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May 19
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Gearing Up to Timber Frame!

By Natural Building Workshops, Hand Tools, Timber Framing

boring-machines

Do you ever get into cleaning frenzies, and spend hours scouring and scrubbing around the house, including those areas that often don’t get their fair share of loving? Well, that’s how I’ve been feeling lately, but it’s not our house that is getting the attention… it’s all of our tools. Recently, I’ve been spending a goodly amount of time sharpening, oiling, de-rusting, and tuning to get all of our gear ready for the upcoming Timber Frame Workshop in June. This year we’ll have some newcomers on the tool front to try out, including two antique boring machines we obtained last winter that haven’t seen action yet.

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May 12
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Soak Up the Sun in an Attached Greenhouse

By Design, Greenhouse
Attached Greenhouse

A lively attached greenhouse in the springtime

I’m a big fan of attached greenhouses. We designed our second home Strawtron to include a significant greenhouse on the south side of the house. Benefits of designing this way include the obvious ability to extend your growing season to grow more food, but an attached greenhouse can provide your home with additional heat, and an interesting intermediate living space, too. It’s not quite inside… nor is it outside space, either. Anyway. I love this image of the attached solarium of our dear friends Tim and Jane. Doesn’t it just look so wild and green, but so inviting, too?

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May 02
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Build Yourself Some Decent Sawhorses

By Carpentry, Woodworking, Design
Simple Sawhorse Plans

Build yourself a decent pair of sawhorses this year!

Everyone needs a pair (or two, or three) of sawhorses. It certainly helps if they are not wobbly and can stand on their own, and are beefy enough to support more than a box of matches. There are way too many subpar (or worse) sawhorses out there, and if yours look like they’ve been run over a few times… you deserve better, really.

On DIY and owner-builder construction sites, they are often the primary work surface for all sorts of carpentry work, and they are likely to be used as a ladder, table, a place to sit, a tool table… you get the point. They’re pretty essential, and if they actually work well — heck, you will likely be a more efficient builder.

I am happy to follow an existing design when I can, and these simple sawhorse plans fit the bill for our myriad building projects this summer. It’s nice to follow instructions sometimes, you know?
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Apr 28
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Where You Can Follow The Year of Mud

By Media

Cobbing

If you haven’t already noticed, The Year of Mud is more than just this website. There are several ways to follow along with us and see what we’re up to. Here are the best ways to keep in touch with us and make sure you receive the latest news.

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Apr 26
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Should Humans Eat Meat?

By Book Reviews
Cattle on Farm

Is eating meat benign, extravagant, or something else…?

If there’s one thing that Simon Fairlie’s Meat: A Benign Extravagance reinforces, it’s just how utterly complex the issue of food can be. Especially when it comes to the meat debate. Is eating meat “bad”? Is veganism an appropriate response to decreasing our environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions? Just where the heck did some of these popular numbers about carbon emissions and raising animals come from, anyway? Should humans eat meat?

Fairlie does a respectable job of breaking down all of this and much, much more in his book, and though there still isn’t a totally 100% absolute answer by the end (when do absolutes ever exist?), there is definitely a sign pointing in a pretty good direction of what sustainable agriculture can look like, and what is included in it. And some folks will either be pleasantly surprised or disappointed by the message, depending on their proclivities.

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Apr 23
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The Finished Product: Lake Naconiche Timber Frame Pavilion

By Timber Framing, Bent Raising
Nacogdoches Pavilion

The pavilion in Nacogdoches, almost completely raised and shining in the morning sun

If you’ve been following my updates about the Timber Framers Guild workshop in Nacogdoches, Texas, you’ve seen images from all the other stages of the timber frame pavilion construction — layout, cutting, and assembly. Here are my favorite images from the trip: the finished frame in all of its glory! The raising was very successful; it was safe, seamless, and the rain held out just long enough for us to get all of the main pieces up in the air. Check out the results here. The compound roof is stunning.
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Apr 22
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Springing into (Many) New Projects

By Homesteading
Kale in the Garden

Our kale in the garden, as of a couple weeks ago

It’s not often that April and I travel, but out of the last 30 days, we have been away for half or more. Since going to the Timber Framers Guild workshop in Texas, and traveling to see family and friends, we have been away more this late winter/early spring than in recent memory. I hope we haven’t missed all of morel mushroom season and the redbuds flowering when we get back to Kentucky in another day! There are many other things to look forward to once we return, too.

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Apr 15
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A Slice of Japan in Philadelphia: Shofuso House and Garden

By Photos, Timber Framing, Traditional Building
Shofuso House in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

The Shofuso House in Fairmount Park, Philly, PA

I may never get to Japan, though I’ve dreamed about it on and off for many years now. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that there’s a little slice of Japan here in the states, right inside Philadelphia in Fairmount Park. The Shofuso house and gardens are an impressive little site, representative of 17th century Japanese architecture. The home is complete with authentic traditional carpentry and building techniques, and the garden features native Japanese plants. And it’s beautiful.

I thought about asking if they wouldn’t mind me shacking up there for a bit to be able to experience the house a bit more fully…  Here are some photos of the house and garden.

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Apr 05
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It’s a Snug Fit: Assembling the Timber Frame Pavilion

By Timber Framing
Cutting a Mortise at Timber Frame Workshop

April works on some of the last remaining joints before the timber frame assembly

I think I’ve realized that the excitement of timber framing can be represented by a curve. If the x axis on a bar graph represents time, and the y excitement, the line climbs and rises from left to right. The entire process is gradually more invigorating and interesting as you proceed on a project.

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