Continuing my thoughts about Havilah House, I have this notion that it would be wonderful to have a few cabins as well as an outside kitchen and shower and a long drop toilet, not literally but in appearance, and connected to the septic tank system.
The Outdoor Shower
This is something I have often wished for, a hot water shower out in the open, sheltered of course from view, but with a starry sky above, it would be particularly inviting during the long summers, and if located near the pool it can double up as a change room. While we do have a large house I am reluctant to open that up to guests whom I don’t know very well or would not want roaming about my house unattended. The outdoor shower would solve this problem.
The shower is also a bathroom, connected to hot water with good water pressure, guests staying in the Music Cottage or in the Guest Cabin would be welcome to use the outside bathroom
In summary, it’s a camp bathroom, it has the essentials and is easy to maintain. It has hot water.
The Nakamal (Camp Kitchen)
The camp kitchen is easily described as a sheltered outside bathroom, with a little relaxing space, my friend Bert build one to enable him to entertain his guests more easily and it was a wonderful creation, and ever since I have hoped to make one myself
“A nakamal (a Bislama word from vernacular terms such as Raga gamali) is a traditional meeting place in Vanuatu. It is used for gatherings, ceremonies and the drinking of kava. A nakamal is found in every significant Vanuatu community, but the design of the nakamal and the traditions surrounding it vary between areas”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakamal
The Dunny (long drop),
A typical Australian outside toilet, I’m sure the UK had them as well, It would fit in quite nicely in our garden and I have the septic tank close by, about 3 or 4 meters away so I could easily connect that.
Havilah House
I have kind of woken up to the fact that this old house in Beerwah may be home for the rest of our lives and it’s not so bad having land on which I can do some much and don’t feel locked up.
The Swimming Pool
My pool has not been that great since I drained it, and it now is a third full and filled with tadpoles, we thought they were toads, but it turns out the lovely green frogs so I have been rescuing them putting them where I think they will be happy, in the hedges, and down by the creek.
The Music Room
The music room has been a success, it’s not decorated, it needs pictures and art and guitar hooks, but it is used every day by the family, for sleepovers, and chill sessions and watch TV etc. Julian has been working down there on Zoom during the school lockdown. See Havilah House Music Room and Notes for Kars the Architect
The Cabin,
I have made some progress, or let’s say that the base is very nearly complete, and I expect to have the sides and roof structure up this weekend, ready for the cladding and roof. If I say so myself it’s pretty well constructed so I reckon I could make another more easily and quicker. I am being careful to do it as inexpensively as possible but still maintain the quality, also been careful to modularise it. So things, like buying 6m bearers and then cutting them in half, saved some cash and using standard sizes.
Check out our complete cabin here Building a Small Cabin 2020
Planting Seeds
Yesterday I planted another hundred black bean seeds on the other side of the creek, it will form a think wall of foliage in a few years time. Folks are going to wonder where all these trees came from? Black bean trees grow tall and in the shape of an oval if they are in the open but they seem to grow extra tall in the rain forest and amongst other trees, with foliage all the way up the trunk, like the leaning tower of pizza, which is the effect I am hoping for I did some reading on back bean trees and they have anti carcinogenic HIV properties, I intend to look into this a bit more.
The Black Bean is also found in New Caledonia and Vanuatu. … This is a handsome tree with glossy dark green pinnate leaves and low … and it contains alkaloids which have been shown to have anti-HIV and anti –cancer properties. https://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2002/castanospermum-australe.html
The Boma
One of these days I’ll get round to making a Boma and the best example I have of a Boma is Scotty’s Boma, Preparing to build a Boma (Outdoor Fire Pit) I’m sure you will like it.
A boma is a livestock enclosure, community enclosure, stockade, corral, small fort or a district government office and community used in many parts of the African Great Lakes region, as well as Central and Southern Africa. It is particularly associated with community decision making. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boma_(enclosure)
A Braai or BBQ?
Mann … so many of the good times I have enjoyed throughout my life have been alongside or close to a BBQ, in South Africa, this is referred to as a Braai. While these are very similar the are quite different.
A Braai is done on charcoal, a BBQ can be both on coals or on a gas bbq. – quite different flavours