A wander through an unbuilt house part 2

The bathroom is on the southern wall, so has a hybrid cob/strawbale wall - did I mention that before?  can't remember but I have now lol.  On this southern wall next to the bathroom is a door that leads to the coolstore.  Thick walls, a double door entry (one door, short hallway, second door) and on the other side of the second door, pantry heaven.  This room will hopefully mean that I don't need to have a fridge, it should stay cool enough to store fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs that need to be kept cool.  I will also have a freezer in here to store meat and frozen vegies.  Lots of shelves to store food and bins under the shelves for bulk goods like beans, flour and rice. 
Next to this door the first kitchen bench starts.  The house curves around at this point so the kitchen window takes in views down the valley to the south and over the hills to the west (or more likely over the trees and gully).  There is my wood stove on the western wall and the bench goes all the way from the storeroom door to the stove.  There are shelves under the bench with a curtain covering them.  The sink is under a window looking down the valley - the dream would be an old fashioned farm house style sink but we'll see what pops up at the time.  There will also be shelves in the wall, probably between the sink and the stove, to store the plates, cups and saucers etc.

Next to the stove, a table and chairs for eating, under a window that looks to the west.  The northern wall has the greenhouse on it, soaking up the sun and warming the house.  Where the wall from the kitchen meets this area it drops to be half height.  This forms the back of the cob couch that runs along this wall to the doorway.  The greenhouse is behind this half wall which provides thermal mass to soak up the warmth from the sun.  The top half of the wall is a window to allow the sunlight to come in and light the house and warm the floor.  There is a vine growing over the greenhouse which shades it in summer so the house doesn't get too hot and when it loses its leaves in winter lets in the sun to warm the house. Plants in there will provide us with food and greenery hopefully all year around and I'd love to have a second bath in there to enjoy an almost outside bathing experience.  The cob bench on the inside of the house is basically a shell that has a wooden top that opens to provide extra storage space.  In front of it sits a coffee table made of black heart sassafrass. 

Furniture is minimal in my house, this is on purpose - I don't need much. 

So that is a wander through my house - the dimensions probably don't make sense and it will probably change as time goes on and I get closer to actually building, but so far I think it works.  Works as a thought experiment anyway ;)

3 tonnes of firewood - more than just fuel for the fire

We got a huge pile of wood delivered the other day.  The overwhelming thing about a huge pile of wood in your drive way is that you then need to move it somewhere else.  By hand.  The process has highlighted a couple of things for me.  That physically, I am not that great.  That to live the life I want to, I actually need to start doing it.  Now.  That it will involve physical labour like moving firewood.  That I actually don't mind that physical labour.  On days like today when I am grumpy and irritable moving the wood brought some peace to my mind.  Getting off the couch and outside into the sun using my body calmed my mind and erratic emotions. 
The reality of the huge pile of wood is more than just warmth in the middle of a very cold winter.

organising a small space

I am planning on living in a very small space - essentially one big open room so I lie seeing how other people do it. 
I plan to keep minimal furniture - my great grandfathers wardrobe, the bed my dad made, my beautiful coffee table and my spinning wheel and chair.  The rest will be built in - the couches for the living area built of cob (possibly hollow with a lid for storage space).  The bed in an alcove raised off the floor to enable storage underneath.  Bookshelves as part of the walls (the walls will probably be a bit thinner behind the bookshelves but books will provide insulating qualities which will counteract that.  Seating for the dining area will be also built into the cob, possibly heated by the flue of a rocket heater, will probably have to get a dining table though ;)  I'm planning on having lots of niches in the wall for candles and lanterns too.  The look of cob houses lit by candles and lanterns is so warm and homely.  I love it.