One of the lovely things about the strawbale house is the big, thick, curved posts and windowsills on the external walls. They give a lovely solid feeling, and lots of people come into the house and exclaim: “It’s like a castle I visited,” or “It’s like so-and-so’s big old house.” The other good thing about the thick walls is the insulation they provide; the bad thing is that getting radio reception inside is difficult (other than HuonFM, of course!).

Anyway, the house is looking more finished now, with the skirtings. Getting the skirtings, which are straight, around the strawbale walls, which are curved, was a challenge. Derrick worked out that if the skirtings were cut through at 50ml or so, at small intervals, the skirtings (MDF) could be curved. The slits were then filled, and once they have been sanded and given a lick of gloss paint, they will look perfect.

How to curve a straight piece of wood

This was also one of my ‘smile’ moments, which you can see by following the “365 reasons…” link at the top right of this page.

The countdown until we move in? It’s still “2 weeks.” It seems that it is always “2 weeks” until we move in, never taking notice of the last “2 weeks” that was promised. At least now we are able to install the wardrobes, which is a job we hope to do this weekend. Lots of painting has been done and we are now ready for the electrician to install lights and power points. We’ve bought our pendant lights as well. The kitchen was promised for yesterday (Friday) delivery, but we were not surprised (nor disappointed) when it did not arrive!