Skip to main content
Aug 14
Love0

And Our Newest Book Winner is…

By Uncategorized

japanese-carpentry-artCongrats to our latest winner, Lola Faulkner for our recent giveaway of the book The Genius of Japanese Carpentry! Once again, I wish I had unlimited copies to be able to award everyone…

The good news is that Tuttle has donated several other book titles, so our giveaway series isn’t over yet. We have a few more exciting books coming to us in the near future. I’m very pleased to be able to do this and spread the love. I personally love a good book, and being able to access valuable information in a tangible, physical form is still my preference for reading and learning. The experience of flipping through a book is vastly preferable to me than scrolling on a screen. But I digress…

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for future giveaways. (And a small note on that front… the newsletter is soon getting some exciting improvements and a facelift!)

Aug 10
Love1

Timber Frame Pavilion Gets Wrapped Up

By Timber Framing
Timber Frame Pavilion @ Clear Creek

The pavilion gets the last of the countertops installed before its first debut

Our work on the timber frame pavilion at the Clear Creek Festival grounds has come to a happy ending. We have fulfilled our responsibilities and commitments, now that the frame is raised, the roof decked and metal roofing installed, and the countertops and sinks put in. I’ve gotta say, it’s so nice to be done…

Check out some of the latest photos here.

Read More

Aug 05
Love0

The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: Review & Giveaway

By Media, Book Reviews
The Picture Hall, Yakushiji Temple Complex

The Picture Hall, at the Yakushiji temple complex

Here is part two of our book review and giveaway series, in collaboration with Tuttle Publishing. In this post, you’ll find my review of Azby Brown’s The Genius of Japanese Carpentry, and details for how you can enter to win your own copy. This is an engrossing book about traditional temple construction in Japan. Read ahead and enter!

Read More

Aug 02
Love0

Congrats to Our Winner & Another Giveaway Coming Soon

By Media, Book Reviews

japanese-timber-framingAfter reading all of the comments on the review and giveaway post for Just Enough, I want to send everyone copies of the book to enjoy. Unfortunately, there’s only one… and the lucky winner is Nadine. Congratulations, Nadine!

Lucky for everyone else, we still have one more giveaway coming up soon! We’ve got a copy of The Genius of Japanese Carpentry to give away next week. This too is a really excellent, and inspiring book, full of information about traditional temple construction and timber framing techniques in Japan.

Please check back soon to enter. It will be just as simple as last time. The image to the right is a little sneak peak of what to expect from the book…

Aug 02
Love0

Congrats to Our Winner & Another Giveaway Coming Soon

By Book Reviews, Media

japanese-timber-framingAfter reading all of the comments on the review and giveaway post for Just Enough, I want to send everyone copies of the book to enjoy. Unfortunately, there’s only one… and the lucky winner is Nadine. Congratulations, Nadine!

Lucky for everyone else, we still have one more giveaway coming up soon! We’ve got a copy of The Genius of Japanese Carpentry to give away next week. This too is a really excellent, and inspiring book, full of information about traditional temple construction and timber framing techniques in Japan.

Please check back soon to enter. It will be just as simple as last time. The image to the right is a little sneak peak of what to expect from the book…

Jul 29
Love0

Cob Building Workshop is Just Around the Corner!

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops

Dancing In CobJust when I thought things might be quiet for a while, I look at the calendar and take note that we are just a little more than a month away from our Cob Building Workshop. Yow!

Our 3 day Cob Building Workshop takes place from September 5-7 here outside Berea, Kentucky. There are still three spaces remaining, so if you’ve been waiting to register, I suggest you go ahead and do that soon, because the spaces are certain to fill up. You can also save a bit on the registration fee if you register within the week.

I’m personally very excited to get my hands (and feet) back in the mud, at what will no doubt be a beautiful time of year. If you want to get your cobbing on with us, go ahead and register today.

Jul 26
Love0

It’s Party Time…

By Cob Oven
Pizza party time

Our first pizzas ready for the hungry masses

Amidst all of our timber framing work, we have been chipping away at our cob oven construction. In fact, we deemed it ready enough for a big ol’ pizza party this past week. The oven needs some finish plaster, but why wait? It proved to be a real workhorse, as April and I churned out about 50 pizzas (really, we lost count) for a big group of 40 people at the Clear Creek Festival grounds.

Read More

Jul 23
Love0

Book Review & Giveaway: Just Enough

By Media
Just Enough Book: Azby Brown

Read ahead to enter your name in a giveaway for this book

Here is part one of our book review and giveaway series, in collaboration with Tuttle Publishing. In this post, you’ll find my review of the fascinating book, Just Enough, and details for how you can enter to win your own copy. It’s quite simple… read ahead for more!

Read More

Jul 20
Love0

Giveaway Update: How to Win One of these Sweet Books

By Media
Japanese Carpenty Book, Tuttle Books

Soon you’ll have the chance to win one of these books

I’m happy to announce that Tuttle Publishing has kindly donated two very sweet books to The Year of Mud, and a couple of lucky readers will have the chance to get a copy of their own in the coming two weeks. I’ve got sitting beside me here a copy of The Genius of Japanese Carpentry: Secrets of an Ancient Craft and Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green From Traditional Japan, two excellent book titles. The first explores the incredible craft and history of temple building in Japan, and the second is a portrayal of life in Edo Japan, when Japanese society learned to cope with ecological limits and live in better balance in all aspects of daily life.

Click ahead to find out how you can win a copy of either of these books!

Read More

Jul 18
Love0

Frame Raising!

By Timber Framing
Timber Frame Barn Raising

The first bent goes into position in our new timber frame pavilion

We did it… our new timber frame pavilion has been successfully raised. All worries were put to rest once we had our rigging ready and the first bent went up as smooth as butter. Cutting a frame with a whole bunch of hand tools is fun, but seeing your work raise high into the sky is hard to beat on the excitement scale. Yow!

Read More