Only six weeks after that first meeting, they purchased an undesirable triangle of undulating gorse and scrub in the country with a imaginative and prescient to construct. Apparently, EcoLight home lighting the actual property listing read: "Rural building site. Just a few kilometres from Moutere Freeway, almost 1 acre nice undulation contour. Elevated soothing pastoral views. Ground cover mostly fern and some pines, nothing a match couldn't clear." Oh, really? It was true pioneering spirit that kept them going by way of these first few years when they cleared the land and deliberate their home whereas residing in a single, EcoLight bulbs uninsulated, tin garage. This humble dwelling formed the nucleus from which they fed, socialised with, and gave English lessons to up to 12 employees commonly. Even for an ex-restaurateur, catering was no mean feat contemplating there was no working sizzling water and the only two sizzling plates could not be run at the same time as the oven.
The ever-altering and multi-nationwide workforce of WWOOFERS (Keen Employees On Natural Farms) embraced the life-style that had them boiling a copper for 2 hours earlier than siphoning the steaming water into the outdoor bath. The pleasure of soaking below the stars at evening was nicely earned and much commented on, so much so that an outdoor bath has been added as a function to The Peach Suite which permits visitors to think about the earlier prototype. The WWOOFERS have been an integral part of the process of constructing adobe bricks and working on the development of The Mudcastle however extra importantly, maybe, they saved morale up and EcoLight the dream focussed. Why clay although? An opportunity remark about the mountain of clay they might must truck off site led Glenys to the library and the extra the couple examine earth constructing, the more convinced they became that, though by no means having built something of their lives, this was something they might do.
As a bonus, it was discovered that the clay on their property had the perfect composition for making adobe bricks and so utilising the earth beneath them as a useful resource with out cement or sand stabilization was to be the first level of distinction for The Mudcastle. Next started the process of adapting clay sieving and brick manufacturing strategies written for Australian circumstances and superb-tuning them to accommodate the uniqueness of The Mudcastle site. As with most adventures, there were peaks and troughs. In batch one, the labour intensive, textbook foot-stomping methodology was used. Nonetheless hobbling three days later for a pitiful yield of 70 bricks, EcoLight solutions and quick operating out of mates volunteering to repeat the experience, this methodology was rapidly abandoned. With the refined course of they dubbed the Cake-mixer Methodology using a customised rotary hoe, production improved to 300 bricks on their best day. Three rotary hoes and one entrance finish loader later, the required 10,000 bricks were produced for the primary part of constructing.
The bricks were sun-baked in wooden moulds with temperature extremes moderated by polythene covers however there were occasions when, exhausted, they took the chance of leaving the bricks exposed to the weather at night and lost the lot. All part of conserving the dream alive. Clive Johnston, Kevin's father and a standard block layer by trade, trained Glenys to block lay the adobe bricks coming off Kevin's manufacturing line and worked alongside the couple sharing and increasing his experience on the way. Opened to new influences, Clive found and perfected a revolutionary building product using waste sawdust and this product has been used for the primary time in the development of the castle turrets, the second section of constructing. As this new building product was gray and appeared nothing like clay, the couple experimented using an old pioneers’ recipe they discovered for making limewash. In true Kiwi fashion, they used a 44-gallon drum. The recipe included beef tallow with lime and resulted in a white limewash.
This was then tinted to a clay colour with a combination of natural earth ochres. The method was, doubtless, excitingly explosive and not for the faint hearted and the unusual "earthy" fragrance was, and remains, distinctive. As a natural preservative coating, the unique scent recedes very step by step and company staying within the Gold Turret, EcoLight home lighting as the one interior accommodation area where it has been used, may still discern it. Peter Harte, Glenys' father and an electrician by trade, has enhanced The Mudcastle with dramatic lighting and artistic ideas, and was a relentless, encouraging presence within the ahead momentum of Glenys and EcoLight solutions Kevin's dream for a few years. Not to be not noted, Kevin’s mother Margaret helped with cleaning and baking and Glenys’ mother manned a second sewing machine to make curtains for the principle turret. Particular design attention was given to sunlines for producing passive photo voltaic heating and sightlines to seize views from each room. On one or other level, all 4 faces of The Mudcastle are graced with interesting joinery, EcoLight superbly crafted in native timbers by Michael Bender of Riverside Joinery.