1. Moments with straw bale building Some slides of the process to build our straw bale dream home.

2. The house should go…here.

3. First, lets do a perk test.

4. Now for the hole.

5. This guy does not know what he’s in for.

6. Forms? How do you do that?

7. Footings, my back hurts already

8. Let’s insulate it really well.

9. Bring the concrete truck again.

10. ICF Looks easy, yes?.

11. Easy, but not that easy.

12. Time for more concrete.

13. Now that was exhausting.

14. We are now firmly committed pony walls to hold the floor.

15. Let’s screw down the sub-floor.

16. Next the trusses and framing.

17. Better get a roof on to put the straw under, to keep it dry.

18. The bales, lets get them on the hottest day of the year.

19. Unload 500 bales.

20. The roof is a month’s work. Notice the straw underneath.

21. Lets start the straw bale part.

22. Carving and cutting bales

23. Bash’em into line with our mallet.

24. Starts to look like a house.

25. Straw not hay, if you mention 3 little pigs we know you’re an idiot.

26. Scratch coat begins.

27. Plastering is one huge job.

28. Mud, mud glorious mud.

29. And we’re still married.

30. We tarp the house for the winter.

31. This lets work and Christmas celebrations continue until spring.

32. Because of the tarps plastering could start earlier in the year.

33. As soon as it warms up, off comes the tarp.

34. Plastering the inside continues.

35. Eventually this plaster mayhem comes to an end.

36. Every straw house has to have a truth window to show the straw.

37. Now we are ready to frame the interior.

38. The framing, like everything else takes far longer than expected.

39. Did we mention the soffits?

40. Hand milled white pine, this job was huge, two weeks of grunting.

41. Drywall is the next step, yucko!

42. Now every surface has to be plastered again with gypsum finishing plaster, ceilings too!

43. The first signs of a kitchen appear.

44. During all this, canning season arrives.

45. The Mexican bathroom vanities are brought in.

46. A few trees and this really starts to look like a house now.

47. There are still a lot of things to deal with like, water

48. And compacting.

49. Putting the acorn on the cupula.

50. Inside we’re still slogging away on the plaster.

51. Family visits help to deal with the over abundance of fruit.

52. The joys of thinset mortar and in floor heating.

53. Shirley enjoys the kitchen with warm floor.

54. Straw really is great insulation, our heating bill goes way down.

55. The great room floor is finished with fir t&g, the dog likes it too.

56. At last we have a place to enjoy.

57. It’s not gardening season yet, so Shirley actually lays on the couch.