the bottom.  I wish I had written down the whole construction but that was not part of my organization in the planning of this blog.  Just too much to think of.  Perhaps when I go Wwoofing next time I will remember to keep a little notebook handy to make pertinent notes!  Or, perhaps I will have some feedback from Dominique, although she will be too busy continuing the construction of what will be a beautiful home once it is done.

It seems Pierlo is taking a good look and asking questions.  Perhaps once he has everything else in place at his new home, he will also want to add an oven to make his own bread.

Now the two leaders go into the shed to discuss the possible jobs for the day.  There is some urgency, as there is already a date for the arrival of a crane that is a necessary mechanical expense in the next major step for the house.

Well, here we are back to the dry toilet.  As you can see there are many different constructions for just a simple one.  Earlier in my blog we saw another simple construction in the salines near Bretignoles-sur-Mer.  There are many models on the net.  I guess the most important thing is that one must be near enough to some lumber mill so that there is a source of sawdust.  I have also heard that sand can be used instead but haven't investigated that type.

Here there are some posters with instructions.

This view shows lots of short reading material (note the calendars in the lower left hand corner).  These were full of facts about many things.  Some were taken out of the original calendar and left as separate sheets.  There was information on insects, gardening, music and many other topics.  I thought I would try to find these calendars in Paris, but I haven't yet remembered to look when I have been in a bookstore.

Pierlo also keeps these cardboard centers from the toilet paper rolls, but just now the use that he puts them to escapes me.  Perhaps someone else remembers!

I recently checked out the web site below but didn't find it too interesting.  It seems more of an ad for certain specific products.

Back to the greenhouse for a view of the squash.  There are lots of squash plants outside as well.  The  wheelbarrow here is what I will use later in the day to do some transplanting.

Here are the squash plants (a different variety) at the back of the garden.

Here I have started my job of transplanting some tiny broccoli plants.  I will later be joined by Ana and still later, Joe will join us, though it is a small space.

Instructions were to go out to the garden and get half a wheelbarrow of dirt and mix it with half a wheelbarrow of potting soil.  At least this is a job with which I am quite familiar though haven't done it in several years.  At home I just don't seem to have time to do much gardening and now that I have begun to travel, I think it may still be some years away for me to start up a garden again.  

Wow!  Are these plants ever tiny!  Great care must be taken to separate them.

I'm not exactly sure why I don't have any other pictures here of what everyone was doing that day on the house.  I actually think that some other people were arriving at Dominique's the next day.

Here we are returning home in a rain shower.  This holdup is a common one in the area as the farmers are taking the cows home from pasture.  You also see the herding dog that is one of the most popular dogs in the Pyrénées.

I'm not sure she much appreciated our presence.

And here we have arrived at Castillon, where Pierlo and his family have lived since they arrived in the region.  It is actually the Town Hall.  They live in the apartment on the second floor.  They have some lovely views, but of course their new house will afford them a stupendous view as well as land where they can garden, have animals and a huge garden.  They originally thought to make the change after retirement, but subsequently realized it would be a fantastic life for their children.  This was just what my parents felt when I was 7 and they bought 18 acres in southern Vermont.  How lucky I was to grow up in a rural area!  

We are invited to take showers and we also make a cake, one for us and one for the visitors tomorrow.  Then it is off to chantier and a good night's sleep.

Tune in again for Thursday's discoveries.