Saturday 24 September 2011

£3,000 Hobbit House Built into the side of a Hill (seriously amazing!)

Just what it says on the tin, complete with pictures! Just beautiful! Built by a guy with no experience in carpentry or architecture, created his sustainable family home using scrap wood for floors, materials scavenged from skips and by diverting water from a nearby spring. This article with pictures from the Mail Online. See the original article here.


Our £3,000 Hobbit house: The family home dug from a hillside and built with scraps scavenged from skips

Last updated at 2:26 AM on 22nd September 2011


Fed up with huge mortgage payments, Simon Dale decided to take matters into his own hands – literally. 
Armed with only a chisel, a chainsaw and a hammer, the 32-year-old moved his family to a hillside in Wales and started digging.
The result is a wooden eco-home – constructed in four months and costing  just £3,000 – which would look perfectly at ease alongside the Hobbit houses in The Lord Of The Rings.
Finished article: Simon Dale's family home, made with his bare hands
Finished article: Simon Dale's family home which he built in four months for a cost of £3,000
The moon rises on the house which is roofed with grass and nestles in its woodland surroundings
Nestled: The moon rises on the house which is roofed with grass and blends in to its woodland surroundings
Home from home: In just four months the house was ready
Cosy home: The house is heated by a wood burner and a solar panel provides power
Mr Dale, who has no experience in carpentry or architecture, created his sustainable family home using scrap wood for floors, materials scavenged from skips and by diverting water from a nearby spring.
And while he was doing the building work, his wife Jasmine Saville and their two toddler children camped in the nearby countryside.
He said: ‘Being your own have-a-go architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass-produced box designed for maximum profit and the convenience of the construction industry. 
‘Building from natural materials does away with producers’ profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.’
Cosy: Inside the finished house, with windows and floors as well as a staircase Sustainable: Simon Dale, who had no experience as a carpenter or architect when he started the project, used lime plaster and wood from the surrounding area
Woodland view: The house is fully sustainable
Woodland view: Mr Dale put the timber frame up first, then the roof, so his family could be sheltered while he carried out the rest of the work
Hobbit house: The finished article sits in the Welsh hillside and is almost hidden from view
Hobbit house: The finished article sits in the Welsh hillside and is almost hidden from view
The family struck lucky searching for a site for their dream project. In return for looking after the area, the owner of the woods gave them their plot for free. 
After digging into the hillside, Mr Dale – with the help of his father-in-law, a builder – first constructed the building’s timber frame.
The roof, which came next, has a layer of straw bales for insulation and is covered  with sheets of plastic to make it waterproof. 
Finally it is covered with a layer of earth, which ensures the house blends perfectly into its surroundings. 
Finished article: Simon Dale, with wife Jasmine Saville, outside their home, just four months after starting work
Woodland home: Simon Dale, with wife Jasmine Saville and their two children outside their home, just four months after starting work
Once the outer shell was complete, the family made an interior wall from straw bales stacked on dry-stone walling and staked together with hazel sticks.
Once the walls were up a sub-floor made from pallets was laid, with floorboards put down on top.
Miss Saville, writing on her husband’s website, said: ‘Some past experience, lots of reading and self-belief gave  us the courage of our conviction that we wanted to build our own home in natural surroundings.
‘For us, one choice led to another and each time we  took the plunge events conspired to assist us in our mission. There were times of stress and exhaustion, but  definitely no regrets and plenty of satisfaction.’
Window on the woods: The cosy sitting room looks out through the conservatory to the surrounding woodland
Window on the woods: The cosy sitting room looks out through the conservatory to the surrounding woodland
From scratch: Simon Dale building his 'hobbit house'
From scratch: Simon Dale building his 'hobbit house'
Foundations: The house taking shape after putting palletes on top of straw bales ready for floor boards
From rubble: The beginning of the house...
Before and after:  View from the unfinished window (left) and piles of stones on the house site 
Foundations: The house taking shape after putting palletes on top of straw bales ready for floor boards
Foundations: The house takes shape with palettes laid as a sub floor, ready for floor boards
Helping hand: Simon Dale's son helps out gathering wood
Helping hand: Simon Dale's son helps out gathering wood
Family task: Simon Dale moved his family to Wales and started building
Family task: Simon Dale moved his family to Wales and started building
As well as being made from sustainable material the Hobbit house, as it is dubbed by locals, has lime plaster on its walls instead of cement, a compost toilet, a fridge cooled by air from beneath the foundations and solar panels for power.
Mr Dale said: ‘This sort of  life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology.’
Since building his house, Mr Dale is following the design to construct the first home in the Lammas Village, Wales’s first eco-development.
For more information on building low impact homes, visit www.simondale.net
Plans: Drawings for the hobbit house
Plans: Drawings for the hobbit house
Insulation: Straw, membrane and earth make up the walls
Insulation: Straw, membrane and earth make up the walls


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039719/Simon-Dale-How-I-built-hobbit-house-Wales-just-3-000.html#ixzz1YsZTFKXT

Photograph: Boy's shadow with Balloons (National Geographic)

From the National Geographic Photograph of the day.

Friday 23 September 2011

The Potential Consequences of the EuroCrisis (the Economist): Audio

A 15 minute special report from the Economist on the potential consequences of the EuroCrisis looking at Greece being forced out or German leaving the Euro, and what might happen to the Single Market itself.

Special Report on the World Economy (the Economist): Audio

There is a shift from the West to the East according to the Economist. Listen to the 15 minute special report here.

Israel, Palestine & The United Nations (from the Economist): Audio Current Affairs

Photograph: Beautiful tree with water reflection (Czech Republic)

From National geographic 
SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

Nové Mlýny, Czech Republic

Photograph by Petr Cunderlik, My Shot
This Month in Photo of the Day: Your Photos With Tips From Photographer Catherine Karnow
When shooting landscapes, good light is absolutely essential, which is why photographers often rise before dawn. This photograph is all about the exquisite first light of day, which gives it a magical quality. Also, the still water serves as a mirror for the tree, and its reflection is what makes the photograph sing. Light changes very fast—you may only have ten minutes before this would be a very different shot.
Photo Tip: For landscape shots, it’s essential to be on location for the first light of the day.

Monday 19 September 2011

Love the gospel vs. Share the gospel: A conversation between 7 evangelicals (Video)

Driscoll and another guy discuss the danger of loving 'the gospel' but not sharing it. You can watch the video here.